Question of The Day. Saturday 19th of November

Norachan said:

 
Do you mean me? I'm actually British.

How about in Australia? It's a huge place but to my untrained ear people speak with the same accent whichever part of Australia they're from. Do you notice any regional dialects?

Click to expand...

The first time I open up about how strange I find this question and I mistake the poster for an American, typical.  I apologise.

Australians have an Australian accent except those who, like my sister, have trained themselves out of it. She hated the way she sounded when she went to live in England several decades ago. 

There are three types of accent, general, cultivated and broad. The majority of us speak general, broad is considered to be working class (think Steve Irwin), cultivated is generally considered to be spoken by actors (think Cate Blanchett), broadcasters (although this "rule" has relaxed over the years) the upper middle class and upper class. 

DreamerRose said:

If you are really interested in accents, catch up with Alan Cumming sometime. He has the most awesome ability to speak in varied and spot-on accents. He's pure American in The Good Wife, standard British introducing Masterpiece Theater, and such authentic-sounding Scots that it's hard to understand him.

Click to expand...

Alan Cumming is amazing in all sorts of ways. 

I guess I have a North London accent (I grew up in the London suburbs, though I now live in Yorkshire). Never really though about it much :dk:

moorspede said:

 
The first time I open up about how strange I find this question and I mistake the poster for an American, typical.  I apologise.

Click to expand...

That's OK, no offence taken.

Norachan said:

I moved from one tiny island country to another and I've found the situation is pretty much the same in Japan as it was in the UK. Drive to a town 20 miles away and there is a noticeable difference in the way people speak.

How about in Australia? It's a huge place but to my untrained ear people speak with the same accent whichever part of Australia they're from. Do you notice any regional dialects?

Click to expand...

It's funny, but Britain seems to have far more accents than the U.S., meaning you go down the road a couple of miles in the UK and hear a marked difference, but there's very little variation within an entire region of the U.S.. There's less diversity in Germany, too, though more than in the States.

I was born and raised in NY so I guess I still have an accent but it's not as obvious as it used to be unless you me off. Then it's out in full force.

Oh so incredibly pure Brooklyn 

Mamanyt1953 said:

 
Oh, yes.  I have a pronounced South Georgia drawl.  Now, most people think that there is just a "southern drawl," but anybody from the south can pretty much tell where in the south you are from just by your accent.  And oddly, both south Georgia and North Alabama are very similar...they are soft accents.  North Georgia and south Alabama are far more "twangy," and have some things in common with Arkansas and the Carolinas.  And Savannah, Georgia has an accent unlike any other,  I can tell a Savannah native within one or two sentences.

But, yes...I'm from Gowhgah, and I can DRAWL, ya'll.

Be advised..."ya'll" is ALWAYS plural, "all ya'll" is an inclusive plural indicating a degree of emphasis, as in "Are ALL ye'll going in that one little ol' car?" or, "If you don't hush, I'm gonna beat ALL YA"LL"S fannies!"

The singular of "ya'll" is "Darlin'," "Hon," "Sweetie," or "Sugah."

Click to expand...

I've always wanted to hear a real life person (as opposed to a character in a movie) say "ya'll". A few years ago I went to my sister's wedding in New York and one of the guests said "Oy vay". My head just about exploded with joy! I'd been wanting to hear that expression for so long.

I don't have many ambitions in life, but hearing a proper Southern drawl is one of them.

When I moved here people would ask where I was from and I'd say "New York."  And they'd say "Oh! What part!?" And I'd say "Central."  And they'd say "But you don't SOUND like it?" And I'd look at them like they had 3 eyeballs and wondering what exactly I was supposed to sound like.  It was very annoying to learn that when you say New York people think New York City. If I were from say Brooklyn or Yonkers I'd say it.  But then they probably wouldn't have asked me the question in the first place.
I still have a little bit of that region's accent; but it doesn't stand out.  My Grandmother was an avid reader and particular about pronouncing things properly.  I picked a lot up from her.  Our word choices would be what makes us stand out as being from that region.  I've also spent a lot of my life with other military brats and military transplants; so I'm always around a hodge podge of accents.

The strangest one to me is my in-law's accents.  DH and his sisters were raised in Tennessee. MIL is originally from Alabama and has a good sweet southern accent.  So does one SIL.  DH's father was originally from Florida and has a different accent; mildly southern but mostly not.  Other SIL was a bit more southern than FIL but not as southern as MIL or my other SIL.  DH; no accent.    

I have my unusual Southeastern Massachusetts/Rhode Island accent. I've traveled within New England and have been asked where in the world I am from. :lol3:

Norachan said:

 
I've always wanted to hear a real life person (as opposed to a character in a movie) say "ya'll". A few years ago I went to my sister's wedding in New York and one of the guests said "Oy vay". My head just about exploded with joy! I'd been wanting to hear that expression for so long.

I don't have many ambitions in life, but hearing a proper Southern drawl is one of them.

Click to expand...

Well,..I have no idea about phone rates from Japan, but PM  me if you want mine, and I'll drawl at you anytime!

@Norachan- You might hear  her drawl if you call her, but it's not likely you will hear her say "y'all." "Y'all" is the second person plural. The second personal singular is "you."

Now if the Puritans hadn't taken "thou" and "thee" out of the language, we wouldn't have this problem, "you guys," as they say up here in the Nawth.

DreamerRose said:

 
@Norachan- You might hear her drawl if you call her, but it's not likely you will hear her say "y'all." "Y'all" is the second person plural. The second personal singular is "you."

Now if the Puritans hadn't taken "thou" and "thee" out of the language, we wouldn't have this problem, "you guys," as they say up here in the Nawth.

Click to expand...

Unless it's youse. 

My grandma used to say toilet as terlet. Brooklyn girl to the core. 

Accents are weird! I emigrated from London to NYC almost 40 years ago (12/4/16). I spent a decade in midtown Manhattan & 30 years so far in Connecticut. I have not returned to England since 1998. Yet at least once a week I say two words to a complete stranger & he asks where in England I am from.

Another funny thing is that if I got a dollar for every time someone has said I have a beautiful voice I would be a millionaire. But, to me, my voice is hideous. So flat & monotonous. When I hear playbacks of my voice it makes me cringe.

i think my strongest accent is a New York accent -- upstate, not NYC area accent. i've been told that i talk faster than those from other areas/states. but i've lived in quite a few different states, so have also picked up bits of accents and/or ways of speaking from those areas. for example, i use y'all on an occasional but regular basis.

mickNsnicks2mom said:

i think my strongest accent is a New York accent -- upstate, not NYC area accent. i've been told that i talk faster than those from other areas/states. but i've lived in quite a few different states, so have also picked up bits of accents and/or ways of speaking from those areas. for example, i use y'all on an occasional but regular basis.

Click to expand...

I love how New Yorkers speak. It's my favorite American accent. Dawg and cawfee are my faves.

Kat0121 said:

 
Unless it's youse. 

Click to expand...

I think I've heard people from Liverpool say "youse". The Liverpudlian for you is "La", I believe

Norachan said:

Kat0121 said:

 
Unless it's youse. :lol3:

Click to expand...

I think I've heard people from Liverpool say "youse". The Liverpudlian for you is "La", I believe

:nod:

Click to expand...

"Youse" is a Geordie word too. It certainly sounds familiar to me (the local accent round here is a mix of Geordie and Yorkshire - we're pretty close to Tyneside here).

Columbine said:

"Youse" is a Geordie word too. It certainly sounds familiar to me (the local accent round here is a mix of Geordie and Yorkshire - we're pretty close to Tyneside here).

Click to expand...

Youse is very Irish. Very Boston and Brooklyn, NY.

I think that shows just how similar language (especially dialect words) can be, despite sometimes vast distances. The way language evolves and developed has always fascinated me, though :nod: