This topic may be cancelled by the moderators but I thought it could be an interesting discussion. Let me preface by explaining. I recently visited the home of someone who was originally from Portugal and she took notice of the fact that we have different accents here in this country. Another guest who is native to the area said she did not think she did. I have lived in this country for a long time but they pointed out they could tell I was from Great Britain by my accent but they couldn't tell which part. I know you have regional dialects here as do we. Do you think you have an accent or do you think everyone else does? I thought mine was barely noticeable but apparently I was wrong.

Susan this is an interesting topic. I do not think I have an accent but others apparently do. For instance one time my husband, whose name is ED, was at a local eatery and I needed to call him. this is a very casual place and so the person who answered the phone went throughout the space calling Ad, Ad. Cracked him up.

I was born in Syracuse New York and now live in Maine. Last winter we visited friends who are from Kansas but now live in Calif. The wife

thought I had a "Brooklyn" accent, which of course I do not. My DH who is from Brooklyn also does not have such an accent. Rather he has what they call a radio announcer's voice. That is no detectable accent at all.

When we first moved to Maine I thought there was a discernible accent in the voices of those Mainers we met, but now with Maine (Southern anyway) being a virtual suburb of Massachusetts I no longer notice it.

Sometimes though when I am in Syracuse, say in a grocery store and I hear voices from an aisle over, I think one of my sisters is in the store!

I do notice that people say certain words differently but wouldn't always call it an accent. Yes, I do think people from Great Britain have accents, and no I would not be able to tell from what part, although if they are Scots, then it is difficult understanding them at all!

I think everyone has an accent. We just think the way we speak is without an accent. Of course that is because the people in our immediate area all speak like we do.

My partner is from MinnesOHta, dOHn'tcha know and I am a native Californian. I will deny ever saying Cowabunga Dude but I have been told I sound like I'm from CA. I'm not sure how to interpret that.

I'm a Jersey girl, accent, no way LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by jaysmom49:
I'm a Jersey girl, accent, no way LOL!

Do you say Joisey or Jur-zee

I agree that everyone has an accent altho some are more neutral than others. Here's a quiz to determine what type of American accent you have: http://www.youthink.com/quiz.c...ion=take&obj_id=9827

Apparently I have a Western accent which is kind of neutral. I'm from Western Canada but grew up close to the US border and the accent is supposedly similar to the Western US and California accent.

I LOL when people say they like or dislike the Canadian accent because there are many regional accents in Canada. I can tell if someone is from Saskatchewan, the Maritime provinces, Newfoundland, or francophone Quebec (unless they learned proper English at an early age) as each region has a unique accent.

quote:

Jur-zee

Since I'm in the middle of N. Jersey, it's Jur-zee! Closer to NYC, the JOI comes out!

I was under the impression Joisey was an exaggeration. So there really are people who say that?

Joyluck, according to the quiz and my accent is neutral. I wonder what my friends who think I have a California accent are hearing?

This is interesting to me as well, since 1)I'm from Texas and we all know what everyone thinks of Texans and 2)I was recently reading a couple of articles about how the true "southern" and "Texas" accents are slowly dying out, primarily due to so much migration and also because of TV and internet. I have always thought I have a fairly neutral accent; I don't have a "twang" (at least I don't think I do), but I do use regional expressions such as "y'all" and "fixin' to" (with no apologies). The articles I read indicated that some people adjust their accents to their audience, and I agree that this is something many educated people do.

Oh I do so love reading all of your responses.

One thing I have noticed is the different use of words or expressions. Here is one example. We were always taught to say "pardon me" if we made a rude noise (I won't go into detail) but in America it can be an apology when you walk in front of someone, bump into them accidentally or perhaps when you don't hear what one says. It took me a while to realize that Americans were not actually belching or making other rude noises when they were begging my pardon.

The test shows me as having a neutral accent, but I know that I sometimes have a bit of a Texas accent, especially if I've just been talking to my parents or have spent time there. I'm one of those people who tends to pick up the accent of whatever people I'm around. I don't do it on purpose. It just seems to happen automatically.

I've been known to pahk my cah in the yahd. I have a "wicked good" Boston accent, I'm told

quote:

Originally posted by WWanda:
I've been known to pahk my cah in the yahd. I have a "wicked good" Boston accent, I'm told

LOL! That's my Rhode Island birthplace accent, but moved to the midwest at age nine, determined to lose it...the test says my accent is "Northern" (anything from Chicago to western New England, apparently).

Fun stuff!

Of course I don't have an accent, everyone else does!

What I find funny, I live most of the time in Mexico, lots of Americans and Canadians there, my DH can point out a Canadian just when they walk by. He is right 90% of the time, I don't see the striking difference he does.
We are good friends with a Canadian couple who also live there, some of their expressions are funny, of course they think some of mine are funny too.

We moved from Missouri to a Spanish speaking country....lived there for 11 years and I could tell what Central American country they were from...and the accent the foreigners used when speaking Spanish told me where they were from. Interesting the different accents. Of course, I am now in the U.S. and I don't have an accent. lol Also I found out when I am around a friend with a southern accent..I start talking like them.... a big lol.

Joyluck, I took the quiz and I have a "neutral" accent. I had a friend from Lousiana that I went to college with and one weekend I came home and my mom asked me why I was speaking like a southerner.

quote:

Originally posted by Graciepj:
I know that I sometimes have a bit of a Texas accent, especially if I've just been talking to my parents or have spent time there. I'm one of those people who tends to pick up the accent of whatever people I'm around. I don't do it on purpose. It just seems to happen automatically.

quote:

Originally posted by May:
I found out when I am around a friend with a southern accent..I start talking like them...

quote:

Originally posted by postpone:
I had a friend from Lousiana that I went to college with and one weekend I came home and my mom asked me why I was speaking like a southerner.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does this. Otherwise I have no accent! LOL

I took the quiz and it said I have a "Northern" accent which would be correct. (however I just thought I was answering the way the words were correctly spoken! LOL)

SBK your observation is interesting. It's true we say Pardon me or Excuse me interchangeably. My DGD has a French male friend or just met one (can't remember) and he said when he was first in the states it took him a while to realize females were not hitting on him that they were just being friendly!

Northeastern for me, which is right on the money. Only, I do pronounce my "r's."

Many years ago, I wound up late at night in Boston (don't ask) and got lost looking for a particular address. I stopped a trolley car conductor and asked him for directions:

He said, "Take the Pack line."

"Pack?," I asked, "Like P-A-C-K?"

"NO, young lady, he replied. "It's Pack, spelled P-A-R-K."

Born in Newark, N.J., moved to the Jersey shore when I was 12 and my sister was 16. She says "dawg" and I say dog with an "og" sound. So we have different accents within one family.

My younger sister has a more distinctive accent than I. She is married to a Brit and they spend most summers back home.

I took the quiz and most of my answers should have been 'none of the above'. The results indicated my accent is northeastern.

Everyone else has an accent.

I remember, quite awhile back, someone saying how they loved Sarah Richardson but couldn't stand her accent. I said, what accent? to me she sounds just like I do.

The words that I say that are the most different IMO, are out and mountain. I also have been known to throw out "eh" once in awhile but I never thought I did until an American friend pointed it out when she came to visit.

I took the American quiz even though I am Canadian, born and bred here and from the Maritime Provinces. I was surprised that the quiz was quite accurate. This is what it said, funny.


Which American accent do you have?
North Central

What people call the "Minnesota accent." Sounds almost Canadian. You may have even been asked if you were from Canada before.

Northern accent here. I too was born near Syracuse, and have basically a middle NY sound.

To me Buffalo has a lot in common with Chicago, which my DH has pointed out both cities have large Polish populations and they seem to have set the speaking style.

The most "Chicago " sounding comment I ever heard was Mayor Daley II saying "Awww commm onn!!" He was Irish with a bunch of Pole in his speech.

One of my college teachers used to show an old PBS show about regionalism in speech. it was great to hear and great fun.

What I love about this test is as I was taking it I kept thinking "why would ANYONE pronounce that word "that" way??

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kathy_in_wlsv,

I have a Western Neutral with a shade of western canadian accent, but sometimes I sound like a southerner... not completely sure why.

I've had so many people get angry over accents, that now I if someone has an accent that I LIKE, I just let them know I enjoy their "manner of speaking". That seems to go over much, much better than saying the word "accent."

I have a peculiar accent, though I didn't think so for most of my life.

A few years ago, I went to a speach therapist. All of my clients were located in one area, and I couldn't break into any other area in the United States. Thought it might have to do with my "manner of speaking."

So, I learned what's going on with my own "accent" and why people were always able to pinpoint right where I am from.

Now I hear it in myself, and have learned to tone it down a bit as it's not the most "pleasing to the ears." Think: Lily Tomlin's Operator Lady.

The only person who ever told me I sound like I have an accent was my mother. She thought I sounded like I was from South Philly. I DO NOT sound like Rocky! LOL There are no "youse" or "Yos!" in my vocabulary. Never could figure out what she meant.