quote: Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
posted
Northern. Whether you have the world famous Inland North accent of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Syracuse, or the radio-friendly sound of upstate NY and western New England, your accent is what used to set the standard for American English pronunciation (not much anymore now that the Inland North sounds like it does).
Uh, like, no. I have a very strong Texas accent.
Posts: 4811 | From: Austin, TX | Registered: Feb 2000
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Whether you have the world famous Inland North accent of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Syracuse, or the radio-friendly sound of upstate NY and western New England, your accent is what used to set the standard for American English pronunciation (not much anymore now that the Inland North sounds like it does).
-------------------- "My Very Educated Mother Just Said Uh-oh! No...Pluto..."~ Steven Colbert Posts: 3256 | From: Somewhere in Ohio | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote: Uh, like, no. I have a very strong Texas accent.
How did you answer the last question (about the vowel of time, ride, and eyes)? Someone on another board pointed out how that might not work the way I wanted it to.
Posts: 16 | From: Monterey, CA | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote: Uh, like, no. I have a very strong Texas accent.
How did you answer the last question (about the vowel of time, ride, and eyes)? Someone on another board pointed out how that might not work the way I wanted it to.
I answered all the same for those, but one that I could not properly answer on this one or the first one was "on-don-dawn." I say all three of those sounds differently but picked "dawn" because it was closest to how I say "on." By the way, I say "on" with a long "o" sound. This seems to be a characteristic of speech patterns in my family (way down South), but I don't know whether or not it applies to others. "Don" is "dahn", "dawn" is somewhere between "dahn" and a long "o."
-------------------- "This air we're breathing. Oxygen, isn't it?"~I’mNotDedalus, impersonating Vincent D’Onofrio.|"Sometimes trying to communicate can be like walking through a minefield."~wanderwoman "Give people a break. It's not easy doing a life."~Joshua Halberstam Posts: 4020 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Oh! I had problems with on too, Signora Del Drago! It niether rhymes with Don or Dawn. (At least there was no "how do you pronounce Aunt" question.
Anyway, it said I was southern. I suppose that's okay.
But the last question, the wording was very confusing to me. I'm not a moron, honestly!
posted
Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
Ok, I talk English pretty much the way I was taught to talk. I probably have no recognizable accent, except the Finnish one.
BTW, Finnish kids are taught the British accent - the Received Pronunciation, Queen's English, or BBC English, what ever you want to call it. I have, however, picked up the American way of talking, although I think my accent is quite "neutral".
-------------------- ~Why Dance to Someone Else's Tune?~ Posts: 15 | From: Oulu, Finland | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by me, no really: Apparently if you are Aussie then you'll fit right in in New York - except that Lava, Pasta and Mazda do not have the same first vowel sound, so the question where you have to pick one sound for all three is obviously a poor question
me
quote:Originally posted by Toys for big boys: Same for Brits too it would seem me, no really.
In the US, that kind of flat "a" usage is a hallmark of stereotypical "Noo Yawk"ese. While the UK, NZ and Austrailia may share that usage, it's a good indication of a New York accent if one assumes that the test taker is from the US.
Interestingly, this native New Yorker got North Central.
posted
I was curious how this would work for me, since I've lived in New England, Texas, and Southern California, and my accent is kind of an amalgam of all three. I think I broke the quiz.
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North Central. With this accent you are probably from Minnesota or nearby parts of Wisconsin and the Dakotas. If you saw "Fargo" or "Drop Dead Gorgeous" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Some Americans may mistake you for a Canadian.
Eastern New England. Whether or not you pronounce r's, you have the sound of Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine about you.
Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it.
Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is Pennsylvania, the southern and central parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as Missouri, and after that it starts to turn into the West. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta.
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So basically it's guessing I'm from North America. I'm actually pretty impressed.
-------------------- The book says, "We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." - Magnolia Posts: 252 | From: East Greenwich, RI, what! | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Alright, I changed the question about lava, pasta, and Mazda so it only asks about the word pasta. In case nobody knew, that question is supposed to test if you're a Canadian.
And I'm really curious, how does a New Yorker get the "North Central" answer on this quiz? On this quiz and the last quiz people from NYC always got New York or Northeast, even the people who no one ever believes when they say they're from New York. I know of someone getting "midland" on the last quiz, but North Central? That never happens. How did you answer the questions?
Posts: 16 | From: Monterey, CA | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Mr_Personality: Alright, I changed the question about lava, pasta, and Mazda so it only asks about the word pasta. In case nobody knew, that question is supposed to test if you're a Canadian.
What does it mean if you pronounce all three the same way? lahva, pahsta and Mahzda. Ah as in when the doc tells you to say ah.
Also, I say frahg, fahg, lahg, hahg, etc. but not dahg. Everyone knows a dog is a dawg. Signore Del Drago makes fun of me, but frawg, hawg, etc. are physically uncomfortable for me. I wonder why dawg is not.
Data is daytuh, like date, but a Datsun is Dahtsun.
But I assure you, I do have a Southern accent. I can talk slowly and can turn a one-syllable word into two or three syllables with the best of them.
What is your interpretation of the above info?
Quotation marks were left off on purpose. It's easier to read that way.
-------------------- "This air we're breathing. Oxygen, isn't it?"~I’mNotDedalus, impersonating Vincent D’Onofrio.|"Sometimes trying to communicate can be like walking through a minefield."~wanderwoman "Give people a break. It's not easy doing a life."~Joshua Halberstam Posts: 4020 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Midland. The Midland (please don't confuse with "Midwest") itself is Pennsylvania, the southern and central parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as Missouri, and after that it starts to turn into the West. But just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from there. Since it is considered a neutral, default, "non-regional" accent you could easily be from someplace without its own accent, like Florida, Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta.
Makes sense to me, as I was raised in PA. Odd, though; as I was growing up, I was always told I had an obvious Southern accent.
Posts: 116 | From: Manasquan, NJ | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I was really interested to see my results too. I was born in wayyyyy upstate NY, but I've lived all over the country, and I've been in TX since '88.
I'm still a Northern.
-------------------- Also...I can kill you with my brain. ~River Tam Posts: 37 | From: Fort Worth, TX | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Northern. Whether you have the world famous Inland North accent of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Syracuse, or the radio-friendly sound of upstate NY and western New England, your accent is what used to set the standard for American English pronunciation (not much anymore now that the Inland North sounds like it does).
That works, since I'm from Michigan.
Morrigan
-------------------- "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening Posts: 1701 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Mr_Personality: Alright, I changed the question about lava, pasta, and Mazda so it only asks about the word pasta. In case nobody knew, that question is supposed to test if you're a Canadian.
And I'm really curious, how does a New Yorker get the "North Central" answer on this quiz? On this quiz and the last quiz people from NYC always got New York or Northeast, even the people who no one ever believes when they say they're from New York. I know of someone getting "midland" on the last quiz, but North Central? That never happens. How did you answer the questions?
Didn't mean to throw you for a loop. I lost my New York accent long ago, except for the occasional colloquialism unpronounceable in any other dialect. Though I don't have a North Central accent either, 16 questions on a non-oral accent test will surely lead to some deviation. Could've been the remains of my old accent mixed with other pronunciations I've picked up over time. Could've been I hit a wrong button.
An aside about New York accents: there were always more than one, and those familiar to most aren't heard so much in the city anymore. Bugs Bunny and Mel Brooks moved to the suburbs long ago. But we're working on new ones. Give us 20 years and we'll have Hispanic, West Indies, Middle Eastern and Eastern European mixed into yet another polyglot dialect that Hollywood will turn into comedic gold while the rest of the country scratches its head in confusion.
J "I got your Esperanto right heah" FB
Posts: 472 | From: Brooklyn | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Canada. You probably get irritated when British people and Europeans think you're from the States, but over here we wouldn't make a mistake like that.
That's pretty good. Although I don't think the rest of Canada would be confused with me, accent wise that is.
-------------------- There are just some things a dog can't explain to a monkey. Posts: 2529 | From: Newfoundland | Registered: Jan 2002
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You are most definitely from New York City. Not New Jersey, not Connecticut. If you are from Jersey then you can probably get into New York City in 10 minutes or less.
Well, I think it might take me more than ten minutes to get to New York City from Mt Gambier, South Australia!
Posts: 45 | From: South Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
It said I was 'North Central'. I've lived in central California all my life, and have never been farther north or east than Colorado.
-------------------- I'll drive it ugly. You can't see the paint job when you're behind the wheel, anyway. Posts: 570 | From: Central Valley, California | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I got midland, which is funny, considering I'm --from VA --English grandma --spent 5 years on the Texas border --south Georgia roomie --coworkers from OK --now in w. TN --with a coworker from Staten Island !!!!!
and I still have a pronounced southern accent. Posts: 239 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I got midland. I've lived in MD, PA, VA, NC, NM, TX, and CA.
-------------------- "My name is the symbol for my identity and must not be lost." Motto of the Lucy Stone League. Posts: 1815 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Eastern New England. Whether or not you pronounce r's, you have the sound of Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine about you.
Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it.
Not sure how it's possible I got both, since there is a distinct difference. However, the Western part is dead on - I grew up in California.
Ali "putting the acCENT on the wrong sylLAble" Baba
Posts: 3068 | From: Kensington, MD | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
New York City. You are most definitely from New York City. Not New Jersey, not Connecticut. If you are from Jersey then you can probably get into New York City in 10 minutes or less.
I'm not sure which one is supposed to be the answer.
The second one is right, though.
Pogue
-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Midland. I'm qurious how many non-native speakers would go down to "default" accent.
Posts: 246 | From: Toronto, ON / Kyiv, Ukraine | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:I got midland, which is funny, considering I'm --from VA --English grandma --spent 5 years on the Texas border --south Georgia roomie --coworkers from OK --now in w. TN --with a coworker from Staten Island !!!!!
Like my algebra instructor used to say when a student in despair realized his solution was wrong and crossed it out during final, "it all must have cancelled out"
Posts: 246 | From: Toronto, ON / Kyiv, Ukraine | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
Perfect -- Born in raised in Batlimore.
Posts: 280 | From: Maryland | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
I got Midland, which sounds about right (born in Louisville, KY; then moved about every two to three years from Texas to Michigan to the East Coast to the Deep South) - in other words, no accent as far as I'm concerned.
I'm a linguistics geek*, and I approved your survey.
quote:Canada. You probably get irritated when British people and Europeans think you're from the States, but over here we wouldn't make a mistake like that.
Bang on for me. But as Ringkeeper noted, not all Canadians have the same accent. Mine is pretty standard across all the provinces except the Maritimes and Francophone Quebec
-------------------- "For me, religion is like a rhinoceros: I don't have one, and I'd really prefer not to be trampled by yours. But it is impressive, and even beautiful, and, to be honest, the world would be slightly worse off if there weren't any." -Silas Sparkhammer Posts: 3239 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
Grew up 30 miles north of Philly.
The only thing I say differently is that I now say "WA-ter" instead of "woot-ER" for water.
-------------------- Where I come from we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it History. Posts: 506 | From: Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Northern/Inland/Great Lakes. Born and raised a Cleveburger.
mmm.... cleveburgers....
I do have one question though: bag and vague? There are regions where these words rhyme? So is it "beg" and "veg" or "bag" and "vag"? I say "bag" and "veg."
-birdman
Posts: 1104 | From: near Cleveland, Ohio | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it.
Right on. It's the standard national newscaster accent, or lack thereof.
Posts: 918 | From: Southern CA | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Wait, so Western is the voice of TV but Northern is the voice of radio? I've read that what people call "neutral" is somewhere around Nebraska, while the Great Lakes is similar but not quite as neutral.
-birdman
Posts: 1104 | From: near Cleveland, Ohio | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
FWIW, I'd always heard that the way people talk in California is used as the standard for broadcasting since it doesn't contain a regional accent.
Posts: 918 | From: Southern CA | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Heh, the funny thing is now that I've been sent to Utah after living in CA for so long (I was born there and spent most of my adult life there from 8th grade on up), I have received comments that I don't have necessarily an accent but my vernacular and the specific words I use are a bit different than the locals. I guess my abundance of the use of the word "dude" makes me stand out a bit.
Posts: 918 | From: Southern CA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Signore Del Drago makes fun of me, but frawg, hawg, etc. are physically uncomfortable for me. I wonder why dawg is not.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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