Do you speak with a heavy accent?

[Lord_Vetinari]

well, do you?

I certainly do. My accent is called "värmländska". To other Swedes, i think that it sounds slow, and a gives the impression that the speaker might be a bit slow as well .

One thing about people from Värmland is that we are a bit lazy here, so we usually don't bother too much with consonants if they can be avoided. In fact, there's one famous sentence in värmländska that contains only vowels, namely "i åa ä e ö" If this was written, it would look like this "i ån är en ö", which means "in the stream, there's an island"

Another distinguished feature of my accent is our "heavy Ls" They are produced by smacking your tounge when you make a normal L sound. It sounds very wierd and barbaric to outsiders.


So, what about you guys, do you speak with a heavy accent, or do you speak "the Queen's English?" If you do speak with an accent, please share some of the common features of that accent with the rest of us.

 

[anarchywrksbest]

Oh aye

Its called a Ballyclare accent.......

 

[Plexus]

I guess you could call my accent "Californian Surfer", yes, that stereotype is correct... except for the vapidity and vanity

Hey, it passed spell check, what more do you want from me??

 

[Pongui]

I speak with an accent suitable to international broadcasting... or, I used to. My wife has a delightful japanese accent, and though I have have not learned much of her mother tongue, it has altered my english considerably.

 

[Hitro]

In German I don't speak with a heavy accent.
In fact I'm able to speak without any accent at all, although I usually use some regional sloppy pronounciations for a few words, like "Bremn" instead of "Bremen" for example.

English would be a different story of course...

 

[MrPresident]

I don't have any kind of English accent. I pronounce path, grass, bath etc without the r common to southerners but I don't have any kind of Northern accent. Perfect BBC material. Although I do tend to shout in a slight Yorkshire accent. Having said that to other English speakers I would probably have a British accent.

 

[Lord_Vetinari]

Originally posted by Hitro
In German I don't speak with a heavy accent.
In fact I'm able to speak without any accent at all, although I usually use some regional sloppy pronounciations for a few words, like "Bremn" instead of "Bremen" for example.

English would be a different story of course...

From your post, I get the impression that you look down on accents (you "are able to" speak without any accent, and you conscider regional pronounciation to be "sloppy"). Is this so? If it is, then why?

In fact, let's ask all of you, do you concider accents to be inferior to "standard language?"

I certainly don't. I think it would be a boring world if we all sounded alike. I see no reason to why one way of speaking should be concidered correct and another not.

 

[Flatlander Fox]

I speak heavily accented German, and flat Mid-Western English.

Mrs. Fox's accent is a nifty cute little "Ve haf somesing to talk about Meester Jones."

Not really that bad, but still cool.

As with Sean, my knowledge of German has changed my English considerably.

 

[Pillager]

I speak the Queen's English, i.e. properly, and with a fairly 'upper-class' accent, naturally.

In French, I have an English accent, although it's not too bad apparently, and is constantly improving.

I have a very good accent in German, apparently.

 

[Lord_Vetinari]

I should probably add that when I speak English, I do it in what my teacher used to call "mid-atlantic." That is a strange mix between British and American English that is quite common round here, since we are usually taught British English in school, but at the same time hearing tons of American English on the telly. In my case this mix has gotten an extra twist from the fact that I've lived in America a year, and that I'm now studying English at the univertsity where the professors are almost exclusively British.

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by Lord_Vetinari
From your post, I get the impression that you look down on accents (you "are able to" speak without any accent, and you conscider regional pronounciation to be "sloppy"). Is this so? If it is, then why?

Interesting observation.

Well, I don't know how it is in Sweden, but for German there's a pretty precisely defined pronounciation that is considered correct, and that even with illogical elements (like "König" being pronounced as "Könich").
I have in fact always had the intention to speak a "perfect" German in that sense, though I have to admit that due to the luck (questionable in your view I guess) of having been born in Northern Germany, but no too much in the North (Germans may understand that ) that wasn't too hard to archieve.

But I don't look down on accents and I also don't look down on dialects (well except for Bavarian, which I consider a completely different language ). Regional accents are part of a regional identity and as a local patriot I'm of course all in favour of that.
As I said I do speak local slang pronounciation deliberately, and that's certainly not because I look down on it.

In fact, let's ask all of you, do you concider accents to be inferior to "standard language?"

Hard to say. I love the German language and as it is not easy to master I think it's an archievement to do so. Someone speaking correct standard "High" German simply gives a more educated impression. In that sense accents are inferior.

In fact, let's ask all of you, do you concider accents to be inferior to "standard language?"

I certainly don't. I think it would be a boring world if we all sounded alike. I see no reason to why one way of speaking should be concidered correct and another not.

Because if everything would be considered correct that may complicate the accents to a point where people don't understand each other anymore.
And besides that we all know that our brains would implode if we wouldn't make rules for everything, at least that's what school teaches us.

 

[onejayhawk]

Far from it. Telemarketing companies come to the part of the US where I was raised because the various accents come closest there to canceling out. I only sound accented to people with an accent.

J

 

[Lord_Vetinari]

Well, I don't know how it is in Sweden, but for German there's a pretty precisely defined pronounciation that is considered correct

It's the same here in Sweden. The newsreaders all sound alike here, with their neutral and clear pronounciation. In fact, it's very rare to hear TV hosts and suchlike speak with an accent. However, some accents are considreded ok, such as "skånska" (the accent spoken on the southern tip of Sweden), and "finlandssvenska" (the accent spoken by Finish Swedish-speakers (Swedish is the first language to a minority of the Finish population)).

Hard to say. I love the German language and as it is not easy to master I think it's an archievement to do so. Someone speaking correct standard "High" German simply gives a more educated impression. In that sense accents are inferior.

Altough I would proably sound more educated if I spoke standard Swedish, I still think I'll pass on it. One of the reasons for this is that standard Swedih sounds too "artificial." It would be kind of hard to speak it casually among friends. I'm not even sure that I'd be able to find a place where standard Swedihs is spoken regurarly. Typically, if a person around here wants to hide his/her accent for whatever reason, they usually try to speak with some kind of a Stockholm accent. This is getting especially common among young girls for some reason (my sister being one of them). Perhaps they're more ashamed of their accent than the boys are?

Because if everything would be considered correct that may complicate the accents to a point where people don't understand each other anymore.

Personally, I don't think this will ever happen. People today are just way too dependant on communicating with people all over the country to develop an accent that wouldn't be understanable.

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by Lord_Vetinari
However, some accents are considreded ok, such as "skånska" (the accent spoken on the southern tip of Sweden), and "finlandssvenska" (the accent spoken by Finish Swedish-speakers (Swedish is the first language to a minority of the Finish population)).

Why is that?

Altough I would proably sound more educated if I spoke standard Swedish, I still think I'll pass on it. One of the reasons for this is that standard Swedih sounds too "artificial."

Ah, okay I see, the standard German doesn't really sound artificial as it is the accent of a region (I think around Hannover)that was picked to be standard from then on.

By the way, when you speak of an accent is there a difference to a dialect? In other words, are there even more different forms of Swedish than those accents?

Typically, if a person around here wants to hide his/her accent for whatever reason, they usually try to speak with some kind of a Stockholm accent. This is getting especially common among young girls for some reason (my sister being one of them). Perhaps they're more ashamed of their accent than the boys are?

Why does anyone want to hide it anyway?

Personally, I don't think this will ever happen. People today are just way too dependant on communicating with people all over the country to develop an accent that wouldn't be understanable.

Okay that may be. But the point is still to have something every speaker of the language is used to hear, so that the probability not to understand more or less important things (like the news, or speeches) is low for everyone.

 

[Globber]

I have a very plain American accent. It's kinda disconcerting, because I can't do an Eastern accent for the life of me, even though I'm from china...

 

[MrPresident]

I speak the Queen's English, i.e. properly, and with a fairly 'upper-class' accent, naturally.

I thought the Queen spoke Thames English now?

 

[Jeratain]

I suppose if I went to a country other than the United States I would have a heave American accent...

 

[Knight-Dragon]

I think I speak English with a sort of Chinese slang, sometimes using Chinese grammar entirely.

I also speak it pretty fast, like Mandarin (which is fast-paced).

 

[Lord_Vetinari]

Why is that?

I think it's because those places are traditionally thought of as "academid" Sweden's second most prestigious university lies in Lund, where they talk skånska. I'm not as sure about the Finish-Swedish though.

By the way, when you speak of an accent is there a difference to a dialect? In other words, are there even more different forms of Swedish than those accents?

Well, at least värmänska is turning more and more into an accent, but I guess it could still be thought of as a dialect. There used to be certain words that were only used here, but that's quickly fading away. But we do still have a few grammar irregularities compared to standard Swedish. We also use some words in different contexts as well (for some very strange reason, the word "jämt" (always) can mean both "always and "right now," I have no idea of why).

Why does anyone want to hide it anyway?

You tell me. I guess some people just don't consider it "in"

Okay that may be. But the point is still to have something every speaker of the language is used to hear, so that the probability not to understand more or less important things (like the news, or speeches) is low for everyone.

Yeah, I know, and I kind of agree with this one. Of course everyone should be able to understand news without having to try to figure out what the hell the person is saying. But it still feels somehow strange that some accents are considred "good," and some are not.

 

[sysyphus]

Other than Newfoundlanders, most english Canadians don't have a very distictive accent, though I have had people from other English speaking countries comment on some of the nuances in the way we speak.

I was once in Montréal and an Anglo-Montréaler somehow knew I was from Ontario from the way I spoke, but dere's noo way I was able ta tell wot 'e was on aboot eh?