FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Many Chinese people insist that I have an American accent. I think for non-native speakers it isn't easy to tell.
Zoochatters and their accents
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
Many Chinese people insist that I have an American accent. I think for non-native speakers it isn't easy to tell.
That's interesting in itself isn't it, given that you'd sort of expect that a person whose native tongue is tonal would be easily able to distinguish very different Western accents.
For my own accent, I know I have the standard New Zealand long "e" (where really only NZers can hear the distinction between the long and short "e" - which makes trying to pronounce Chinese or Thai words next to impossible), but even other NZers say I don't have a strong NZ accent. I have always thought it's because my family is fairly international (e.g. my grandmother apparently had a Scottish accent so strong that lots of NZers couldn't understand her, whereas I couldn't hear it at all) and we always were around immigrants from various countries.
Last edited:
Not in Stoke, people are not that far advanced. TLD says I have a strong Midlands accent.
I have been mistaken for someone from Wales, someone from Birmingham and someone from Liverpool.
Were they all the same person? The UK is confusing.
And what is your actual accent?
You definitely have a Wirral accent to my ear.... it's not as harsh as Scouse but less posh than Chester.
The only difference I've ever noticed within Australia is Bogan, but that's the language, not the accent.
Hix
Yeah, I knew someone who could pick Australian cities based on accent - was quite incredible. Got that I was from South Australia immediately.
The only difference I've ever noticed within Australia is Bogan, but that's the language, not the accent.
Hix
Word choice also makes a difference - kind of like fritz vs devon (NOT THE SAME THING!); bathers vs swimmers vs trunks etc; kindergarten vs reception; kebab vs yiros vs souvlaki; esky vs chilly bin
These aren't even really slang - just words in common usage in a specific area.
Slang makes it harder again.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
And what is your actual accent?
.
It's a fairly amorphous 'Lowered RP'; your basic middle-class accent. If you knew what to listen for you would find traces of Worcestershire in there, and a forensic analysis might throw up my time studying in the north-east. Because I've moved a fair bit in recent years (in terms of social environment as well as geographically) I've taken to adopting local linguistic flourishes or inflections because it helps me to settle in. Plus the richness of language means that often you are adding 'tools' that British English simply lacks. At the moment, I enjoy the fact that Chinglish allows the breaking of certain grammatical rules which simplifies language without losing meaning. My favourite 'acquisition' from Indonesia last holiday was lightly touching your chest when you say thank you, something I am actively maintaining at the moment.
When I was younger it was often claimed that Australia did not have regional accents, but had three accent types, “broad”, “general” and “educated”. Sadly you don’t hear broad often anymore. What I do hear is a “new” accent used by the offspring of some migrant communities, different from other Australian accents.
It's remarkable how different people sound when you watch footage from Australia from the 1970s or earlier. It's the accents that 'Australians' have in Hollywood movies, but that sound comically out of place to people my age who never experienced them.
Broad accents do survive, albeit not in the same form, in relatively isolated areas like rural Tasmania, North Qld, NT etc.
Melbourne and Sydney in particular have become so multicultural that there is a real mixture of language now in most areas.
I still find it funny when visiting some regional towns where you come across a Chinese person with a broader Aussie accent than even I do. But then, you need to remember that there were a lot of Chinese who emigrated to Australia in the gold rush era of the 1850s and so they really are more "Australian" (from the point of view of how long they've been here) than pretty much anyone except the earliest settlers (Aboriginals notwithstanding).
My sister lived in Basildon in England for a year on a teacher exchange and got quite good at imitating the Essex accent of the school kids there. I think the accent was only part of it - it was the mannerisms and the words they used which made it interesting.
My favourite was always the word "bovvered" ... as in "am I bovvered? do I look bovvered?" (bothered) ... which I believe means "I really don't care".
I think it would have been quite a culture shock for my sister, trying to work out what these teens were actually trying to say. "Is that English you're speaking? I know we're in England but I don't understand your language!". I'm guessing there are far worse areas when it comes to outsiders understanding them too.
My favourite was always the word "bovvered" ... as in "am I bovvered? do I look bovvered?" (bothered) ... which I believe means "I really don't care".
I think it would have been quite a culture shock for my sister, trying to work out what these teens were actually trying to say. "Is that English you're speaking? I know we're in England but I don't understand your language!". I'm guessing there are far worse areas when it comes to outsiders understanding them too.
Welsh Zootographer
Well-Known Member
Am I bothered? 
I spent a week travelling from Hobart to Launceston and noticed the accent was generally broader and less clipped than on the mainland, and easier for my ear to pick up on.
For such a huge country it is amazing how little the accent varies from Perth to Sydney to Melbourne etc. I think the nearest sounding European accent is a speeded up liverpool.
It is interesting to compare with Britain or Ireland, where each region has a very different accent, from harsh in the north, gradually softening to a near musical lilt in the south.
For such a huge country it is amazing how little the accent varies from Perth to Sydney to Melbourne etc. I think the nearest sounding European accent is a speeded up liverpool.
It is interesting to compare with Britain or Ireland, where each region has a very different accent, from harsh in the north, gradually softening to a near musical lilt in the south.
Before my Walsrode trip the only real experience I had with British accents was from a small London trip. One can understand my surprise when I first talked with @TeaLovingDave.
For me, most people apparently hear I'm from the south of the Netherlands. Except one person who thought I was from Friesland (the very north) which has its own uncomprehensible accent (ahem language) that I don't understand.
For me, most people apparently hear I'm from the south of the Netherlands. Except one person who thought I was from Friesland (the very north) which has its own uncomprehensible accent (ahem language
) that I don't understand.
Actually, now that you mention aboriginals, here on Christmas Island we get regional TV from WA, and there's a few community advertisements directed specifically at aboriginal communities. The aborigines have an accent, and the young ones have an accent - or way of speaking - similar to some of the 'new' migrant accents MRJ mentioned.
Hix
A Wirral accent? I’m currently Wirral based and even I don’t know what that sounds like!