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Regionalism and Cultural misunderstanding

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
10 messages over 2 pages: 1
alcina
Groupie
United Kingdom
Joined 6708 days ago

51 posts - 54 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, Italian

 
 Message 9 of 10
02 November 2006 at 10:53am | IP Logged 
Journeyer wrote:
Is it the southern parts of a country, in most places? As was pointed out above, the Southern accent in the US is looked down upon. Here where I'm living, in Germany, Bavarian German (which is in the south) is often described as not the prettiest, but I'm not sure it's the same thing as how it would be in the US.


No it's not always the southern part of the country that's looked down upon. In Britain the nothern parts are looked down upon as "uneducated" and "common". However if you want one accent that is viewed (for some unknown reason) as "the most stupid sounding" in Britain it would be a Black Country accent which is actually based towards the west of the middle of England!

Even within cities you generally get a north and south (or east/west) divide that denotes culture/non culture. Here in London "South of the River" is generally viewed as poor and uncultured. In Dublin (Eire), "North of the River" is viewed as poor and uncultured.

Stereotypes happen. Rightly or wrongly!

Alcina
1 person has voted this message useful



Z23146
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 6650 days ago

19 posts - 19 votes
Speaks: English*, German

 
 Message 10 of 10
07 November 2006 at 6:57pm | IP Logged 
To my knowledge there is only one dialect of Icelandic, which only has around 300,000 speakers, but it is not regional. There is a dialect spoken by young people which has developed in the last century.

I live in the South(US) so I have a bit to say about the "Southern accent". Most people from other parts of the country don't realize that there are many variations of English in the South. The most stereotyped accent is the typical county-bumpkin type that exists in rural areas. I am very familiar with that one since I live in a rural area. There is also the accent spoken by the upper class in bigger Southern cities like Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, which I find charming. There is also a very distinct accent in the Appalachain Mountains which is spoken more quickly and sometimes even at a higher than normal pitch. I hear that one every time I visit my relatives in the mountains.

I have always been interested in my father's accent, which I believe developed because his family constantly moved. My grandfather was a Methodist preacher so he moved to a new town every six years. They lived in every part of the state, from the mountains to the coast, and my dad has some kind of hybrid accent with elements of various different ones.

I and most people in my age group (teens) have no Southern accent however. This may have something to do with more exposure to television and the standard American way of speaking. At least I won't have to worry about being looked down upon when in New York or any other Northern city.
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