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Attitudes towards Accents

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Thingimubob

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In my English Language class I have to choose a subject to do a big language investigation and am probably going to choose one about peoples attitudes to different accents. Am probably going to focus on local accents in Britain, English speaking places outside the UK and maybe foreigners accents when they speak english. So I thought that seeing that we have loads of different nationalities, with plenty of Australian, New Zealander, South Africans and Irish (who's accents I;m probably gonna talk about a lot ) to represent the non-UK English speaking countries.
So what're you're views on accents? Which one's do you love and which ones do you hate? Would be a massive help if I had plenty of responce to this, so cheers (Y)
 
I think that certain people with certain accents are generally less intelligent that others.
 
The hell? You're doing this for English? We have to read ****ing King Lear...
 
I could understand why people would hate the Cork accent. Like the proper John Spillane "i wou'nt dowcha boi" thing.
 
1. People read a lot into whoever they're communicating with depending on their accent/ dialect.

If you're talking to someone with a posh accent, immediately there's something in the back of your head saying 'they're posh' and all the connotations being posh has. Equally, with someone who sounds Northern or someone who sounds cockney there's class connotations, however unfounded.

Also, I'm doing **** on Scottish identity in Uni and a lot of Scottish think that having a Scottish accent is a key to someone being accepted as Scottish. So your accent can allow you into a certain group.

When I talk to someone with a foreign accent, I naturally feel a kind of superiority - even if they are as intelligent as me there's something about their accent which makes me subconciously look down on them. This is not good but it happens.

2. There is a distinction between an accent and a dialect.

I talk to Scots up here and a lot of the time I cannot understand them and they cannot understand me, especially when alcohol is slurring our words. They're speaking Scots at me and I'm using slang words from London without even thinking about it. This is no good, and even worse, there's something in me that when I'm confronted with someone so obviously from another area, my own accent and slang intensifies. In an ideal world, all English speakers would keep their accent but lose their dialect in conversation with each other; dialects should only be for localised and intimate groups.

The strongest example of this difference is a Jamaican speaking English (with a Jamaican accent obviously) and a Jamaican speaking Patois.

3. Personally, I love an Irish accent on a girl. I quite like Vernon Kay's accent, and I really like the accent of County Durham. Bristol, Leicester and Birmingham are also pleasant. Caribbean accent is nice as well and I quite like the kiwi accent.

Hate the proper Afrikaner accent. Also the New England accent and quite a few others from N America. Northern Irish isn't great either.
 
And zee germans

(you better be writing this stuff down, its gold mate, pure gold........... )
 
Love the Welsh and Irish accents, also "posh" English, and West Country are good,
Not a huge fan of SA, American (in particular the stereotypical New Yorker accent) and Scouse as well.

I get what GG says about forming an opinion due to the accent, for some reason i always think the Australian accent sounds really laid back, like they could never be saying anything serious, just talking about going to the beach or something. I think the welsh/irish accents make people sound like they're happy all the time as well :p. And ones like Manc and Scouse make me think of Chavs
 
I like the Geordie accent. I feel free to comment on this, I am heavily accented!
 
Here's a point of view you may have not considered.
I know for a fact we do this in America, and from all the BBC News I've watched, I'd say you have a similar thing going on in the UK.

While earning my BS in Communications we were told to work on a non-regional, nuetral accent. I would see what nuetralizing affect that this has on society. I've just moved to Dallas, where 10 years ago you would have heard massive accents, but the younger generations especially here, sound like kids from anywhere. Urban areas especially are beginning to lose their accents and sound non-regional from the over exposure in mass media of nuetral accents. Take the show "Friends" for example. Not a single member of the cast had a strong New Yorker accent, yet they technically represented NYC. It has a trickle down effect on it's viewers.

Anyway, just a thought.

Oh, and the Irish accent is the lovliest, especially the Northern Irish.
 
We had to do something similar at GCSE level. Personally I don't have an accent but some words come out as Welsh, Bristolian and (apparentley I've got a South Coast accent I wasnt even aware there was sch a thing).

We went on a bout trust people have in certain accents. Thats why every person (toff) on Radio 4 sounds posh, it wants their audience to trust what they are saying. Even on local BBC News stations they don't have that strong a local accent, it's because the BBC, somewhat old fashionedly, hold a regional accent as untrustwothy for things like the news.

Swing it to call centres, when you phone a call centre you react differently to who you hear. When I worked for the Passport Service I worked with someone who was from Southport and has a Scouse accent, we had the same caller in a week and she mentioned to me that she needed a second opinion from someone who, and I quote, "Is unlikley to steal my Hi-Fi".
 
I'm over in Kent at university and from Northern Ireland. Everyone in the whole university seem to love Irish accents, especially women. Though I must admit an accent is not for life, I phoned a girl I worked with back home a week ago and she said that I was getting an bit of an English t'wang <_< No offence to the English, but that cannot happen
 
From a french perspective:

I know a vast part of the anglo-saxon world dislikes us, generally not too much although I have been insulted quite a lot once or twice, particularly in the centre of the USA. Our accent however is a godsent weapon to catch girls, and it basically works with girls from any other country than France. The result of this is I'm much more self confident with girls in English or Spanish than in French, knowing that even if i'm saying **** it will rather sound "cute" as yankee brunettes like to say every two sentences. I was told once or twice that french accent carried within a certain idea of poshness which I regret, so it might help us making friends but not too much in making friends who want to get boozed with you when you're travelling. Good thing with beer though is that after a couple, noone gives a crap where you're from. I'd be happy to have your opinions on french people and the french accent, although i also kind of fear asking such a question on a forum with a majority of people from the UK and Ireland.

As far as other english accents are concerned, the vast majority of french people cannot differentiate them so we have not built a lot of cliches based on the accents. As for me, i'll try to express with simple words what they inspire in me when i hear them. I don't really know what they all are so I'll just tell from my own experience:

London posh accent : seems very posh and sometimes you wonder why they bother moving their mouths in such funny ways. It reminds me of binge drinking in big houses with stupid rich girls.
London hooligan accent : another accent i heard in London in pubs from white guys with almost no hair. It sounds like it was invented by people who shout uncomprehensible things and drink a lot of beer. Is looking scary and unnerved a prerequisite to use it or is it more of a side effect?
Irish accent: I don't know if there are many but I'm talking of this guy's. It's one of my favorites. It's welcoming and funny and you really want to have a beer with the guy.
Oz accent: Agree with Olyy, it sounds very cool and laid back. Maybe I'm saying that out of jealousy but it also sounds a wee bit stupid.
Kiwi accent: Having lived in NZ for six months, I have come to enjoy it, but it was difficult at first since i couldn't get a word what they were saying. Some english friends told me later that it wasn't just me. :p
SA accent: Sounds like you are speakin to Belgian or Dutch people speaking English, so you kind of feel like you're on the same level, regretting not to be able to speak you're own shitty village's language in order to make yourself understood.
American accent: I have probably heard the New York accent too much because of movies and TV so I couldn't find it beautiful like the Irish one for example. It makes girls sound really stupid but in a sexy "please bang me mister french guy" way. The american accent from Texas is my most hated one, but then again I probably met the supidest people in the universe there. It sounds like they constantly have a hot potatoe in their mouth
Scottish accent: Trainspotting -> scary and fun. But when spoken by him it's unbelievable class

Voilà.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elgringoborracho @ Nov 27 2009, 04:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
From a french perspective:

I know a vast part of the anglo-saxon world dislikes us, generally not too much although I have been insulted quite a lot once or twice, particularly in the centre of the USA. Our accent however is a godsent weapon to catch girls, and it basically works with girls from any other country than France. The result of this is I'm much more self confident with girls in English or Spanish than in French, knowing that even if i'm saying **** it will rather sound "cute" as yankee brunettes like to say every two sentences. I was told once or twice that french accent carried within a certain idea of poshness which I regret, so it might help us making friends but not too much in making friends who want to get boozed with you when you're travelling. Good thing with beer though is that after a couple, noone gives a crap where you're from. I'd be happy to have your opinions on french people and the french accent, although i also kind of fear asking such a question on a forum with a majority of people from the UK and Ireland.

As far as other english accents are concerned, the vast majority of french people cannot differentiate them so we have not built a lot of cliches based on the accents. As for me, i'll try to express with simple words what they inspire in me when i hear them. I don't really know what they all are so I'll just tell from my own experience:

London posh accent : seems very posh and sometimes you wonder why they bother moving their mouths in such funny ways. It reminds me of binge drinking in big houses with stupid rich girls.
London hooligan accent : another accent i heard in London in pubs from white guys with almost no hair. It sounds like it was invented by people who shout uncomprehensible things and drink a lot of beer. Is looking scary and unnerved a prerequisite to use it or is it more of a side effect?
Irish accent: I don't know if there are many but I'm talking of this guy's. It's one of my favorites. It's welcoming and funny and you really want to have a beer with the guy.
Oz accent: Agree with Olyy, it sounds very cool and laid back. Maybe I'm saying that out of jealousy but it also sounds a wee bit stupid.
Kiwi accent: Having lived in NZ for six months, I have come to enjoy it, but it was difficult at first since i couldn't get a word what they were saying. Some english friends told me later that it wasn't just me. :p
SA accent: Sounds like you are speakin to Belgian or Dutch people speaking English, so you kind of feel like you're on the same level, regretting not to be able to speak you're own shitty village's language in order to make yourself understood.

Voilà.[/b]
Click to expand...

You player you :lol:
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (O'Rothlain @ Nov 27 2009, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
where 10 years ago you would have heard massive accents, but the younger generations especially here, sound like kids from anywhere. Urban areas especially are beginning to lose their accents and sound non-regional from the over exposure in mass media of neutral accents. Take the show "Friends" for example. Not a single member of the cast had a strong New Yorker accent, yet they technically represented NYC. It has a trickle down effect on it's viewers.[/b]
Click to expand...

Yeah big time. I suppose it comes from the adoption of the vocabularies in the shows doesnt it? We are seeing it over here in Dublin where the west-brit accent is changing to more of an east american "oh my god, like totally!" accent of today.

Along with the introduction of the word, comes the way to say it.

Ooooo how about the internet and vocabulary? There are no accents in text are there so is there a migration towards a more phonetic friendly vocabulary? lol, roft, noob, noobtard, noobgheytard was effectively one sentence I had thrown at me while gaming last night.
 
I shun internet words to be honest. I participate in the memes "LOL" "*facepalm" "epic fail" etc but noobness etc isn't happening on my watch.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Logorrhea @ Nov 27 2009, 10:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (O'Rothlain @ Nov 27 2009, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Click to expand...
where 10 years ago you would have heard massive accents, but the younger generations especially here, sound like kids from anywhere. Urban areas especially are beginning to lose their accents and sound non-regional from the over exposure in mass media of neutral accents. Take the show "Friends" for example. Not a single member of the cast had a strong New Yorker accent, yet they technically represented NYC. It has a trickle down effect on it's viewers.[/b]
Click to expand...

Yeah big time. I suppose it comes from the adoption of the vocabularies in the shows doesnt it? We are seeing it over here in Dublin where the west-brit accent is changing to more of an east american "oh my god, like totally!" accent of today.

Along with the introduction of the word, comes the way to say it.

Ooooo how about the internet and vocabulary? There are no accents in text are there so is there a migration towards a more phonetic friendly vocabulary? lol, roft, noob, noobtard, noobgheytard was effectively one sentence I had thrown at me while gaming last night.
[/b][/quote]
I think the irish have the most potential of blending into an quasi-american accent. Not the rural people, but your dubliners and those from Belfast. My mother in law's belfast accent is so soft, you can tell she's maybe irish or british, but it's just very proper and soft....with the exception of her going back home and being with her sister and childhood friends, it definitely gets a bit stronger.
What's amusing is my 5 year old nephew. He spends half the year in the US, half in Belgian with his Irish grandparents. He also spends a lot of time with my wife and sisterinlaw's childhood nany, who now works with my inlaws who is Portugese.
My nephew sounds american but says some words disctinctively irish, some distinctively portugese and some distinctively french. It's funny, and we all have a laugh at how the influence of the different people in the earliest stage of developement of his life have impacted his speech.
 
I love the Welsh accent, epecially when the say "Isn't it?" at the end of every sentence.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Logorrhea @ Nov 27 2009, 04:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (O'Rothlain @ Nov 27 2009, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Click to expand...
where 10 years ago you would have heard massive accents, but the younger generations especially here, sound like kids from anywhere. Urban areas especially are beginning to lose their accents and sound non-regional from the over exposure in mass media of neutral accents. Take the show "Friends" for example. Not a single member of the cast had a strong New Yorker accent, yet they technically represented NYC. It has a trickle down effect on it's viewers.[/b]
Click to expand...

Yeah big time. I suppose it comes from the adoption of the vocabularies in the shows doesnt it? We are seeing it over here in Dublin where the west-brit accent is changing to more of an east american "oh my god, like totally!" accent of today.

Along with the introduction of the word, comes the way to say it.

Ooooo how about the internet and vocabulary? There are no accents in text are there so is there a migration towards a more phonetic friendly vocabulary? lol, roft, noob, noobtard, noobgheytard was effectively one sentence I had thrown at me while gaming last night.
[/b][/quote]

I Agree with you both, for example, take the word "like" in cork. It's slowly becoming used like we are in LA and not Cork by some (not all) of the younger generations. From "I was walking down the street like" to "I was like, walking down the street".
 
There doesn't seem to be mcuh of a change in accents of young peole around Cork and particularly Kerry. there its almost a badge of honour to speak colloquially.
 

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