|
 |
Prestige dialects and General American | ||
Tags: Dialect | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Louis Triglot Groupie Italy Joined 5730 days ago 92 posts - 110 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish | Message 25 of 36 30 March 2009 at 6:49am | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't like the sound of "General American" at all. To me, a Bostonian, it sounds boring and almost monotonous. However, to any prospective learners of English, do NOT learn Bostonian English. I sound ridiculous whenever I travel anywhere and one of my friends (who moved to my area from Denmark) asked me what I did with all my r's!
For a sound sample (with some bad audio), see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbK4cL3QSc0 Keep in mind that this man is an educated, elected public official who talks in a way that is perfectly normal for this area. Also, the famous actor Ben Affleck from the Boston area and speaks about the Bostonian accent on a comedy show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi_OSHrBgM4&feature=related His comedy does not disappoint! Last one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDmwYz0_nUw&feature=related This man is not a Bostonian but pulls off the accent quite well. I don't want to say that that Bostonian accent is the most difficult to impersonate out of all the English accents... but you'd have a hahd time foolin' any utheez Bostonians if ya just tryn bothus! EDIT: Some vulgarity, but it's to be expected in Boston. :D Edited by Louis on 30 March 2009 at 6:52am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Alkeides Senior Member Bhutan Joined 6148 days ago 636 posts - 644 votes | Message 26 of 36 01 April 2009 at 11:52am | IP Logged | ||
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dltwlf18 Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5869 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Arabic (Written), Polish | Message 27 of 36 12 April 2009 at 2:20am | IP Logged | ||
|
I was born and raised in Connecticut and barely ever left the state until I graduated high school and before I left New England I never thought I had an accent. It wasn't until I started meeting people from other parts of the country that I noticed it, because almost everyone would be able to guess I was from New England from the way I talked.
I think the main difference between a New England accent and the "standard" American accent is the way we sometimes draw out our vowels. One of the biggest differences I noticed between me and people from other parts of the country is the way I pronounce the word "yeah", I (and everyone else I know back home) pronounces it more like ah-yuh, I know in some Stephen King movies you may hear people pronounce it that way (Stephen King is from New England and almost all his books take place there). The funny thing is I always thought that was a proper and normal way to pronounce it until I met people from outside New England. I think the midwest (especially the upper midwest) is generally more neutral (with some obvious exceptions like Chicago). You can easily tell if someone is from the South, Texas, or New England. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lootrock Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5752 days ago 18 posts - 21 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Mandarin, Arabic (Egyptian), Russian | Message 28 of 36 24 April 2009 at 3:40pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I've always found it strange that in many trips to Washington(mainly southern) I've never heard an accent, but if you go south 20 minutes to Portland, not even necessarily in the city, you can definitely tell; it sounds Canadian to me. Even in the Mid-Atlantic there are different accents, for example Baltimore, Maryland. They pronounce there ou's like the french "eu" and there O's at the end of words like the french u's, it's very strange and I have no idea where it comes from. I'm from South New Jersey(near philadelphia) and even in Jersey there are different accents. Like, around here we say wudder, not water, and I've noticed some people say warsh instead of wash and they also use it in reference to laundry, but I think that's from even further south Jersey. North Jersey is totally different from South Jersey, slang, accent is more like New
York, even the architecture is different. Slang is the easiest way to tell the differences to me because I'm so used to hearing different accents all the time I'm not always conscious of it. Another distinct accent that I think has been left out is the Oakland, California one. This one always makes me laugh and it sounds a bit southern to me. I don't remember who mentioned southern accents in California, but is this one of them? The rap group N.W.A. was from Oakland as well as the rapper Too $hort who has a verrry thick Oakland accent. They pronounce their i's as e's like steel instead of still, and when they pronounce words with "r" in it they sound quite strange, I don't know how to explain. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Pepino123 Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6055 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Danish, Russian, Arabic (Written) | Message 29 of 36 25 April 2009 at 12:23am | IP Logged | ||
I agree with this completely, it seems that no region in America is immune from some kind of accent that deviates from whatever "Standard American English" is, and the variations require a considerable amount of adjusting sometimes. Personally, I think some of the "Standard American" accents and pronunciations that I have heard just sound too plain and bland to me. This could be because I am from New York, but I am pretty sure that I don't have any hints of a New York accent. As more and more people are moving to different cities, I would argue that a good deal of blending has taken place and that one day in the nearer future those different types of blends will resemble a more standard pronunciation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| will72694 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5704 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 36 14 September 2009 at 7:41pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Sorry to add to such an old discussion, I just found it interesting. I am from the
south eastern United States (known for its "dialect" - there are actually hundreds of dialects and sub dialects) and I can say that people from the "Neutral" region sound neutral to me and other young people, but to older people there is a large difference. Southern accents are dying out in the younger generation (I've been told I sound like I'm from Minnesota, while I'm from North Carolina.) In the dialect of my granddad -- who is from rural North Carolina -- they actually write with a different standard than other varieties of English. For example, he may write "Ei don an bin to a lad tre teim heut," to mean "I've been to the store three times today." He doesn't do this as a mistake, it's how he was taught to spell by his parents. Many features of the dialects spoken around me are taken from Irish Gaelic and German spoken by immigrants of the 19th century. Irish influence has also entered into the phonology. It's an "if you're not from here, you won't understand it" thing. My grandparents, for example, cannot understand southern English from the coast of North Carolina and coastal people likewise. Sometimes my grandparents have to work like translators when one understands and the other doesn't. It's fascinating to me. You never read about stuff like this, though. General American is largely the only "dialect" variety I hear anymore, and I must admit that I actually speak it, although my parents don't. Edited by will72694 on 14 September 2009 at 7:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| quendidil Diglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 6312 days ago 126 posts - 142 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: Japanese | Message 31 of 36 18 September 2009 at 1:25pm | IP Logged | ||
That's very interesting. That sample you gave has features that are reminiscent of creoles. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lifted Bilingual Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 14 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: German, Polish, Latin, Russian | Message 32 of 36 27 September 2009 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'd encourage the original poster and anybody else who is interested in these two series:
Do You Speak American? -website: http://www.pbs.org/speak/ -A reporter goes on a road trip around the States and talks to people about their accents and variations of the English language. The Story of English -This series is difficult to find, but I think there are some clips on YouTube. I've never seen the actual series, but I have read the companion book. While the book was incredibly interesting, listening to examples of the accents being discussed in the text would be great, of course. The series discusses English from its 'inception' and deals with it as an international language, while covering most of the main variations into which it has spread (my memory is a bit hazy, but I remember reading a bit about a form of English spoken in India). ------- As to the general topic, I grew up in Florida, and consider myself to have a somewhat 'neutral' accent. I think this is because I grew up in the Orlando area, which attracts a lot of 'snow-birds' and retirees from other parts of the States. In many parts of Florida, however, a 'southern' accent is spoken; this is most true for the northern/north-central parts, I think. On any given day, I can speak to someone who has a 'southern' accent or a more 'neutral' accent. Down farther South, in the Miami area, I'm not sure. 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. |
