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On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:59:55 +0200, clipka <ano### [at] anonymous org> wrote:
>Stephen schrieb:
>> My wife has noted that over the years American accents in the media have gotten
>> more unintelligible and she has to use subtitles more often.
>
>Or, over the years her ears have suffered just enough to make a
>difference with understanding foreign accents...?
That is true to some extent but when watching films from the 70's, 60's or
earlier the soundtracks are intelligible. It is as if the actors now a days have
not been trained to enunciate properly.
--
Regards
Stephen
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Speaking of accents, most people, at least here, when they think about
"British accent" what they really are thinking about is an exaggerated
"posh English" accent, like the ones used in some British comedies (such
as "Keeping Up Appearances").
However, in practice it seems that the difference between an average
British accent and an average American accent is way subtler and much more
indistinguishable, at least to me. That may be because I'm not a native
speaker of either, but it still strikes me a bit odd that I can't make
the distinction even in situations where there ought to be one.
For example, consider this interview with Hugh Laurie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETLHO8kbi_c
Hugh Laurie is a British actor who is currently acting in an American
TV-series, and is basically "faking" an American accent when acting in
the role, while his natural accent is more British. This is a subject
in that interview (as with most such interviews he participates in).
However, I simply can't hear a clear difference between how he talks
in that interview (and many other similar intervies), and how an American
typically talks. In other words, I can't hear the difference in accent.
Or more precisely, I couldn't tell that he is British by the way he speaks.
Is that just me?
Here's an old comedy sketch where he deliberately uses an exaggerated
Southern American accent, and there's a clear difference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00y3gV0dJow
But as said, that's rather exaggerated and most Americans (not even the
ones from the South) don't speak like that. :)
--
- Warp
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On 14 Aug 2009 09:34:53 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tag povray org> wrote:
> Speaking of accents, most people, at least here, when they think about
>"British accent" what they really are thinking about is an exaggerated
>"posh English" accent, like the ones used in some British comedies (such
>as "Keeping Up Appearances").
Oo ar! Warp, ye be a bitty confused ye be.
I believe that Americans say there is a British accent but they are only being
polite. That may stem from the non English Brits getting fed up being called
English and being quite vocal about it. The "posh English" is called Received
Pronunciation and is naturally found near London. Other English dialects vary
considerably as do they between North and South Wales, various parts of Scotland
and Ireland.
I would say that you can't hear the difference in that interview because he is
speaking to an American on an American TV show and he wants to be understood.
Also I have spoken to some Americans from the Southern States and his accent is
a bit mild.
--
Regards
Stephen
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Stephen <mcavoysAT@aoldotcom> wrote:
> I would say that you can't hear the difference in that interview because he is
> speaking to an American on an American TV show and he wants to be understood.
> Also I have spoken to some Americans from the Southern States and his accent is
> a bit mild.
He certainly doesn't seem to be talking in the "heaviest" British accent
as he has done in the past, like here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwo8qxUit00
There even I can hear a difference... :)
--
- Warp
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Warp wrote:
> However, in the movie "No country for old men" they spoke with such a
> thick Texan accent that at many places I had really hard time understanding
> what they were saying. Do Texans really speak with such a thick accent?
I haven't seen the film, so I really can't say. I live in the Dallas
area, and for the most part there isn't much of a southern accent here.
Now, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia are a
completely different story.
--
~Mike
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On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:47:20 -0400, Warp wrote:
> He certainly doesn't seem to be talking in the "heaviest" British
> accent
> as he has done in the past, like here:
That happens when one spends a lot of time speaking in a non-native
accent, at least for some people.
The few times I've been to the UK, I've noticed that my volume tends to
come down (I'm not that loud to begin with), and after a week or so of
talking with Brits, I start subconsciously mimicking the accent (probably
not very well, but it's enough that natives can't tell where I'm from -
I've had a few comment on that, actually).
If you want to see something really wacky, watch interviews with Renée
Zellweger (and the other cast in Bridget Jones' Diary) around the time
that filming completed. Reportedly the British cast members didn't know
she's from Texas because from the first time they met her, they hadn't
heard her speak in her native accent - she was always practicing her
British accent. When she got up to accept an award (IIRC), that was the
first time they heard her speak like a Texan, and it kinda freaked them
out; they reportedly asked her why she was "doing a voice" and she
explained that she was speaking in her "real" voice, but they didn't
believe it.
Jim
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Stephen schrieb:
> I believe that Americans say there is a British accent but they are only being
> polite. That may stem from the non English Brits getting fed up being called
> English and being quite vocal about it. The "posh English" is called Received
> Pronunciation and is naturally found near London. Other English dialects vary
> considerably as do they between North and South Wales, various parts of Scotland
> and Ireland.
Reminds me of a trip to Great Britain, Scotland in particular. I had
expected them to speak some unintelligible accent, but no person I spoke
to did.
Then I drove down to the English Midlands, and at some point had to ask
for directions late at night. I stopped and asked some bloke that
happened to be there. He told me, and I nodded and thanked him politely.
Then I drove further down the road to ask someone else... >_<
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On 14 Aug 2009 10:47:20 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tag povray org> wrote:
>
> He certainly doesn't seem to be talking in the "heaviest" British accent
>as he has done in the past, like here:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwo8qxUit00
>
> There even I can hear a difference... :)
I'm not sure how to say this but there is no "British" accent. I would say that
he was speaking in an uneducated English voice, quite common (as in poor/rude).
The range of accents and dialects in Britain is very large and can change
considerably over a 20 mile/30 Km distance. Some thing to do with all these
Jutes/Angles/Saxons/Normans that came to stay when the Romans left.
It is not surprising that you find it difficult to follow as he is speaking
quite fast as well.
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:41:12 +0200, clipka <ano### [at] anonymous org> wrote:
>Reminds me of a trip to Great Britain, Scotland in particular. I had
>expected them to speak some unintelligible accent, but no person I spoke
>to did.
>
>Then I drove down to the English Midlands, and at some point had to ask
>for directions late at night. I stopped and asked some bloke that
>happened to be there. He told me, and I nodded and thanked him politely.
>
>Then I drove further down the road to ask someone else... >_<
Scots is a Germanic language and if you have a noticeable German accent the
people will speak slowly. Which is more than can be said of a lot of people in
the midlands (Bill excepted, I'm sure :). They make no allowances for outsiders.
Having said that in parts of the North East of Scotland I've had great
difficulty understanding their accent, Doric.
--
Regards
Stephen
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Stephen <mcavoysAT@aoldotcom> wrote:
> It is not surprising that you find it difficult to follow as he is speaking
> quite fast as well.
Hmm, I didn't say I find it difficult to follow. I just said I can hear
the difference between his current American accent and his old British
accent.
--
- Warp
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