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These are cheesy, but I found this "what American accent are you?" to be interesting: http://lewrockwell.com/spl3/american-accent-quiz.html http://lewrockwell.
by bentcorner 14y ago
These are cheesy, but I found this "what American accent are you?" to be interesting:
http://lewrockwell.com/spl3/american-accent-quiz.html http://lewrockwell.com/spl3/american-accent-quiz.html
I don't know if this map had such a quiz - I was looking for one and couldn't find it. It's interesting to compare notes with the quiz if you work with people from across the US (what do you mean, "bag" doesn't rhyme with "vague"?)
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- mindcrime 14y agoHmm.. funny, I'm from the South (albeit not the "deep south") and according to this quiz, my accent is "Northeast". I guess I shouldn't be surprised though: when I was a kid, my parents used to tell me things like "You talk funny, you sound like you're from up North" and "you talk too fast" and what-not. Not sure exactly how I wound up with a "northeast" accent. Then again, most people I meet, who aren't from the South, say they think I have no noticeable accent at all, and guess that I'm from somewhere in the Midwest. Good grief. Language is a funny old thing... what do you mean, "bag" doesn't rhyme with "vague"? Wait, where does "bag" rhyme with "vague"?
- voidlogic 14y ago>>Wait, where does "bag" rhyme with "vague"? Wisconsin/Minnesota
- scarlson 14y agoWait... where does bag not rhyme with vague?
- voidlogic 14y agoYeah, I assume by the parent poster down south?
- nandemo 14y agoI'm not a native English speaker myself, but this is what's usually taught as "standard" American English: bag /bæɡ/ vague /veɪɡ/ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bag#Pronunciation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bag#Pronunciation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vague#Pronunciation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vague#Pronunciation Another example, which is also a minimal pair, is "bat" vs. "bait". If you look at the posted article you can probably find the exact dialects that pronounce these words like that. But I'm pretty sure "bag" doesn't rhyme with "vague" in most English dialects (including British and Australian dialects), even if they don't use /æ/ and /eɪ/.
- mindcrime 14y agoWell, North Carolina, at least. Those aren't words you hear on TV or in movies a lot, I guess, so it's hard to say which version is "generic American English" to the extent that there is such a thing.
- mgkimsal 14y agoi always assumed you were a transplant from up north - ohio maybe.
- mindcrime 14y ago> i always assumed you were a transplant from up north - ohio maybe. LOL! No, I was born and raised in good old North Carolina.
- hcolomb 14y ago"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. Interestingly, it seems to have pegged me mostly correctly. I've lived all my life in and around Atlanta. Most people notice a Southern accent on me, but I definitely don't have a Classical Southern accent.
- sabat 14y agoYeah, I so reject this myth. The areas you name have a clear, non-standard accent, and on TV or radio would stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. The "neutral" accent you're imagining is western. Not eastern.
- wambotron 14y agoI got The West, which had a very similar description. I'm from PA, fwiw.
- mrb 14y agoHeh. As a foreigner who has been living in SoCal for 8 years, I tried to answer with how I perceive the accent of californian people around me, and the result is... 100% northeast accent?! This confirms that I am utterly incapable of discerning the subtle nuances of different american accents. All I can distinguish is the main families American vs. British vs. Australian.
- sporkologist 14y agoCan you distinguish a Southern (Alabama) accent from a Minnesota accent? To me those sound as far apart as Standard American and British. (I'm American w/ Standard American accent.)
- mrb 14y agoActually yes. I forgot about the southern accent. I can detect it.
- ElongatedTowel 14y agoTook it just for fun as I'm not even American. Scoring a 93% match with The Inland North. They call it "Standard English straight out of the dictionary". I guess that's good as a non-native speaker... Should probably polish my marry and merry.
- afterburner 14y ago""North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot." Good, I am Canadian. :) One minor nit though, I thought Mary and marry sound the same and merry sound different, but there was no option for that, so I chose "all three different".
- tikhonj 14y agoHah, I had the same problem. I also learned English in Canada, so I guess it makes sense. My other answers must have been pretty different from yours though: I only got 22% for "North Central", with 93% for "the Inland North".
- afterburner 14y agoI get the feeling the quiz isn't really tuned to Canadian dialect differences. I would have guessed I would be classified as something around the Pennsylvania, Ohio or New York state area. I certainly don't sound like someone from Fargo, although some Canadian accents do.
- canadiancreed 14y agoFunny I was expecting to get that as well, but I got a tie between "The West" and "The Midland", even thought I've lived in Canada my whole life, and have never been further west then Indianapolis. Wonder if living out in the Maritimes for a few years has any effect on that? Would explain why my American wife says I dont' sound like a typical Canuck.
- mmccaskill 14y agoThat link is pretty funny. After living in North Carolina for 30+ years I somehow have a Mid-Western accent.
- cocoflunchy 14y agoAs a French guy living in New York, I am pleased to have gotten 91% Northeast ;) Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
- skyhvr 14y ago...scary how accurate this quiz is.
- Tossrock 14y agoI was born in and raised in California and got The Inland North: > You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago? Interestingly enough though, my parents ARE from Chicago. Hmm.
- kissickas 14y agoIs it just me? I think "Mary" and "marry" are the same, but "merry" is different... that isn't an option. I can't possibly be unique in this regard.
- njbooher 14y agoYou're not.
- beowulfey 14y agoGrew up in NH, pulled off 94% Boston accent. Thought that was kind of cool, even if I don't really drop my R's anymore.
- tellarin 14y agoAm I the only one who read that as "grew up in Hacker News"? :) On a slightly more serious note, I got 93% North Central. As a non-native speaker, I have no idea why or how.
- JshWright 14y ago100% Inland North I've lived in Syracuse NY for the last 15 years, so I suppose that makes sense.
- 6cxs2hd6 14y agoIt tagged me as "Inland North", which is exactly where I mostly grew up. I once heard this is the preferred accent for news anchors?