Accent, or no accent?

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Lavindathar: Foreigners might not tell, but accents in Britain are greatly different! I've lived all over Britain, and have a mixed accent - A bit Manc (Manchester), some southern (farmer!). Its weird. I either speak very southern or very northen. I cannot tell though! Just been told!

We can tell

[Leonis]

Originally posted by Yorick: I do not have an accent. Californians do. It's accepted that ones own voice is accentless. Now, this is weird. I and other Australians, without losing our own accent, hear the American accent in others less, the longer we are here. When we speak to an Australian back home, their Aussie accent is more pronounced to us - even though our own accent hasn't shifted. It's a wierd trick of the mind. THe other wierd thing that happened to me and other westerners when we were teaching in Singapore. and surrounded by pretty much only Chinese all day every day, is that we forgot we were Caucasian. I remember catching 6ft tall me in a mirror. Long light brown hair, fair skin (that looked redder the longer I was around olive skinned chinese) and being shocked! A sudden reminder that I was different. Another time, I was with another Aussie friend. We agreed to meet in a food court of a mall. As I went down the escalators, my heart sank. The place was wall to wall full of people. Massive crowd. I figured my friend wouldn't find me. Imagine my surprise when five minues later he walked straight up to me. "How the heck did you find me amidst all these people?" I asked. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Are you serious?" he said "You're the only one here who isn't Asian. You stuck out like a sore thumb". ANyhow, re. the accents, everyone I've spoken to in Australia other htan my brother has sounded very very Australian. I've compared notes with other Aussies here. The voices you hear each day become accentless, in spite of the myriad accents you may hear each day. Ones who you don't hear regularly sound different, and this can include people from your homeland. Why does my brothers not sound different? Well people say we sound very similar. I guess hearing him is akin to hearing me. [img]smile.gif[/img] Pun alert: "kin" is family....

It also depends where you are I think...

Don't most people hear a variety of accents each day?
Just today I went shopping and would have heard at least thirty or more different accents.

Some are purely regional Australian. This includes different accents from different areas of Sydney. While it's easy to hear these accents, it's much harder to pin a location to them - there are stereotypical ones but in my experience they are rarely accurate.

Then there are the multitude of migrant Australian accents - from recent arrivals to 2nd/3rd/4th generation etc...

An example of Australian accents I heard today:

My mechanic - Very subtle Greek tinged accent

Guy who sold me a shirt - Overpronounced Sydney gay accent (Oxford st/Surry Hills style)

Woman who sold me sushi - Strong Japanese accent

etc...

I also find the "Australianness" of my accent rises and fall depending on who I'm with.

[Yorick]

Yeah, me too. We've discussed that phenomena haven't we.

[GokuZool]

DK, do you speak Spanish?

[Donut]

Many times in the US I've been asked 'Are you Australian?'. I had to change the way I spoke there because I just couldn't get myself understood. I slowed down my speech and enunciated every word. I don't think I ever returned to my original accent.

[Leonis]

Yorick and I were talking the other day and he accidentally used the name "Marrk" (American accent) meaning "Maak" (Australian), on me.
So used to adding certain patterns to make himself understood, it crept into our 'Aussie' conversation. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Grungi]

everyone has accents but some are alot stronger than others, californian accent isnt very strong at all, whereas deep south accent is, likewise in england a southern accent like mine isnt very strong, but go to london and the cockney one is alot more noticeable, go to liverpool, birmingham or newcastle and they have completely distinctive and very very strong accents, again scotland has very strong accents, you tend to find its lessened in cities but stronger accents in rural areas. I dont have much of an accent being a southern english person, i mix in alot of different circles so my accent changes depending who im talking to, some people think im londoner, some people think im french etc [img]smile.gif[/img] (when im talking french obviously) some people think im posh (they wouldnt if they went to a pub with me) australian accents again i find that city aussie accents are probably about similar in strength to californian, but go to an outback ranch and the accent doubles in strength.

Go to indian and you get over 300 dialects and a different accent in every village [img]tongue.gif[/img]

ah gotta love this world we live in [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Charlie]

People in America had trouble understanding me too. They couldn't comprehend I'm a Londoner. They expected "how now brown cow" and got none of it. I had to "tone down" to be understood....very difficult after 10 pints of lager.

I do change both my language and tone according to circumstance. If I was on the dog rabbiting to a mucker many of you wouldn't have the foggiest didgerie what I was on about. (Translated..If I was on the phone talking to a friend, many of you wouldn't have the foggiest idea what I was on about.) However, if I was on the telephone in business then I would be very clear, concise and you would understand everything.

In every day talk I use masses of slang, I can't help it, that contributes to my accent I guess. Most people in England upon hearing me would know or guess I'm a Londoner or cockney. A cockney London accent being far and away different from a middle/upper class London accent. I can't explain that any better. I have what would be termed a strong cockney accent I think. Epona and I have spoken, I think she would recognise me as cockney, I, in turn know that she is Southern England/possibly London, but not cockney. I've also met and spoken to Lord of Alcohol (from USA).....he didn't get the "rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" type London English accent he was expecting either.....he's stiil stunned.

Concerning accents I've always considered London/Southern England the most neutral of accents. I don't know why, I guess it's because I was born there. No one can properly take off a London accent in my book and get away with it. Londoners can or seem to be able (to me at least) to take on any other accents. Just in Britain for my money, there is no way a Mancunian (from Manchester) or a Brummie (from Birmingham) could pretend to be a cockney/Londoner. There are however many Londoners that could make a passable job of being Mancunian or Brummie, well, that's what I think anyway. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-22-2003, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: Charlie ]

[Callum Kerr]

Hmmm... British being good at identifying accents? I dunno... When I go back, everyone thinks I'm American... but I have never even been to the American continent, and only know three Americans personally...

Myself being accentless? Dunno about that either... went to a football (round ball type) camp in England a few years back, and at the end, when my Mum came to pick me up, I thought "Bloomin' 'eck... wot de eff 'as 'appened to me voice?"

On another point entirely, I suddenly realised the other day, that there are accents in other languages!! *shock horror*

Also... I can only identify between (not pinpoint the origin of) different accents from the US and England... otherwise I can recognise just the country...
The Irish and Scots ARE similiar... but I can usually tell the difference between them... same with Oz and Kiwi... and the Canadian and US...

I can also recognise the South African, Malaysian Chinese, Japanese, Indian, French (btw, I discovered that when some French politician talked English, he sounded EXACTLY like they do in the movies )

Just in case u were interested

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Callum Kerr: Myself being accentless? Dunno about that either... went to a football (round ball type) camp in England a few years back, and at the end, when my Mum came to pick me up, I thought "Bloomin' 'eck... wot de eff 'as 'appened to me voice?"

That made me effing larrffff.

I'm crap at accents btw. Both taking them off and recognising them. I'm not sure I could tell an Aussie from a Kiwi (sorry boys but I'm not sure I would), same for American/Canadian......I'll get me coat...

[ 01-22-2003, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: Charlie ]