Regional accents

Continuing a small discussion from the 'dissolution of the Union' thread, i was wondering, are the gigantic differences in regional accents over small distances unique to the UK?

Here in Britain, you can go 5 miles in any direction and find that the local accent is different. All i have to do is go the 5 or so miles from here to Holmfirth, and i immediately notice the difference.

But some people in the other thread said that in America you can drive hundreds of miles without much change in accent. Any truth in this?

So far it would appear to be unique to the UK, but i remember my old German teacher once told me that in Germany you can get many different regional accents. Are there any other countries like this?

Most European countries have a host of accents and even dialects varying according to geography, so, no it's not unique to the UK.

Apparently Cantonese is pretty different from village to village (or was anyway, doubt it is so much now).

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But some people in the other thread said that in America you can drive hundreds of miles without much change in accent. Any truth in this?

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Loads of truth. I'm from NW Washington, people from Oregon and California sound very similar. A bit of difference in the midwest, though I don't know much from personal experience on the east coast.

Those Canadians sound different though...

CR

The US has only had 400 years to stratify, versus 1000+ years of English on the Island. What's more, television has gone a long way towards smoothing out reigonal differences.

That being said, I don't think it's that different over here. You still have differences. The ability to tell the difference ranges with how close to the source you are.

Somebody from Texas could tell that a visitor was from the Northeast, but probably not much more than that.

Somebody from the Northeast could probably identify the region (a New Yorker would be able to identify it as a New England accent).

Somebody from the region, could identify the locality (a guy from Rhode Island would be able to tell that no, it's not Massachussets, that's a Maine accent).

Somebody from the locality would probably be able to pick up which area of the state the guy was from. Somebody from Bangor, Maine (central) could tell that they guy was probably from the North County (northern part of the state). Finally, somebody from that area might be able to home in on where precisely the guy was from, but maybe not. A guy from Caribou, Maine might be able to tell the guy was from Presque Isle, but would definitely know he was from the same neck of the woods that he himself (the Caribou guy) was from.

What's more, dialects and accents tend to be a form of identity (you wish to identify yourself with fellow folks of same dialect/accent). How wide that definition of 'group' is dictates how wide the area of the dialect. This is especially true of Ebonics. Gangs that are very limited in their territory, but very territorial are often unintelligible, even to other gang members from differnent parts of the same city... Where as that country southern form of Ebonics is very widespread (Arkansas to the Carolinas, Florida to Virginia).

Give it time.. America'll be full of dodgy accents by 2500, even if they aren't speaking English, heaven forbid. What's that Finnish/Swedish hybrid called.. Yoopers? There's an interesting one from the US surrounded by some very standard accents. Got to agree with Don's comment about television breaking up accents, also. Sad, that. :bigcry:

There are parts of the US that are in closer proximity to each other and have distinct accents. I am thinking of the northern east coast in particular. Staten Island!

I find accents very intriguing, being from the lower peninsula of Michigan I don’t really have much of one. Vocabulary is a different story though as we say things it seems no one else does, like pop vs. soda. ~D

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Originally Posted by yesdachi

There are parts of the US that are in closer proximity to each other and have distinct accents. I am thinking of the northern east coast in particular. Staten Island!

I find accents very intriguing, being from the lower peninsula of Michigan I don’t really have much of one. Vocabulary is a different story though as we say things it seems no one else does, like pop vs. soda. ~D

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Vocabulary is also a very big thing here as well. I doubt you'd find many Southerners saying things such as 'that were well mint' and 'i were well chuffed'.

Or delightful words such as '******* scraghead'.

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Originally Posted by currywurry

Vocabulary is also a very big thing here as well. I doubt you'd find many Southerners saying things such as 'that were well mint' and 'i were well chuffed'.

Or delightful words such as '******* scraghead'.

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? you really belive that?! you can't walk down the street without hearing it here (london) --> it is london though, so many many different accents, and vocab :2thumbsup:

One example of differences over a small area would be Boston.

As one travels westward, dialects and accents begin mixing and sounding more and more alike, to the point where there can be basically no noticeable difference in the area around the west coast. The explanation being that as people moved westward, they tended to mix more w/ people from all over. Accent and dialect are not restricted to region either. Like Britland, class, ethnicity and gender all have their norms for speech patterns, though not necessarily based on pronunciation or vocabulary.




General info on American dialects

Dialect Map

Accent is not in the mouth of one, it is in the ear of the other.

*said the french speaking guy ...*

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Originally Posted by currywurry

Continuing a small discussion from the 'dissolution of the Union' thread, i was wondering, are the gigantic differences in regional accents over small distances unique to the UK?

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I think you find this in most regions where people have lived for an extended period. Japan is a simple example. One can find not only accents change, but distinct dialects within a very short distance from one village to another.

I've said it before and I'll say it again ....(for our younger listeners)

Tha's nowt loike parklin' grumpet...nah see thee lad..ars goin darn fishoil ta get a bag ov chips....and I won't laike abaht as I do it...nah get wud int' t'oil....wuz tha born inna barn?

As they say in the third world known as Yorkshire.

"Ere all....see all say nowt"

"Eat all, sup all pay nowt"

"an iv tha eva doz owt fer nowt...doit fer tha sen"

*rattles loose change in pocket*

:laugh4:

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

I've said it before and I'll say it again ....(for our younger listeners)

Tha's nowt loike parklin' grumpet...nah see thee lad..ars goin darn fishoil ta get a bag ov chips....and I won't laike abaht as I do it...nah get wud int' t'oil....wuz tha born inna barn?

As they say in the third world known as Yorkshire.

"Ere all....see all say nowt"

"Eat all, sup all pay nowt"

"an iv tha eva doz owt fer nowt...doit fer tha sen"

*rattles loose change in pocket*

:laugh4:

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ok...

"There's nothing like parkling grumpet.. now see here lad.. I'm going to earn fish oil to get a bag of chips, and I'll do it however I like, and I won't get water in the oil, were you born in a barn?"

"Here all, see all, say nothing"
"Eat all, Sup all, pay nothing"
"And if you ever do anything for anybody, do it for your son."

???

"Loike"? That can't be right, man.

In Canada there are regional accents, made more fun by haveing 2 distinct langauges (French and English). But I suspect that you actually have to be from the province in question to hear it. Here in Nova Scotia I can pick out several. South shore, Halifax (this is mine), Cape Bretoner (which has 2 flavours, French and English).


Then there is Newfoundlander. See the Nissan X-trail Bonavista commercial. Which has the car salesman using the most pure form of Newfie I've ever personally heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m-y-qAbpL0

:inquisitive: :laugh4:

lol, saw this in the related box..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Abj...elated&search=

I have a pretty strong accent (other people tend to call the people from the region I come from "Accent-persons")
And it's pretty different village to village.
You have the small village of Beuningen (200 inhabitants) and they speak with their accent.
Those people from Beuningen say that the people from De Lutte (4km down the road) speak in a very posh way, tho they too have strong accents. And the people from De Lutte say that the people from Losser (5 more km down the road) speak in a posh way, tho they still have a very strong accent.
I personally don't speak the region language (it isn't really considered a language, as it isn't an official one, but it has it's grammar and some schools teach it as optional (if you're really mad)) but I can easely understand it, and when you talk to the older people (read: ancient people, 70+) you can hear the differences very well.
I like the fact that I can use the local dialect in Germany as they can somehow understand it, while they can't understand Dutch, saves you some time if you can't directly think of the correct German word.

Mind you in Ost-Friesland (in Germany) and in parts of Schleswig-Holstein they speak the exact same accent, and when I accidently see German television from that area the funny thing is that I understand them fluently, while (and only for that) the Germans use subtitles.

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Originally Posted by Justiciar

lol, saw this in the related box..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Abj...elated&search=

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Ha! :laugh4:

My neighbours are Newfies. The accent isn't that thick but you definitely hear the singing in their speech. I always wondered what the newfie chicks sound like in the throes of passion...

:kiss2: "Lord tundering jesus boay! Dat feels gud!"

Then of course, there is we Quebecois. "S'ti colise mon vieux, K'sik stu fais la?" The term is joile. I speak it very well.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and discuss regional linguistics with my neighbour's wife.

Woo, look out! Horny lumberjacks are on the prowl! :hide:

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Originally Posted by Del Arroyo

ok...

"There's nothing like parkling grumpet.. now see here lad.. I'm going to earn fish oil to get a bag of chips, and I'll do it however I like, and I won't get water in the oil, were you born in a barn?"

"Here all, see all, say nothing"
"Eat all, Sup all, pay nothing"
"And if you ever do anything for anybody, do it for your son."

???

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Try: There's nothing like sparkling crumpet.... now see here lad, I'm going down to the fish hole (Fish and chip shop) to get a bag of chips. And I won't lark about as I do it (Hang around).... nor get with in the hole (can't be quite right here).... Were you born in a barn. (Makes me think the bit before has to do with leaving a door open.)

How close am I?

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Originally Posted by Beirut

Ha! :laugh4:

My neighbours are Newfies. The accent isn't that thick but you definitely hear the singing in their speech. I always wondered what the newfie chicks sound like in the throes of passion...

:kiss2: "Lord tundering jesus boay! Dat feels gud!"

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No no no no. It's more like, Lurd tunderin' bie! Dat's t'spot. :wink3: Also born Islanders tend to lose most of the Newfie-ish right-some-quick-like. Main landers can't unnerstand a ting dey says.

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Originally Posted by Beirut

Then of course, there is we Quebecois. "S'ti colise mon vieux, K'sik stu fais la?" The term is joile. I speak it very well.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and discuss regional linguistics with my neighbour's wife.

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Hmm. What I see is that some of my friends from the South (of Armenia) and myself stress the second syllable, even when uneccesary which is a product of Farsi/Arabic (My wife tells me I sound odd). To the North, people stress the first syllable, akin to a more Russian sounding language.
From what I hear, my dad gave my brothers and sisters the most peculiar accents many people have ever heard.
Outline of accent:
Talk Really Fast,
Instead of pronouncing a as in Barn we pronounce it ai as in Cairn.
The sound O is Eh.
T is D.
Th is D.
Even when we speak Armenian the consensus is that we sound like this. When I step back from it all, I laugh at it.

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

I've said it before and I'll say it again ....(for our younger listeners)

Tha's nowt loike parklin' grumpet...nah see thee lad..ars goin darn fishoil ta get a bag ov chips....and I won't laike abaht as I do it...nah get wud int' t'oil....wuz tha born inna barn?

As they say in the third world known as Yorkshire.

"Ere all....see all say nowt"

"Eat all, sup all pay nowt"

"an iv tha eva doz owt fer nowt...doit fer tha sen"

*rattles loose change in pocket*

:laugh4:

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Good try chaps. :2thumbsup:

The first part is nonsense...I use it all the time when I'm 'darn sarf' :laugh4:

Now look here son. I'm going to the chipshop (fish-hole) to buy myself a bag of chips, I won't be hanging around (or messing about) Now close the door (put the wood in the hole) were you born in a barn?

The Yorkshiremans motto.

Hear all, see all, say nothing
Eat all, drink all, pay nothing
And if you ever do anything for no renumeration, make sure you do it for yourself.

More Yorkshireese....

Nah arm ov owt b'that.

(I'm going for a walk without a hat on) :smash:

Wiz gaffer?

(where is the proprietor of this establishment?) :inquisitive:

I'll si thee

(farewell) :clown:

Stop lairkin an callin an pull tha finger owt.

(desist from horseplay and conversation and get back to the task at hand) :whip:

How much!

(golly that's expensive) :laugh4:

Air Gun?

Aw Air, Shbl Rut Mut.

Aaaas It gone?

Nah arm ov owt b'that.

(I'm going for a walk without a hat on)

on Ilkley moor per chance?


Newfoundland accent sounds very much like a west coast Irish accent.

There is a class difference in accents here, alse. When some of my middle-class comrades go and speak to some working-class chaps, we are called posh simply be the way we speak.
There is a notable change in a few miles, here, also. Country-folk in the Carse of Gowrie speak different from the Urbanites in the City of Dundee.

Aberdonians all sound a bit strange. Be careful, they call women quains (or somesuch thing) and all sound like men...

Us be pleezed to zee ee!

(We are happy to see you.)

I don't have any accent myself but I know some Devonians and it creases me up some times.

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Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall

I don't have any accent myself .

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That's what I used to say until I moved to Wales. And then Scotland.
And I used to argue with the Welsh and Scots that it was they who had accents and that I didn't, as if an accent was some kind of black mark.

But when I had finally got my head round the fact that I did indeed have an accent, I finally began to hear it, and now I'm amazed at how prominent it is when I speak to people.

So yep, you do have an accent, maybe not to yourself or the people you know, but to billions of people elsewhere, you do.

And then I thank God mine isn't Brummie. :yes:

But I'd have to describe mine as BBC English mixed with an occasionaly Welsh lilt and the odd Scottish turn of phrase, and my Essex roots rearing their ugly accentual head when I'm angry.

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Originally Posted by lars573

No no no no. It's more like, Lurd tunderin' bie! Dat's t'spot. :wink3:

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:laugh4: !

...cleans mouthful of cereal now all over computer screen.