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Accents and Dialects
Questions and answers related to different accents and dialects of the English language.
1,457 Questions
How do you speak English with a Finnish accent?
mainly in Finland and Sweden. In Norway there's also a minority speaking the Kven language which is related to finnish. Small group speaking finnish also in Russia.
In Estonia there's the biggest minority speaking finnish.
How many languages and dialect are spoken in Africa?
Actually there are thousands of languages in Africa..some are yet to be named to man.
What is an example of dialect in The Call of the Wild?
"answers to the name of buck,' the man soliloquized, quoting from the saloon-keeper's letter which had announced the consignment of the crate and contents.
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Does Cassie scerbo have an accent?
Yes she does, both her parents are full blooded italian, her family is wonderful and fun to be around and they always have amazing food in the house at all times!!! It's Beacause She's A Wog
What is the dialect in the hunger games?
The Capitol basically picks people to fight in the arena, sends the tributes to them, train the tributes, sets up the arena, and watches them die.
What's the difference between an American accent in a British accent?
Originally, both the British and Americans spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter 'r' is pronounced strongly after a vowel. Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its derivatives, such as Australian and New Zealand English.
The dominant American accent (the typical accent of the mid-western US) is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Typically, US speakers pronounce every "r", wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every "r". Americans emphasise the "r" at the end of words such as "teacher" or "neighbour", but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a "schwa" (an unstressed, neutral, toneless vowel sound) so it comes out as "teacha" (unstressed) or "neighba".
This main difference also varies across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear distinction in the accents between inhabitants of the north and south, not to mention less clearly defined differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The "cockney" accent is vastly different to the middle and upper class accents.
Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as 'herbal' without the 'h'. Syllables may be stressed differently, too. "Oregano" in the US tends to be pronounced "o - reg - a - no" whereas in British English it is more likely to be "o - reg - AH - no".
Personally, I love the British accent and wish that I could hear it all of the time. No certain part of Britain has an accent that bothers me.
Every American will have a different opinion and remember Britain has a huge range of different accents.
In SyFy's Alice what accent does Hatter have?
Andrew Lee-Potts, who plays Hatter in Alice, is from Bradford, Yorkshire, England, and his accent is a peculiar combination of Yorkshire, RP and Mockney.
Yorkshire is in the north of England and the people there use a short 'a' like North Americans, so when saying the word 'laugh' they say 'laff' rather than 'laahf', as would be said in the south of England.
RP is an abbreviation which stands for 'received pronunciation' which is the 'standard' English accent, and uses the long 'a' as in 'laahf'. It is basically a southern accent, but has no specific regional connection and is generally used by the middle classes across the whole of England.
'Mockney' is a word used to describe a fake cockney accent which has become fashionable in the last ten years or so. It is based on the working class cockney accent of east London and tends to be used by middle class people who are trying to appear to have more street credibility.
Is the New Zealand accent closer to the British accent or American accent?
Of those two, it is closer to the British, but the Kiwi accent has evolved quite a way apart from there so as to be a completely different accent; it is closer to the Australian accent than either American or British.
Which dialect regions would be found in the middle of the New England region?
New York City is a New England dialect region.
What is the difference between a Yorkshire and a cockney accent?
I am Scottish and I'm told that we sound aggressive sometimes. Especially us Weegies. (people from Glasgow) The Irish have a more happy voice. We sound similar because Scotland and Ireland have been friends for thousands of years and Gaelic is spelt the same. But pronounced Gah-Lick for Scotland and Gai-Lick for Ireland. You would notice the differences more if you were Scottish or Irish.
Why do English people have peculiar accents?
Everyone has a different accent in different countries.
England is like America the different places you go you get different accents there not all the same. For instance an individual can have a Essex accent which is different to the London accent. Also, other accents are Lester accent or a Manchester accent a Nottingham accent a Scottish a Welsh accent and a Hull accent.
In which dialect of Greek was most of the New Testament written?
The New Testament was originally written in Greek.
At one stage, some scholars thought that the Book of Matthew could have been originally written in Aramaic then translated to Greek, but this hypothesis now has little support.
What is Muslim dialect of good morning?
There is no such thing as a "Muslim dialect." There is no language called Muslim. Islam is a religion, and its followers speak many different languages. These people say "Good morning" in whatever language they speak, and speak whatever language they wish to.
Employees working in call centres, BPOs and various other offices of American companies need to speak English in the American accent. Likewise, there is also a need for many employees to speak English in the British Accent. There are several accents, however the most common accent training requirements are to learn the American accent or the US accent and the British accent or the UK accent.
Why do Americans have to spell words differently to us English?
- After the American Revolution, the British we're not at all happy with the colonists and had had enough. The very first thing they did was repossess the u in colour, leaving Americans with the much less colorful spelling of color. They took back most of the e's that like to hang around the back end of a lot of English words and King George insisted that all access to the word bloody used as an adverb be denied the upstart Americans. The colonists were actually fine with this as they had long favored goddamned over bloody anyways. There was a bit of a sting felt to the loss of cheeky, and it remains a mystery to this day why in replacing the words Water Closet, and the loo the Americans chose Bathroom and toilet.
- For the same reason we are required to "press one for English". Makes one wonder, doesn't it?
So in conclusion aside from all that literal and historic imformation... It is basically because the history between England and America was so tense and annoying that they kinda and secretly despised each other so they found as many possibilities to make them different to each other. Of course because people have different opinions and are from different places there are different answers but secretly I think we all know its just because of pure rivalry :)
How do you speak with a Jewish accent?
There is no such thing as a Jewish accent... There's an Israeli accent, a Yiddish accent, and maybe others that I'm unaware of. Jewish isn't a language.
Answer 2
I would disagree. I'd argue that there is a Jewish accent. Glasgow isn't a language, nor is London but could anyone seriously argue that there isn't a Glasgow or London accent? Its English spoken in accent shared by many people from those areas. The accent that non-pedants refer to as a Jewish accent is an accent shared by many Jewish people with an Central or Eastern European heritage. That a Jew from Hungary and a Jew from Ukraine sound similar when speaking English even though neither of these languages (Hungarian and Ukrainian) are in any way similar is down to their shared influence of Yiddish and to a lesser extant Hebrew. Would anyone non-Jew from Hungary or Ukraine ever speak English with this accent - no. So with that in mind, only someone who's accent has been influenced by Yiddish and Hebrew could speak in such a way - and only someone Jewish would be - so yes, there is obviously a shared Jewish accent.
Not sure how you'll learn to speak it though - try Fiddler on the Roof or perhaps a Woody Allen or Mel Brooks movie if you're looking for a 'New Yoik' Jewish accent.
No. Back when linguistics was really first getting its start in the 19th century, there were some theories along these lines. Grimm's Law, for example, where voiceless stops became fricatives, was once believed to have been caused by Germans being out of breath from running up and down the mountains all the time. Alternately, it could have been caused by a tendency towards earwax buildup which made it difficult for them to hear, which would be a possible genetic factor.
Although Grimm's Law is in and of itself not an accent, phonological changes over time do help to differentiate accents from one another. However, there are other theories for why one group of people speaks one way and one another. The truth of the matter is linguists aren't entirely sure.
What is known is that your dialect is impacted by a large number of factors. Your parents' dialect(s), the region you live in/grew up in, your friends' dialects, et cetera. Genetics do not play a role.
Do Girls like Italian guys from Brooklyn with Brooklyn Accents?
Italian guy + Brooklyn accent = perfect.
It's just gorgeous to girls :)
but in all fairness everyone has their own opinions... but as a whole, yes!
