Do you have a strong regional accent?

[Daniela]

I don't have a southern accent, even though I grew up in the suburbs outside of Atlanta. This may be because my parents are from Argentina, though. Conversations at home were frequently in Spanglish, although in recent years my parents speak Spanish with me very rarely. I think they try to practice their English as much as possible when I'm with them.

So...do ya'll have accents?

[Gemme]

No! Despite growing up in the dirty South (MS, a few minutes from the Miss-Lou bridge). I spent a lot of time in FL and then WA and TX and I'm now in RI so I have a lot of other regional influences on my speech. When I'm around fellow Southerners it comes out a bit more but only really comes out when I'm exhausted or visiting with relatives down home. When I'm in the South, my speech pattern slows down too.

When my customers find out where I'm from, they are often very surprised at my lack of a distinguishable accent.

[Orema]

Originally Posted by Daniela

I don't have a southern accent, even though I grew up in the suburbs outside of Atlanta. This may be because my parents are from Argentina, though. Conversations at home were frequently in Spanglish, although in recent years my parents speak Spanish with me very rarely. I think they try to practice their English as much as possible when I'm with them.

So...do ya'll have accents?

I have a soft southen drawl even though I grew up north of the Mason-Dixon line. My parents were from the south and their language is my langauge.

(I work hard not to code switch because I suspect unhealthy subconscious signals are sent. I have no evidence of yhis, it's just a sneaky suspicion.)

[Daniela]

Interesting...it seems there are a lot of native Southerners here. People often do seem surprised to find out you're from the south if you have no detectable accent, at least based on my experience in Jersey City.

[clay]

Yes, I "shore do, ma'am!" Lol. As a Southerner (SC) , I do and I am reminded of it often!

[MrSunshine]

No matter where I go people ask about my accent.

I grew up in Detroit

[princessbelle]

I grew up in the South and still reside here. I used to have a very strong accent. I think the older i get the less of an accent i have. However, when i get tired, sleep or cranky, it tends to come out more.

Edited for clarification:
Sure do have an accent, just not an overly strong one.

I consider mine a relatively generic northern UK accent which can fluctuate depending on who I'm spending a lot of time around.

[RNguy]

I very much do have a strong Appalachian accent .
I was born and raised 5 minutes away from both West Virginia and Kentucky so I definitely sound Appalachian .

[MsTinkerbelly]

Born, raised, and still live in California.

No accent

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

Born, raised, and still live in California.

No accent

Just an American one

[Daniela]

Originally Posted by Daktari

Just an American one

Right...we tend to forget that, here in the States. I also have a "generic" American accent.

Can you usually detect regional accents on Americans? I can't distinguish between different types of British accents. Sometimes it takes me a little while to tell whether it's Australian, South African or British.

[Gráinne]

I grew up in Ohio, now live in Arkansas for several years. I get people guessing I'm from Michigan or Wisconsin, never the South. I did one of those linguistic tests once and obviously came out "Upper Midwest". However, if I'm very tired, a few picked-up Southernisms come out and I sound like a muted Scarlett O'Hara from Cleveland.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Daniela

Right...we tend to forget that, here in the States. I also have a "generic" American accent.

Can you usually detect regional accents on Americans? I can't distinguish between different types of British accents. Sometimes it takes me a little while to tell whether it's Australian, South African or British.

That's an interesting question. I know here in Montreal, Anglophones can tell immediately I'm from Boston while Francophones mostly cannot.

Originally Posted by Daniela

Right...we tend to forget that, here in the States. I also have a "generic" American accent.

Can you usually detect regional accents on Americans? I can't distinguish between different types of British accents. Sometimes it takes me a little while to tell whether it's Australian, South African or British.

I can only really detect general areas of some accents. Mainly due to tv and fillums.

I can usually tell the difference between a Canadian and American accent.

There are just as many regional accents and lingo here as there are there. I'd say more folks sound Downtown Alley than Downton Abbey, but then I would say that, I'm a "...up t'back ginnel" northerner!

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/de...english/ginnel

[Femmadian]

Do I have a regional accent? Of course. Everyone does (even my American friends who try to say they don't).

Whether it's strong or not depends on who you ask I suppose. Most Americans tend to be able to pick up on it as just generally Canadian. People from the UK often assume I'm American () and most other Canadians can tell I'm from somewhere on the East Coast.

In casual conversations I also tend to talk at a fast clip which I'm told is a fairly regional thing. Americans often tell me to slow down, especially those from the deep South. Out here "our" sounds like "are" and "right" sounds like "rate." The D's and G's in words like "old" and "going" are usually dropped. R's towards the end of words like "car" and "dart" sound a bit hard and I have a friend originally from BC who says all Maritimers sound like pirates, especially when drunk. I guess?

I think it would be neat if people were to include a little video clip of an example of their regional accent. Mine would probably be closest to Sarah McLachlan in the early days before she started really sounding like a Vancouverite.



I've had a couple people from Toronto ask me if I was originally from Newfoundland. (cue jokes about Toronto )

For those not familiar with that regional accent, here is an example:


Not. Me.
(though I really like it!)

I love this thread! I often wonder what the voices of the people I'm talking to here actually sound like!

[imperfect_cupcake]

I have a mess of an accent. Several places.

But, I have a low, husky tone, FM radio announcer type voice (one of my exes said it's similar to Kathleen Turner's) with punctuated upper middle class articulate pronunciations (theatric, I suppose) and a soft hint of London that floats in and out as I speak.

When I had been in the UK for ten years my accent was so baffling to people they could not tell where the hell I was from. I got asked if I was scottish, australian, welsh, New Zealand.... ?

Amused the hell out of me.

[girlin2une]

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

Born, raised, and still live in California.

No accent

I have a good friend who is from California and he most definitely has an accent to me.

[Kelt]

I remember conversations in the seventies about how broadcast news and the increased watching of television was ruining the regional differences in the US, and homogenizing the country culturally. I think it's happening, the differences are fading more all the time. I like it when I hear dialects and differing word usages, mostly folks from other countries. Helps me get out of my own little box.

I sound west coast/PNW/Canadian (western), at least that's what I'm told.

*Really glad I didn't end up sounding like Walter Cronkite*

[Kätzchen]

I am not sure that I have much of a regional accent. My voice is soft, more a long the vibrational sound of an alto. Slightly smokey. Sometimes people will ask where I am from, trying to place me where they think I might belong.... but even then, I dont think my voice belongs to a regional place known for 'accents'.

I do have quite a few relatives in the south (Texas, Tennessee, Carolina areas and a few other southern/mid-western regions), but I was born and raised in Idaho.

I am a resident of the Pacific Northwest, of many years now.