Accents

[Mistrunner]

Recently because of a move to a place where the dominant accent is not my own, I've been thinking about my accent. It's northwestern American, one most would recognize as your average American accent. I've noticed it gets a lot stronger around my family and friends and the opposite around, say, teachers.

What's your accent like? When does it get stronger, weaker, etc? Any good stories? Please, tell me!

[Briar King]

No good story but I'm in SW Louisiana and have been described as having a mild southern sound from friends on PS. Thankfully I live an hour west of true red neck central. I can't even understand some Cajun French hybrids

[ParadoxicalZen]

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference beyond the most prominent American accents (through movies etc.) but accents are quite noticeable in the UK, but it might be due to feeling a lot more condensed and where distance isn't as pronounced as your side. 

[The Honor Spren]

I have just a normal American accent. It is slightly southern. When I remember that, it gets more southern while I speak. It sounds pretty strange.

(And so it is clear, I do NOT sound the same in real life as I do on the forum. It is not unusual for me to be speaking on a bad British accent, and randomly throwing in Spanish words.)

[Zathoth]

I sound pretty swedish, being swedish and all. So I think pewdiepie, but less lisping and screaming.

 

... which is all he does so that is not a good example at all...

 

http://vocaroo.com/i/s18r43NGuRoc

My voice and a short tangent on robots and aliens. Because I figure pewdiepie is the only swedish accent you are familiar with.

[maxal]

I'm French, but I was told I did not have so much of an accent anymore whenever I speak English. It used to be terrible when I was a teenager, but years and years and years and years of working it up, it more or less whined down. People get I'm not English based on the mistakes I'll make talking, forgetting "s" or badly pronouncing the verb tenses or saying "it" at an inappropriate time (seriously that one is a bother for us French, it just does not make sense).

 

My French is the one from Quebec and not France, but put me with a true French and I automatically catch the accent.

 

Swedish English was closer to British English than American English I found when I was there. Spend enough time in Europe and you get more self-conscious of the American accent. Go back home in North America and you forget it's an accent. So peculiar, but of all accent, the Texan one is the hardest of all, for me. I have an easier time comprehending the Scottish English than the Texan one 

[Mistrunner]

I sound pretty swedish, being swedish and all. So I think pewdiepie, but less lisping and screaming.

... which is all he does so that is not a good example at all...

http://vocaroo.com/i/s18r43NGuRoc

My voice and a short tangent on robots and aliens. Because I figure pewdiepie is the only swedish accent you are familiar with.

Send that recording to the Grammys or something. It's beautiful.

Y'know, you sound almost like my oldest brother. I mean, if you had the American accent.

I actually don't really know pewdiepie. Heard of it/him/whatever though. Kind of. The closest I know to a Swedish accent is probably a Norwegian accent because a family friend is hosting a Norwegian exchange student.

[Delightful]

I sound pretty swedish, being swedish and all. So I think pewdiepie, but less lisping and screaming.

... which is all he does so that is not a good example at all...

http://vocaroo.com/i/s18r43NGuRoc

My voice and a short tangent on robots and aliens. Because I figure pewdiepie is the only swedish accent you are familiar with.

Sounds kind of Irish to me?

[Zathoth]

Send that recording to the Grammys or something. It's beautiful.

Y'know, you sound almost like my oldest brother. I mean, if you had the American accent.

I actually don't really know pewdiepie. Heard of it/him/whatever though. Kind of. The closest I know to a Swedish accent is probably a Norwegian accent because a family friend is hosting a Norwegian exchange student.

Thank you XD

Ah, I should practice the american accent and sound like your brother just to confuse you then XD

Yeah, they are kind of close, considering the countries are close, the languages are pretty much only weird accents of each other, really weird accents. Like how you have no idea what someone speaking Cockney rhymes is going on about. Thats norweigian. You recognize the words but you have no idea what the person is saying.

 

 

Sounds kind of Irish to me?

 

 

I kind of like the irish accent so I might be subconsciously mimicking it. XD

[Kaymyth]

I lived various parts of my childhood in Milwaukee, Chicago, Las Vegas, Bullhead City (AZ), Phoenix (if you count my summers at my dad's), and northeast howmuchmoreruralcanyouget Missouri.

 

I sound like I'm from none of them.  I have the standard generic American "neutral" accent.  It gives me a very good phone voice for answering calls at work, since we have folks calling from all over the place.

 

I can slide into a more drawly midwestern accent on occasion, usually if I'm talking to someone with a more rural accent.  I can mirror reasonably well, if I know the accent.  A childhood spent obsessed with Doctor Who had me very good at imitating an English accent by my teens, though I've not practiced in long enough it's probably dismal now.

[+Slowswift]

Well, I've probably got a Utah accent, given that's where I live.

Moun'in. Wadder. Bu'on. T's are practically non-existent in this state. And don't even get me started on "acrosst".

Heck, those might be universal things. But I do know one of my friends from Cali was spent annoyed at Utah's pronunciation of things.

[The Sovereign]

As a child I had a pretty strong Central Canadian accent (Ontario) but I moved to the States when I was 5. Now I have a strange mix of an accent that is like 3 parts Canadian, 2 parts Boston accent. Basically a Canadian accent where the R's have been dropped.
 

Edit: Also, not so much an accent thing, but I was once told by one of my Linguistics teachers that I had bastardized English in an impressive way after uttering a sentence that used both "wicked" and "eh" in it.
 

Something along the lines of "That test was wicked easy, eh?"

Edited October 7, 2015 by Iron Eyes

[Alfa]

High german, with a strange mix of:
- a touch of a Russian accent (first 9 life years in St Petersburg), which is a mix of Petersburgian Russian (less melodical than basic Russian) and Siberian Russian (speak as fast as you can and try to swallow as much words as you can; you do not want your tongue freezing), because my mother is from Siberia. In each case, roll the "R"
- some wrong bavarian verb forms (lived 5 year in Bavaria) and a Bavarian accent (speak with your mustache, even if you do not have a mustache)

- using Genitive and Praeteritum in verbal speech, which is absolutely strange for germans, we use Dativ and Present Perfect for it (this comes from a lot of books I read; basically i speak like i would write)

- Berlinian accent (6 years in Berlin), basically you use some words no other German understands, substitute "h" "ch" at the end of a word with "k" or "kke" if possible and swallow the first half of indefinite pronouns. Speak the rest as if you are short before cursing at a Bavarian or Russian guy. Be nice, but be impolite.

 

EDIT: And now think how this lot sounds when I speak english.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Alfa

[MrMistborn]

I speak a toned down Aussie, with only a dollop of slang

[Mashadar Mistborn]

For some very odd reason, I have British accent, or so I've been told. I live in the Southern part of the States and have never even talked to anyone from Britain. It's noticeable enough that people often ask about it, and it gets stronger when I'm feeling significant emotion.

[Elbereth]

My younger sister had a British accent when we were young. Not because we knew any British people or because we'd actually been to Britain, but because she couldn't pronounce her r's. She eventually got better after some speech therapy.

[Silverblade5]

High german, with a strange mix of:

- a touch of a Russian accent (first 9 life years in St Petersburg), which is a mix of Petersburgian Russian (less melodical than basic Russian) and Siberian Russian (speak as fast as you can and try to swallow as much words as you can; you do not want your tongue freezing), because my mother is from Siberia. In each case, roll the "R"

- some wrong bavarian verb forms (lived 5 year in Bavaria) and a Bavarian accent (speak with your mustache, even if you do not have a mustache)

- using Genitive and Praeteritum in verbal speech, which is absolutely strange for germans, we use Dativ and Present Perfect for it (this comes from a lot of books I read; basically i speak like i would write)

- Berlinian accent (6 years in Berlin), basically you use some words no other German understands, substitute "h" "ch" at the end of a word with "k" or "kke" if possible and swallow the first half of indefinite pronouns. Speak the rest as if you are short before cursing at a Bavarian or Russian guy. Be nice, but be impolite.

EDIT: And now think how this lot sounds when I speak english.

Wayne would be proud

[Clanky]

I suppose I have a northern Canadian accent. I don't notice it but everyone from southern Canada can hear it and always say I call milk "malk". This is basically what happens every time I say milk around my housemates.

 

 

I do however have a speech impediment that has led people to believe I have an accent and has led to some interesting stories. I once had a lab partner from Russia and the first thing she ever said to me was:

 

"I know where you are from"

 

I thought this was weird cause it came out of nowhere and I had never met this person before.

 

So I asked where she thought I was from and she said "You are from Romania" 

 

I told her that I was from Canada and had lived here my whole life, never even been to mainland Europe at that point. It took me about 15 minutes to convince her I wasn't lying since apparently I have an accent indistinguishable from someone who lived their whole life in Romania. She thought I was just lying about being Canadian.

[The Honor Spren]

Y'know, this has gotten me thinking about dialectical differences and really random stuff. Like eeny, meeny, miney, mo. Do they do that rhyme in other parts of the world? Rock, paper, scissors?

And for dialectical differences, I usually use the question of what you call soft drinks (coke, root beer, sprite, etc). In California everyone calls it soda, and I think that's the most common term. In Washington, though, you call it pop, meaning I get strange looks whenever I talk about it. Apparently in the South they call it all coke. It's absolutely fascinating to me. Don't ask why. I don't know.

Where I live, we call it soda, but Florida isn't exactly part of the south . . .

Edited October 28, 2015 by The Honor Spren

[The Honor Spren]

While on the topic, I'll mention that basically any time a Washingtonian (at least, from my area of the state) mentions something in another state, it's "down in __". As in "There was a big protest down in Colorado."

No one knows what Florida is. I guess it's officially designated as Alligators.

Coincidentally, when we refer to any other state we say "up in __".

Alligators and Disney formed a partnership. If you live here you must serve your Mouse and Lizard overlords well.

Edited October 28, 2015 by The Honor Spren

[Mashadar Mistborn]

Y'know, this has gotten me thinking about dialectical differences and really random stuff. Like eeny, meeny, miney, mo. Do they do that rhyme in other parts of the world? Rock, paper, scissors?

And for dialectical differences, I usually use the question of what you call soft drinks (coke, root beer, sprite, etc). In California everyone calls it soda, and I think that's the most common term. In Washington, though, you call it pop, meaning I get strange looks whenever I talk about it. Apparently in the South they call it all coke. It's absolutely fascinating to me. Don't ask why. I don't know.

I call it soda, even though the farthest north I have ever lived is in the middle of Virginia. I bought a Fanta one day, and when the cashier asked me about my coke, I was quite confused. My mother regrets my lack of southern tendencies. Personally, I'm fine with it. My town is actually quite a good example of cultural blending, as it is a military town and people bring the culture of other areas with them. It's interesting, and it's why I loved AP Human Geography last year. That class is so awesome.

Edit: 200 posts! I'm so glad I finally made an account.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Mashadar Mistborn

[Mestiv]

I don't really have any unusual accent when I speak Polish. I speak like most of the Poles, so I guess I'm boring in that regard And when I speak English I'm sure I have the typical Slavic accent making words sound a bit too harsh and rough

[Queen Elsa Steelheart]

I speak a toned down Aussie, with only a dollop of slang

 

Same here. My youtube viewers on my channel love my accent, apparently. I personally think I don't have one.....

[MrMistborn]

Same here. My youtube viewers on my channel love my accent, apparently. I personally think I don't have one.....

Only Bogans and people who don't live in the cities really do

[Kasimir]

I'd say my local accent comes through more in terms of intonation, rather than in pronounciation. Oh, right, let me be more organised.

 

So, for English, I used to have a very local accent, but then I used to mimic my English teacher for a bundle of laughs in his class, and somewhere down the line, my regular accent started to shift because of that habit, and now I get asked by people where I come from (I think a few classmates thought I was from New Zealand at one point?). I wouldn't say my accent is really identifiable as coming from somewhere: it's just that in my local context, everyone knows it just doesn't sound local.

 

Intonation-wise, I've largely retained a stronger local accent when speaking German. Don't ask me why. My German teacher once called me up and told me that my Aussprache was pretty rusting solid, but that she had no idea why my intonation was so clunky/horrible. I especially don't seem to be able to inflect my sentences much, so whether I ask questions or make statements, my intonation patterns kind of sound the same. :/