Accents??

[Samantha mcbay]

I'm Australian and I somehow have a Canadian accent. I don't hear it at all, to me I sort of just sound flat and sort of childlike. Around people, I don't know, or around lots of people, I get extremely soft spoken and sometimes have selective mutism when my anxiety gets really bad. But everyone always asked me where I'm from and about my accent. I even had a guy from Scotland with a heavy Scottish accent asking about my accent and if I was from Canada. How does that even happen? I can't hear it at all. My Dad has always tried to correct me for talking like an American because I'm Australian, not American. But I can't fix it because I can't even hear it. I just know I have an accent because EVERYONE keeps commenting on it. If no one had said anything I would never have known. I can hear everyone else accents just not my own. Like I said to me I just sound flat. Every time someone comments about my accent I don't even know what to say to them. It used to really upset me when people would comment on the way I spoke, I mean on top of everything else that makes me so different to everyone else, I don't know why I have an accent that is not Australian. My family have the strongest dry Australian accents but I don't? I guess I want to know if this a common thing Aspergers struggle with? Or is this just me? And if it is how do you respond to people commenting about the way you speak?

 

[Danny 74]

Interesting.... I have a east london cockney accent but over the years ive been asked if im Irish? ?? The two accents dont even sound the bloody same

 

[Optimus]

A number of years ago I lived in Canada for while (I am from Scotland originally and live there again now). The whole time I was there, my Canadian friends always said I had a limey or a Scottish accent. However, when I came home to Scotland, all my Scottish friends thought I sounded American. I suppose everything is relative...

The point is that I get what you are saying about not being able to hear your own accent. I couldn't and still can't.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Ah, this is a very interesting phenomena with Asperger's actually! It's been proven that with some autistic people they will pick up accents of the places they're in very fast, sometimes a matter of hours or days and they can't stop it until they return home. But in your case, I think what you'll find is that you listened to a radio programme, played a game or watched a TV show that you enjoyed a lot growing up and that you've copied a character's accent, and because you were still developing that accent has now been embroidered into you like an accent normally would.

Tony Attwood says that Australia's biggest import is autistic American children because they all speak with American accents!

This is a really fascinating part of the condition. It's all based around the part of autism which is about mimicking. I bet that growing up you were quite good or tried to mimic other people too.

 

[Hopeless_Aspie_Guy]

Well if you're British you technically don't have an accent as we are the ones who invented the modern-day language. There are however regional accents of course but otherwise our accent is as flat as a diet coke left open for days whereas the yank and auzzie accent has a fizz and a tang to it.

I do have a couple of questions for Americans though; How do you tell the difference between someone saying 'ant' and 'aunt'? Or 'party' and 'potty' or 'council' and 'console'????

 

[WereBear]

I do have a couple of questions for Americans though; How do you tell the difference between someone saying 'ant' and 'aunt'? Or 'party' and 'potty' or 'council' and 'console'????

It's context, mostly. If someone says, "I've got a bad ant problem in my kitchen," no one thinks they have some drunken auntie in there disturbing the neighbors.

I speak Brooklyn, which drops the "r" entirely, and yet I understand when they are saying "drawer" or "draw."

Ah, this is a very interesting phenomena with Asperger's actually! It's been proven that with some autistic people they will pick up accents of the places they're in very fast, sometimes a matter of hours or days and they can't stop it until they return home.

This explains why I am so good with accents! I can pick one up from just one movie.

 

[Samantha mcbay]

Ah, this is a very interesting phenomena with Asperger's actually! It's been proven that with some autistic people they will pick up accents of the places they're in very fast, sometimes a matter of hours or days and they can't stop it until they return home. But in your case, I think what you'll find is that you listened to a radio programme, played a game or watched a TV show that you enjoyed a lot growing up and that you've copied a character's accent, and because you were still developing that accent has now been embroidered into you like an accent normally would.

Tony Attwood says that Australia's biggest import is autistic American children because they all speak with American accents!

This is a really fascinating part of the condition. It's all based around the part of autism which is about mimicking. I bet that growing up you were quite good or tried to mimic other people too.

Yes I have that problem too. I accidentally pick up accents or speach patterns of other people very quickly but it's usually only temporary. And that I can usually hear and I try to control it because it aggravates me to no end and I'm sure the person I'm talking to. I've had many people criticise me about it. But it has sometimes been useful because learning another lanuage is easy. I learnt to speak Portuguese in 5 weeks. But in general I have a Canadian accent but I can't hear it probably just because I've always had it. And yes I tended to unintentionally mimic other peoples behavior a lot as child. I couldn't help it or control it, I just did it. Once my sister was talking to me and I was litterally mouthing the words she said and i didn't even know I was doing it or why I was doing it. It was only because she said something that I realized what I was doing.

 

[James Hardy]

i have the habit of switching accents even mid sentence, and thus in my home town i get asked where i come from.

 

[Mary Terry]

Well if you're British you technically don't have an accent as we are the ones who invented the modern-day language. There are however regional accents of course but otherwise our accent is as flat as a diet coke left open for days whereas the yank and auzzie accent has a fizz and a tang to it.

I do have a couple of questions for Americans though; How do you tell the difference between someone saying 'ant' and 'aunt'? Or 'party' and 'potty' or 'council' and 'console'????

Everyone has an accent because accents are always relative to the listener, not the speaker. America has a wide variety of accents due to our vast geography and multicultural influences. Northeastern Americans make fun of southern Americans' accents, southerners and northerners make fun of western and central plains accents, and vice versa. I have read that forensic linguists attribute the accent of upper society southerners to the English spoken by upper society British who settled in and greatly influenced the culture of the American south prior to the American Civil War, and that today's refined southern accent is the closest thing to how upper society English was spoken in America at the time the US obtained its independence from Britain. African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and immigrants from all over the world have enriched our American speech and vocabulary. We are the "melting pot" of the world.

 

[James Hardy]

Well if you're British you technically don't have an accent as we are the ones who invented the modern-day language. There are however regional accents of course but otherwise our accent is as flat as a diet coke left open for days whereas the yank and auzzie accent has a fizz and a tang to it.

I do have a couple of questions for Americans though; How do you tell the difference between someone saying 'ant' and 'aunt'? Or 'party' and 'potty' or 'council' and 'console'????

because the way we say the words are distinct, also we speak is american english witch is a large melting pot of languages more so then your brit enslave the world English... oh did i type that out loud. (disclaimer that was a passive aggressive joke)

 

[Bolletje]

I switch accents constantly when talking in English. In Dutch (my native language) it's less pronounced, although I still get called out for it occasionally. I've always done this, ever since I started talking. Some of it is caused by the people I've been speaking to recently, some of it is just pretty random, as far as I can tell.

 

[ksheehan88]

My own Bristolian accent is quite pronounced. I can also do a pretty good Welsh accent, but that's it.

 

[WildCat]

I've got a moderate to strong Texan southern accent and style of speaking, depending on the situation...it's pronounced enough that I'll no doubt stand out in another region (and especially another country). There are a variety of accents here in the US, and the regional slang tends to throw people off (yes, I use "y'all" for "you all", sue me, there's plenty of ways to say it); otherwise, the message is clear for the most part. Isn't that what matters?

Someone has a problem with the way I speak? I basically heckle them back or ignore it; worst case scenario, if they're really persistent about it I'll start getting rude back to them. I can't help parroting the people around me to learn language, and neither can they, so I aim for a just-drop-it-and-change-the-subject sort of response.

 

[Judge]

As others have mentioned, accents are a lot about perception and stereotypes of the person listening rather than the one speaking.

I know firsthand, many people seem to react to the way I may pronounce a single word, or even accenting first syllables which seems to trigger questions like "Excuse me, are you from fill-in-the-blank ?" Which usually leaves me smirking or laughing in the process. My accent can also change mid sentence, depending on any number of circumstances including fatigue, frustration or anger.

On occasion I've been accused of being Canadian myself. Often by west coasters who aren't familiar with certain eastern or southern dialects of the US. And of course my experience in California has always been that natives tend to mock pretty much anyone with any kind of accent.

 

[Hopeless_Aspie_Guy]

also we speak is american english witch is a large melting pot of languages more so then your brit enslave the world English... oh did i type that out loud.

You're out of line marine!!

America has a wide variety of accents due to our vast geography and multicultural influences.

You don't have to be big to have a diverse range of accents. In the UK we even have 2 languages other than english (one of which is within england) and several accents or more.

 

[Mary Terry]

I've got a moderate to strong Texan southern accent and style of speaking, depending on the situation...it's pronounced enough that I'll no doubt stand out in another region (and especially another country). There are a variety of accents here in the US, and the regional slang tends to throw people off (yes, I use "y'all" for "you all", sue me, there's plenty of ways to say it); otherwise, the message is clear for the most part. Isn't that what matters?

Someone has a problem with the way I speak? I basically heckle them back or ignore it; worst case scenario, if they're really persistent about it I'll start getting rude back to them. I can't help parroting the people around me to learn language, and neither can they, so I aim for a just-drop-it-and-change-the-subject sort of response.

Hey, Jonathan, I, too, have a southern accent and proudly say "yall". IMHO, "yall" sounds more refined than "yous guys" like I hear from New Yorkers and Bostonians or that nasal "you guys" from Californians. I've lived in numerous parts of the USA and have been harassed about my accent, too, especially by airhead Californians as you mention. If the harasser is really nasty to me, I just stare at them like they are rotten fish and ask them if they are racist in addition to being a regionalist. That usually stops them in their tracks while their feeble brains try to decipher what I just asked them. Another cool tactic is to point out that African Americans sometimes refer to Caucasians as "honkies" because westerners (mostly Californians) speak through their noses (honk, honk, honk like Canada geese) whereas we southerners project our voices from our throats. Maybe that's why the south has produced so many outstanding singers and musicians when compared to the rest of the USA. I'm proud of my accent and say go to hell to anyone who belittles it. Ignorant rednecks!

 

[Gritches]

I have a thick Minnesota accent, which is fine in Minnesota, but when I travel people make fun of it a lot; the movie "Fargo" comes up a lot. Kind of infuriating, enough so that I've spent some time trying to get rid of it, recording my voice and playing it back to identify which words I'm saying "wrong" and trying to correct it, with moderate success.

Closer to on-topic, I've never lived in the South but I do have a bit of a Southern twang, especially pronounced when I get excited. No idea in hell where that came from. I could see how non-fitting accents could be an Aspie thing, with the whole social-mimicry thing and our inherent tendencies towards strong individuality.

 

[Adora]

I'm Australian and while my accent does usually sound Australian I sometimes say things that sound more British than Australian,I use to sometimes have kids at school ask what country I'm from and even once had a counsellor who was from the UK ask what part of England I'm from.

 

[Mia]

Canadian accent with the soft r's I've been told by others from outside of canada. Yet outside of my province other canadian's indicate that I have a french accented english.

Within ten minutes of speaking to someone from another country I pick up their cadence and way of speaking. I can change my tone and pronunciation and sound irish for example, probably because I heard it at quite a young age from my father and grandfather and apparently spoke it as a child. My russian friends would giggle when I talked to them, as I picked up their pronunciation quickly.

Yet I can't speak russian or irish. Can't do it with portuguese or italian either, although I do have a little spanish, somehow it's not something I can mimic or copy unless I'm around it all the time.

 

[James Hardy]

You're out of line marine!!

not a marine, and don't you like your own history.