Attitudes towards Accents

[mohamed_ali12]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ali12 @ Dec 1 2009, 05:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (O'Rothlain @ Nov 27 2009, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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]

If i ever hear internet vocab like lol, rofl etc. I've just realised that i immediately think pre-pubescent American boy.

The worst thing is when you're on xbox live and they say it /facepalm
[/b][/quote]

Hah! Hypocritical much

 

[gingergenius]

quite an interesting article here on the new accent of 'inner city' london, Multicultural London English. I find this one very interesting because even though it is spoken thickest in council estates, it has a wide influence over pretty much anyone under 25, especially with slang.

For example, I'm a middle class Londoner and obviously my accent is not like this - but when I talk with my mates I use a lot of the slang. Otherwise I'd say if you heard me talk I couldn't come from anywhere other than London.

you can hear the accent here, and it's shown next to received pronunciation.

 

[fcukernaut]

I know I'm a few days late to this party but what the hell I'll bring it up to throw my two cents in:

First, I lived in New Zealand for five years and when I first got there I had no clue what anyone was talking about. Couldn't understand a damn thing. In fact we had this test and it was an audio tape in class that spat out the times tables and you had to write it down the answer from the question you heard. Well I failed miserably and was put in remedial maths because i had no idea. Also that's another thing NZer's say I have to go to maths as opposed to just i have to go to math. And they are a fan of sport as opposed to sports. Also silly things like Subaaaahroo(subaru) instead of subaru. It now only takes me about 20mins to adjust when i go and visit my brother.

Love the Welsh accent but haven't got a clue what the women are saying when they get drunk. Seriously, it's high paced jibberish. I went all over the place on my two rugby tours and no idea what they are talking about, even in Cardiff. But they are all quite friendly if you catch my drift as one Canadian international rugby player once said to my rugby coach: "If you can't get p*ssy in Wales you're a f**king idiot"

Canadian accent where to begin. Well places in Newfoundland speak the closest thing that resembles old English, that's a fact. and then the rest are a bunch of Newfies. Most people in southern Ontario don't say aboot, they say about. But I will admit i throw on the "eh?" after most sentences. Those in the praries sound different than those in either BC or Ontario and the Maritimes are just another whole kettle of fish. They can sound partly, Irish, partly Scottish partly anything but it's a hybrid sound that doesn't sound anything like maritime areas in the states ie the boston accent which ****** me off enormously.

I think the Canadian accent, like the rest of Canadian culture, is a lot more conservative and a lot less brash than the American accents. It's softer and less harsh. You can tell the second you go from Windsor to Detroit (apart from the obvious like not getting robbed or shot in Windsor) which is just across a small bridge.

Great project though

 

[poopiepeople]

The only time I have ever heard a Canadian say "aboot" was in Manitoba and it was on a Cop show.

Iv'e live in Ireland and can say I loke most accents there...except Drogheda. Goddamit. I like scouse, scottish and London accents. Girls with Swedish accents are sexy, and Norweigens too. Not a bog fan of polish accents or most italian accents... especially on men, they scream to me "I'M A PERV!". Spanish and Portugese accents are okay. I absolutley hate Russian accents and Germans always sound angry.

As for NA, I like the typical Irish influenced Southie Boston accents and Irish Influenced working class of New York accents. Don't like the sterotypical southern accents of the us. I can tolerate most other American accents. Canadian accents are okay, except Nova Scotians and Newfoundland accents. Those are just badass. French Canadiens accents are the only exception though, they annoy me. Prefere the real French accents.

 

[Laetca]

What about people picking their accent?
We were told in our pronunciation classes at uni that we could choose freely whether we wanted to speak British English or American English, but that we had to stick to one.

Which resulted in people mixing up both anyway, and the people with heavy accents in Dutch using that same pronunciation in English. Which results in (at times) awful presentations.

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Dec 16 2009, 07:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

What about people picking their accent?
We were told in our pronunciation classes at uni that we could choose freely whether we wanted to speak British English or American English, but that we had to stick to one.

Which resulted in people mixing up both anyway, and the people with heavy accents in Dutch using that same pronunciation in English. Which results in (at times) awful presentations.[/b]

To be honest, English speakers don't really get picky about foreigners' accents... it's great they can speak English in the first place!!!

I tend to find that French and speakers tend to speak more with an American accent, while the Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans sound more English. In fact, they have more similar accents to my own than a lot of people in the North of England and Scotland.

 

[Laetca]

I don't pick up all accents, but I always found the Dutch accent in English awful, while for native (neutral) Flemish speakers it's easier to pronounce other languages properly.

You should try speaking a few words in the language of the country you're visiting when on holiday. I don't think a lot of Brits do that? I think Spanish accents are hilarious in English, though they generally try so hard.

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Dec 16 2009, 08:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I don't pick up all accents, but I always found the Dutch accent in English awful, while for native (neutral) Flemish speakers it's easier to pronounce other languages properly.

You should try speaking a few words in the language of the country you're visiting when on holiday. I don't think a lot of Brits do that? I think Spanish accents are hilarious in English, though they generally try so hard.[/b]

Correct. Because we live in an Anglophone bubble, where most of our outside contact comes from the USA or our former colonies, and non-English native speakers are so good at speaking English, the Brits get lazy. They go abroad and expect everyone to understand them.

Making the effort is so much more fun. One annoying thing though is that even if you have a decent grasp of a language, native speakers still speak really quickly. Obviously the first obligation is for the visitor to learn some of the local language, but it's helpful if the locals are more patient too.

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Dec 17 2009, 08:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I don't pick up all accents, but I always found the Dutch accent in English awful, while for native (neutral) Flemish speakers it's easier to pronounce other languages properly.[/b]

Jaap Stam was a hero in Ireland when he played for Man Utd - the comedians had good fun with his accent, because he was always "******** around the place relakshing".

German accent in english sounds a bit posh and gay.

 

[Thingimubob]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gingergenius @ Dec 16 2009, 08:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Laetca @ Dec 16 2009, 07:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What about people picking their accent?
We were told in our pronunciation classes at uni that we could choose freely whether we wanted to speak British English or American English, but that we had to stick to one.

Which resulted in people mixing up both anyway, and the people with heavy accents in Dutch using that same pronunciation in English. Which results in (at times) awful presentations.[/b]

To be honest, English speakers don't really get picky about foreigners' accents... it's great they can speak English in the first place!!!

I tend to find that French and speakers tend to speak more with an American accent, while the Scandanavians, Dutch and Germans sound more English. In fact, they have more similar accents to my own than a lot of people in the North of England and Scotland.
[/b][/quote]

That's always been an interesting point to me. I've met quite a few German people who're around my age, and I've noticed that all their accents when speaking English vary a lot. This is mostly because they have an option in high-school to spend a year in a foreign country (usually Britain, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) so they tend to have the accent of wherever they went.
Another thing: we listened to a radio 4 show about different variations of English, and this debate came up about Ebonics (posh word for ''Black English''). Basically this county in America declared it a seperate language and it's school system got more money because it's counted as a 'bi-lingual school' (much like the Welsh Comprehensive I go to) so the debate was generally should Ebonics (the African American Dialect was what the guy on the radio said) be counted as a seperate language, with it's own grammer and lexis, or should it be seen as just part of the world-wide group of English dialects and accents?

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thingimubob @ Dec 17 2009, 09:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Another thing: we listened to a radio 4 show about different variations of English, and this debate came up about Ebonics (posh word for ''Black English''). Basically this county in America declared it a seperate language and it's school system got more money because it's counted as a 'bi-lingual school' (much like the Welsh Comprehensive I go to) so the debate was generally should Ebonics (the African American Dialect was what the guy on the radio said) be counted as a seperate language, with it's own grammer and lexis, or should it be seen as just part of the world-wide group of English dialects and accents?[/b]

Don't go there!

Northern Ireland has a running comedy show, where politicians vie for EU funding for two languages. In one corner there's gaelic, and in the other Ulster scots, an impenetrable dialect of english. Gaelic - also spoken in Scotland - gets plenty of funds because it's a language other than english and is in danger of dying out. But it's spoken by Irish nationalists, and the British unionists in Ireland decided they had to assert their counter-entitlement by applying for the same kind of funding for Ulster scots, which is only spoken by people who are annoyed that not everybody speaks english.

I've just lost the will to type. Here's a taster:
http://www.scotchirish.net/Ulster%20Scots.php4

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shtove @ Dec 16 2009, 11:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thingimubob @ Dec 17 2009, 09:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Another thing: we listened to a radio 4 show about different variations of English, and this debate came up about Ebonics (posh word for ''Black English''). Basically this county in America declared it a seperate language and it's school system got more money because it's counted as a 'bi-lingual school' (much like the Welsh Comprehensive I go to) so the debate was generally should Ebonics (the African American Dialect was what the guy on the radio said) be counted as a seperate language, with it's own grammer and lexis, or should it be seen as just part of the world-wide group of English dialects and accents?[/b]

Don't go there!

Northern Ireland has a running comedy show, where politicians vie for EU funding for two languages. In one corner there's gaelic, and in the other Ulster scots, an impenetrable dialect of english. Gaelic - also spoken in Scotland - gets plenty of funds because it's a language other than english and is in danger of dying out. But it's spoken by Irish nationalists, and the British unionists in Ireland decided they had to assert their counter-entitlement by applying for the same kind of funding for Ulster scots, which is only spoken by people who are annoyed that not everybody speaks english.

I've just lost the will to type. Here's a taster:
http://www.scotchirish.net/Ulster%20Scots.php4
[/b][/quote]

Scots is a dialect, not a language. It's like cockney or jamaican patwa or all the other types of English that are almost incomprehensible.

Even if you say it is a language, its from the same root as English. There's not really much point in preserving it because we already have one overseas language dominating. At least the Celtic languages are native.

 

[An Tarbh]

It is a langauge, it's a Goidelic language, part of the same group as Irish and Manx while English is a Germanic language.

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Dec 17 2009, 09:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

It is a langauge, it's a Goidelic language, part of the same group as Irish and Manx while English is a Germanic language.[/b]

You're confusing Scots with Scottish Gaelic.

Scots, and Ulster Scots, are two variants on the English spoken in Scotland from the middle ages. They are quite similar to Middle English, as seen in the Canterbury Tales. And as far as I'm concerned, they're simply dialects of English...

 

[Laetca]

The only difference between a language and a dialect is that a language is backed by official systems, has had its grammar written out and support of some government.
The quote about a language being a dialect with an army hold much truth in that respect.

Locals indeed tend to speak a bit fast, depends very much on where you're going really. My boyfriend is trying to dust off the Spanish he acquired through a introductory class so he asked me to talk Spanish to him at times. When I asked him why he didn't ask the same thing when we're at my parent's he said they talked too fast, even though I noticed they were already speaking slower to make things easier for him.

We only heard a snippet about Ebonics or Black English Vernacular as it was called in my class, but what was said was that research showed it to have no effect on people's intelligence (the old idea of people speaking in a dialect being less smart) and when they tried to make it into a language the users of it rebelled because they didn't want it as their official language. Don't remember why they did though.

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Dec 17 2009, 09:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

It is a langauge, it's a Goidelic language, part of the same group as Irish and Manx while English is a Germanic language.[/b]

Was talking about Ulster scots, which is a language - it's just that the language is english.

 

[Little Richardjohn]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thingimubob @ Nov 27 2009, 01:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

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)[/b]

Fascinating subject. All the best with it.
I know, for instance, that it used to be possible to tell between someone who grew up in Gorseinon and someone who grew up in Bynea - 3 miles away. Swansea was very different again, distinctive in the region, probably because of being the big port, and with lots of Irish in it. Accents can be that regional.
You know the fact that the south welsh take endless liberties at the expense of the northern accent? The 'gogs'? 'A boil teg, a fry teg or a poach teg?'
You know that to imitate a Scouse accent, you merely keep your tongue at the back of your throat when you speak?
And to imitate a 'highbrow' upper-class accent, you literally lift your eyebrows high - it opens something or other, and makes you sound confident and unruffled.
As for where these things come from, see the infinite tapestry of cultural exchange and collision.
let us know how you get on. A blog?

 

[Fa'atau82]

Manchester and Leicester does it for me.