Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accents?

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

St. Louis is the gateway to the west, which is why it's certainly symbolically part of the mid-west. At the same time, I always think back to history and the Missouri Compromise. Missouri was a slave state, which associated it with the south. It was the state where people emigrated from to make sure Kansas was a slave state. It had two governments during the Civil War and was notorious for pro-Confederate guerrilla fighters.

But I think there are modern reasons to think of it as mid-west. While I tend to think of the state in general as southern, when pushed, I don't associate either St. Louis or Kansas City as the south.

 

[thestrangequark]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

Missouri (pronounced "Missoura")
wash (pronounced "worsh")

The "worsh" thing extends to Eastern Washington ('Worshington'), but, like many other things, ends abruptly at the Cascade mountains. Another midwestern specific I've heard is the ea in the words 'measure' and 'treasure' pronounced as a long a.

kind of (pronounced "kinda")

I don't think this is a Midwestern thing so much as an American thing. I grew up on the west coast and have lived the past 11 years on the east coast, and everyone says 'kinda'.

ask (pronounced "axe")

And this I think is an AAVE thing. Interestingly, I read somewhere that the word was originally pronounced 'axe', but that it shifted to 'ask' later on.

Something no one seems to have mentioned about New York accents is the superfluous R you can hear in some Long Island and Staten Island accents. My old boss, for example, pronounced my name "Hanner". I think this occurs in several East Coast accents.

 

[B.J.]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

I grew up in Georgia and spent 1997-2006 in St. Louis, and am now in Alabama. Missouri and Illinois are definitely *not* part of the South. As for the midwestern accent, when I was there, it was mostly a non-accent to me. About the only anomaly I came across was the occasional person that said "44" as "farty-far", and those were usually from the Illinois side of the river.

Oh, and nobody I knew ever said "Missourah".

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

I'm reminded of the difference in useage between Northern California and Southern California. there's a definite change between the San Francisco bay Area and the Los Angeles basin...and if one goes further into the foothills (The Gold Country or around Redding) the accent can almost become Texan in nature..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_English

Hmmm, I spent part of my childhood in Texas and now live in the Gold Country. I wonder if my accent is back?

Do you use the word "Y'all"?

Maybe

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

^ I'm from the Midwest (Omaha, NE) and nobody around here talks like that...

My brother in law is from Omaha and to my ears his accent sounds Southern. Of course he was in the Air Force and its my understanding they issue a Texas accent to all recruits in basic training.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

You all and the informal y'all resolve an ambiguity in English conjugation, settling whether the speaker is addressing an individual only or instead the whole group. I regard the construction as a positive contribution to English grammar.

 

[Stephen!]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

But, what do non-American native English speakers think of American accents?

Some are good. I like this one, for example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_sOexQX5x8

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

Missouri (pronounced "Missoura")
wash (pronounced "worsh")

The "worsh" thing extends to Eastern Washington ('Worshington'), but, like many other things, ends abruptly at the Cascade mountains. Another midwestern specific I've heard is the ea in the words 'measure' and 'treasure' pronounced as a long a.

kind of (pronounced "kinda")

I don't think this is a Midwestern thing so much as an American thing. I grew up on the west coast and have lived the past 11 years on the east coast, and everyone says 'kinda'.

ask (pronounced "axe")

And this I think is an AAVE thing.

I actually heard it first from someone who grew up on a farm in a very rural area. I think some (or even most) may associate it with AAVE, but it probably had its origins among "country folk" and then migrated.

I grew up in Georgia and spent 1997-2006 in St. Louis, and am now in Alabama. Missouri and Illinois are definitely *not* part of the South. As for the midwestern accent, when I was there, it was mostly a non-accent to me. About the only anomaly I came across was the occasional person that said "44" as "farty-far", and those were usually from the Illinois side of the river.

Oh, and nobody I knew ever said "Missourah".

Conversely, I never knew anyone who said 44 as "farty-far," until a pizza chain ran a commercial promoting St. Louis-style pizza made a deal of it (I remember making fun of it). I think the farther you get away from St. Louis, the more you'll encounter that as well as people who refer to Missouri as "Missoura."

As far as midwestern accent being mostly a non-accent, I think that's why it's hard to define, IMO. It seems to be only certain words that are pronounced differently, and not by everyone there. I'm likely in the non-accent category myself as I've never said "Missoura" or "Worshington."

 

[B.J.]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

....St. Louis-style pizza....

Why'd you have to remind me of that stuff?!? I'm glad I never have to experience that form of "pizza" again! My wife called it tomato paste on a cracker.

 

[thestrangequark]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

And this I think is an AAVE thing.

I actually heard it first from someone who grew up on a farm in a very rural area. I think some (or even most) may associate it with AAVE, but it probably had its origins among "country folk" and then migrated.

Interesting! I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, since AAVE obviously originated with slaves (obvious, given it's West African grammar, that is), it would make sense that pronouncing 'ask' as 'axe' would have its origins in the country. I've just honestly never heard a white person say it.

Another accent that interests me is the Reservation Accent, which oddly is very similar across most American reservations. My grandfather speaks with a rez accent, he's Ojibwe and originally from Michigan, but for the life of me I can't tell the difference between his rez accent and the rez accents Washington State Indians I've met (ranging in tribe from Makah to Spokane), or from Eastern Indians.

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

ask (pronounced "axe")

And this I think is an AAVE thing. Interestingly, I read somewhere that the word was originally pronounced 'axe', but that it shifted to 'ask' later on.

I'm a little skeptical about it being an AAVE thing, but mostly because I heard it exclusively from white people when I was growing up. (Then again, until I was most of the way through high school, the only non-whites I knew were Mexicans and the infrequent schoolmate of Asian or Eurasian descent, so take it for what it's worth.)

Oh, and nobody I knew ever said "Missourah".

My grandmother (on father's side) was from Missouri and she said it that way. Same for one of my music history professors in college. Grandmother on mother's side was also from Missouri, and didn't say "Missourah".

 

[thestrangequark]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

"Axe" is definitely used in AAVE, but I guess not exclusively so, as I had thought.

 

[comsol]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

....St. Louis-style pizza....

Why'd you have to remind me of that stuff?!? I'm glad I never have to experience that form of "pizza" again! My wife called it tomato paste on a cracker.

Aww... does that mean you don't want us to send you some Imo's pizza?

 

[Grey]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

This topic is interesting. I'm always terribly curious to know what other native English speakers think of American accents.

I consider mine to be standard American. I haven't really noticed a difference between accents from southern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, and California (LA, central valley, and bay area) where I have lived. Maybe differences in terminology. In Colorado we say "County Road X" or "Walmart" instead of "the X" or "the Walmart". I was told upon moving to CA that that was a difference between Coloradans and Californians, and I explained that in CO, we say "Walmart" instead of "the Walmart" because there really is just the one around.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

Youins must be gettins your learnins bout the South from thems movin pictures

Pittsburgh? (Or is that "yins", not "youins"?)

You all and the informal y'all resolve an ambiguity in English conjugation, settling whether the speaker is addressing an individual only or instead the whole group. I regard the construction as a positive contribution to English grammar.

Actually, my understanding is that "y'all" is used for addressing two to four people. If you're addressing more than four people, the appropriate pronoun is "all y'all".

(I'm not making that up. Though friends have been known to say to me, "Where y'all at?" when I'm in Atlanta and phone them.)

I was born and raised in Toronto, but when I was in university, I did three work terms in Ottawa for an employer who required me to take a taxi halfway across the city about twice a week (I was analyzing satellite imagery from the Arctic, and our Cray was in Nepean). Usually, on at least one of those occasions, after I gave the address of our Nepean office the driver would turn and say to me, "Are you British?"

I later told my roommate, who was born in Norwich, UK and moved to Saskatoon when he was young, and he said, "No, you don't have an English accent. You don't have an Ontario accent, either. I don't know what your accent is, but it's definitely not British."

As for American accents, I'm not terribly fond of New York accents - I used to work with a woman from the Bronx who is one of the biggest pains in the ass I've ever known, and that might have coloured my perception of the accent.

(Fortunately, my friends who reside in NYC don't have that accent. In fact, they don't seem to have much in the way of an accent. And I say that as someone who used to do a lot of community theatre, and could do a few accents when I was practicing them regularly. I once fooled an Australian into thinking I was a fellow Aussie. )

Similarly, I've never known anyone from Boston who had the stereotypical Boston accent, so I've never really been exposed to it except in TV and movies. But from that limited exposure, I suspect that I would end up feeling that it was only slightly less annoying than Bronx/Brooklyn accents.

Southern accents, OTOH, have a tendency to make me melt. Of course, I dated the one Southerner I've known who doesn't have one. (He did, however, have other charms...)

I've been to Minneapolis (and am hoping to be there again next month for a few days), through Wisconsin and North Dakota, and to California on multiple occasions, and the differences tend to be subtle enough in most cases that I don't really have much of an opinion on them, one way or the other.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

You all and the informal y'all resolve an ambiguity in English conjugation, settling whether the speaker is addressing an individual only or instead the whole group. I regard the construction as a positive contribution to English grammar.

Actually, my understanding is that "y'all" is used for addressing two to four people. If you're addressing more than four people, the appropriate pronoun is "all y'all".

(I'm not making that up. Though friends have been known to say to me, "Where y'all at?" when I'm in Atlanta and phone them.)

Interesting, and much appreciated. Perhaps I have been somewhat uncouth. Here's the wiki on y'all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y'all#All_y.E2.80.99all]:

All y’all

While y’all is actually a contraction of you all, it is most commonly used as a plural form of you. All y’all, all of y’all, or alls y’all clarifies that the entire group is meant, rather than an undefined subset thereof. Cf. we vs. we all, or they vs. they all.

For example:
Are y’all going to the movies?
The thrust of this question is whether movies are in the plans of the group. The asker is not focusing on whether the whole group, or just some of them, are going.
Are all y’all going to the movies?
Here, the person asking specifically wants to know whether the whole group is going.

Note that it makes no mention to just 2-4 people, although clearly the distinction is less meaningful with a small group. I'm going to plead that Kentucky is a border state, because while I have heard "all y'all" before, that is definitely something that I associate with much further south than here (of which Atlanta is). Here, we just say "y'all", if that. But you know what: it makes sense, and, I declayuh, ah maht just end up usin' eeyut, wheyun thuh need ahrahses, of cahwus.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

But you know what: it makes sense, and, I declayuh, ah maht just end up usin' eeyut, wheyun thuh need ahrahses, of cahwus.

I can't but picture you saying that as Bugs Bunny in drag.

 

[scotpens]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

. . . Oh, and nobody I knew ever said "Missourah".

Does anyone from Iowa pronounce the name of the state as "Ioway," like in The Music Man?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

I can't but picture you saying that as Bugs Bunny in drag.

Bugs was the hottest.

 

[propita]

Re: Non-American Native Engl. Speakers, What Do U Think of Amer. Accen

Well he did go around sans trou.