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lizardcongress
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05 May 2007, 11:16 am

I have lived in the south (US) all my life, but everyone I meet here asks me, "Are you from up north?" However, everyone I meet from the north tells me that I do, indeed, have a southern accent. I always paid attention when they taught grammar in school and actually applied it to my own speech, which I don't think most people do. However, I did pick up some features of southern pronunciation. Only recently have I started working on the pen/pin distinction (most southerners pronounce both like "pin").



Gilb
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05 May 2007, 11:26 am

i have a relatively neutral accent but for some very strange reason i have a stronger Yorkshire accent when i am being silly and i gain either an Irish or Scottish accent when nervous, even though i cannot do an Irish nor Scottish accent when i try to i seem do do it inadvertently and perfectly when nervous



Hazelwudi
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05 May 2007, 11:29 am

I was born and mostly raised in Michigan, and moved the summer before I turned 13 to Appalachia... Kentucky, to be specific.

My accent will swiftly shift to reflect the accent of the person I am talking to, be it a northerner or a southerner. I can talk like the biggest hick ya'll will ever see (complete with appropriate "southern" slang!), or with the cultured, eloquent precision of a newscaster. The vocabulary used shifts along with the accent, as well.

There is a second instance in which it will shift, and that's tied to my mood. If I am growing irritated, it will shift south automatically, no matter who I'm talking to. If I'm so angry that I'm about to bring the pain (psychologically or physically, it doesn't matter which) it shifts north, no matter who I am speaking with.



gwferguson
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05 May 2007, 11:42 am

I was raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia where they speak very Southern but very fast; I spoke even faster, but without the drawl, so people naturally assumed I came from elsewhere...probably Mars.*

By the way, this might be of interest:
Fannish Accent


*Oh, my mind is all over the place today--on an episode of King of the Hill Dale Gribble at one point shouts "Earth First! Make Mars our b***h!"


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Raylynn
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05 May 2007, 1:36 pm

lizardcongress wrote:
Only recently have I started working on the pen/pin distinction (most southerners pronounce both like "pin").


hahaha...my roommate tried to teach me how to say those differently once. She never succeeded though. I think I say them differently though.



Joe86
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06 May 2007, 3:56 am

I have a massive Boston accent. It's impossible not to notice.



atxa
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06 May 2007, 11:11 am

RaeRae wrote:
I don't have an accent but everyone else does.


That's what I'm gonna say now, good answer.

Thank you !



calibaby
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06 May 2007, 11:37 am

What does an American accent sound like?