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Does the UK have its own language? | ||
Tags: United Kingdom (UK) | Accent | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| akprocks Senior Member United States Joined 5286 days ago 178 posts - 258 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 33 of 39 20 December 2012 at 10:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've heard that American English is staying more conservative while British English is undergoing rapid change. Anybody care to elaborate?
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| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4770 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 34 of 39 02 January 2013 at 2:14pm | IP Logged | ||
Murder on the dancefloor ['dɑːnsflɔː] — Sophie Ellis-Bextor You should also listen to other bands such as Texas, The Cure... 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Camundonguinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4749 days ago 273 posts - 500 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish Studies: Swedish | Message 35 of 39 03 January 2013 at 1:42am | IP Logged | ||
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Sophie is an exception to the rule.
Her pronunciation was parodied in the UK as ''Murder on Zidane's floor'' Furthermore, she's not a good example because she talk-sings. If someone is actually singing (like Spice Girls or Adele) instead of Keshaing/rapping, you can only hear their "pop accent." which is American for 99% of UK pop artists. Like once Oasis sang: [ænd æftɚ ɑ:l jɚ maɪ wʌndɚwɑ:l ]. Cherlyl Cole's Geordie accent was voted the sexiest British accent last year, but she does not use it in her songs. She was banned from the American idol because of her accent. She refused to put on an American accent in speech. Vernon Kay has had better luck, but still: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1332335/Skating -With-The-Stars-Vernon-Kays-accent-causes-problem-viewers.ht ml ''Skating With The Stars viewers struggle to understand Vernon Kay's northern accent as he tries to crack America'' Edited by Camundonguinho on 03 January 2013 at 5:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TobaccoSmoke Newbie England Joined 4374 days ago 16 posts - 21 votes | Message 36 of 39 03 January 2013 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
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It seems only British English accent that Americans are prepared to listen to is RP. Any other British accent is just regarded as obscure and frankly unintelligible.
I guess this is for two reasons, one, the only British accent most Americans will have ever heard is RP, courtesy of actors like Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. Secondly, regional accents are heard much less on American TV than British TV. In America, broadcasters, regardless of their regional accent are expected to speak with a General American accent. British TV on the other hand seems to encourage its broadcasters to speak with their regional accents, which is not really compatible with the ethos of American broadcasting. Basically, to most Americans, RP IS British English. Any other accent just sounds non-native to their ears. The only other regional British English accent that most Americans are aware of is Cockney, although, usually only through some Dick Van Dyke-esque interpretation of it and not through ever actually hearing it spoken by a native. Edited by TobaccoSmoke on 03 January 2013 at 2:15am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Camundonguinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4749 days ago 273 posts - 500 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish Studies: Swedish | Message 37 of 39 03 January 2013 at 2:55am | IP Logged | ||
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Nah, I think it's because in popular movies like H. Potter or Lord of the Rings...
the most used (if not the only one used) British accent is RP. If characters of the Harry Potter and LOTR franchises spoke with a broad London accent, or with a Bristol accent (similar to that of Vicky Pollard), people all around the world would be more familiar with nonRP accents... Edited by Camundonguinho on 03 January 2013 at 2:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vonPeterhof Tetraglot Senior Member Russian FederationRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4772 days ago 715 posts - 1527 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Japanese, German Studies: Kazakh, Korean, Norwegian, Turkish | Message 38 of 39 03 January 2013 at 8:29am | IP Logged | ||
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| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4622 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 39 of 39 03 January 2013 at 10:08am | IP Logged | ||
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When I was a small boy, my parents took us on holiday to a caravan park in the north of England. My brother
and I started kicking a ball around and two local lads came over to join in. I genuinely had no idea what these boys were saying as I'd never heard a Geordie accent in my life before, despite living just 150 miles up the road. You didn't hear thick regional accents on kids TV back then, not northern ones at any rate. Of course, a native speaker can tune into a strange accent after a while, but initially I was completely baffled. So I'm not surprised that American TV audiences found Cheryl Cole hard to understand. But there has to be give and take on both sides. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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