Hatrack River Forum: Which accent is yours?

This is topic Which accent is yours? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

accent database for english

I can't seem to match mine, but I lived in a lot of places as a kid.

Anyone hear something that sounds like them?

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

I can't match mine exactly, but sounds closest to Winnipeg and Calgary, which is not surprising since I'm from western Canada.

My parents both had plautdeutsch as their native language and didn't learn English until later in school, so their accent, and therefore mine somewhat, is affected by that. That, and moving around a lot when I was a kid.

Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :

I can't match my accent, which is standard RP english (BBC english), exactly on that site either. It's more like a mixture between their examples of Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire than anything else on there. But my mother is Scottish, and since she taught me to speak, that's affected how I pronounce some words.

It's amazing how you never realise how much of an accent you have until you move somewhere else - until I spent time in America and Canada, and then moved up to the north of England, I never really thought about it.

Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :

Fascinating. I just spent an hour listening to it all around the world.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

This one is closest to my accent. It is a New York accent. If you are actually from New York, you can also discern that the speaker is educated, upper class and white, and most likely not of Jewish or Italian heritage, but those things are pretty subtle.

My accent is not quite this, but the differences are minor.

Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :

We finally placed my accent recently. Everybody comments on how I have one (even when I'm at home). However, an Irish lady in my Latin class was convicned that I had to be Irish, as was a Scotch fellow I heard lecture recently. So we figure my accent is probably a mixture of Irish and Canadian. So yeah, I couldn't quite match it there, but that is a very fun site.

Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :

I'm actually going to submit my sample. There is already someone from San Diego, but I'm originally from Imperial Valley so I'll try to place my flag there.

Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :

Cool. Is anyone else noticing that the regional accents are more distinct when the speaker is older?

--j_k

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

Not surprisingly, I sound a lot like this guy from Utah.

Posted by Shawshank (Member # 8453) on :

I've been told I sound like I'm from New England or from the north in general. I place this mostly on the fact that my mom grew up in Michigan and my dad grew up around Nashville but doesn't sound southern.

Now having lived in TN for almost 20 years, I can sound pretty southern at times- particularly at emotional- either excited or upset times.

Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :

Huh, there's no Oceania region available on the map. I'd upload a sample for Hawaii, but I have no mic. [Frown]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

I think I sound a lot like him, but I'm willing to bet money that those who have met me will disagree.

I already know that I don't know what I sound like. [Wink]

Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Shawshank:
I've been told I sound like I'm from New England or from the north in general. I place this mostly on the fact that my mom grew up in Michigan and my dad grew up around Nashville but doesn't sound southern.

Heh. I'd be surprised if you sounded much beyond Standard American English (which, granted, many/most in New England sound like now), but next time ask them if you sound like a Rhode Islander, New Hampshire-ite, Mainer (Down East, Portland, Other), or someone from Western Mass, Central Mass, Eastern Mass, North Shore, South Shore, Southie, Eastie, Rosie, or Brahmin [Smile]

--

When I was a child, I sounded like a true-blue North Shore kid (with vocabulary peculiarities attributed to my small hometown of 17k people). I've lost most of it, but still pronounce some things wrong (if you ever meet me, as me to pronounce 'hot', 'hospital', and 'drawer') with an accent. and certain turns of phrase are also due to local influences.

-Bok

Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :

Hmmm...
That would have to be the accent grave. [Wink]

Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :

I sound like none of the examples. Maybe hai ham espeekina hespanis?

I grew up in the southwest of the UK, Devon*shire* to be exact and it's true that if I have a few jars I sound like a hobbit...

As the old farmers saying goes:

Red sky at noight, get off moi lahnd!

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Unsurprisingly, my pronunciation is almost identical to the "Detroit" sample. And I don't think Rivka sounds anything like her sample. [Wink]

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

That is cool! I sounded a lot like the first one, from Pittsburgh. Funny thing is that every time I go back there, I don't sound like that to them! [Smile]

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

Mine is pretty much identical to the Los Angeles example, with just a few tiny differences, probably explained by my having grandparents from Oklahoma, Kansas, and Liverpool, and especially the two years I spent in Dallas.

My husband's is about halfway between the L.A. sample and the Fort Worth sample. His mother's and sister's speech patterns, however, are EXACT matches to the Fort Worth sample (they are both in Dallas.)

Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :

I'm mostly like the Detroit and Windsor, Ontario samples, which is not surprising, since my parents are from there (in spite of the fact that I was born and grew up in Georgia). What is interesting to me, however, are the few words that seem to not fit there, like scoop. It comes out of my mouth with a noticeable drawl (noticeable to me, anyway), which sounds much more like the Atlanta or North Carolina samples.

Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :

This one sounds the most like I do now, I think. There's a rural accent I pick up when I'm at home though, and lose when I leave. Neither of my parents had it, as they both grew up in cities. I think it's sort of like a toned down, less-Irish Newfoundlander accent (which I can't believe they don't have an example of). This one is vaguely reminiscent (though she says "bags" and "at" funny), and this one sounds like a lot of the older non-farmers at home.

I wonder how much change there would be if they weren't reading, or speaking so slowly and carefully. For instance, the Scottish folks are easily understandable here, and when I was in Glasgow, at any rate, this was definitely not the case.

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

See I am not sure how this works at all as I do not sound anything like what I am hearing when I listen to recordings of myself. Should I then try to use my memory of listening to such recordings and match it with the samples, as even then I can't find a match.

We should all use some online program to record our voices and post a thread about them. Then we can all start reading each other's posts while imagining the person speaking them aloud.

Who is with me?!