Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with accents

Who has what accent in Downton Abbey?

RingerChopChop — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:54:45 -0800

I'm late to the Downton Abbey craze, but I just finished watching all the episodes that have been made so far and I love it. What I'm wondering about is what accents the characters have. I know that Ms. Hughes has a different one than Carson, who has a different one than O'Brien, but I can't place any of them. Obviously Tom Branson is Irish -- but are all the rest of the characters English? Are some Scottish? Welsh? Liverpudlian? London-born? Help me sort this all out. Bonus: if you can identify any differences/matches between the accent the character has, in comparison with the accent the actor or actress who plays the character has.

Midwestern teenagers speaking in English accents?

incomple — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:14:39 -0800

What's the deal with the recent spate of Midwestern/Southern (US) teenagers I've heard speaking with English accents? Is this a "thing"? This is an odd question, but since the beginning of the year, on probably something like a weekly basis I've heard groups of teenage/college-aged tourists speaking to each other in English accents. Most typically, they're imitating the sort of clucky North London accent characteristic of Adele's speaking voice, and they do so frequently at a volume that can charitably be described as "demonstrable."

Each time, at some point they've slipped enough into their natural speaking voices that I can immediately identify them as Midwestern or Southern tourists (I live in NYC). I definitely don't hear local kids doing this.

So, why do I keep encountering this? I'm fully willing to chalk this up to coincidence or selection bias or what-have-you, but it keeps happening, so I just need to know that loudly impersonating Adele isn't a "thing" that kids are doing in Middle America.

Does this pronunciation have a linguistic name? Is it an accent thing?

oblique red — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:50:56 -0800

Actor Clark Gregg (our beloved Agent Coulson) has a voice that I really enjoy. One feature I like a lot is the way he says R sounds, especially in the middle or ends of words. For an example, at around 0:35 in the trailer for Much Ado About Nothing (http://www.muchadothemovie.com/), it is especially apparent in the way he says "merry war" and "skirmish." (Also notable in the interrogation scene in "Thor" when he says "That's hurtful.") It's not a burred or rolled or flipped R, it's just sort of... liquid-sounding? I think it sounds really neat. In the past, I have noticed this in other actors and I always really like the way it sounds. My question: is this a feature of a certain kind of regional accent? Is there an official/proper term for the sound I mean? Or is it just an individual thing that certain people have that isn't tied to anything in particular? Linguists of MeFi, help me out!

A linguistic query

newfers — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:59:29 -0800

How long did it take for the United States to lose all traces of a British accent among its citizens? Upon watching the movie "Lincoln", my wife had an interesting thought. In 1865, wouldn't a lot of folk still have somewhat of a trace of a British accent, and if not, how or why would regional accents have developed in such a relatively short period?
Obviously, "Lincoln" is just a movie, but we wondered if Lincoln himself would have been raised by a family with traces of a British accent or not... how languages and dialects develop regionally is fascinating, and I know so little about how it all works.

Do foreign accents sound different in different English speaking countries?

McPuppington the Third — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:03:17 -0800

Do foreign accents sound different in different English speaking countries? Does, for example, a French person who speaks English in Australia have a different accent than a French person who speaks English in the U.S.? (Assuming of course that they each learned English in either Australia or the U.S.)

So I'm assuming when people who don't speak English come to the U.S., they try to imitate an American accent with their speech. In other words, when people from France come to the U.S., they try to speak English with an American accent, but of course it comes out with their native French accent.

So then when French people go to another English speaking country, like Australia, I'm assuming they try to sound like the English they hear, with an Australian accent. But again, of course it comes out with their native French accent.

So does an Australian-English speaking Frenchperson sound different from a U.S.-English speaking Frenchperson?

This is just out of curiosity about accents and learning new languages.

like using roman text to indicate italics in an italicized passage

256 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:03:08 -0800

Looking for scenes (television or film) in which an actor plays a character with a different accent and then that character puts on the actor's native accent. I have not been able to come up with a single example, but surely they exist. Like, if Dr. House did his best British accent in one episode. Or if Don Cheadle had put on an American accent while talking on the phone in Hotel Rwanda.

Help?

What size population is needed to maintain an accent?

jjderooy — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:36:10 -0800

What size population do you need to maintain an accent? English is spoken with a wide variety of accents (other languages too I understand, but let's just stick to English). And various accents stay fairly consistent over time. So big a population of people do you need to maintain the accent? Anyone got any examples of accents in English that reflect a very small population? And what about the other end - at what point do people think a very large population is likely to split into separate discernable accents? Or am I talking crap?

Accents across the pond.

curious nu — Sun, 06 May 2012 12:10:27 -0800

Have there been any American actors that have been cast as primary characters on British shows and use a British accent? Basically the opposite setup of e.g. Hugh Laurie/House, Jason Isaacs/Awake, Damian Lewis/Life.

My heart is big, my ears are crap

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:49:49 -0800

I have often have trouble understanding what ESL speakers are saying, and I pretty much feel like a jerk after asking someone to repeat something a third time. I recently started grad school, and many of my classmates are not native English speakers. I've already run into several instances where I simply couldn't understand what someone was saying when my classmates seemed to have no problem with it. These are people who I'll be doing in-depth group projects with, and I'm scared of coming off like an obnoxious tourist, constantly asking them to speak louder and repeat what they said. It's something I hope to get better at, but until I can improve my hearing & comprehension skills, I'd like some tips on how to address those limitations when I have trouble understanding someone.

Pronouncing Literally, Battery Oddly

everichon — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:08:29 -0800

Growing up, I knew someone who pronounced the word "literally" as "litrally", and "battery" as "battry". When I asked her why she did that, she said it was a vestigial habit from acting classes in college, which would have been in the late 1960s. Now, the guy who cut my hair pronounces things in that way, and, of course, there is Rob Lowe's character on "Parks and Recreation" who also does it. My question: Is this a thing? Is it a regionalism? Was it ever taught in acting or elocution classes? Or is it just an affectation?

Recommend podcasts whose speaker(s) have an Iranian accent.

OlivesAndTurkishCoffee — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:32:14 -0800

Do you know of any English podcasts whose speaker(s) have an Iranian accent? Content is completely irrelevant. I'm be using Canadian iTunes store (but not necessary).
Thanks!

How does one intentionally learn (fake/funny/stereotypical) accents?

luciphercolors — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:54:03 -0800

I'd like to try making a "life goal" out of mastering stereotypical/fake accents... the impeccably snooty Frenchman, the stuck up Brit, redneck American, serious Japanese businessman, and so on. How does one intentionally learn (fake/funny/stereotypical) accents? The few accents I've picked up are great for amusing friends and family, but I want to be able to develop an act. I picked mine up from watching movies and incorporating them into play as a child, but I don't feel like I've been able to add much to my repertoire since then.

One way to learn them seems to be watch lots of movies with the target accent, and while I might pick up the accent that way, it soon becomes lost. Further... I'm interested in fake accents, or super-recognizable stereotypical accents, not real ones.

Any ideas? Excellent movies to watch for this purpose? Thanks!

The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him

Year of meteors — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:19:29 -0800

How would you describe the accent of the man wearing the gray jacket in this Mitchell and Webb clip? (For example, some different types of British accents are Yorkshire, Cockney, Queen's English, Private Schoolboy...)

Bonus points if you know what part of Britain this accent comes from. ^_^

what affects the variables in a language's regional accents?

nevers — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:50:34 -0800

in english, for the most part, it's vowel sounds that differ across regional accents. in other languages i've studied (italian, hungarian), consonant transpositions seem to be more common. what gives? or am i even drawing accurate conclusions? this is a hard question to ask because i have so little information to go on. but it seems like the most dramatic feature of various regional english accents is their vowel variation. meanwhile in italian, a florentine might replace the K sound with H, and in hungarian a budapestian might say vayok instead of vagyok (if my vague memory is correct). my understanding is that vowel sounds in italian are mostly the same across the country.

1a. is it true that in some languages, consonants are what vary the most, whereas in other languages, vowels vary more?

1b. if so, what aspects of the language or culture govern or affect this?

2. if that generalization is unfounded, is there a way to explain why a certain language has the variables it does in its regional accents? for example, you'd never find an english accent that consists of dropping K sounds (right?). i imagine it has something to do with what phonemes create meaning or differentiate among words -- we need our K sounds, but in italian, words rely more on unique vowel sounds/combinations?

You cawl thayt a noyf?

TimeTravelSpeed — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:24:46 -0800

Is there a resource that demonstrates how to do foreign accents by re-spelling words in such a way that when read aloud by an American, will closely resemble the accent? For example, in "Australian", Down = Dan. I've often wondered if such a thing existed and this FPP showing a snippit of Scots reminded me of it.

Ideally, this resource would basically be a dictionary that goes from English words and shows the phonetic spelling in different common accents: British, Irish, Scottish, Australian, etc.

More Australian Examples (sorry to pick on Australia... it's just so distinctive):
Head = Heed
Land = Laynd
Down = Dan
Under = Undah

Speaking in Tongues

freshwater_pr0n — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:28:43 -0800

I want to expand my collection of accents. What movies should I watch? I'm especially interested in regional American, UK and Irish accents, but hearing non-native English speakers is helpful as well.

I'm descended from Spanish kings and don't you forget it!

zeraus — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:49:17 -0800

Hispanic-Americans, I have a question. Do you accent your name? I see people in the states all my life use González, Hernández, Suárez, Andrés, etc. without the accent only using it while signing the dotted line.

I've been told that throwing the accent on is considered pretentious.

Thoughts?

Can you think of movies, television or radio shows which feature British actors playing American characters putting on fake British accents?

Kattullus — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:58:54 -0800

Can you think of movies, television or radio shows which feature British actors playing American characters putting on fake British accents? Extra bonus points if you can name other examples of actor from country X playing a character from country Y faking the accent of country X. In case the X/Y is confusing, here's a couple of examples:

An actor from Portugal plays a Australian character who at some points fakes a Portuguese accent.

An actor from China plays a Cambodian character who fakes a Chinese accent.

This doesn't have to be limited to English-language films.

So far I've thought of Dominic West in The Wire, Hugh Laurie in House M.D. and Lee Evans in There's Something About Mary.

For super duper extra bonus points, what on Earth should this particular phenomenon be called?

Why do people treat me better when I use a British accent?

realpseudonym — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 01:35:45 -0800

Why do people treat me better when I use a British accent? I work at a movie theater, and I've noticed that people generally pay more attention to me when I use a British accent. For example, when I tell people to shut off their cell phones with a British accent, they actually seem to do it with a sense of urgency! Why is that?

Should I stop speaking like a Yank?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:06:59 -0800

My boss would like me to drop my accent by developing a Southern one. Is this a bad idea? I live in the South (in the US). I was raised in the Western US by Yankee parents, so I have a Yankee accent. Now I have a good job (that I don't want to quit, so please don't suggest that) in the deep south.

My boss and co-workers say they can't always understand me. Part of this is because I mumble a bit, but I try to enunciate when they say, "what?"

I've never been good at mimicking accents, so my speech hasn't changed despite living here for over two years.

Yet every time I've spoken Southern, they claim I do a good job, but to me, it sounds like a cheap imitation. It also seems like I would have to speak Southern full time on the job otherwise the locals will think I am making fun of them. I would feel weird answering my cell ("oh, it is my parents, speak normally" vs "oh, it is Bob, step up the drawl.")

A guy I spoke with on the phone later asked my boss if I was a foreigner. (But maybe to him, foreigner=yank.)

Is there anything wrong with adopting an accent? If you are a native Southerner, would it make you mad to hear a Yank without an accent? Is there anything I am not considering?

(posting anon because my posting history would easily lead people to where I work and I don't want to get harassed)

The rain in spain falls mainly on the plane

Samuel Farrow — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:05:01 -0800

What is the shortest sentence that would highlight differences in dialects and accents in the English language? I am looking for some thinking about accents. Ideally ideas about the way we sound.

Awesome would be language quirks in particular groups within each country (such as the rolling r NZ has in Southland.).

Including English quirks in areas where it is spoken as a second language, and why.

Wabbits.

jazzkat11 — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:05:28 -0800

Which British dialect pronounces R's like a W? ie. Pronouncing 'research' as 'wesearch". Is it Welsh?

How is one to know a Vancouverite from a Haligonian?

orange swan — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 07:05:00 -0800

Why doesn't Canada have more regional English-language accents? In Canada, to the best of my knowledge, there are only two English-language accents — the Newfie accent and the Peter Jennings accent everyone else has. My Albertan relatives and a guy I dated who was from Yellowknife sound exactly like Ontarian born-and-bred me.

In the U.S., by contrast, there are so many, many accents that even some cities have their own, and New York alone has several.

Why is this? Is our population simply not big enough? After all, how many accents would the U.S. have if it only had one-tenth of the population? Perhaps the various regions aren't populous enough so that they can mostly interact just with each other and so develop a particular accent?

Hope this isn't too open-ended a question, but I figured there must be some specific criteria/conditions necessary to the development of a regional accent.

Easy Spanish-language typing on a U.S.-type keyboard?

killdevil — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 15:39:06 -0800

Easy Spanish-language typing with a U.S. computer keyboard? How can I make typing the common accent marks encountered in Spanish (properly considered extra letters, I suppose) quick and easy on my U.S.-format keyboard? I need to write quite a bit of Spanish and typing ALT+[Unicode string] (or however one does it on a Windows-based computer) seems terribly unpleasant and time-consuming.

A quick and dirty solution is preferable to an elaborate yet elegant one. Thanks!

Evil Psychiatrists & Texas in the Movies?

rainbaby — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 04:03:22 -0800

I'm looking for movies featuring evil/bad psychiatrists. I'm also looking for movies that feature good (West) Texas accents. An example of the first would be Michael Caine in "Quills,"an example of the second would be Sissy Spacek in "Badlands." Bonus points for contemporary time frame and female actors, but not necessary. Comedies are fine too.