*jumps on the bandwagon*

[rosie_rues]

*is amused*

I have a southern English accent, which is the British equivalent to a non-accent, although I swing right up the social scale when I'm pissed off (my education was a damn sight posher than my family background so I have access to different registers). I'm also enough of a language geek to be weirdly entertained by taking this sort of test.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Well, yes. All of those words sound different to me.

Comments

[rufus.livejournal.com]

hahha, colonial history in action!

there is a really fascinating book called Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fischer that has oodles of information about the vagaries of American speechways and how they are connected to who got off the boats first, and where they went when they did.

Also I love those quizzes, not least because I end up all over the spectrum (I grew up in the DC suburbs, which is our accent-less location) but was raised by parents who are from the north-east, and I've lived in both Western and Central Pennyslvania (I still have the Penna-dutch up-lilt, it is the linguistic equivalent of a permanent sticking charm), the South (North Carolina) as well as in England (London) and Scotland (Glasgow). I always have to stop and *think* about how I talk when I take these quizzes.

skee language geekery!

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds fascinating. I know a fair bit about how dialects developed within the UK, but not much about where they went from there.

*grins* Lilts are the worst. My grandfather left Wales sixty years ago and I've never lived there, but I still lilt when I'm tired. I also had the interesting experience of being surrounded by a different type of accent at each educational stage (Thames/estuary English at primary school, accentless middle class at Secondary level and posh as can be at uni), so I've picked up all sorts of odd inflections, including some Yorkshire ones from my boyfriend.

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

I wonder if British accents generally would register as "northeast" on this quiz? *ponders* Interesting.

My own curiosities? "Rum," as in, "I spent the afternoon lying on my bed in my rum" and "melk," as in "no crying over spilled melk." And, yes, I do cry into my pellow.

Though, frankly, I'm terrible at this. I wonder if there is such a thing as accent-deafness, analogous to color-blindness?

M.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

Well, I just tried it whilst trying to think in a Welsh accent and came out as the inland north with the northeast second. The difference was very slight, though, and I think the inland north was a close second when I did it in my normal accent.

It doesn't seem implausible, although I'm pretty much tone deaf when it comes to listening to music, and I'm okay with accents.

[cranberry-crash.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced that the quiz is all that accurate. I got nearly the exact same results as you (the South and Boston were flipped for me), but I've spent 75% of my life in California and the remaining 25% living just outside of Boston, so...yeah.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hehehehe. I got the "North Central" or Minnesota accent. It says Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot. I hope so, because, er, I am one. :-D

[sambethe.livejournal.com]

I'm actually unsurprised by the result. I wish I remember where in the heck I was, though it definitely was in the southern part of England, but we walked into a pub and I kept hearing men who had accents that were uncannily similar to what I consider Massachusetts and Rhode Island accents.

If I ever went back to school for something entirely different it would most likely be in linguistics. In particular, it would be this sort of linguistics. I find it utterly and completely fascinating.

[nogah.livejournal.com]

I got the same. I'm not even from America, I'm from israel. you should hear people speaking English here, their accent is usually horrible.

[(Anonymous)]

Got the same, too - and I am from germany. But, of course, my English friends are from East Sussex - so that might have rubbed off on me. Dawn and don, really! Nic