Accents

[ChrisBcritter]

And don't forget... in Baaaaaaaahston you have to paaaaaaaaaahk ya caaaaaaaaaah!

Hand to God, about 35 years ago here in Illinois I saw a Renault with Massachusetts plates - the factory decal graphic on the side was altered to read "Le Ca".

[martinfan5]

Was born in Texas, lived there for a short time before moving to Arizona, far as I am aware,  I do not have a Texan accent.

 

I was not aware that UK had different accents ,  that is very interesting.

[Matt Bacon]

I was not aware that UK had different accents ,  that is very interesting.

Oh, yes... the west country (Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) has a very distinctive accent, for example. An interesting academic study of it here (don't let the "Comedy Gala" put you off...it's very enlightening):

;-P

M

 

[1930fordpickup]

Living on the southern side of Michigan I think the people in the UP have a Canadian accent. 

My cousin married a girl from Long Island NY and they now live in Nashville. He sounds the same as when he left here her on the other hand has a mixed up accent.   

[Agent G]

Most folks from St Louis have a fairly neutral accent. Get about 35-45 miles outside the city and wow, you'll need a hand book to decipher the speech. It's also divided between "Flat lander" and "Hillbilly". 

The biggest thing I've noticed all along is the pronunciation of words by St Louisans. With such a long rich history of French control, I still find it amazing to listen to the pronunciation of common French names and places.( I do speak a smattering of French as does MrsG.) 

I refer to it as Teutonic French LOL.

Auguste Chouteau was a founding father of the city. In St Louis, Chouteau is pronounced "SHOW' Toe". 

The city of Creve Coeur is a tony west county suburb. Say "Creeve Core"

Now for the Spanish influence. Juaniata Street. Yup you guessed it "June EE eta" 

Way too many to list here. The accents on the syllables are all wrong as well as the pronunciation. 

G

 

[SfanGoch]

We live in an amazing country. People in Europe can speak one or more languages in addition to their native tongues. Here, we can barely manage with just Engrish.

"Teutonic French"........got a nice ring to it.

In my neighborhood, there is Quay Street. Ask any ten people what "quay" means and you'll get ten wrong answers. A quay is a reinforced wharf, usually constructed with masonry, for the loading and unloading of ships. Those same people will pronounce it as "kway". Wrong again. It's pronounced "key".

Everybody is familiar with Baron Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben . Why, there's Steuben Glass, a Steuben County, NY and a Steuben Street in Brooklyn. Yet, nobody pronounces it correctly. Everybody and his brother pronounces it "Stoo-BENN". Everybody except Germans and German speakers who pronounce it "SHTOY-bin".

Then, there is the case of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Revolutionary War hero, designer of the fortifications at West Point and who, in addition to having a street in the Borough of Churches bearing his name, has both a mustard and bridge named in his honor. NOBODY can pronounce his name. Every traffic copter reporter says "Kos-KEE-os-ko". It's actually "Kos-Choos-ko". Don't get me started on the streets named after the original Dutch and French Huguenot settlers around here.  

 

 

Edited April 21, 2016 by SfanGoch

[Kit Basher]

In addition to accent, I find the pace of speech interesting. It seems we have an inner rhythm to how we converse. Fast talkers will finish sentences or step on sentences of slower talkers, because at their pace, they would have finished the sentence.  Slow talkers will pause before replying, because at their pace, they wouldn't expect a sentence to be finished that fast.

I think this is mostly unconscious, but it makes a difference in how we perceive people. Fast talkers are seen as pushy and rude, slow talkers as stupid.

 

[maltsr]

Was born in Texas, lived there for a short time before moving to Arizona, far as I am aware,  I do not have a Texan accent.

 

I was not aware that UK had different accents ,  that is very interesting.

I'm originally from West Yorkshire (where Matt Bacon lives) and speak with a northern accent.  The first time I visited the US, back in the eighties, locals thought I was from Australia, presumably because I don't have a 'BBC' accent and Australia was the first English-speaking country other than Canada that came to mind .

[Harry P.]

Then, there is the case of Tadeusz Kosciuszko... Every traffic copter reporter says "Kos-KEE-os-ko". It's actually "Kos-Choos-ko".

When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, we lived a half block away from the closest city park. The park was Kosciuszko Park. Guess how all us kids pronounced it?

Koz-ee-ES-ko. We had no idea what the correct pronunciation should be. In fact. 99% of the time we just called it "Koz" park.

[Rob Hall]

 

Everybody is familiar with Baron Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben . Why, there's Steuben Glass, a Steuben County, NY and a Steuben Street in Brooklyn. Yet, nobody pronounces it correctly. Everybody and his brother pronounces it "Stoo-BENN". Everybody except Germans and German speakers who pronounce it "SHTOY-bin".

 

And there is also Fort Steuben and Steubenville, Ohio...my hometown and the hometown of Dean Martin...both places also named after the Baron.

[sjordan2]

[sjordan2]

I'm originally from West Yorkshire (where Matt Bacon lives) and speak with a northern accent.  The first time I visited the US, back in the eighties, locals thought I was from Australia, presumably because I don't have a 'BBC' accent and Australia was the first English-speaking country other than Canada that came to mind .

There must be some validity to the skills of a linguist like Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady/Pygmalion), who could identify a Londoner's origin down to the neighborhood where he was born. They say the Cockney accent belongs to East Enders who were born within the sound of Bow bells.

Edited April 21, 2016 by sjordan2

[Agent G]

Funny story.

Back in the day the old desk sergeant orders a patrolman to 635 Kosciuszko for a report of a dead horse in the street. Seems a draft horse decided to pass away while on the job that day. Hours later the patrolman returns to the station completely disheveled and covered in muck and horse hair. The sergeant demands to know why he looks so filthy. The patrolman's reply " That BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH horse was on 6th street."

G