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There is no such thing as someone speaking without an accent. If it sounds to you like they don't have an accent, that simply means they are speaking the same or similar accent that you yourself speak.
Hmm...so a person who speaks with a flat monotone ...has an accent ? Ben Stein seems to carry a base vernacular.
Something that drives me a little nuts: When people pronounce one syllable words as if they're 2 syllable words. Example: "OMG! You saw it to-o?" "My favorite cereal is corn fla-akes."
Because of this thread, I videoed myself just talking about random stuff this morning, for 2, maybe 3 minutes, to see if I could detect an accent in myself. I could not.
I think we just become acclimated to our environment, and it just kind of magically happens.
Now...I know people who, when they get around a different accent, they kind of pick up that accent right away. They're not faking...they just naturally pick up the accent really quickly...like in an afternoon, or a day. My mom being one of them.
Funny, I never thought my family had Chicago accents (or me.) I lived in Minnesota for almost a decade; I noticed the MN accent there but never noticed a Chicago accent when I came home; I suppose it's because they were similar enough. I moved to North Carolina, when I go home and am around my family it sounds like they're in the SNL Superfan skit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddm2k
It is said that the voice for (modern) radio and television is a midwestern accent, but visit the midwest and that couldn't be further from the truth. Barring any early examples (transatlantic) the current accent - which no one is born with, they are COACHED - puts a heavy damper on "taking liberty with your vowels" as is prevalent in many regional "at home" dialects.
I'd disagree. What part of the midwest? MN, the Dakotas, have a distinctive regional accent. Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, have a distinctive accent (think Bill Swerski's Superfans.) Typically the more working class the heavier the accent.
Much of the area From Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, Champaign IL, Ottumwa Iowa, Omaha, all have an approximation of what you'd hear on a broadcast.
Usually people have accents. Well except the TV anchors. It’s so strange to talk to someone with no accent. Or maybe it’s just me.
In the U.S. if you have a "white, middle class, college educated" accent then you have no accent.
If you go to New York, Boston, Philly, and you talk to working class white people you can hear the accents. Obviously if you go to working class black areas or rural/small town white working class areas you'll hear the accents, too.
Something that drives me a little nuts: When people pronounce one syllable words as if they're 2 syllable words. Example: "OMG! You saw it to-o?" "My favorite cereal is corn fla-akes."
It bugs me.
LOL, I am not sure I've ever heard anyone speak that way!
I remember people in Minnesota being angry at the way their speech was portrayed in the movie, Fargo, but then I was watching a true crime show, and they interviewed a man in Minnesota who had found a body in the woods near his home, and he sounded EXACTLY like the people in Fargo.
I remember people in Minnesota being angry at the way their speech was portrayed in the movie, Fargo, but then I was watching a true crime show, and they interviewed a man in Minnesota who had found a body in the woods near his home, and he sounded EXACTLY like the people in Fargo.
That is understandable. We Californians HATED the stereotype of "Valley Girl" speech, but there really were people who sounded like that.
LOL, I am not sure I've ever heard anyone speak that way!
I have. It is very strange. Three siblings spoke this way (but their parents didn't). All three were home schooled and had very little outside socialization other than within their own family group. I could never figure out what made them speak that way because the biggest influencers of their "accent," I would think, would be their parents.
Funny, I never thought my family had Chicago accents (or me.) I lived in Minnesota for almost a decade; I noticed the MN accent there but never noticed a Chicago accent when I came home; I suppose it's because they were similar enough. I moved to North Carolina, when I go home and am around my family it sounds like they're in the SNL Superfan skit.
I'd disagree. What part of the midwest? MN, the Dakotas, have a distinctive regional accent. Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, have a distinctive accent (think Bill Swerski's Superfans.) Typically the more working class the heavier the accent.
Much of the area From Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, Champaign IL, Ottumwa Iowa, Omaha, all have an approximation of what you'd hear on a broadcast.
I used to have a job, where it was part of my duties to call around the country and get tax information. I could definitely tell a Minnesota accent, and the Dakota accents. I think those two are based off their Swedish heritage. And what I called "The Cook County Accent" along with the Massachusettes accent, and the New York accent.
Also, there's various Missouri accents. I can tell the difference between various St. Louis accents, and I can tell Jefferson County accents, and I can tell the accents of people from southern Missouri. And, most of my relatives are from Oklahoma (as well as my parents) so I can tell an Oklahoma accent.
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We Californians HATED the stereotype of "Valley Girl" speech, but there really were people who sounded like that.
