Accents and Regional Dialects

[Flick James]

I've always had and interest in accents, regional dialects, cultural manners of speaking, etc. Call me a very amateur linguist.

My in-laws are from Ireland and they have fairly thick accents. Further, they are Belfast Irish, which means their accents more distinct than the rest of the Isle and have have a particularly interesing lilt. Almost every sentence rises at the end, to the point that if you're not from there, it can be difficult to determine when you're being asked a question. Everytime I've gone there to visit her family it takes me a few days to get acclimated and figure that out. By the end of the trip, while I'm not speaking with an accent, I'm starting to have that rise at the end of my sentences.

Another peculiar part of the Belfast Irish accent is the pronunciation of words like out and round. It sounds like "ite" and "rind." It took me forever to figure out how that pronunciation worked. In Northern Ireland, they have alot of what we would call traffic circles, but they call them "roundabouts." But they pronounce it so it sounds like "rine-da-bites." It wasn't until I was talking to my father-in-law and he was talking about the accent and how, if you're not from there, the best way to imitate it is to use that long-vowel "i" sound. Sure enough, as soon as I said, "rine-da-bite," I sounded just like a Belfast boy.

My 3 1/2 year old son, when he was just over two, was just starting to develop a vocabularly. My in-laws visited for almost a month to help out with the newborn. By the time they left my son, when asking to go outside, started pronouncing it "ite-side." That cracked my father-in-law up. "Ay, he sounds like a wee Belfast man."

Anyway, what are some of the bizarre accents and dialects you've run into?

[Mr. DS]

In RI its all over the place but oddly varies from town to town.  Its actually difficult for me to describe.  People in my area have a very sharp dialog combined with the RI accent.  In other parts its very much slowed down.  Basically natives drop their "r" but vary in speed.

[tracy]

Well,I work in a convenience store so I occassionally run into folks from other countries. I've heard German and English and Australian but the most interesting one I've heard so far is a young man here in Texas for the dirt bike races. He was from South Africa and had a delightful accent.

[Flick James]

My 6 years in the Navy taught me some of the nuances in Southern accents depending on the area. I had a good friend from Alabama and a good friend from Tennessee, and their accents and manners of speaking were noticeably different. The guy from Tennessee, I swear some single-syllable words turned into two-syllable words. For example, the word "fork" was somehow "foh-erk." I noticed another guy I knew in the Navy from Arkansas also had a similar phenomenon with the word "fork."

Then there's differences in Southern accents among black folks. I met a guy, and I can't remember what state he came from, but he applied the most interesting pronunciation of the word "orange" I'd ever heard. I swear it sounded like "ernge," like the word "urn" but with a soft "g" applied to the end. I questioned him about and he laughed, saying he gets made fun of all the time, by white and black folks alike, but in the small town he came from down south, that's just how everybody said it. He also said it sucked because that was his favorite fruit and he ate them all the time.

[dean]

I can't help but laugh at an Irish accent.  I can't help it.  Funniest way of speaking ever!  Love the people but by god is it hard not to laugh.  Scots to a lesser degree too.


Some Aussie stand up to show part of what my accent is like, both the clips have something to say about accents as well so that's helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpBYnL5fAXE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECzKywTQXeI&feature=related

[indianasmith]

Years ago, I interviewed a 105 year old World War I veteran whose father was actually born a slave.  He had an incredible Deep South Negro dialect that was straight out of the slave cabins - I'd heard such voices in very old movies from the 1930's, but never from a living mouth before!

The absolute coolest thing I remember from the interview was when he told me that on the day that his "Colored Regiment" was being put into the line to fight, the Armistice was signed and the War ended.  I asked if he was more relieved or disappointed, and he replied in that soft drawl: (which I am trying to reproduce phonetically here)  "Waaal, I reckun I'se mosely relieved.  But I was a mite disaponted too.  I figga it be de only chance n***a evah have to shewt a wite man an git away wiv it!!"

He died a couple of years later at the age of 107.  At the time of his death he was Texas' oldest veteran.  I remember much of the rest of the interview if anyone wants to hear more.  Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

[Flick James]

Years ago, I interviewed a 105 year old World War I veteran whose father was actually born a slave.  He had an incredible Deep South Negro dialect that was straight out of the slave cabins - I'd heard such voices in very old movies from the 1930's, but never from a living mouth before!

The absolute coolest thing I remember from the interview was when he told me that on the day that his "Colored Regiment" was being put into the line to fight, the Armistice was signed and the War ended.  I asked if he was more relieved or disappointed, and he replied in that soft drawl: (which I am trying to reproduce phonetically here)  "Waaal, I reckun I'se mosely relieved.  But I was a mite disaponted too.  I figga it be de only chance n***a evah have to shewt a wite man an git away wiv it!!"

He died a couple of years later at the age of 107.  At the time of his death he was Texas' oldest veteran.  I remember much of the rest of the interview if anyone wants to hear more.  Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Well, seeing as it had alot to do with the title of the thread I would hardly call it hijacking.

[zombie no.one]

I know a guy from Cork (southern ireland) and he doesn't pronounce the "th" sound of anything, just the t

one two tree!

a thick geordie accent (north east england) is borderline impossible to understand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHHbfY6MVc

[Flick James]

I know a guy from Cork (southern ireland) and he doesn't pronounce the "th" sound of anything, just the t

one two tree!

a thick geordie accent (north east england) is borderline impossible to understand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHHbfY6MVc

I know a guy who lives locally who is from Cork, and he does the same thing. He commonly uses the phrase "to tell the truth," which of couse comes out "to tell the trute."

[ER]

My mother was born in Galway and lived there until she was almost eighteen and when she came here, the story I've heard is, she wanted to stand out less for her accent, so within a few months, completely on her own, she taught herself to sound perfectly Middle-American to the point very few people knew she wasn't from the United States. That's how I think of her talking, like us over here, but the strange thing is, when she's back with her family in Ireland, she can instantly sound exactly like they do. She can almost unconsciously change her accent almost like someone can speak a different language. It's made me wonder which is her real voice, you know?

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I must say a girl with a Scottish accent makes my heart go aflutter... its a holdever froma  magical date 20 years ago. 

One thing I find, after talking in a phone job for 10 years, is how certain accents can make a person sound just plain dim.  Its amazing.
-Ed

[HappyGilmore]

Dom Irrera.  Kinda fits the South Philly accent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URU33qxPtPU

Even better video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKpQRgMRAf4

We say "wooder" in place of water.  Say 'wit' instead of 'with'.

[Rev. Powell]

Mexicans pronounce "hello" so that it sounds like "hola."

[Flick James]

Mexicans pronounce "hello" so that it sounds like "hola."

Please tell me that's a joke, Rev. If it is, that's damn good.

[Rev. Powell]

Mexicans pronounce "hello" so that it sounds like "hola."

Please tell me that's a joke, Rev. If it is, that's damn good.

Actually, if i have to explain that it's a joke then it wasn't damn good.  But I amuse myself.