What kind of accent do you have?

This is weird, I know, but when I wake in the morning, I have a sort of French accent, like Claudine Longet.
Strange because I lived in California, Montana, Colorado, Alaska and New Mexico.
Must be from a past life but it seems most comfortable to me.

One man said he was an expert in dialects and could guess exactly where I came from.
He said "Texas!" I said, "Well, Close! Montana!"

It's strange, isn't it?
 
hollydolly said:
you know what ?.. I swear every American and Canadian I've spoken to on here and in real life swear they have no accent... :D
Click to expand...
I definitely do not have an accent. At a booth on the boardwalk in Long Beach, CA, some guy said he could guess within 3 states where one came from. If he was wrong, one won a huge stuffed toy. So, I took him on. He gave me a paper with several sentences written on it, and it was full of r's. I smiled to myself and promptly read it. He thought I came from Michigan. Did not believe I was from NJ until I showed him my driver's license. I walked away with a big panda bear.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Ferr shurre, we all have accents. No, you only think you don't. If you don't think you have an accent, that means your speech is exactly like all the people, who surround you. So, when you leave that area, low and behold, you have an accent. As a kid from Massachusetts, I had a "Boston" accent. Now I live in N.E. Pennsylvania, I talk like the locals. For "coffee", I say "cough-fee". Right across the river is New Jersey, they say "caw -fee", and they don't think they have an accent, either. I love accents. What kind of accent do you have? Got some favorites?
BTW, one of the weird things about accents is that we don't pick up the accents of our parents, or adults, we pick up the accent of the kids in our neighborhood. How they talk, we copy.
Click to expand...
I have a South Texas accent, even though I'm also told I have a midwestern accent. <Shrug>

I remember when I took a vacation in London in 1978, and I researched for the trip including apparel, and even eating like a European (Fork in left hand). I guess my research worked as I went to restaurants and nobody was the wiser, until I opened my mouth.......followed by the server's shake of the head and look of surprise. The next question was always "From where in the states did you come?".
 
Cockney, through and through. I sound like Michael Caine on a bad day. To be fair though, I no longer drop the letter "T" when it's at the end of a word, nor run one word into another. In London you will here the word "what" pronounced "whah!" Or, mingle two words, for example: "What's that?" will sound more like: "Wossah!" Another Cockney trait is to emphasise a statement with the ending: "Know what I mean?" But it comes out: "Nowotimean." In that case the T is pronounced because it's followed by a vowel. It's a remark that I steer clear of. Know what I mean?
 
i'm not sure i know the difference between an accent and a dialect? i thought an accent was kind of the result of another language... like someone born/raised in say France speaking English. kinda thought the differences in how words are pronounced in different areas in same country was a dialect. i'm not far from Philly so i drink wooder... not wahter.;)
 
I have a strong Scottish accent, although I have lived longer out,
than in Scotland, I was told that it takes a strong character to keep
his accent.

Any time I visited Scotland, they, who didn't know me , called me
the "Big Englishman".

I do have the ability to mimic other accents, of the English language,
in other languages I only have one accent.

Mike.
 
wcwbf said:
i'm not sure i know the difference between an accent and a dialect? i thought an accent was kind of the result of another language... like someone born/raised in say France speaking English. kinda thought the differences in how words are pronounced in different areas in same country was a dialect. i'm not far from Philly so i drink wooder... not wahter.;)
Click to expand...
Accent is about the sounds, dialect is about the words/phrases.
 
I cannot "hear" my accent. People in CA thought I might be from NYC. But that's a real exaggeration. My state being southern New England does not drop the R like northern New England. So I don't know how to describe it other than "no accent", LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top