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Most Prestigious Spanish Dialect | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5379 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 57 of 63 19 May 2013 at 1:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes, there is definitely a distinct "NPR accent" that is quite different. To me it sounds British, but maybe it is something different. It also sounds a bit like William F. Buckley (whatever his accent was, I don't know).
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| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5964 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 58 of 63 22 May 2013 at 5:53am | IP Logged | |||||
I'd like to hear an example of it. The accent I hear on NPR sounds to me like my own accent, General American. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5379 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 59 of 63 24 May 2013 at 3:07am | IP Logged | |||||
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The only shows on NPR I have listened to are "fresh air" and "all things considered" (and some local shows). Those shows have pretty good examples of the "NPR accent." I think there is someone named Linda Wertheimer who sounds "NPR-ish." Maybe you could try listening to one of the NPR shows and then switch to a normal radio station? The accent should be quite noticeable (or at least it is to me and many people I know). Perhaps it is more of a tone of voice or method of emphasis than truly an "accent."
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| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4554 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 60 of 63 26 May 2013 at 11:21am | IP Logged | |||||
I'm frankly astounded that any American would claim that the announcers on NPR sound "General American." I grew up in Ohio, have traveled extensively throughout the country, lived on both coasts, and I'm quite certain that the NPR accent is not standard (or even spoken by a sizable minority) anywhere.The phrase "NPR accent" is also one I've heard many times before this thread; whenever the subject of NPR comes up, someone is likely to say something about the distinctive way their announcers speak. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gallo1801 Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 4906 days ago 164 posts - 248 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Arabic (Written), Croatian, German, French | Message 61 of 63 26 May 2013 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
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On Topic: I have been a Spanish speaker for almost half of my young life, and have
noticed that generalizations about people based on accents are pretty equal. There are stereotypes of the different way people talk, but there is not an agreed upon accent that hispanophones agree that is the most educated or the sexiest. I love the accents of the Caribbean and find them sexy; I have Mexican friends that find them lower-class sounding. I don't like the Mexican accent but love Argentina's, while I know Argentines that love the Spanish and Cuban but don't like Venezuelan... The only caveat I have to this is that from living in Spain what I observed was that within the country itself the Madrid/Castillian accent is the prestige dialect. The lilt of Galicians or the various accents of Andalusians mark you are 'regional' and many people in Andalusia, namely my professors, attempted to make their speech more Madrid-like as to sound more refined. But to a Mexican or Chilean, Madrid, Andalusia and Barcelona just seem "Spanish" and neither of them is worse or better, just different. On NPR: NPR announcers definitely don't have a GA accent. (I am born and bred from Central Ohio; you cannot get more accentless than that.) The NPR accent is most closely a cultivated accent that is a modern take on mid-century announcer speech, which was an evolution of the aristocratic trans-atlantic accent of the early 20th century. Listen to any American 1950's non-fiction speech or early talkies and imagine that same style of speech but aged until today and you can see the connection and the reason they sound so distinct. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5842 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 62 of 63 27 May 2013 at 1:03am | IP Logged | |||||
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I heard that Mexican Spanish sounds very odd to Spanish people, but that they like Argentinian Spanish. That doesn't necessarily mean anything.
I mean "most prestigious" in the eyes of whom? The reason the Spanish like Argentinian is probably because it's likely the most Castillian sounding Spanish in Latin America... right? Personally I have heard Colombian Spanish spoken quite a bit and I think it sounds very nice indeed. Nicer than Castillian Spanish perhaps. But I am not a native speaker and my comprehension is not very good, so I guess my vote is neither here nore there!!! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5842 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 63 of 63 27 May 2013 at 1:18am | IP Logged | |||||
That explains a lot! I am often surprised at how "American" and foreign "real" Americans sound. As opposed to the endless Americans you see on TV who speak a sort of "neutral" American, similarly news readers on international channels. During my super brief business trip to USA (Kansas City!!) I was actually struggling to understand some people. Podcasts are another way of hearing Americans sound like themselves, not the "practiced" version. Fully of strong accents and unfamiliar expressions and a very different way of speaking. Different humour and always so very self-assured. Then someone in this thread said that the same goes on in the Spanish speaking world of entertainment and news. What about Latin American news networks? Is there any channel that is viewed across Latin America? Like they have in the Arabic speaking world for example? What kind of accents do they put on there? For obvious reasons I like whoever speaks Spanish slowly and articulates clearly. That is not true for Madrilenos, for example. And I agree with those who said that the the lisping sound is not very attractive. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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