Accents

[Shangas]

I can understand a lot of those accents no one seems to, but I do have difficulty differencing and pin pointing any accent even the Australian accent and a New Zealand accent except for the fact those that live/d in the middle of Australia have a thicker accent (sometimes).

 

The differences between the Australian and New Zealand accents are quite marked once you get used to them.

 

New Zealanders tend to mix up their vowels.

 

A LOT.

 

A typical sentence with a really thick New Zealand accent is almost indecipherable to those who have never heard it.

 

Fur exemple, Nu Zullunders allus mex up their As, Es, Is, Os and Us. So Deck becomes dick, six becomes sex, fish becomes fush, Peg becomes pig, Chips becomes chups...

 

The list is almost endless. And it can be quite amusing.

 

Or annoying.

 

One of the big peculiarities about the Australian accent is that in a way, it's a bit like the American accent; the closer you get to the equator, the thicker it becomes. Maybe it has something to do with temperature and vocal viscosity? I dunno. By the time you reach Queensland, it's like speaking treacle, with a hardcore drawl.

 

"Yeeeeh gidday maayte. Owza gawn? Wedder rup 'ere's farrout buggehed up, yeh?"

 

Another forum which I frequent had a member which proposed that, due to the number of flies that inhabit equatorial regions, beings which inhabit these lands are forced to keep their mouths shut, and speak out of the corners of their lips, creating, in his own words: "an accent of necessity".

[Carol the Dabbler]

Fur exemple, Nu Zullunders allus mex up their As, Es, Is, Os and Us.

That sounds exactly like Peter Jackson!

 

Vowels seem to form a large part of most accents, don't they? I've already mentioned the tendency to say "pin" for "pen" (which southern Indiana seems to share with much of the southeastern US). And Australians say "die" for "day."

 

Not only can an accent itself cause confusion, attempting to make allowances for another person's accent can make things even worse. One day at the university research lab where I used to work, I was sharing a lunch table with the personnel lady and an Australian grad student. The Australian mentioned Vegemite, and the personnel lady asked her "What's Vegemate?"

 

 

One of the big peculiarities about the Australian accent is that in a way, it's a bit like the American accent; the closer you get to the equator, the thicker it becomes. Maybe it has something to do with temperature and vocal viscosity? I dunno. By the time you reach Queensland, it's like speaking treacle, with a hardcore drawl.

Right, like the southeastern American accent -- except that there, it's molasses!

 

 

Another forum which I frequent had a member which proposed that, due to the number of flies that inhabit equatorial regions, beings which inhabit these lands are forced to keep their mouths shut, and speak out of the corners of their lips, creating, in his own words: "an accent of necessity".

You may be thinking of SherLOCKED221's post from a few months back.

[Douglas]

Yes, I agree: John Hillerman was excellent in MAGNUM, P.I., with his british accent!

 

Also, the american actress, the late Lee Remick could put on a very good english accent.

[cumberholmes]

That's one of my skills, I can recognize almost any accent in English or Spanish. I like all accents, but I have a preference for the English and Australian accent. I had a professor who is from Pennsylvania, I like his accent. I love the accent of all England, I have no preference for place

[Ruthyone]

When CSI: NY was showing here and british actress Claire Forlani was 'Mac's girlfriend' - it annoyed me that her accent was 'so British' that it put me off her a bit. I would rather if US programmes have Brits on, they use more regional accents like in 'Frasier' where Jane Leeves had a northern accent (she is actually from Essex in the south!!). Some of our regional accents can be difficult to understand but if more slowlly spoken would be understood! I wait for an American actor to deliver a wonderful 'Yorkshire/Geordie/Liverpool accent!

[Alice Holmes]

Also, related but not really, I love that in the programme Doc Martin, the Cornwall accents are so incredibly toned down. In real life, you can't understand what half of them are saying.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Do you think that's because the actors have toned down their accents to be more understandable, or because that's not their natural accent?

 

I find it distracting when an actor reaches a bit too far when putting on an accent, so that it occasionally slips.  Much better in my opinion to merely "suggest" the accent, if that's what the actor can do reliably.

 

[Alice Holmes]

Well, true. Most of the actors on that programme aren't actually from Cornwall. Even so, the accent is very extreme. Just thought I'd express the opinion that some Cornwall accents can be difficult. :-/

[Ruthyone]

A number of Cornish folks settled in America, a few hundred years ago......... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_American

[aely]

There are also a bunch of Welsh people in Patagonia; the Welsh emigrated there originally in 1865 - Patagonian Welsh is the third main form of spoken Welsh in the world. Very appropriate subject for St David's day.

 

The English bits of my mum's family are from Cornwall and Somerset (the English bits of my dad's are Yorkshire and Liverpool). According to family tradition, I'm descended from a smuggling and wrecking family in one of the last Cornish speaking areas. As my great uncle and great grandfather were both sailors (they worked for the White Star line, great granddad being a captain on their big ships) I suppose the sea was still in their blood.

[Carol the Dabbler]

A number of Cornish folks settled in America, a few hundred years ago......... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_American

 

Thanks for that info, Ruthy.  They mention one area that I'd heard of before because my own surname is heavily represented there.  My name is clearly derived from a French word, but it's been -- I've always assumed -- anglicized.  Maybe it's actually cornishized?

 

[by the sea]

I really like this forum  !  There are so many interesting topics here.  I just want to point out that I'm a Canadian and have always said "prah-cess".  I used to watch the Dresden Files but it didn't last very long.  Paul Blackthorne is currently on Arrow but I've noticed the British sounds cropping up once or twice ... I'd never noticed it in Dresden.  (Harry Dresden is one of my favourite characters BTW. )  I met a fellow from Sweden once who told me that I had the most phonetically correct English accent he had ever heard.  I couldn't swear to his meaning  .  I'm a native of New Brunswick (having left in infancy and returned fairly recently) ... and some of us have regional accents ... but have also lived in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.  My mother is from Nova Scotia ... with no accent ... and my father was from Scotland but was a toddler when the family moved to Toronto and the only one in his house without a Scottish (Glasgow area) accent. 

 

I'm always astounded by the fact that a place as small as the British Isles can come up with so many different sounds for the same language.  Mr. Cumberbatch's lovely voice and wonderful diction epitomize the "perfect" British accent for me, although Ian Rankin's Eastern Scotland is quite nice, too.  I worked with a lady from Inverness once and her accent was lovely !   I find that I'm able to understand Australians most of the time but New Zealanders not quite so much.

 

Debbie

[Meyers]

Spending working time in Ackland New Zealand, one quickly picks up the unique accent. Your "Name" is "Nyme" and when you are "Happy" you are "Hippy".

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I'm a Canadian and have always said "prah-cess".

Interesting.  The only two Canadians I've know well enough to remember their pronunciation both said "proh-cess."  They were from an English-speaking suburb of Montreal, and British Columbia.  Do you say "ee-ther" or "eye-ther"?

 

I used to watch the Dresden Files ... Paul Blackthorne is currently on Arrow but I've noticed the British sounds cropping up once or twice ... I'd never noticed it in Dresden.

 

I agree, he does a really good American accent.  I was amazed when I found out (after watching Dresden) that he's British.

 

[by the sea]

 

 

Interesting.  The only two Canadians I've know well enough to remember their pronunciation both said "proh-cess."  They were from an English-speaking suburb of Montreal, and British Columbia.  Do you say "ee-ther" or "eye-ther"?

 

 

 

I had to think about this ... I say "eye-ther" but normally say "nee-ther" in the case of "neither nor".  Can't put my finger on language influences.  I guess I just like to be inconsistent !   

 

Debbie

[Meyers]

The big one is "aLUminum" as opposed to "aluMINium"

 

Meyers

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm a native of New Brunswick (having left in infancy and returned fairly recently) ... and some of us have regional accents ... but have also lived in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.  My mother is from Nova Scotia ... with no accent ... and my father was from Scotland but was a toddler when the family moved to Toronto and the only one in his house without a Scottish (Glasgow area) accent. 

 

I had to think about this ... I say "eye-ther" but normally say "nee-ther" in the case of "neither nor".  Can't put my finger on language influences.  I guess I just like to be inconsistent ! 

 

Well, you've moved around a good bit (and then returned home), as have I.  I've retained a basically Hoosier (Indiana) accent, but I've acquired bit and pieces of other regional pronunciations on my travels -- e.g., I now generally pronounce "roof" with a long-O sound instead of the vowel in "should," and I've pretty well broken myself of saying "woish" for "wash."  But some words can go either ("ee-ther") way, such as my "route" being sometimes "root" and sometimes "rowt."

[Carol the Dabbler]

The big one is "aLUminum" as opposed to "aluMINium"

 

Do some Canadians say "aluMINium"?  I think the ones I've known use British spelling, but (other than "zed") their speech wasn't particularly British.  Maybe we just never discussed that particular metal.

 

[Meyers]

Canadians, as a rule, use the same as the American pronounciation. The British (I am a displaced Brit) put the accent on the third syllable rather than the second syllable.

 

Meyers

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, right, I had forgotten you're a transplant.  Actually, it's not just the pronunciation, you could say that the words are different -- British has an additional little syllable (ending in "ium" instead of just "um").

 

[by the sea]

Yes, here in Canada we say " al-oom-in-um" and I'd say a lot of the pronounciation would be closer to American than British.  We say "zed" and spell things with "u"s in 'em ... like colour and harbour and neighbour ... in the British way ... but in terms of actual speech,  we're pretty much in tune with our neighbours (see, I even get to use it in a sentence  ) to the south.

 

Debbie

[Carol the Dabbler]

The Canadian Maritime accent sounds somewhat stronger to me than, say, the Ontario accent, but in general, the only way I can spot a Canadian accent is by the "ou" diphthong in words like "out" -- plus the use of "eh?" on the end of a sentence (where I'd say "isn't it?").

 

One could probably just say North American accents.  I hear far more difference between regional US accents (e.g., Alabama and Maine) than between the generic US and Canadian accents.

 

[by the sea]

The Canadian Maritime accent sounds somewhat stronger to me than, say, the Ontario accent, but in general, the only way I can spot a Canadian accent is by the "ou" diphthong in words like "out" -- plus the use of "eh?" on the end of a sentence (where I'd say "isn't it?").

 

One could probably just say North American accents.  I hear far more difference between regional US accents (e.g., Alabama and Maine) than between the generic US and Canadian accents.

 

There are probably more variations of Canadian accent in the Maritimes than anywhere else in the country.  People from Newfoundland/Labrador have much stronger accents than people from New Brunswick (with strong Irish overtones by my ear) as do natives of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.  But, again, here in NB, we have a large Acadian population in the northern part of the province and they speak French and heavily accented English.  Canadian French isn't like Parisian French and when native French speakers speak English, the accent isn't the romantic Sebastien Izambard sound.  I admit to being a frequent user of "eh?" ... in spite of many of my fellow Canadians finding it to be a bit of a stereotype.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, "eh?" does get the idea across, eh?

 

I suppose every region has its distinctive speech mannerisms, which is a good thing, because otherwise we'd all sound alike.  And that would be boring.

 

[by the sea]

Well, "eh?" does get the idea across, eh?

 

I suppose every region has its distinctive speech mannerisms, which is a good thing, because otherwise we'd all sound alike.  And that would be boring.

 

Yes, despite my friend in Sweden, everybody speaking phonetically correct English would be pretty dull.  And imagine all those local expressions ... none of them would be the same without the regional accent.