According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, “An accent is the unique way that speech is pronounced by a group of people speaking the same language.” The United States is a country of great diversity and each of us speaks with an accent whether English is our first language or not. An individual’s accent represents the nuisances in how they speak the same language and there are a variety of different accents within each language. Some accents have very subtle differences and other accents have extreme differences that can influence the language, and make understanding the speaker difficult. An individual’s accent is based on many factors and influences, however, it is generally accepted that accents are divided into separate categories, regional accents and foreign accents.
Even though English is the official language of the United States, regional accents are readily identifiable as you look at various regions of the country. Most of the regional accents have very subtle, yet distinguishable characteristics and can be compared and contrasted to other regions of the state or country. My own life experience bears out the differences within state of New Jersey that demonstrate subtle and distinct regional accent differences between the northern and southern parts of the state. As a lifelong resident of southern New Jersey, I’ve been accustomed to hearing references made about the” New Jersey” accent on TV comedy shows or the popular reality TV show, The Jersey Shore, which underscores this point. Even though I’ve lived my whole life in New Jersey, my “accent” or speech isn’t reflective of the stereotypically “North Jersey” accent, because I grew up in the southern part of the state. Even in a state as small...
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...rities with one another and their differences are very subtle. However, some regional accents can be noticeably different from other regional accents. Foreign accents produce a much more noticeable communication barrier when compared to regional accents. It is easier for a speaker of English to notice when an accent is foreign because of the differences it carries with it. Some accents carry stereotypes, some accents utilize certain words more frequently, and some accents are thicker than others. The fundamental understanding I came away with after listening to a variety of different accents, regional and foreign, is that every accent is unique.
Work Cited
"Accent Modification." Accent Modification. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo3Sy9oN5Ug http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlvb5wRrkrI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABo_DCIdpM
While some features of AAVE are apparently unique to this variety, in its structure it also shows many similarities with other varieties including a number of standard and nonstandard English varieties spoken in the US and the Caribbean. Speakers and writers of this dialect use some distinctive aspects of the phonological, lexical, and grammatical traits associated with this dialect. Many sociolinguists would reserve the term AAVE for varieties which are marked by the occurrence of certain distinctive grammatical features.
This chapter focused mainly on misconceptions and attempting to clarify those misconceptions about accents. In the opinion of linguists, accent is a difficult word to define. This is due to the fact that language has variation therefore when it comes to a person having an accent or not, there is no true technical distinction because every person has different phonological aspects to their way of speaking. However, when forced to define this word, it is described as “a way of speaking” (Lippi-Green, 2012, p.44). Although Lippi- Green identified the difficulty linguists have in distinguishing between accent, dialect, and another language entirely, they were able to construct a loose way of distinguishing. Lippi- Green states that an accent can be determined by difference in phonological features alone, dialect can be determined by difference in syntax, lexicon, and semantics alone, and when all of these aspects are different from the original language it is considered another language entirely (Lippi-Green, 2012).
For example, if you were to leave Vineland and go to Deptford you would stop seeing as many farms and more social gathering points. Since moving here (from Pennsylvania), I have been told that I have an accent, but if you ask me I do not have an accent and everyone around me has a New Jersey accent. Although, I have spoken about farms previously it is another key aspect of what makes Vinland the formal region that it is. The areas that surround Vineland does not have as much farmland as Vineland does.
Throughout history society has created many stereotypes and assumptions based on race and nationality to confine us into categories. The reality is, not every individual fits a specific category because we are unique even within the same ethnic group. In “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black person” Allison Joseph illustrates some speech stereotypes that come hand in hand with her racial background and how even people from the same racial background and house hold don’t all sound alike. The author portrays that race and linguistic has such a huge impact on our daily life and how society sees her differently to others when they see she does not fit in the stereotype of sounding “like a black person” and feels frustration to being compared
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
American Tongues Response EssayThe documentary American Tongues (1987) examines an array of American dialects and accents in all regions of the United States, as well as the perceptions tied to specific ways of speaking. The film does this by interviewing people of multiple ethnicities, geographical locations, education-levels, and socio-economic classes. The information presented in American Tongues makes the audience consider its distinct way of speaking and the insight it may provide to those around them. The film clearly shows that the way individuals speak, as well as the diction they choose to use or eradicate from their vocabulary, is intricately tied
Language in the South varies according to which area someone is in and what the person’s ethnic background is. Most white people that live in the South have a country draw in their accent or talk very proper. Most black people in the South talk using Ebonics or are really proper, but some do have a draw in their accent. The other ethnic groups talk in their native language or in English with a distinct accent associated with their ethnicity. If one is in Southern Louisiana their accent will be Cajun. The language in the South is alike in most places according to the person’s race except in Southern Louisiana.
The article “The Nature of Stress in English Language A Study from a Perspective of Rule-Governed Approach, by Sardar Fayyaz ul Hassan, claims that, “Good speech in English involves control of the system of sounds, stress and intonation pertaining to the language” (2). Secondly, Hassan believes in correct accent since it is, “a linguistic feature that creates rhythm in English language” (2). The author’s thoughts say that to speak “good” English, you must follow all the rules. Hassan discusses that, “a native speaker knows intuitively which word or syllable is to be stressed” (6). People who believe in rules like Hassan, will also think those who are not native of English, will not know all the rules. Therefore they will not speak his definition of “good” English. Zanuttini would condemn that Hassan and his followers want, “to live in a homogeneous white bread world”
The video “American Tongues” is about variety of English dialect in America, and people still carry prejudice and stereotypes in people’s accents and dialects. These accent and dialects are not limited in pronunciation. There are different words, phrases and grammars in their dialects, therefore, some people are noticed where they are from. As a premise, everyone has an accent. However, some people believe they don’t have an accent because people around them have the exact same accent and dialect in their community. Therefore, they haven’t noticed differences. In the video, there was a scene of a woman was correcting her accent for work to speak “standard dialect”. It was required for her to speak “standard dialect” for work because when she was out of her original community where
It is apparent that there are many types of dialect within American English. The coexisting of two or more languages, either serving together in the same area or servicing different areas, is as old as language itself (Pei 106). This has happened throughout time and appears to be inevitable. It is impossible to believe an entire country could conform to one language, and then only one dialect of that language. Throughout history societies have survived for some time using different languages until these language barriers tore territories apart. It is apparent how, in America, barriers between dialects separate black men from white men even more than physical conditions.
Wright, Katy M. “The Role of Dialect Representation in Speaking from the Margins: “The Lesson” of Toni Cade Bambara.” Style. 42.1 (2008): 73-87. Proquest. SEMO Kent Lib., Cape Girardeau, MO. 12 April 2009. .
Have you ever been to another country, state, or even city and realized how different your accent may be? Have you been asked to repeat a word or phrase that you may say differently? Sometimes we were asked for a good laugh, but that’s not always the case. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both authors use personal narrative to demonstrate how their lives and identity are affected by their language and culture.
Language and dialects as unintelligent and not beautiful. Folk linguistics can be visible when comparing Standard English and African American language. Some individuals
Language is a universal trait that every culture has, whether it is written or spoken, people around the world have a need to communicate with one another. Language reflects your background and where you come from, according to Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams (2011), an accent is a regional phonological distinction (p. 433). That being said, in the United States the most prevalent language is English, but depending on the region, your language might sound different to other people. If someone from Wisconsin visited one of the southern states, they would definitely notice a drawl in a southerner’s language, whereas the native southerner would think the Wisconsin resident’s accent sounds nasally.
Dialects do not merely differ according to country, however. Within a single country, there may be many dialects. In the United States, one can usually tell if a person is from the South, East, West, or Midwest based on the way that they speak. There are regional dialects within states and even within cities as well. Every dialect has its own phonological and syntactic patterns, as well as some unique vocabulary.