Influential dialects
Stuie
Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
with? I only ask because I've noticed a few points about my own.
Up until the time I went to secondary school, I had a very Home Counties
accent. But when I got to secondary school I developed a South London accent
and have had that for quite a few years now.
But now it's changing again, into a sort of Welsh-Brummie hybrid, that's a
little bit camp. I think that this is a direct result of the people I hang
around with. Obviously being in Wales, some of my close friends are Welsh and
along with me actually learning to speak the language now, I am developing a
Welsh accent. I reckon the Brummie bit came from a friend of mine who has now
left who had SUCH a strong Brummie accent and I worshiped him down to the
ground, so I reckon that's had an effect on me.
Has anyone else had similar experiences to this? I don't know why I'm
intrigued by this, I just am.
xxx Stuie
______________________________________________________________________________
I wanna be a builder when I grow up
______________________________________________________________________________
"It's too bad she won't live __ __ o __ E-Mail: sb...@aber.ac.uk
but then again who does?" /_ / / / / /_ http://www.aber.ac.uk/~sbf5
[Do Androids dream Of __/ / /_/ / /_ Opinions are my own and not
Electric Sheep ?] those of UCW Aberystwyth
______________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Brittle
On Wed, 2 Oct 1996 13:22:48 +0100, Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
>with?
I come from Nottingham, although I never really had much of an accent
when I lived there.
I came down to Kent in 1982 to university and it took people here a
while to work out that I was from the North. I know Nottingham isn't
North in quite the same way that Carlisle, Newcastle, or the whole of
Scotland are, but it gets *so* tiring trying to explain to these
people that the land actually extends quite a way beyond London.
Anyway, I've actually found over the last 14 years that my East
Midlands accent has become a bit stronger and I now sound almost like
I came from up there - despite the fact that I've been surrounded by
all these southerners.
Perhaps I'm being influenced *negatively* by the accents around me.
Having said that though, I was talking to my sister at the weekend,
and she was commenting that some of the words I say make me sound like
a southerner. Eeek !!! Time to start practising... bath, path,
laugh...
Andrew.
xmasdale
Dear Stuie,
You wrote:
Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
with? I only ask because I've noticed a few points about my own.
Up until the time I went to secondary school, I had a very Home Counties
accent. But when I got to secondary school I developed a South London accent
and have had that for quite a few years now.
But now it's changing again, into a sort of Welsh-Brummie hybrid, that's a
little bit camp. I think that this is a direct result of the people I hang
around with. Obviously being in Wales, some of my close friends are Welsh and
along with me actually learning to speak the language now, I am developing a
Welsh accent. I reckon the Brummie bit came from a friend of mine who has now
left who had SUCH a strong Brummie accent and I worshiped him down to the
ground, so I reckon that's had an effect on me.
Has anyone else had similar experiences to this? I don't know why I'm
intrigued by this, I just am.
xxx Stuie
You've got me on one of my favourite subjects. There have been studies that
show that the accents of people who spend much time in each others company
tend to converge. I read somewhere, though regrettably forget where, that
this is particularly marked in people who are living very closely together
for long periods, such as people wintering together in the Antarctic. I
would therefore expect the same to occur between Russsians on the space
station Mir.
I think my accent has remained pretty stable, perhaps because I have a gift
for mimicing different accents from all over the world. A mind like a
parrot!! }:-) Regrettably I'm too lazy to be a good linguist, though I do
make my living teaching English to speakers of other languages.
I attribute this gift at least in part to influences in childhood in the
1950s when your accent was considered much more important to your career and
social prospects than it is today. I was brought up in South Brummie
suburbia: Solihull. My mum had a posh home counties accent. She was an
Essex girl of Scottish parents and a doctor who trained at Kings College,
South London in the 1920s. She met my dad, another doctor when working in a
hospital in Liverpool. He came from a very posh Liverpudlian family. His
father was a professor of medicine, a younger son in a family who had owned a
shipping company and migrated with the ships from Cornwall to Liverpool.
Statuswise I think he was a good catch for my mum. She was very preoccupied
with class and status and therefore determined that I should not grow up with
a Brummie accent. She put enormous pressure on me over it and had me
privately educated: prep school, public school etc. But even at my prep
school in Solihull the accents were somewhat Brummie and I adapted to fit in,
as kids do. But I wasn't allowed to take my Brummie accent home, so I became
a chameleon where accents are concerned.
Friends who have known me for many years tell me that my accent is now much
less *posh* than it used to be, (the effect of living in Brixton?). They
also can't tell me apart from my boyfriend on the telephone. Weve been
together 25 years & he is a black New Yorker of Jamaican parentage who came
to London at the age of 10.
One thing I notice from my students is that there seems to be a critical age,
round about 14 or 15, after which the accent doesn't change much. If they
came to this country before that age they usually have some form of British
accent, if after they tend to sound *foreign*.
Are you studying languages or Welsh, formally at Aberystwyth, or is Welsh
just something you're picking up through contact with Welsh speakers? And
where is the Brummie influence you mention coming from: Brummies at UCW?
Actually I reckon the lilt in both Brummie and Scouse is Welsh influenced.
There is a remarkable contrast between Scouse & Manchester, though they're
not far apart, geographically. The Welsh & Irish influence in Liverpool is
much stronger I reckon.
But I ramble. If you want a good online free gay network try Planet Patrol -
lots of fun and very horny!
Luv & blessings,
xmasdale. xx
*All Truth is a shadow except the last, except the utmost; yet every Truth is
true in its kind. It is substance in its own place, though it be but a
shadow in another place (for it is but a reflection from an intenser
substance); and the shadow is a true shadow, as the substance is a true
substance.*
Isaac Penington 1653.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Planet Patrol - The Interactive Gay Online Mag
--------...@planet.intermedia.co.uk-----------
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-----------Hosted in the Intermedia Network----------
--------...@intermedia.co.uk--------------
John*G*
In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.96100...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>,
Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
>with?
Not as such, but this is mainly down to a determined effort on my part. I
was brought up in Liverpool but managed to get through without a scouse
accent (Although I've been told that you can hear it when I get annoyed).
My accent is very neutral indeed, you can tell I'm from the north of
England, but that's about it. It's not a strong anything accent, it's just
there.
However, while in the States last year I did notice myself acquiring a
slight American drawl; especially is the areas with the stronger accents
(NYC, LA, Chicago, Texas, etc). I stopped this and made a concerted effort
to speak with my normal accent as the 'mericans find it far more charming
(Thus, it's easier to pull) than an accent similar to thier own...
So, in a word; No.
-John*G*
E-mail = ecl...@leeds.ac.uk
===============================================
Bouncy Blue-eyed Brunette Bitch-Boy-Babe -Get it.
===============================================
Devil/Angel. Fallen from grace & bathing in flames
The attached material has been sent without the knowledge of Leeds
University.The statements contained in my material are entirely my
opinions and I personally accept all responsibility for any liability
that may arise from my material.
James Neil Straker
In message <Pine.OSF.3.93.96100...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>
Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> writes:
> Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
> with? I only ask because I've noticed a few points about my own.
<snip>
> Has anyone else had similar experiences to this? I don't know why I'm
> intrigued by this, I just am.
My family are from Northumberland, but moved to Surrey just before I was born;
I didn't stand a chance, the accent was a mess from day one.
Since then I've lived in Scotland (Lowlands), the Lake District, Brentford
and now I'm in Devon. I still can't understand some of the natives'
sayings here.
On the way I've picked up some odd phrases and vocabulary, but my accent stays
in its original confused state unless I go to Northumberland -
then it picks up a local intonation.
Don't you like your (current) accent?
Jimbo
(jim.s...@zetnet.co.uk)
*.......All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.*
- Julian of Norwich
Stuie
On 3 Oct 1996, xmasdale wrote:
> Are you studying languages or Welsh, formally at Aberystwyth, or is Welsh
> just something you're picking up through contact with Welsh speakers? And
> where is the Brummie influence you mention coming from: Brummies at UCW?
> Actually I reckon the lilt in both Brummie and Scouse is Welsh influenced.
> There is a remarkable contrast between Scouse & Manchester, though they're
> not far apart, geographically. The Welsh & Irish influence in Liverpool is
> much stronger I reckon.
At the moment I'm just picking it up through contact with Welsh speakers but
I do start proper Welsh lessons within the next fornight.
The Brummie bit comes from a friend of mind who has now left, who was a bit
of a role model for me, I thought he was fab and he had a seriously strong
Brummie accent
Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
Lyn David Thomas
In article:
<Pine.OSF.3.93.961003...@osfb.aber.ac.uk> Stuie
> At the moment I'm just picking it up through contact with Welsh
> speakers but I do start proper Welsh lessons within the next
> fornight.
O goody - someone else to practice with - if only by e-mail!
> The Brummie bit comes from a friend of mind who has now left,
> who was a bit of a role model for me, I thought he was fab and
> he had a seriously strong Brummie accent
I don't really pick up accents - worse luck. When drunk I
am told that there is a faint North Cardiff accent (that's what
you get for going to Whitchurch High). My sister, Ceri,
has a strong South Cardiff accent - lots of time with friends
in the docks.
:-)
Currently I have a sort of neutral middle class accent - though
my family say that there is a touch of black country when
drunk.
> Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
Well it looks as if it could be quite interesting - what
relivance to uk.glb - but who cares?
--
__
*Lyn David Thomas* \/
New and expanded web pages
at http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/matthews/lyn/
Stuie
On 3 Oct 1996, Gary Barnes wrote:
> :Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
>
> Only cos the rest of the aber.* mob aren't likely to flame you here ;)
Very true Gaz, very true! :-)
Stuie
On Thu, 3 Oct 1996, James Neil Straker wrote:
> Don't you like your (current) accent?
Oh yeah, I *like* it. I'm not saying it's a problem, I was just interested in
how is developed. I prefer it to my old accent cos it's different and gets
quite a lot of attention when I'm at home (London).
xmasdale
l...@stuffing.demon.co.uk,Internet writes:
In article:
<Pine.OSF.3.93.961003...@osfb.aber.ac.uk> Stuie
<sb...@aber.ac.uk> writes:
> At the moment I'm just picking it up through contact with Welsh
> speakers but I do start proper Welsh lessons within the next
> fornight.
O goody - someone else to practice with - if only by e-mail!
Pity I can't practice it with you, despite my Celtic surname: Glynn. The
name is Cornish in my case, the virtually dead sister language of Welsh.
Only know a bit of Welsh worked out from placenames etc. & no Cornish.
> The Brummie bit comes from a friend of mind who has now left,
> who was a bit of a role model for me, I thought he was fab and
> he had a seriously strong Brummie accent
Love seriously strong Brummie accents, which I can speak. Interesting thing
about the accents of native English speakers is that they vary mainly in
vowel sounds and intonation, though there are a few variations in consonant
sounds, such as the Scottish pronunciation of R and the Liverpudlian
pronunciation of CK in the middle and at the ends of words. Non-native
speakers of English tend to bring consonant sounds from their own languages
and dialects eg speakers from the Indian subcontinent make the same sound for
W & V also frequently the same sound for P & F. These sounds are not
exactly the English consonants, but a compromise between the the 2 consonants
concerned.
Brummie is interesting in that it has more vowel variations from standard
English *Recieved Pronunciation* than any other native accent. I believe
this is why it is so derided and considered *ugly*, an epithet which I regard
as a prejudice. In my view it has all the deliciousness of a ripe blue
stilton cheese. }:-)
I don't really pick up accents - worse luck. When drunk I
am told that there is a faint North Cardiff accent (that's what
you get for going to Whitchurch High). My sister, Ceri,
has a strong South Cardiff accent - lots of time with friends
in the docks.
:-)
Currently I have a sort of neutral middle class accent - though
my family say that there is a touch of black country when
drunk. Wonder how you got that!
> Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
Well it looks as if it could be quite interesting - what
relivance to uk.glb - but who cares?
Don't see why queers should only be interested in discussing gay issues. We
are human, after all.
xmasdale
James Neil Straker wrote:
My family are from Northumberland, but moved to Surrey just before I was
born;
I didn't stand a chance, the accent was a mess from day one.
Since then I've lived in Scotland (Lowlands), the Lake District, Brentford
and now I'm in Devon. I still can't understand some of the natives'
sayings here.
On the way I've picked up some odd phrases and vocabulary, but my accent
stays
in its original confused state unless I go to Northumberland -
then it picks up a local intonation.
Don't you like your (current) accent?
You sound as though you don't like yours, Jimbo. What's wrong with having an
accent which reflects the various influences on your life at different times?
That is surely what we all end up with, unless we deliberately try to resist
or to change.
My b/f was in Kensington Market where a woman from talking to him told him he
had spent his early childhood in New York, been in London since about the age
of 10 & that there was some Jamaican influence in his background too. She
was spot on.
xmasdale
*All Truth is a shadow except the last, except the utmost; yet every Truth is
true in its kind. It is substance in its own place, though it be but a
shadow in another place (for it is but a reflection from an intenser
substance); and the shadow is a true shadow, as the substance is a true
substance.*
Isaac Penington 1653.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
John*G*
In article <530f8r$d...@osfa.aber.ac.uk>,
g...@aber.ac.uk (Gary Barnes) wrote:
>In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.961003...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>,
>Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>:Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
>
>Only cos the rest of the aber.* mob aren't likely to flame you here ;)
Why not? Everybody else does.
Rich
ECL...@leeds.ac.uk (John*G*) wrote:
> In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.96100...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>,
> Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> >Has anyone had their dialect/accent changed by the people they hang around
> >with?
>
> Not as such, but this is mainly down to a determined effort on my part. I
> was brought up in Liverpool but managed to get through without a scouse
> accent.
Really!
> (Although I've been told that you can hear it when I get annoyed).
*laugh*
And at other times! They were being kind to you sweedie.
> My accent is very neutral indeed, you can tell I'm from the north of
> England, but that's about it. It's not a strong anything accent, it's just
> there.
About as neutral as my accent not being Sarf London!
So... Are you also going to claim you're str8 now?
Ree-shar
;-)
John*G*
In article <3258469b...@news.demon.co.uk>,
ric...@coopinf.demon.co.uk (Rich) wrote:
>ECL...@leeds.ac.uk (John*G*) wrote:
>> was brought up in Liverpool but managed to get through without a scouse
>> accent.
>
>Really!
Yes, really!
>> (Although I've been told that you can hear it when I get annoyed).
>
>*laugh*
>
>And at other times! They were being kind to you sweedie.
Oh-yeahm the same one's who said age doesn't matter *snigger*
>So... Are you also going to claim you're str8 now?
Let's not go into this one again...
James Neil Straker
In message <335933438...@planet.intermedia.co.uk>
xmas...@planet.intermedia.co.uk (xmasdale) writes:
> > Don't you like your (current) accent?
> You sound as though you don't like yours, Jimbo. What's wrong with having an
> accent which reflects the various influences on your life at different times?
> That is surely what we all end up with, unless we deliberately try to resist
> or to change.
No, I don't particularly like the accent, it just feels a bit of a
mess, and won't even stay stable!
> My b/f was in Kensington Market where a woman from talking to him told him he
> had spent his early childhood in New York, been in London since about the age
> of 10 & that there was some Jamaican influence in his background too. She
> was spot on.
Wow!
> Isaac Penington 1653.
Love the sig. You must be another Friend. Which meeting do you attend?
***Hugs***
--
bgt4
In article <53ap2d$9...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>, g...@aber.ac.uk says...
>
>In article <533gbd$cps...@leeds.ac.uk>, John*G* <ECL...@leeds.ac.uk> wrote:
>:In article <530f8r$d...@osfa.aber.ac.uk>,
>: g...@aber.ac.uk (Gary Barnes) wrote:
>:>In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.961003...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>,
>:>Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>:>:Cheers, looks like it's going to be a good thread
>:>
>:>Only cos the rest of the aber.* mob aren't likely to flame you here ;)
>:
>:Why not?
>
>posting here.
>
>Gaz
>--
>
I'll just post now for the fun of it, to show that another aberite is a lamer.
*************
Dita
"Express Yourself, Don't Repress Yourself"
John M
> I'll just post now for the fun of it, to show that another aberite is a lamer.
What is a lamer, sweetie ?
------------- Real Headlines of Our Time # 6 -----------
"Survivor Of Siamese Twins Joins Parents"
--- Web site http://www.scroll.demon.co.uk/spaver.htm----
xmasdale
Jim Straker wrote that xmasdale wrote:
> > Don't you like your (current) accent?
> You sound as though you don't like yours, Jimbo. What's wrong with having
an
> accent which reflects the various influences on your life at different
times?
> That is surely what we all end up with, unless we deliberately try to
resist
> or to change.
No, I don't particularly like the accent, it just feels a bit of a
mess, and won't even stay stable!
> My b/f was in Kensington Market where a woman from talking to him told him
he
> had spent his early childhood in New York, been in London since about the
age
> of 10 & that there was some Jamaican influence in his background too. She
> was spot on.
Wow!
> Isaac Penington 1653.
Love the sig. You must be another Friend. Which meeting do you attend?
I attend Streatham. Yes I am a Friend. We established that before & U sent
me a nice email. I attend Streatham Meeting (top of Brixton Hill) though my
membership's with Wandsworth. I think we may hafe met ay some Quaker Lesbian
& Gay get together.
Hugs backxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xmasdale
***Hugs***
--
Jimbo
(jim.s...@zetnet.co.uk)
*.......All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.*
- Julian of Norwich
Rich
ECL...@leeds.ac.uk (John*G*) wrote:
> In article <3258469b...@news.demon.co.uk>,
> ric...@coopinf.demon.co.uk (Rich) wrote:
>
> Oh-yeahm the same one's who said age doesn't matter *snigger*
I doubt I ever wrote or said that. I *might* have said age *shouldn't*
matter, but to say it doesn't would be flying in the face of reality.
Ree-shar
Rich
g...@aber.ac.uk (Gary Barnes) wrote:
> In article <53c5q4$e...@infoserv.aber.ac.uk>, bgt4 <bg...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
> :In article <53ap2d$9...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>, g...@aber.ac.uk says...
> :>
> :>Um, cos they don't post to this newsgroup. I've only seen three of us
> :>posting here.
> :
> :I'll just post now for the fun of it, to show that another aberite is a lamer.
>
> I already counted you as one of the three, hunny.
Just out of curiosity, do you guys actually know each other - other
than on the Net?
Ree-shar
Rich
xmas...@planet.intermedia.co.uk (xmasdale) wrote:
> I attend Streatham. Yes I am a Friend. We established that before & U sent
> me a nice email. I attend Streatham Meeting (top of Brixton Hill) though my
> membership's with Wandsworth. I think we may hafe met ay some Quaker Lesbian
> & Gay get together.
Jeez! Just up the road from me - when I'm in the UK!
But I'm not a Friend, I'm afraid.
Ree-shar
Stuie
Yes we do. We go out drinking every Tuesday. Gary takes the piss out of me
for being camp, owning a Fiesta and liking Gina G, whilst I take the piss out
of Gary for being in love with a Land Rover, liking Guiness and never
changing his clothes.
Dita sort takes a neutral stance and loves the both of us :)
xxx Stuie
______________________________________________________________________________
I wanna be a builder when I grow up
______________________________________________________________________________
"It's too bad she won't live __ __ o __ E-Mail: sb...@aber.ac.uk
but then again who does?" /_ / / / / /_ http://www.aber.ac.uk/~sbf5
[Do Androids dream Of __/ / /_/ / /_ Opinions are my own and not
Electric Sheep ?] those of UCW Aberystwyth
______________________________________________________________________________
Advertisements and junkmail will be read at a cost of $500 PER ITEM. Sending
such material to this address constitutes agreement to pay for my attention
John*G*
In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.961009...@osfb.aber.ac.uk>,
Stuie <sb...@aber.ac.uk> wrote:
>On Wed, 9 Oct 1996, Rich wrote:
>
>> g...@aber.ac.uk (Gary Barnes) wrote:
>> > In article <53c5q4$e...@infoserv.aber.ac.uk>, bgt4 <bg...@aber.ac.uk>
wrote:
>
>> Just out of curiosity, do you guys actually know each other - other
>> than on the Net?
>
>Yes we do. We go out drinking every Tuesday. Gary takes the piss out of me
>for being camp, owning a Fiesta and liking Gina G,
Sounds fair to me. I'm with him....
>whilst I take the piss out
>of Gary for being in love with a Land Rover, liking Guiness and never
>changing his clothes.
Or maybe not...
>Dita sort takes a neutral stance and loves the both of us :)
Unlike everyone else that knows you from aber then?
Andy Spark
>
> >whilst I take the piss out
> >of Gary for being in love with a Land Rover, liking Guiness and never
> >changing his clothes.
>
> Or maybe not...
I'd forgive him for liking the Land Rover
--
Andy Spark andy....@butterworths.co.uk