Best accent of the English language ?

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Babbsagg
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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby Babbsagg » 2017-04-08, 7:36

1. Scottish
2. AAVE
3. Yorkshire
4. BBC
5. Brummie
Thank you for correcting mistakes!

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Multiturquoise
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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby Multiturquoise » 2018-04-16, 20:51

My favourite British accent is the one in which Lily Allen and Kate Nash sings.
My favourite North American accent is the one in which Britt Nicole sings (she's from NC).
Aussie and Kiwi are always my faves.

And my least favourite North American accent is the Californian one.
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linguoboy
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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby linguoboy » 2018-04-16, 20:56

Multiturquoise wrote:My favourite British accent is the one in which Lily Allen and Kate Nash sings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockney

Multiturquoise wrote:My favourite North American accent is the one in which Britt Nicole sings (she's from NC).

Not familiar with Britt Nicole, but I imagine she sounds something like me. At least, when I take those various "match your accent" tests, they tend to place me in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, which is a bit east of her stomping grounds.

Multiturquoise wrote:And my least favourite North American accent is the Californian one.

Which California one?

(C'mon! You knew that was coming!)
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-04-17, 0:37

I guess I'm pretty basic in this respect: I really like General American. Although I'm pretty sure there are very many American accents that I've never heard in my life since I don't live in the US and there doesn't seem to be a wide variety of accents in the media (or at least the ones I watch).

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Lutrinae
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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby Lutrinae » 2018-05-20, 11:38

My favourite accent is British, (yes I said British because I am not able to tell the difference between regions and so), like the girl Tahini from the Good place, for example.

I totally dislike French/Spanish/Italian accents.
Thanks for any correction :)

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby Prowler » 2018-07-19, 19:51

Don't have a favourite... there's some I don't like much, though, but I dunno what accents they are, specifically.

Btw, people say the Irish and Americans sound rather similar but I don't see it. I cannot tell Canadian and American accents apart, though. If you show me a Canadian tv show, cartoon or movie I'll just assume it to be American until I heard a reference to it being set in Canada or until the credits pop up and mention it being Canadian.

Is this normal or not really?

IpseDixit

Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-07-19, 20:01

Prowler wrote:I cannot tell Canadian and American accents apart, though. If you show me a Canadian tv show, cartoon or movie I'll just assume it to be American until I heard a reference to it being set in Canada or until the credits pop up and mention it being Canadian.

Is this normal or not really?


I cannot tell them apart either. Canadian raising is basically imperceptible to my ears and I have no idea what else is typical Canadian.

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby linguoboy » 2018-07-19, 20:01

Prowler wrote:Btw, people say the Irish and Americans sound rather similar but I don't see it.

I think those people must be focussing primarily on rhoticity.

Prowler wrote:I cannot tell Canadian and American accents apart, though. If you show me a Canadian tv show, cartoon or movie I'll just assume it to be American until I heard a reference to it being set in Canada or until the credits pop up and mention it being Canadian.

Is this normal or not really?

There are shibboleths ("sorry", "about") that people from both countries are highly attuned to, but they're easy for someone from elsewhere to miss.

IpseDixit wrote:I cannot tell them apart either. Canadian raising is basically imperceptible to my ears and I have no idea what else is typical Canadian.

The cat-caught merger with a backer realisation than in many USAmerican varieties. This is driving the so-called Canadian shift, but that's not yet very salient for most USAmericans.
Last edited by linguoboy on 2018-07-19, 20:06, edited 1 time in total.
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IpseDixit

Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-07-19, 20:03

I've never understood if the "aboot" thing is real or a myth.

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby linguoboy » 2018-07-19, 20:07

IpseDixit wrote:I've never understood if the "aboot" thing is real or a myth.

"aboot" is a myth. [əˈbəʊt] is not.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-07-19, 20:11

I see, thanks.

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby linguoboy » 2018-07-19, 20:18

IpseDixit wrote:I see, thanks.

What drives it is a realisation of /uː/ in USAmerican English with a central element that is often quite fronted and lowered--sometimes all the way to [ɵu̯]. This brings it close enough to [əʊ̯] to cause confusion.

(For me the difference is quite clear because my native Maryland accent has an /oː/ that is quite fronted, occurring as [ɵu̯] or even [eu̯].)
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-07-19, 20:28

My poor 7-vowel brain is aching.

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby Prowler » 2018-07-19, 20:36

I used to watch a Canadian tv show called Trailer Park Boys. Apparently the characters live in Nova Scotia, a region home to some of the strongest accents in Canada. Yet I've always assumed it was an American show until one day I went on wikipedia and found out it was Canadian.

Isnt' the "aboot" thing a South Park joke?

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Re: Best accent of the English language ?

Postby linguoboy » 2018-07-19, 20:39

Prowler wrote:Isnt' the "aboot" thing a South Park joke?

It was a joke on South Park, but they didn't invent the (false) stereotype.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons


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