>American English doesn't have an accent
Is this actually some widespread belief that Americans hold? Please tell me it isn't.
They listen to their own accent on TV so much that they believe it is the default.
Everyone has a fucking accent.
>>52720734
>they believe it is the default.
That's because it is
>>52720813
Yes, in American media, but literally nowhere else. If you want to be the default invent your own language.
>>52720671
I thought America had a lot of different dialects, though. Could this be a meme map?
>>52720963
Most of them seem to adopt "standard American" newsreader-type accents. The only Americans I've met that don't have been southerners. The most confusing part is that a lot of Canadians do too.
>>52721314
Accents, indeed. But I'd like to see what the difference between the dialects is, because I feel like there aren't any in the USA (maybe ebonics).
>>52720963
What a tiny selection of accents.
Are they even trying?
>>52721746
There have been threads about Americans calling things like sodas, water fountains, and sprinkles for ice cream different things, but yeah I don't think the differences are very significant. I wouldn't know, though.
>>52721746
Mountain people in the Appalachians have their own weird dialect. And there's a couple French dialects unique to us in Louisiana and New England.
>>52721917
pop, cola, coke
not sure about water fountains
J I M M I E S
I
M
M
I
E
S
>>52721917
>water
It's pronounded "wooder"
>>52722401
There is one state near the Canadian border where they are called "bubblers" or something. I think Minnesota.
You're all fucking daft, they are called hundreds and thousands.
>>52722443
So you're from Philadelphia, then?
>>52721746
Accent = dialect
tfw no genuine Tennessee accent
>>52723036
>Finnish Elvis
fund it.
>>52722912
I wouldn't agree with that. Accents are different ways to pronounce words, dialects are accents that add a whole vocabulary, distinct to the each and every dialect (or several dialects).
>no accent
L.M.F.A.O. AAAAHHHHHHHH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGSVobnGUCE
>>52720963
That map is pretty awful and inaccurate (having Canada all have largely the same accent up to Quebec, seperating the New England accent into 2 even though they are largely the same bar scallop, etc.) but there are different accents. Most of the largely known sterotypical ones like the NYC accent are largely dead and are giving way to the "General American" accent.
>>52723883
That woman said one word differently, everyone else spoke pretty average American English.
>>52723883
I watched that video and they just sounded like ordinary Americans to me, except when that one woman said "warsh"
What am I missing?
>>52724894
Nobody in America outside of those people sound like that they have awful accents.
>>52724936
Never been to America but that sounded like the accents I hear on TV all the time
What is a non-ugly American accent then?
While we're here
Pop>soda>coke>>>>>fizzy
>>52724894
My family is Appalachian and sometimes I'll slip into that dialect/accent wash is Warsh oil is ohl words like drekly and yonder.
>>52720671
I don't doubt it. Eastern Norwegians here insist that they don't have a dialect despite the fact that there's no official spoken Norwegian.
>>52727880
Why would such a long vertically oriented country be divided on an east-west basis and not north-south?
>>52725017
>non-ugly accent
New England is the best imo
I allegedly have that accent though so its probably just bias
>>52720877
>unironically implying English accents have always sounded like they do now.
We just pronounce the words exactly as they were intended to be pronounced when they were coined (except for 'gif'). Sorry for having such radically colloquial accents.
>>52727880
never heard this after I was 10
>>52729484
it's divided all across, but our written language is closest to the dialects spoken in the south east. Eastern Norway refers to the south east
>>52730682
Brahmin sounds the coolest tbqh.
>>52731106
Forgot link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfR4DLXYpCw
>>52730888
And I suppose that includes saying wadder instead of water, gar-ahj instead of gair-adge, elevadurr instead of elevator, modercycle instead of motorcycle, urb instead of herb, Jeezis instead of Jesus, idealogue instead of ideologue, and the literal hundreds of things you pronounce inconsistently from how they are written? Travel abroad sometime and maybe you will lose this geographical isolation-induced arrogance.
>>52720963
they got the new orleans inset all fucked up
t. New Orleanian
>>52731153
>>52731106
I go to Boston accent often and that accent in that form is dead, most people in the Northeast say As like them though.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ketrhWr58wA
>"hey, let me teach you how to speak in the most generic way possible!"
Why would anyone want to do this?
>>52733113
That is legitimately sad. I don't understand why Americans shit on their own regionalism so much, in countries like the UK it is fully embraced.
>>52733754
>in countries like the UK it is fully embraced.
It's not. There's plenty of discrimination against people with regional accents. Luckily I'm not one of them :^)
>>52733834
There are plenty of TV shows with respectable characters in Britain with strong regional accents. In American shows anybody without a "standard" news anchor accent is portrayed as a yokel and those that aren't are characters that make conscious efforts to "lose" or actively suppress their accents (but sometimes slip up, for comedic effect, of course).
>>52720671
>Is this actually some widespread belief that Americans hold?
Yes, they believe that their own accent is not accent and everyone who doesn't talk like them has an accent. They also unironically believe that English is from America and that English people speak English funnily. Not making it up. JUST
>>52734099
It's quite similar the UK moite
It's because all of the TV they watch, has the generic American accent, therefore they see it as the default normal one.
>>52734099
This isn't really true. The 'General' accent is preferred in national media, but people with any kind of American accent are commonplace.
>>52733113
the boston accent makes you sound like an idiot asshole
>>52734284
Standard American accents sound nasally and boring. If you make an active attempt to sound like a TV character instead of just talking like where you're from you are a pretentious easily-influenced person.
>Let me tell you about your country
>>52734284
I like variety, not just the boring generic Midwest English.
It's pretty fortunate for foreigners that they are unaware of the connotations that come with certain accents. I kind of wish I could take a more objective look at them but it's impossible.
>>52734489
We're not telling you anything, just making fun of some of your countrymen for thinking that you have perfected the art of speech in a language they didn't even invent.
>>52734596
I was referring to >>52734099
>>52734596
>they didn't even invent.
triggered
>>52734541
>connotations that come with certain accents
Like what?
>>52734848
How certain regional accents are connoted with a lower social class and things like that.
It's weird how many foreigners I see on here creaming over our version of Scouse/Liverpool accents
>>52733113
the boston accent is cute af
>>52734660
Are you questioning whether or not I have actually watched American TV shows? This happens quite often. Characters "with accents" are idiots and/or lower class, characters "without accents" are the "normal people".
>>52734987
No i am not questioning that, you obviously consume American media by the gallons. I am,however, questioning your knowledge of the intricate details of the things you speak of. Since what you said was basically so generalized that it's a meme.
>>52734987
Which accents may I ask? There's a reason they're portrayed like idiots. We've got our own version of Bogans and whatnot
>>52734919
If you come to Europe with anything besides the boring vanilla "standard" American accent people (including girls) will be way more interested in you. I have witnessed this myself first hand.
>>52735049
>I am,however, questioning your knowledge of the intricate details of the things you speak of.
What about this is intricate? Is there not something wrong with generalizing and judging people for not eschewing their regional identity and talking like radio announcers instead?
>Since what you said was basically so generalized that it's a meme.
>a meme
What the fuck does this even mean?
>>52734919
I'm sure most, if not all countries have an accent or dialect (or several of them) that is seen like that.
the boston accent seems to be the only authentic one left in America
even the New York one has become lost to gentrification/immigration/blandness
was watching a load of those Hoarders shows while at my dads over the christmas, and all the mid-western accents sounded generically 'mid-western' (lots of 'ooos' and 'awws', the southern accents all sounded just generically 'southern', and everywhere else just had the same accent you hear on any sitcom
then there was one episode in Boston, and they just had the most obnoxiously loud and abrasive accents that could only possibly have come from that tiny little corner of NE America. every silly argument they'd have would end up in them shouting lines taken straight from every Southie gangster movie
then they'd go to Jenny in Whereverthefuck, Montana
>>52735184
Southern, Boston, that weird sort of Canadian-sounding thing Sarah Palin had going on for her, California valley girl/"surfer dude"... actually the only American regional accent I can think of that would actually make you seem "smart" in the eyes of others would be that Boston brahmin thing that was posted earlier, and that's pretty much extinct.
I'm aware that only the lower classes and uneducated tend to have most of these accents, but that is because of intelligent middle class people dropping their accents for the news anchor thing instead because of the stigmatization I've talked about.
>>52735270
I'm pretty sure its worse in America because if you show up in Boston and say scallop "skal-up" rather than "skawl-up" you will get the shit beaten out of you unless you don't speak English as a first language.
>>52735445
>that weird sort of Canadian-sounding thing Sarah Palin had going on for her
That's an accent from the Mat-Su valley near Anchorage. It comes from the Minnesotans that moved there.
>>52735485
That's funny, considering what little difference there is between their accents.
>>52735746
There is about as much difference between them to Americans as there is between any Slovenian accent to Solvenians. The same way you see American accents as sounding the same, we hear Slovenian accents as sounding the same.
>>52735643
That's actually pretty interesting.
>>52735746
Strong southern accents sound almost like a separate nationality to me. Others like Boston just exaggerate your "Americaness"
>>52735925
At least one of our dialects is considered sometimes as its own language.
>>52734151
I've heard so many times from american posters how their version of the english language is apparently closer to the original back in ye olde times because of some article mentioning rhotism, when they've just got to take a look at a west country or northumbria accent to get a good idea of how english was originally pronounced
>>52720671
>American English
Do Canadians speak it?
>>52736184
Canadians have their own thing
they say about like aboot, and 'sorry' weird and use alot of 'eh' s after everything
(or, atleast that's what American media told me)
>>52736085
It's actually disproven by one of their own accents. There is an isolated island of the coast of Virginia called Tangiers where people speak with what are (most likely) basically preserved Elizabethan English accents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZgw09CG9E
>>52736184
>>52736267
If you ask Canadians about it they'll generally respond mostly with "nobody talks like that here!" or "that's only how people sound up north!"
I once watched a Canadian TV show and didn't even know about it until it said so in the credits.
>>52736352
Canadians sound different, their accent is a real life meme everywhere in America.
>>52736485
>>52736352
>>52736267
>>52736184
We sound, act, and will continue to become more like Americans.
>>52736558
>The Canadian strives to be cucked when let lose from its enclosure
>>52736485
That's what I mean though, if you ask them about things like saying "aboot" and punctuating sentences with "eh" they'll go in full-on denial mode sometimes.
To be fair though, a Canadian anon from the Maritimes once vocarooed his accent for a thread, it sounded like a nasally pirate but that is apparently a very unique accent there.
>>52736273
>It's literally a West Country accent
Interesting
>>52736624
The Martimes and Newfoundland are kinda the failed abortion of North American accents, they are borderline impossible to understand unless you speak it.
>>52736617
>>52736485
>>52735925
>a Jersey Shore cast member is home for the holidays
neat, can I have an autograph?
>>52724373
>Most of the largely known sterotypical ones like the NYC accent are largely dead and are giving way to the "General American" accent.
>>52734987
>let me tell you about your country
>I know because I've watched tv
>>52735416
>the boston accent seems to be the only authentic one left in America
>even the New York one has become lost to gentrification/immigration/blandness
Why are euros so fucking retarded when it comes to America?
>>52736666
I'd still say it's mutated slightly towards the americanised side over the course of the years but it's still extremely similar in most respects
Since this has become an Anglo accent general, can somebody tell me what the stereotypical "pirate" accent they use in movies is? Where does it originate from?
>>52736844
>airplane travel, living in other countries, and meeting and maintaining friends from other countries don't exist, only TV does, stop discussing international culture on the international board right this instant!
>>52736844
I'm from America dipshit, my brother lives in NYC. I'm talking about the sterotypical one that all Euros know that the "A" stress that everyone has. It is true that the "EYYY I'M WAWLKIN HEAR!" Is dying out, wether you realize it or not.
>>52736967
The pirate accent is the Bristol accent.
>>52736972
*the Euros know, not the "A" stress everyone has
Sorry this radically changes the meaning of the sentence
>>52736967
Idk there is probably some historical reason for it but it would have originated in Britian/the Caribbean not the US
>>52737058
A Bristolian actor was used in some famous old Pirate film in the 50s or 60's and it caught on as the pirate accent.
>>52737157
>>52737040
I'm guessing I would know about it if there was an entire city in the UK where people walked around saying things like "YARRR" and "SHIVER ME TIMBERS", so does that just come from an exaggerated or archaic form of the accent or is it just creative liberty?
>tfw due to population displacement and huge border changes your country doesn't have many particularly strong regional dialect differences
>>52737223
They pronounce R's weird but of course they're not shouting, I think shiver me timbers is just old timey speech, I used to have a gf from Bristol and they have loads of weird saying though like calling each other Baber
>>52737329
>tfw mine does
>>52737412
how the fuck is there enough room in Slovenia to have all of that?
Cajun dialect is the best, senpai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTr-UlyLI_I
And let's not forget about Gullah (although it's a creole language and not a dialect)
https://youtu.be/iCd5W4gwJsI?t=746
I find Americans are more Nasal sounding than most countries
>>52737512
This is a very generalised map. Pretty much every village could be marked for having its own subdialect.
>>52721917
Does anyone have that meme lightning bug name map?
>>52737563
What does the St. Vincent English accent sound like?
>>52737563
They are. Southern accents actually sound way more "European" to me (despite them being the least "European" acting people in America) just because they speak more out of their throats.
>>52737656
>lightening bug
They are called fireflies dumbfuck
>>52737563
so are australians, but everyone seems to forget about them
>>52733834
>t. southern fairy
You wouldn't last 1 day in God's Green Earth, Lancashire.
>>52737859
I just tried doing a British accent through my nose and what I got was pretty much that. Amazing.
>>52720671
Americans definitely have an accent
>>52737687
It depends on what part of the island you are form
and how educated you are. It can range form sounding Jamaican
to sounding like the person is from Louisiana. I would have done a
vocaroo but there is too much noise.
>>52737859
This is actually true
I have the generic sounding American accent. I kinda talk like a chola when I'm upset though cause I've lived in Chicano neighborhoods most of my life
>>52737740
What qualifies as European
>>52738165
Do you speak Vincentian Creole?
American accents are actually diverging.
Some old ones are fading away, but new ones are forming.
California and Great Lakes accents are two relatively new phenomena, whereas the Southern accents have existed at least since the turn of the 18th-to-19th century.
>>52738873
I understand it but I don't speak it, the private school I
went to strictly forbid it on compound.
>>52738862
Nothing really, that's why I put it in quotes. In Europe people tend to speak more out of their throat regardless of language, with some exceptions. That's why we can tell Americans apart from Brits even if our English isn't so good.
>>52739060
It makes sense for them to do it out there because accents are very samey out west because of how they were settled.
>>52739060
>Great Lakes
can somebody explain this "great vowel shift" that is supposedly happening in that region? I don't understand what that entails,
>>52723883
>somehow it's classist that Pittsburgh has the ugliest accent
"Which accent sounds the ugliest?"
"Pittsburgh's."
"Wait, but that one was developed by poor people. Thus, it cannot be displeasing. That would be classist."
>>52739346
https://youtu.be/Pqhy2ejuGLU
tl;dr, it's something like...
>"caught" becomes "cot" (#2 example in video)
>"cot" becomes "cat" (#3 example in video)
>"cat" becomes "ket" or "keeyat" (#1 example in video)
>"bit" becomes "bet"
>>52720671
Daily reminder that BBC/Estuary English is the only real English and we can't have an accent because we are the arbiters of English pronunciation.
>>52741085
That's some fruity French dialect.
Real English is harsh and rhotic.
>>52741085
>Estuary English
literally the ebonics of the UK
>>52741260
That would be true if we still spoke old English. Modern English owes much to the French.
>tfw Generic American accent
Want a Cornish accent lads
I've only heard the stereotypical canadian accent once in my life. We say eh. that's about it.
>>52742221
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEYU9GwaxdY
Canada is like the missing link between U.K. and U.S. English, imo.
Listening that Canuckold speak, you can hear obvious West Country English influence, but I can hear a little bit of both Southern and Western American.
>>52742221
You guys really do say "about" funny though, it's not even a meme. It's like it rhymes with "oat"
>>52742567
I never heard anyone say about funny like that.
>>52742659
Literally every Canadian does it, and every Canadian denies it as well.
