Do YOU have an accent/specific dialect when you speak??

[KimRaye]

I'm really interested in this. I've been told I have a Chicago 'accent' and, I know I hear other 'accents', ie Southern, NY, British, Aussie, etc. but, I'm really wondering about this.

IMO (which does NOT mean debate!), ALL the TV shows I watch sound like I do, nothing strange or dissimilar to what I hear or speak all the time. Case in point, ER and According to Jim are set in Chicago and, those actors sound fine to me, as do 99% of the other shows I watch. When an accent is added, jmo again, it's for a purpose, to give a locale generalization of the character, like Dr. Kovatch (sp?) on ER, Daphne on Frasier, etc. If I watched Monty Python or Fawtly Towers or, even The Wiggles, I expect to hear the accents also.

So, what TV programs are YOU watching?? How do YOU hear it? Are MOST U.S. TV shows spoken with a Midwestern 'accent'??? 'Cuz, I'm not hearing a 'Chicago accent', I'm just hearing what I'm used to hearing everyday.

Do you think Chicagoans HAVE an accent??

Sorry it's long but, I'm really wondering.

 

[mamajoan]

Hi dar Kim,
Do ya tink we could take da L donton to Wabash? That is how I here some of the thicker Chicago accents.

I grew up 50 miles south of Chicago..then went to college in Southern Illinois... to this day when I get excited I STILL get a hillbilly (not southern) twang..that came from being in Carbondale.

Midwesterners have a mild accent-but I can usually pick someone out from Chicago. It is not the Wisconsin "Don't cha' know", but similar.
btw I think most of the people on ER, speak as if they have NEVER been to Chicago.

Listen to Jim Belushi speak..then switch channels to someone who is from Los Angeles.. big difference noted.

btw.. I adore Jim Belushi!

 

[KimRaye]

Wow, 50 miles means a big difference the way you put it! Thanks mamajoan but, I'm even more confused after the 'thicker' accent you mentioned. I just DO NOT hear that here, in my City. I also do not hear that way of speaking on TV, and, I don't hear a difference between an LA show Vs. a Chicago show so, I really would like to hear some more opinions. The actors on ER HAVE been in Chicago so, I wonder what you mean. Jim Belushi has a wonderful Chicago Bears/Cubs/fan attitude/speak but, he doesn't sound any different to me than the cast from Judging Amy or Providence!

And, Southern IL 'hillbilly' Vs. Southern twang? What's the diff., except location? I personally don't know so, I'm asking.

I've only met ONE person from Wisconsin who had an accent/type of speaking like you stated: "Don't cha know"

I'm really confused over these accent images that are presumed/interpreted.

What "ACCENT"/region are your TV shows portraying? (I mean All of you DISers)

I really AM looking for more opinions.

Thanks

 

[snoopy]

While I haven't spoken to you, Kim, if you sound anything like Dan Murphy you definately have an accent!

I never notice having an accent myself unless I hear myself on tape. Then the Baltimore girl in me comes out, unfortunately. Not that I'm not proud of my birthplaec, I just don't much care for the accent of those who hail from there. I'd rather have a British accent, LOL.

 

[figmentvi]

Just ask me where I park my car.........It'll become evident VERY quickly where I'm from.

 

[Serena]

I don't have an accent that I know of, except occasionally. If I'm with some of my relatives I easily pick up a hillbilly accent. Just a touch, but I hear it. lol

 

[dmslush]

LOL, Well I talk like a Tennessean that had speach therapy for several years and was taught to talk even slower than usual. People usually look at me like, "Oh, you poor thing, I guess your slow aren't you?" LOL!

 

[dmslush]

Oh, I forgot to add, I work with a gal from Chicago and yep, she has a big accent.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Minnesota accent here, although not quite as obvious as in "Fargo"!

 

[Ona]

I hear other 'accents', ie Southern, NY, British, Aussie, etc

I always find it so strange when I hear people saying that they heard someone with a british accent. In the UK there are ALOT of very different accents. A West coast of Scotland accent is very different form an East coast accent. We even use different words. And any Scottish Accent is different from any English, welsh or Northern Irish accent etc. So what do you class as a britsih accent? If you are talking about, for example Dr. Corday in ER, then that's a proper English (you'll have to excuse me though since I'm not sure where from exactly )accent which I'm sure you will agree is completely differnt from Daphne Moon's Manchester accent in Frasier. I've always been curious what a british accent is?

From a non-US perspective, it is easy to see a difference in some US accents. Off the top of my head, a New York accent is eay to spot as is a southern accent (but I couldn't be any more specific than that . I also meet a few people from Massachusetts and they also had a disticntive accent. But on TV, ........................................ hmmm ............................ I can't really think of any shows that stand out on this subject.

Ona

 

[olena]

Southern accent here. Southern dialect, too....

I picked up a decent New England accent in Connecticut, that I sometimes slip into. With all those years and exposure to French, I also have a decent French accent when speaking it.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I am with Figment here.. just ask me where I pahk my cah and you will know in a heartbeat that I was born and bred in Bahsten.. that is why CC nicknamed me Mahsha.. I really do try to pronounce my R's... but it is just something that others pick up on immediately...

I do not sound like Teddy Kennedy....his is not a typical Bahsten accent.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Mahsha............I don't think you have an accent!!!!! Sounds right to me!!

 

[Mskanga]

Yes I do. I'm from Spain so I speak Spanish but I'm also from the North East area of the country ( Barcelona to be exact ) and we speak another language there too ( Catalan ) and I speak that one too. Barcelona is 1 hour away from the border with France so imagine all kinds of accents we can pick up there.

 

[bumcat]

I have a southern accent. I was on the morning news once (a child two doors down disappeared). A lady at work said she was getting ready for work and had her TV on and heard me talking on the news. She said she had no doubt it was me before she even saw the TV. I didn't know it was that bad.

 

[TLHB70]

Yes; I have a Southern accent. I don't mind. I love the South!

 

[TLHB70]

Yes; I have a Southern accent. I don't mind. I love the South!

By the way, dmslush, I love your picture of the castle!

 

[Lisa L from MI]

People have said I have a "Michigan" accent.....I don't really think there is such thing. Funny though, a few years back at Castaway Cay...everyone I talked to guessed where I was from....from my "accent"

 

[browneyes]

I don't think I do. A certain friend from Texas (hi Lea Ann ) says I sound like I'm from Alabama though. Those around me say I don't have a southern accent (my SO says I talk yankee talk ). Those not from the south usually make fun of my southern accent. I think I sound like me. A lady I work with says I'm very soft spoken. I can hear me just fine though.

 

[Steve H.]

No accent or dialect whatsoever -- there's really not a NW PA accent to speak of. (Now, once you head down to Pittsburgh -- that's a different story! )