Accent Love:confused:

[GenericGuy]

Okay this is something that has always confused me and I thought it only effected women, but recently I found out some of my guy friends also love certain accents. So my question for everyone here is why do you find certain accents attractive?

[xPANCAKEx]

certain accents provide a certain tone of speach - its just personal preferance as to which ones people enjoy

[thubby]

the same reason i like certain music, it sounds nice.

[Xallace]

Because then they're making fun of me exotically.

[KenderWizard]

I think some accents, like soft French ones, are culturally seen as romantic, and they tend to be the softer, more musical accents (like French rather than German, being the standard example I think a lot of people use. No offence intended to any German-speakers!).

A lot of people I know find normal Scottish accents really attractive. By which I mean, not overblown ones. Is that an Irish thing, or do other people also find Scottish accents attractive?

Personally, I like some accents more than others, and some ones a lot, but I think voice is more important than accent to me.

[GenericGuy]

[QUOTE=KenderWizard;9019751]A lot of people I know find normal Scottish accents really attractive. By which I mean, not overblown ones. Is that an Irish thing, or do other people also find Scottish accents attractive?
[QUOTE]

I know of a few American women who like Scottish accents, but than I think the accent infatuation is the most common with Americans.

[devinkowalczyk]

it is just a flavor of the exotic, it is something new and interesting while still being in the zone of familiarity and comfort.

[Xyk]

Many accents just grate on my nerves to no end. British for instance. *shudders*

[Fri]

Yes, the combination of accent and voice is the winner.

But for me, british accent is delicious.

[TooManyBadgers]

Altos with Irish accents are objectively irresistible.
For true.
>.>

[Coidzor]

I know of a few American women who like Scottish accents, but than I think the accent infatuation is the most common with Americans.

:P Because we're conditioned to view everything as exotic and either to be hated or made us and exploited.

And what better way to make something you and exploited than to get with it? :smallwink:

ION: The accent of Edinburgh (that is, a scottish accent) was voted as the most attractive and pleasing of all British accents a few years back. Can't recall what group did this though.


Yes, the combination of accent and voice is the winner.

But for me, british accent is delicious.

Which one? :smalltongue: The stereotypical Oxford? Pretty sure oxford's the stereotypical one.

I can only pull off a liverpullian one. *shudder*

[Syka]

It's the sound of it. There are some that I really like. I love South African, and I recently discovered Peruvian Spanish results in an amazing accent. Dutch is pretty nice, too. You have the typical British variants (English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh), but I think I've gotten too used to them to think them out of the ordinary.

If I had to pick a language group that seems to result in my drooling over, I think it's variants of Spanish, actually.

And maybe I'm weird, but I actually like a lot of the accents Slavic and Germanic speakers have when speaking English. We get a fair amount of German tourists and I adore listening to them. <3

Honestly...I like a lot of accents because I love listening to people talk. :) I'm ALWAYS asking my customers where they are originally from when I hear an accent I can't pinpoint. I've gotten pretty good at identifying them.

[Savannah]

A lot of people I know find normal Scottish accents really attractive. By which I mean, not overblown ones. Is that an Irish thing, or do other people also find Scottish accents attractive?

Not just an Irish thing. (I prefer just about any British to any USA. I think it's the novelty.)

GenericGuy, why would prefering one accent to another only "effect" women? And what do you mean by "effect"? :smallconfused:

[GenericGuy]

Not just an Irish thing. (I prefer just about any British to any USA. I think it's the novelty.)

GenericGuy, why would prefering one accent to another only "effect" women? And what do you mean by "effect"? :smallconfused:

Originally the only people I ever heard say anything about finding an accent sexy were women and as a guy I never found any accent attractive and assumed that was normal, but now I've met more men who do find accent's attractive. So yeah I assumed that it was a weired gender divide between men and women like good hygiene or that sense of humor thing women like.:smalltongue:

[Platinum_Mongoose]

I'm a big fan of Scottish accents, especially when they're attached to Karen Gillan. French and Italian are supposed to be the big "sexy" accents but they do nothing for me. France and Italy in general, actually, both strike me as the opposite of romantic.

(Edit: No offence to any French or Italian folks here. Case-by-case, I'm sure you're all lovely, romantic people. Broad strokes, I'm talking in. Broad strokes.)

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Oh yeah, a soft, irish woman's voice will get me every time. Actually, is there anything about an irish woman that doesn't...

Also southern belle accents. I'm not talking redneck, hick or drawl, but genteel southern woman. Despite the fact I'm from Georgia only ever heard two women with it and they gave me shivers :smallwink:

Accents that drive me crazy?

Inner city (don't care what color you are, SHUT UP!)
Blonde Barbiedoll (I, like, am going to, like bite your head off if you don't, like, close the pie hole!)
Russian (just... cuz)

[Ponderthought]

I dated a girl with a British accent. I was essentially her plaything because of it. Im a real sucker for em.

Then again, ive been told the slight southern twang ive got could melt butter. Throw a few 'darlin" s around and you never know what might happen.

[factotum]

Can someone explain to me exactly what a "British" accent is, as far as an American is concerned? We do have more than one, and believe it or not, not everybody from this fair isle speaks like Rupert Everett... :smallwink:

[Ponderthought]

Can someone explain to me exactly what a "British" accent is, as far as an American is concerned? We do have more than one, and believe it or not, not everybody from this fair isle speaks like Rupert Everett... :smallwink:

To tell the truth, to the American ear they tend to either fall into cockney or RP.

I like to think everybody in england sounds like David Bowie. But then again, a lot of people seem to think texans are supposed to sound like john wayne or dolly parton, so i feel your pain.

[Savannah]

Can someone explain to me exactly what a "British" accent is, as far as an American is concerned? We do have more than one, and believe it or not, not everybody from this fair isle speaks like Rupert Everett... :smallwink:

I know that there's more than one accent, although most of the time I would not be able to place where a speaker is from by hearing them. However, I've liked just about every British accent I've heard, so I lump them together and say I like most British accents better than I like most US accents. (I also prefer certain British spellings, which annoys my spell checker immensely.)

[Superglucose]

It's the sound of it. There are some that I really like. I love South African

Oh my, I heard a South African girl start talking on the TV the other day and I was like... "I'm moving."

[Xyk]

Can someone explain to me exactly what a "British" accent is, as far as an American is concerned? We do have more than one, and believe it or not, not everybody from this fair isle speaks like Rupert Everett... :smallwink:

The ones I hear from my television? They are much more similar than different. Especially compared to different American accents. I mean a cotley (sp?) accent compared to oxford are probably pretty similar to a foreigner. I couldn't tell the difference unless hearing them simultaneously. But a Texas accent compared to a Boston accent is hard to believe they are of the same country.[/terriblegrammar]

[Superglucose]

Yeah, but a texan accent compared to, say, a georgian accent? I can tell the difference but I bet a foreigner couldn't.

[Gimliggamer]

Yeah, but a texan accent compared to, say, a georgian accent? I can tell the difference but I bet a foreigner couldn't.
Umm, I'm pretty sure people from Texans don't have a different accent than most Americans. Because I am Texan, and some of my family lives in NY. We don't sound that much different. i just don't use y'all when referring to one person.

[rakkoon]

Ponderthought, you don't sound like Dolly Parton? Way to kill mah dreams.

Dunno, accents are fun in the beginning and give a exotic mystique. I suppose after dating a person with one for a long time you would get bored with/used to it but not in a position to tell.

RP english is a huge turn on. Mancunian English not so much actually. As long as you can understand them I see no great problem.
Oh and as long as they don't sound like the girl that won Eurovision. That would be a problem.

[Xyk]

Umm, I'm pretty sure people from Texans don't have a different accent than most Americans. Because I am Texan, and some of my family lives in NY. We don't sound that much different. i just don't use y'all when referring to one person.

I'm the same way. Y'all is the only texan word I use and only as a contraction for "you all". But if you go to small towns or parts of dallas and houston or most of the west and south, you'll find your classic texan. My extended family in Houston has a definite Texas accent.

[Lioness]

do other people also find Scottish accents attractive?

Definitely. I love soft Scottish accents. Not so much the harsh, highlander ones though.


I'm ALWAYS asking my customers where they are originally from when I hear an accent I can't pinpoint. I've gotten pretty good at identifying them.

It's funny, because my customers always ask me where I'm from. Apparently I sound like I'm from Ireland or England. Which is funny, because I've never set foot outside of Australia.


I'm a big fan of Scottish accents, especially when they're attached to Karen Gillan.

Heh. Definitely. But she doesn't need an accent.

[golentan]

It's not so much that I love some accents as that I hate others.

A Southern drawl or a New England twang sets my teeth on edge, for example. Unfortunate given where most of my family lives, but there you have it.

Though some accents are very well matched to certain types of sounds, and I'll enjoy those, that tends more towards musicality.

[Castaras]

Many accents just grate on my nerves to no end. British for instance. *shudders*

...You are the first american I have spoken to who said anything remotely like that. I congratulate you, you are the exception that tests the rule. :smallamused:

[The Rose Dragon]

You guys are all accentist!

I don't care about the accents in a positive manner. They might serve to drive me insane (Londoner accent in English, for example), but they don't quite help me be attracted to people.

[Killer Angel]

Okay this is something that has always confused me and I thought it only effected women, but recently I found out some of my guy friends also love certain accents.

Am I the only one here, thinking immediately to A fish called Wanda? :smallbiggrin:

Edit: regardin' male, I think we find exciting every accent, when the girls say "yes"... :smalltongue:

2° edit: I like french... :smallwink:

[KuReshtin]

This would be a good time to get that link that Koorli posted a while back about different accents. I can't find it now, but it had a lot of different Spoken English accents, not only from different parts of the UK and ireland, but also other countries' English accents.

Personally, I like a proper Scottish accent*, the generic Irish accent that people are used to from TV and movies, and Australian accents.
I like the Australian accent so much that I've got my satnav application on my phone set to give directions in Australian. Koorli, Thufir and Eldpollard can verify this.

I don't know what kind of mongrel accent I've got when I speak English. I'm pretty sure that I don't speak in a 'Swedish English' accent, but other than that, I'm not sure.

* Billy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyW0riD54nY) Connolly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRuI7TvkNI) has a great accent, in my mind.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

This would be a good time to get that link that Koorli posted a while back about different accents. I can't find it now, but it had a lot of different Spoken English accents, not only from different parts of the UK and ireland, but also other countries' English accents.

I do believe it was this one: http://web.ku.edu/~idea/dialectmap.htm
This is quite good as well: http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/

[KuReshtin]

I do believe it was this one: http://web.ku.edu/~idea/dialectmap.htm
This is quite good as well: http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/

Yep, that's the one.

[Dr.Epic]

Russian and English (so long as the latter isn't too strong).

[Brother Oni]

They might serve to drive me insane (Londoner accent in English, for example), but they don't quite help me be attracted to people.

The Estuary one or cockney? :smalltongue:



Personally, I like a proper Scottish accent*

Presumably, you mean any scottish accent apart from Glaswegian. :smalltongue:

[Syka]

Ku, one of my friend's set their GPS system to Australian too. :smallbiggrin:



And I was just talking about the foreign accents (well, foreign for me). A nice Southern Drawl is always good in my books. I think I've only met one person I can remember who has that amazing drawl, and he works at my local grocery store. I LOVE hearing him talk. It's not redneck/hick/whatever. It's just that really slow, drawn out cadence some Southerners get. I occasionally get it, but not as pronounced as this boy has it. <3



(I'll add that, while I love listening to accents, they don't actually give you points on the 'attractiveness' scale for me. Except maybe Antonio Banderas. Yes. I'll make an exception for Antonio. :smallamused:)

[KuReshtin]

Presumably, you mean any scottish accent apart from Glaswegian. :smalltongue:

Obviously. :smallbiggrin:

[The Vorpal Tribble]

It's just that really slow, drawn out cadence some Southerners get.
Ugh, lol. That's practically all the folks and relations I know my way, and it personally drives me crazy. It's like they've been Slowed.


I pretty much have no accent despite my upbringing. Northern folks think I'm southern, southern folks think I'm northern, British think I'm american, and some americans think I'm british (though I think the latter is due more to idiocy).

[Syka]

We don't get that much here, since we aren't really from the South. :smallwink: He's actually originally from Georgia.



People can't place me at all, unless I slip in to the Southern accent by accident. I've got a pure American accent. There are just SO many people from everywhere where I live that it all blends together to a neutral accent. That's what I've been told at least.


I giggle whenever Oz slips in to his Midwestern accent. :smallamused: He's mostly lost it, but every now and then...hehe.

[Serpentine]

...'strayan GPS? :smallconfused:

"Maaaaaaaaate. Hook a left up ahead and swing by the bottle-o wouldja? Gonna be chunderin' tonight! Watch the shiela with the big bum ya galah."

I know a guy who's born here, plain ol' Aussie accent and everything, but has Sri Lankan parents. He says that every now and then he slips into a full-on "Indian" accent, but only for a phrase. His example was "I am going to a party".
...
That doesn't work so well with text... But imagine a thin dark-skinned man wearing a turban and lots of jewellery with a bindi on his forehead holding his hands together and kinking his head side-to-side as he says that, and you'll probably get the gist.
(note: he doesn't actually look like that)

[Lioness]

...'strayan GPS? :smallconfused:

"Maaaaaaaaate. Hook a left up ahead and swing by the bottle-o wouldja? Gonna be chunderin' tonight! Watch the shiela with the big bum ya galah."


:smallbiggrin:

I'd love to have a GPS that did that.

[Nameless]

Am I the only one here that likes a lot of the American accents? :smalltongue:

[rakkoon]

For reproduction purposes I'm hoping Americans do.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

Heh. Definitely. But she doesn't need an accent.

True. Very true. Possibly the most true. (But it sure don't hurt none.)

[Ponderthought]

Now that i think about it, I think it may be more the voice behind the accent. might be why I dont like Spanish accents, because sometimes the mexicans around here get VERY LOUD FOR NO REASON.

No offense to mi hermanos south of the border.

[Jokasti]

I have a mixed accent, my parents being northerners and I live in the South. A Belle accent will get me, but the redneck one won't. I'm used to the twang, though, so when I go north, it's a little wierd. Have to say, any accent can sound good on a certain person.

[ApeofLight]

I think its the same reason people like certain types of music. It sounds nice to the ear and so people like it, which in turn makes the person more attractive to certain people.

[Vaynor]

Accents that drive me crazy?

Inner city (don't care what color you are, SHUT UP!)
Blonde Barbiedoll (I, like, am going to, like bite your head off if you don't, like, close the pie hole!)

I live in Southern California near LA. We get a lot of both of those down here, and then some combinations of the two. :smalleek:

Admittedly, however, saying "like" a lot here is something the majority of people do, at least in my age group. It's a bit hard to avoid, like "hella" in Northern California and "y'all" in the South.

Edit: Also, Scottish accents are adorable when paired with a good voice.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Cerys from BBC 6 Music has an awesome awesome voice. Just gonna through that out there.

My recently-immigrated American friend makes fun of us for saying sorry as "Sohry" rather than "Sarry". I like to remind her that 1: it's spelled with an 'o', and 2: that nobody around is wearing indian dress. Except that they are. Because I go to school in Parkdale. And there are Indian and tamil people around. Who are, indeed, wearing indian garb. So that doesn't exactly work.

ahem. Cough drop?

Other than that, I'm not sure. Western accents I don't like so much. Alberta was... painful to listen to people talk. No offense to Albertans.

Other than that, I just generally love talking to people with different accents. Southern drawl is for defs a favourite though. :smallsmile:

[Zovc]

I, a male, tend to find accents "attractive" in women.

I've never dated or spent a large amount of time with a woman with an accent, though, there's no telling whether or not it would get old.

I had a crush on this one English girl I knew, and her accent didn't get old over the two weeks we were in frequent contact.

For whatever all of that is worth.

[Thufir]

Yeah, but a texan accent compared to, say, a georgian accent? I can tell the difference but I bet a foreigner couldn't.

Yeah, it's all just american to us.
OK, I probably could discern a difference between the two, but I couldn't identify them. It's just never been relevant for me to know.


I pretty much have no accent despite my upbringing. Northern folks think I'm southern, southern folks think I'm northern, British think I'm american, and some americans think I'm british (though I think the latter is due more to idiocy).

Everyone has an accent. EVERYONE. My friend who's studying linguistics told me off for saying I didn't have an accent.

[KuReshtin]

We should do an 'accents itP' where people record a set text (like in the dialect-map project) and see what people in the Playground sound like.

Since it won't be in conversation, it'll most likely be in their 'normal' accent, without any venturing into 'conversational accents'.

Yes? No? Bad idea? Should I go hide behind a rock?

[rakkoon]

Sounds like a plan!

[Serpentine]

Make it Jabberwocky. Cuz then I can be lazy and post the thing I recorded several years ago (and which is rather embarrassing to have come up in my random music...).

[Thufir]

Make it Jabberwocky. Cuz then I can be lazy and post the thing I recorded several years ago (and which is rather embarrassing to have come up in my random music...).

If it's Jabberwocky, we run the risk of getting silly voices as opposed to normal voices.
Really, to get an idea of people's normal accents, it needs to be something fairly matter-of-fact, rather than something which could be done as a performance of some kind.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Sounds good to me! I'm searching out a microphone at the moment anyway.

[KuReshtin]

Hmmm.. Does this mean that I need to come up with a standard text to read for people who want to join in?
:smalleek:

[Zovc]

We should do an 'accents itP' where people record a set text (like in the dialect-map project) and see what people in the Playground sound like.

I'll do it, sure, but where do I upload my recording?

Hopefully my clip doesn't kill someone of boredom.

Edit:
Perhaps something like, "I'm recording myself saying this so that you can hear my accent."

Boring, I know.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

It should be something that exploits our accents.

[Jokasti]

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog? Lorum ipsum? Etoain Shrdlu?

[Deth Muncher]

I have an anecdote suited for this.

Many years ago, when my father was about my age (so...about 22 yearsish ago), he and four friends drove down to Daytona Beach, Florida. Once there, they found a hotel so they could go drop their crap before heading to the beach. What they FOUND at the hotel was a toga party going on a floor up from them. Not wanting to miss out, they took some bedsheets from their room, and slapped on their most atrocious Beatles-imitation accents. Then they crashed the party and got all the girls, because they sounded so dreamy.

It probably didn't happen EXACTLY like that, but then, my father is one to rarely exaggerate things. -shrug-

[Cristo Meyers]

I giggle whenever Oz slips in to his Midwestern accent. :smallamused: He's mostly lost it, but every now and then...hehe.

Yes, try as we might, the Midwesterner never truly goes away. You can still hear mine when I say words like "yesterday"

It's even worse when I'm talking to someone that actually has a heavier rural accent, then mine gets dragged out for some reason.

[zeratul]

I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't have some sort of accent prefference in terms of what ones they found attractive and unattractive. I tend to think Russian accents are really hot , and then of course Irish and Scottish are cool as well. Recently I've also noticed that the Finnish accent sounds (at least to me ) like a cooler version of an Eastern American accent.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Everyone has an accent. EVERYONE. My friend who's studying linguistics told me off for saying I didn't have an accent.

I can see where he's coming from; there's having an accent and then there's having an accent. If people in different places keep attributing different accents to you, it's logical to say you don't have any particular accent, yet most everyone a stereotypical southern American (for instance) meets would probably say he has the "southern drawl."

I'm kind of in the same boat; I've moved around a lot, so my own accent is an amalgamation of several. When my Boy Scout troop went to a national jamboree with other troops from around the country a few years ago, the Pennsylvania troop said I had a southern accent, the Alabamans said I had a northern accent, the Colorado natives said I had an "east coast accent" (whatever that is) and the New Yorkers thought I was from the Midwest, while they all agreed that the born-and-bred Virginians in my troop had a southern accent.

[GolemsVoice]

I've been told that I can do English with some fun accents, though only by some of my (male) friends. When speaking normal English, however, I try to have as little of an accent as possible.

[Mr. Mud]

Always have, and always will love the Aussie accent. And the Canadian accent, while very faint, also gives me tingles :smallbiggrin:.

[Serpentine]

Hrm. If one were to upload a recording to one's interwebs, where would one upload it? One knows one has posted it here before, but cannot remember how.

[Mr. Mud]

Photobucket maybe? There's always Youtube.

[Serpentine]

Can Photobucket do recordings?

[Mr. Mud]

Can Photobucket do recordings?

I'm pretty sure I've watching videos of people, yes. Not sure about just audio though.

[KuReshtin]

depending on the file sizes, I guess I could sort something out for uploading audio files on the same place I host my images that I post.
It would require that the sound files would need to be sent to me for me to upload them, though. Not sure if people would be ok with that.

[Sereg]

It's the sound of it. There are some that I really like. I love South African,


Oh my, I heard a South African girl start talking on the TV the other day and I was like... "I'm moving."

Thank you. Of course we can hear a lot of differences between South African accents so we may think that the accents that you are reffering to are very different. (Appologies that my voice isn't posted with the text Syka).

[Serpentine]

Argh. That does it...

SETH EFREHKEH

I could only resist for so long >.<

[Zovc]

It would require that the sound files would need to be sent to me for me to upload them, though. Not sure if people would be ok with that.

So long as I'm not saying something that could later compromise me... *squints*

[KuReshtin]

Here's my proposed random text* that we could try.


Samuel Adams was an American statesman, politician, writer, and political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Adams was instrumental in garnering the support of the colonies in rebellion against Great Britain, ultimately resulting in the American Revolution. He was also one of the key architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped American political culture. Adams organized protests against the British, including the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and participated in the Continental Congress. He also advocated for the adoption of the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress. Following the American Revolution, Adams helped draft the Articles of Confederation. After the war ended, he ran for the House of Representatives in the 1st United States Congressional election, but was unsuccessful in his bid. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1789 and after John Hancock's death in 1793, Adams served as the acting governor, until he was elected governor in January of the following year. He served in that position until June 1797 when he decided to retire from politics.

It a bit of a longer text, but it'd be a good way of getting a taste of people's accents as it's a neutral text with no real need for silly/stupid voices to be used.


*it was on the biography front page of Wikipedia. :smallbiggrin:

[Trog]

Okay, I'll bite. Here's my read through of that text. (http://home.centurytel.net/jeffsjunk/TrogVoice.wav)

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Okay this is something that has always confused me and I thought it only effected women, but recently I found out some of my guy friends also love certain accents. So my question for everyone here is why do you find certain accents attractive?

Wow, I'm VERY attracted to British accents, but I don't know why. :smallconfused:

[YPU]

Okay, I'll bite. Here's my read through of that text. (http://home.centurytel.net/jeffsjunk/TrogVoice.wav)

Touché, and here I was telling Ku that it might be to long.

[Mr. Mud]

Okay, I'll bite. Here's my read through of that text. (http://home.centurytel.net/jeffsjunk/TrogVoice.wav)

Trog, you voice is sheer awesome. It sounds as though you were destined to tell puns.

[KuReshtin]

Trog. Thank you. As has been said, Awesome stuff.


Right. Next on the agenda.

If people want to get their accents available for others to hear, and don't have anywhere to upload the sound file to, I've set up an e-mail address that you can send the file to.
The e-mail address is: voices.itp (at) tiscali.co.uk
If you send the voice recording to that e-mail, I can then upload the sound bytes to a collective website, or link them to here.

[Coidzor]

Trog is stereotypical relaxed guy in his early 30s voice from an urban center. :smalleek:

[Serpentine]

Blegh. Could you have picked a more boring bit o' text? :smallyuk:

[Coidzor]

Blegh. Could you have picked a more boring bit o' text? :smallyuk:

I think Serps wants something ...saucier from Trog...:smallamused:

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I think Serps wants something ...saucier from Trog...:smallamused:

Anyone want to transcribe an Old Spice commercial and have people read that?

"Hello, ladies..." :smallamused:

[Xyk]

Anyone want to transcribe an Old Spice commercial and have people read that?

"Hello, ladies..." :smallamused:

No, the impulse to imitate the Old Spice Guy's accent would be too overwhelming.

[Trog]

I think Serps wants something ...saucier from Trog...:smallamused:
Sorry. Trog saves that for Trog's girl. :smallwink:

[Serpentine]

Serp wishes she was TRO-OG'S GIIIIIIRRRRL :smallfrown:

Actually, I haven't even listened to it :smalltongue: I just think the text is dull.
Welcome to Dullsville. Population: Text.

[Moff Chumley]

I dig the Russian and Scottish accents... and as far as American accents, I love the Boston accent. Can't stand anything that sounds like it's from the south, and certainly can't stand the "Fargo" accent. :smallyuk:

[Coidzor]

as far as American accents, I love the Boston accent.

:smalleek:That's like.... our worst one that counts as human speech.... and even then it's borderline...:smallconfused:


Thankfully I've repressed anything having to do with Wells-Fargo.

[Rawhide]

There's already a project like this out there, the speech accent archive (http://accent.gmu.edu/).

They use the following elicitation paragraph:
Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

[KuReshtin]

Sorry about my proposed text being boring. I just went to Wikipedia's biography page, and took the first thing that was listed, since I figured it'd be a neutral enough text.

However, Rawhide's text is a lot better, so feel free to choose either one (or both if you like).

Here are two three examples of Rawhide's text:

KuReshtin (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/KuReshtin.mp3) - Swede, having lived in Scotland for 11 years.
Lioness (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/Lioness.mp3) - Australian *swoon*:smallredface:
Castaras (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/Castaras.mp3) - British Accent - found in East Anglia in all families that speak posh lyke. (Cassie's own description)

[Serpentine]

Alright, I bit. Not the set text, though. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow (when everyone's out <.<).

[factotum]

There's already a project like this out there, the speech accent archive (http://accent.gmu.edu/).

They use the following elicitation paragraph:

The one problem with following a fixed text like that is that it uses some distinctly American phraseology--for instance, I don't know anyone who would say "We will go meet her Wednesday"; they'd be more likely to say "We'll meet her Wednesday", or if they were being formal, "We will go and meet her on Wednesday". Of course, the way different people phrase things is an entirely separate topic which we maybe don't want to get into... :smallsmile:

[Coidzor]

Probably just avoiding contractions for properness's sake and to show how different voices do when they have to draw things out rather than rush to the finish.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Prepare to either fawn in admiration, or more likely, recoil in horror (http://www.mediafire.com/?8w6yinfphgxcncb).

You will have to open the file on your computer, though.

[KuReshtin]

Alright, I bit. Not the set text, though. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow (when everyone's out <.<).

Serps bit me! AARRGGHH!!

Anyways, here's Serps on tape. (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/Serps.mp3)

[Coidzor]

Serps sounds more stereotypically Ourstralyan than I had expected. :smallamused: Now I just wanna pinch her cheeks.

...Tangled curtains? What is this reference to? Why is she talking about Goth's laughing at her?

[Serpentine]

Who, me? I dunno. I recorded that... possibly years ago, now. As in, like, two. I'll listen to it tomorrow and do a new one. Bed time shortly, for now.

[Ponderthought]

Ah, Id record my gravelly baritone for you all, but alas, my only microphone is an xbox peripheral.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

Serp, that was awesome.

[Copacetic]

It's the sound of it. There are some that I really like. I love South African, and I recently discovered Peruvian Spanish results in an amazing accent. Dutch is pretty nice, too. You have the typical British variants (English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh), but I think I've gotten too used to them to think them out of the ordinary.

If I had to pick a language group that seems to result in my drooling over, I think it's variants of Spanish, actually.

And maybe I'm weird, but I actually like a lot of the accents Slavic and Germanic speakers have when speaking English. We get a fair amount of German tourists and I adore listening to them. <3

Honestly...I like a lot of accents because I love listening to people talk. :) I'm ALWAYS asking my customers where they are originally from when I hear an accent I can't pinpoint. I've gotten pretty good at identifying them.


Oh my, I heard a South African girl start talking on the TV the other day and I was like... "I'm moving."

*Sigh*

My family is South African, but I had the unfortunate fate of being born into the Midwest. No matter how hard you try, there is absolutely no way to purge that from your vocal cords. Still, all of my friends think my parents are British, and we never go anywhere to eat where the waiters will ask you where you're accent is from because they hate answering that question.

Although, perhaps not all is lost. I still picked up a hint of an accent from my parents, but it generally just shines through in word pronunciation. Laboratory, for example, I can pronounce midwest free. I still have the blight of pronouncing "a" as "uh".


EDIT: To the question however, I am fond of a British accent. Which British accent, you say? Irrelevant. They are all adorable. :smalltongue:

[Rawhide]

The one problem with following a fixed text like that is that it uses some distinctly American phraseology--for instance, I don't know anyone who would say "We will go meet her Wednesday"; they'd be more likely to say "We'll meet her Wednesday", or if they were being formal, "We will go and meet her on Wednesday". Of course, the way different people phrase things is an entirely separate topic which we maybe don't want to get into... :smallsmile:


Probably just avoiding contractions for properness's sake and to show how different voices do when they have to draw things out rather than rush to the finish.

This. I think the paragraph is designed to demonstrate as many different traits of an accent as possible.

Would anyone ever say "how now brown cow", "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain", "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", or "jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz" in a normal conversation?


P.S. I would be just as likely to say "We will go meet her" as We'll go meet her", but wouldn't say the sentence as written. I would add an "on" before "Wednesday". "We will go meet her on Wednesday."

[Lioness]

Serps bit me! AARRGGHH!!

Anyways, here's Serps on tape. (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/Serps.mp3)

Serp...you sound like my boss. Also, pretty much just as I imagined.

Also: That's stereotypical Australian? I thought stereotypical was a bit more...country.

Also, another ellipsis and also, just because I don't have enough yet...

[rakkoon]

I'm just happy you pronounced the i in 'slithy' as in the word 'I'.
It always sounded like that in my head but not in the movie Jabberwocky.

Hmm, wikipedia says you are correct btw.

[Serpentine]

As if I wouldn't be :smallcool:

[Lioness]

I served a Russian guy today at work...I'm in love with mild Russian accents...they're so...European. <3

[YPU]

I served a Russian guy today at work...I'm in love with mild Russian accents...they're so...European. <3

As a European I feel extremely generalised now.

[Lioness]

As a European I feel extremely generalised now.

Sorry :)

I like all sorts of European accents.

[Thufir]

I'm just happy you pronounced the i in 'slithy' as in the word 'I'.
It always sounded like that in my head but not in the movie Jabberwocky.

Hmm, wikipedia says you are correct btw.

There's a movie Jabberwocky? :smalleek:

Personally I feel Serp recited that in far too normal a tone. Jabberwocky should be read in an over the top silly mysterious voice, damnit! Get across the feel as well as the words!

[Serpentine]

It's a Gilliam movie.

Aw :smallfrown: I did it from memory, that's gotta count for something, right? Maybe I'll do it again sometime.

[Thufir]

Aw :smallfrown: I did it from memory, that's gotta count for something, right? Maybe I'll do it again sometime.

Yeah. I was going to say "Ah! You got one word wrong!" But then I checked, and it turned out I got that word wrong.
Maybe I should record my rendition of Jabberwocky. It won't demonstrate my regular accent, but it should be amusing.

[Serpentine]

:cool:

"Borogoves" and "outgrabe" used to throw me, cuz i thought the "gr"s were swapped. Then I checked, and fixed it, and was good.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Personally I feel Serp recited that in far too normal a tone. Jabberwocky should be read in an over the top silly mysterious voice, damnit! Get across the feel as well as the words!
If a slightly more dramatic reading of Jabberwocky is what you're after, I was bored enough to deliver it (http://www.mediafire.com/?rmw8oov3uhniaj4). :smallwink:

[WalkingTarget]

I've submitted some general midwestern American recordings of the text suggested by Rawhide and (probably not dramatic enough for some) Jabberwocky to KuReshtin's voices email address.

[KuReshtin]

I've submitted some general midwestern American recordings of the text suggested by Rawhide and (probably not dramatic enough for some) Jabberwocky to KuReshtin's voices email address.

Excellent.

I'll upload them and link to them when i get home from work. Which should be in about an hour's time or so.

[KuReshtin]

Sorry for the double post, but WalkingTarget has been uploaded.

WalkingTarget (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/WalkingTarget.mp3)
WalkingTarget - Jabberwocky (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/WTJW.mp3)

[shadow_archmagi]

I like all foreign ones.

American ones don't bother me.

[Rutskarn]

Because I find the words that come out of a woman's mouth at least as attractive as her form, and if they sound delicious--an Irish or Welsh accent, for example--that's icing on the soundcake.

[Serpentine]

Dear lord. Walking Target is so very USofAmerican.

Now to relisten to my own, and be embarrassed at myself...

edit: Alright then. Man, that thing is old. And I have a weird voice, apparently.

...Tangled curtains? What is this reference to? Why is she talking about Goth's laughing at her?I recited it in high school. They wouldn't open the curtains for me and made me come on stage from behind, but I couldn't find the gap in the curtains and spent several minutes bashing at it to get on stage. Eventually I made it, and rushed through the recital. Then I had to get off the stage... and couldn't find the gap in the curtains again. I spent another several minutes trying to get through in front of the whole school, then gave up, ran around the side then sat out the back and cried. I'm.. I'm not made for show business.
And that was my ex. His forum name was (is, technically, I suppose) Goff.

Personally I feel Serp recited that in far too normal a tone. Jabberwocky should be read in an over the top silly mysterious voice, damnit! Get across the feel as well as the words!Just cuz something's nonsense, doesn't mean it's silly :smallcool: I prefer to treat it as a mythic epic.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I served a Russian guy today at work...I'm in love with mild Russian accents...they're so...European. <3
I have a mild Russian accent. But everyone seems to think I'm French. To be fair, a mild Russian accent does sound kinda... Quebecois. Emphasis on mild, not "Hellow, Aim lookin-g for nuklear wessels. Nuk-lear Wes-sels." Also, French people from France seem to think I'm from Belgium. Mostly because my French is horrible.

Funny conversation I had recently:

*talking Russian to a friend*
Girl: (think Indian version of an airheaded valley girl): "OMG you're Russian too?"
Me: "Uhm, yeah? You didn't know?"
Girl: "Well, I always thought you were European"
Me: ... :confused: "I am European"
Girl: "No, I mean like the cool European."

[WalkingTarget]

Dear lord. Walking Target is so very USofAmerican.

Hehe. Pretty much. Check out this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#Regional_home_of_General_American ) Wiki Article. Specifically this image.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/General_American.png

I'm from the part of Illinois where General American was prevalent. That's the dialect that's largely free of regional identifiers, so it's the most stereotypically "American" accent we've got. It's sort of like RP over here, a lot of people in broadcasting and films emulate it if they don't speak it normally.

[rakkoon]

The main problem is that it is very hard to do this neutrally. Since I'm not an English native speaker I HAVE to choose an accent. Usually this is RP English or the slightly Irish version. I tried making a recording with a typical accent from around here but that turned out slightly James Bond villainish.
*sigh*

[KuReshtin]

The main problem is that it is very hard to do this neutrally. Since I'm not an English native speaker I HAVE to choose an accent. Usually this is RP English or the slightly Irish version. I tried making a recording with a typical accent from around here but that turned out slightly James Bond villainish.
*sigh*

You don't really have to put on an accent.
just have the text in front of you and read it out loud, as you would any text, even if you read if in Dutch.

Also: Don Julio definitely needs to get a sound byte up so we can hear this slightly Russian accent. :smallsmile:

[rakkoon]

In Dutch I can choose between the Standard version, my own dialect,the dialect of where I live and everything in between. It depends of who I'm talking to :smallsmile:

Anyway, made a version as neutral as possible since me putting on a specific accent would kind of ruin the idea of this little excercise :smalltongue:

Will mail it to KuReshtin if he has the time and space

[KuReshtin]

Will mail it to KuReshtin if he has the time and space

He does in deed.
There's about 100Mb worth of space left of upload space on my account, so it shouldn't be a problem.

It won't be uploaded until I get home from work, though.

[Stadge]

I'm a massive fan of Irish and Welsh accents. Which makes living with two Irish lads and two Welsh girls next year quite a pleasant thing. The other guy has a ild Yorkshire accent which also isn't too bad.

Most other accents don't really bother me, except I really dislike the accent in the area of my home (North West of England, specifiaclly the Wigan area accent) seriously, it's not an attractive accent. Fortunatly my local accent isn't particularly strong, though I do use words/phrases others at uni get confused by.

Oddly though I have an occasional tendency to go broader than I ever would at home, whilst at uni. I'm not entirely sure why.

[Thufir]

Just cuz something's nonsense, doesn't mean it's silly :smallcool: I prefer to treat it as a mythic epic.

Hence the mysterious. Maybe I should've put mysterious/silly. Just my own rendition takes the mystery and drama a bit over the top, to the point where it becomes silly.

[Coidzor]

Funny conversation I had recently:

How is an Indian Russian?

Isn't Jabberwocky supposed to be a mythic epic, especially to amuse small children?

[Don Julio Anejo]

How is an Indian Russian?

Isn't Jabberwocky supposed to be a mythic epic, especially to amuse small children?
Nonono, I was talking Russian to one friend when another friend (the Indian girl) overheard me.

[rakkoon]

Isn't Jabberwocky supposed to be a mythic epic, especially to amuse small children?

As in most Carroll's work it's a satire I believe. With some nonsense in between which is meant as a critique.


Wikipedia to the rescue: "Jabberwocky" was meant by Carroll as a satire designed to show how not to write a poem

I love all his work. It all looks like it's for children till you match the figures to real people (Queen (duh) , Tweedledum(old gossipy lady), Walrus(a banker), Dodo(himself),...)

Btw, I had a professor in College who was Chinese by birth, moved to Holland later and lived in Sweden for five years. His pronunciation of the letter R was quite unique...

[KuReshtin]

Another entry in the Accents project:

rakkoon (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/rakkoon.mp3)

[Stadge]

KuReshtin- Sorry about this, I think I've missed something or got confused somewhere, but how do I submit something to this Accents project?

[Copacetic]

Hehe. Pretty much. Check out this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#Regional_home_of_General_American ) Wiki Article. Specifically this image.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/General_American.png

I'm from the part of Illinois where General American was prevalent. That's the dialect that's largely free of regional identifiers, so it's the most stereotypically "American" accent we've got. It's sort of like RP over here, a lot of people in broadcasting and films emulate it if they don't speak it normally.

Huh. I'm not alone!

Out of curiosity, about where in the Lincoln State do you live?

[KuReshtin]

KuReshtin- Sorry about this, I think I've missed something or got confused somewhere, but how do I submit something to this Accents project?

If you want to participate, please record yourself reading the text that Rawhide posted in the first post on page four of this thread (the 'please call Stella' text).

If you can and want to upload the sound byte yourself, please feel free to do so, and then link it in this thread.
If you don't have anywhere to upload the file to, or just don't feel like it, you're welcome to send an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll upload the file and link it for you.

[rakkoon]

Another entry in the Accents project:
rakkoon (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/accents/rakkoon.mp3)

Ahum *comments please* ahum

[Lioness]

Ahum *comments please* ahum

You have a fun voice.

But I can't quite place the accent...where are you from?

[rakkoon]

Australia? Manchester!

Belgium, Flanders, Antwerp but don't tell anyone
http://www.sydmorsjewelry.com/stand/images/content/28%7E36%7Eantwerp-event-2009-full2.jpg

[Zen Monkey]

This thread has me wondering if part of my crush on Shirley Manson is because I like Scottish accents, or if I like Scottish accents because I find her so unusually attractive and she happens to have one. It's become a 'chicken and egg' thing.

Of course, I also receive the 'Really? You don't sound Texan' because I grew up in a major city and don't sound like the stereotypical cowboy that people expect. It's interesting that people almost don't believe you when you don't match up to their (sometimes cartoonishly) exaggerated expectations.

[Popertop]

I love lots of accents, but it's mainly the girls voice(which I put lots of emphasis on, a sexy voice goes a long way) and the coloration the different accents give it that makes my brain turn to mush.

And yes we do have different accents in America, if you move around you can tell.

[WalkingTarget]

Huh. I'm not alone!

Out of curiosity, about where in the Lincoln State do you live?

I grew up on a farm outside a small town that is about equidistant from the following groups (as in, cities/towns in these groups take about as long to drive to as the others in that group):

1. Large Cities: Chicago and St. Louis.

2. Smaller Cities: Peoria, Springfield, and Bloomington/Normal

3. Towns that aren't that big, but are still bigger than the one I'm from: Lincoln, Pekin, and Havana.

I currently live in Peoria, but in a week I'll be moving back to Champaign/Urbana for grad school.

[Copacetic]

I grew up on a farm outside a small town that is about equidistant from the following groups (as in, cities/towns in these groups take about as long to drive to as the others in that group):

1. Large Cities: Chicago and St. Louis.

2. Smaller Cities: Peoria, Springfield, and Bloomington/Normal

3. Towns that aren't that big, but are still bigger than the one I'm from: Lincoln, Pekin, and Havana.

I currently live in Peoria, but in a week I'll be moving back to Champaign/Urbana for grad school.

Oh really? That's amusing. I live in Urbana. What are the odds, huh? :smalltongue:

[WalkingTarget]

Oh really? That's amusing. I live in Urbana. What are the odds, huh? :smalltongue:

Heh. Here's another clue for you, then. Go to the Digital Computer Lab at the university. Get in a car heading west on Springfield Ave. Drive for between an hour and 45 minutes and 2 hours (depending on traffic on your way through Champaign).

[Copacetic]

Heh. Here's another clue for you, then. Go to the Digital Computer Lab at the university. Get in a car heading west on Springfield Ave. Drive for between an hour and 45 minutes and 2 hours (depending on traffic on your way through Champaign).

Will there be buried treasure? Or simply the standard corn field corn field corn field soybean field corn field again routine?

[WalkingTarget]

Will there be buried treasure? Or simply the standard corn field corn field corn field soybean field corn field again routine?

...More probably the latter. I can't rule out treasure, though. I don't know what crazy crap people may or may not have buried in the fields.

[Elder Tsofu]

Ahum *comments please* ahum

Hm, didn't sound special, except that you spoke in a... high tone way, slightly short of breath?
Argh, I can't really describe it but it would be placed into my upper-class category if I heard you. (which I did)

[rakkoon]

Hmm, so the American guy who said the accent would get me lots of chicks was lying? Good I didn't go to that party then. Well, he also mentioned there'd be cocaine so I'm not sure if he was the most trustworthy person ever...
true story weirdly enough