Do you like to imitate accents?

[Jamie (K)]

Native English speakers who speak with accents that are intelligible to the population in general aren't taught the sound system of the language.

What they are taught is "phonics", which is the relationship between the letters and letter combinations of the alphabet and their pronunciation. It's done for the purpose of teaching reading and spelling, and is not used to "correct" pronunciation.

The only time the teaching of phonics involves "correction" of pronunciation is when a group of kids' native dialect contains a feature that will lead to spelling mistakes. This would include a small minority of African-American children, or of residents of East London, who pronounce word-final [θ] as [f], and so would write "wif" instead of "with", etc. If the sound correspondences between one's native dialect and the standard written variety of English are pretty much one-on-one, then not much time is spent on the sound inventory of the language -- only on decoding letters of the written language.

I'm trained as a phonologist, and as far as I know, Pzezbucky is not. Nonetheless, I notice that his pronunciation comments, and those of other forum members who are not trained in phonology, correspond with with my own judgments. Evidently, then, for general purposes this phonics system is a different route to the same result.

[Alan]

Hi,

Not knowing the language of phonics I wonder why you say that the residents of east London (and that definition is a bit old hat now) would say 'wif' and not 'wiv'.

Alan
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[Jamie (K)]

[can]

One of the funniest is the Maghrebian accent in French. You should really try to listen to it!

[prezbucky]

EU

The vowel sound I use in the list you posted is the schwa -- "uh".

(wish I could type the upside-down "e". hehe)

How else would those words be pronounced? I'm talking about American English pronunciation.

I could see if you wanted to pronounce them thusly (examples from your list), but, with small regional differences, Americans will use the schwa:

- Run = roon or rahn?
- What = wote (rhyming with "smote") or waht (rhyming with "lot")?
- Enough = enofe (rhyming with "elope")?

Y'all don't pronounce everything the same way we do. hehe
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[prezbucky]

[Yankee]

[prezbucky]

I'm just havin' a little fun with that thar Southern mode of thinkin', writin' 'n' speakin'. Ah mahself wouldn't never think of sayin'/wrahtin'/tahpin' "y'all" less'n Ah implahd a "hehe" in it.
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[Alan]

Hi,

All this talk of accents prompts me to ask whether there is a 'favoured' accent in the USA or whether indeed there is an accent used to indicate that the person is somewhat simple. In the Uk there has always been a sort of rivalry between what might be described as northern or southern accents. The southern accent is often regarded as more authoritative than the northern and the former is used in TV adverts or announcements for example concerning serious matters. Accents from the southwest in areas like the counties of Devon and Cornwall are often used for characters in a play who are regarded as slow thinking and simple minded. Recently there was a TV series centring round a distinguished surgeon from London who decides to come to live in Cornwall. Originally the idea behind the series was to poke fun at the locals and show the superiority of the surgeon. As the series was being planned and the location was chosen and visited, the whole concept was changed around. When it was broadcast, it showed how the 'locals' were the sharp minded ones and the London surgeon shows himself to be a bit of a buffoon.

Alan
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[prezbucky]

that all depends on whether you like rounded vowels or hard/straight vowels.

for instance:

The California "o" = ehoo
The Wisconsin "o" = o (or "oa")

Crow (CA) = Creh'oo
Crow (WI) = Croh

I'd like to hear Jamie talk about this, as she would know how to define the differences.
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[prezbucky]

As for there being a "dumb" accent (of course there isn't one, per se...), if all Americans were to vote on the matter, probably the accent with the most votes would be that of Appalachian hill people -- specifically the southern/middle Appalachian folks. I've heard it can be almost impossible to understand an Appalachian person from West Virginia/North Carolina (etc.)... at least early on in the conversation.
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[Jamie (K)]

[Jamie (K)]

Prezbucky's right. The neutral-to-intelligent accent in the media is the Midwestern one (the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the lower parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota). The bumpkin accent is usually Appalachia or Texas. The pompous bumpkin accent is usually Georgia. The extreme snob accent is usually upper-class Boston.

Californians often think their accent is neutral, but we can hear that it's regional, and it's painful sometimes to see the son of a Chinese emperor in a Disney cartoon talking like a beach bum.

Sometimes, however, filmmakers and TV producers want to convey a level of erudition, intelligence or pomposity so extreme that no American accent can convey it. For those purposes, RP is used. (Don't complain about my use of the term again unless you can provide a precise, internationally understandable substitute!) This is why the evil genius in American movies usually sounds British -- not because he's evil, but because he's a genius. The Voice of God used to speak RP also, but for some reason God is now James Earl Jones, or some other black man with a voice similar to his.

[prezbucky]

Jamie

My condolences on your dudeness. hehe
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