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] tagpovrayorg> 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] tagpovrayorg> 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] anonymousorg> 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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On 15 Aug 2009 05:03:00 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:

>
>  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.

OK, that's good.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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