|
 |
Prestige dialects and General American | ||
Tags: Dialect | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Linglot Bilingual Octoglot Newbie Spain Joined 6052 days ago 23 posts - 26 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan*, French, English, Esperanto, Portuguese, Italian, Galician Studies: Russian, German, Occitan, Greek, Basque, Romanian, Polish, Arabic (Written), Dutch, Swedish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 1 of 36 02 August 2008 at 1:03pm | IP Logged | ||
|
It seems that in most languages the prestige dialect is that of the capital or biggest city, or at least based on it, as big cities have a tendency to create microdialects of their own.
However, I'd like to know why it doesn't happen to be so in General American. I've recently read (warning, in Wikipedia) that the only area apparently free of regional features is the one from Eastern Nebraska (Omaha) through southern Iowa(Des Moines) to western Illinois (not Chicago) and that this is perceived by Americans as a neutral accent. Is that true at all? I just don't know, it sounds somewhat weird to me, but I'd like to hear about it by native speakers. Well, I'd also like to know opinions about impressions on the 'prestige' dialect(s) of other languages. Here in Spain, for instance, there is no established prestige dialect, but in practice North-Central Castilian is the base for the one used in the media (even in the local media of southern Spain), and the one which is taught in bilingual regions and in foreign countries to those who're learning 'European Spanish'. But at the same time the capital, Madrid, has an accent slightly different to the one of the media. I think it's the same in Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing... but I'd like to know a bit more about it. Edited by Linglot on 09 August 2008 at 8:19am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ElfoEscuro Diglot Senior Member United States cyworld.com/brahmapu Joined 6289 days ago 408 posts - 423 votes  Speaks: Portuguese, English* Studies: Japanese | Message 2 of 36 03 August 2008 at 12:12am | IP Logged | ||
It's true. I live in that region and the standard dialect here is practically identical to General American. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crossing Newbie United States Joined 6001 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 3 of 36 03 August 2008 at 11:56am | IP Logged | ||
|
Hmm that sounds about right. Although you will find a neutral accent throughout most of the country. As long as you avoid large cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago, as well as the South and Texas, then most likely you will be hearing General American. National television and an immigrant history has prevented the creation of too many accents in America.
Oh,and Des Moines is in Iowa, not south Nebraska, but its the same area pretty much. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6034 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 4 of 36 03 August 2008 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | ||
|
This is a very interesting topic. I'm particularly curious about British accents from Wales, Northern England, Scotland etc. There is a lot of deviation from that standard "BBC-English." I wonder if some of the regional varieties of British English are perceived as prestigious or the opposite.
[edit] It seems I've overlooked the topic of this thread, it's about American English but let's expand it a bit if it's not any trouble... :). Edited by Sennin on 03 August 2008 at 2:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| foreignwords Triglot Newbie Taiwan hebrewexperiment.blo Joined 5955 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Russian Studies: Cantonese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Taiwanese | Message 5 of 36 06 August 2008 at 9:41pm | IP Logged | ||
|
It's interesting to consider geographical differences in speech. In America, the most noticeable difference (in my opinion) is in regard to colloquialisms themselves rather than an accent, per se. As an example, a carbonated soft drink is called any number of different things depending on one's background in the States. It could be a soda, pop, or they could just all be Cokes, like here in the South.
I tend to disagree with the statement that there are few accents in American speech. The country can very easily be divided into its four corners: NE, NW, SE, SW and in many areas divided even further. New England has accents very specific to different areas, and (being that I'm FROM here) the accents in the Deep South can be easily recognized by natives (South Carolina vs Alabama vs Georgia vs Texas vs Louisiana.) However, the variance in American accents does not hold a candle to that found in the UK, for example, as was mentioned earlier. I spent a few months in the UK (predominantly in Belfast and London) and even as a foreigner, it didn't take long to begin to differentiate where INSIDE Belfast this person was from based on their accents. Anyone read Pygmalion? Many Londoners think nothing of pinpointing someone's accent to a pretty specific area, and they DO carry reputations of being more or less desirable. Edited by foreignwords on 06 August 2008 at 9:42pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Linglot Bilingual Octoglot Newbie Spain Joined 6052 days ago 23 posts - 26 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan*, French, English, Esperanto, Portuguese, Italian, Galician Studies: Russian, German, Occitan, Greek, Basque, Romanian, Polish, Arabic (Written), Dutch, Swedish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 6 of 36 09 August 2008 at 8:26am | IP Logged | ||
|
Oops, sorry about Nebraska for Iowa, edited!
Thanks for your comments, I didn't know what to think about the 'neutral' Omaha-Des Moines area. So does all the Western area of the country have a similar accent? I would have thought of big cities like LA or San Francisco to have a more distinctive one, I don't know why. By the way, talking about accents from other countries is not off topic at all! :) My question was about the General American just because I was a bit surprised about the 'neutral area'. Edited by Linglot on 09 August 2008 at 8:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6659 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 7 of 36 11 August 2008 at 1:29pm | IP Logged | ||
|
If there are any different accents in the weatern part of the USA, the differences are much more subtle than they are farther east.
San Francisco and Los Angeles both have many residents from many different parts of the USA and many immigrants, so the variety of English you hear has many non-local influences. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6691 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 8 of 36 01 March 2009 at 1:39am | IP Logged | ||
Why is that? Most countries have national television and how exactly has immigrant history affected it? 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
