Accent: Has yours changed over the years?

[said]

I've thought about the question. No doubt my accent has changed. I remember having an hour or two of elocution each week during the first three years I attended KGV (the Trans X and Y classes). I think that changed it a bit. I taught Commercial English in Norway for a few years after i left the army. Since I was teaching foreigners, it resulted in me more or less avoiding slang terms and words. I still tend to do that. Not accent, of course, but it affects the language anyway. I have lived abroad for more than 60 years and rarely speak English to anyone but my wife, who is Norwegian but has an MA in English. Except two teachers at the Oslo International School, who both enjoy a beer at our local pub. But I honestly don't know what my accent sounds like. I don't hear it. Do any of us "hear" our own accents? One of the teachers, who is Geordie, says I sound like a "bluddy suvverner", what ever she means by that. Obviously, now that I am fluent in one of the Norwegian languages, and can manage the other fairly well, as well as Swedish and to some extent Danish, this has undoubtedly had an impact on my accent. So I ask: can any of us hear our own accent? And if, as I think, we cannot, then the question cannot be answered by us but only by others?

Good point!

[Hector]

I'm also a flat grass and bath person. I've also adopted gararge. A r s e is now a s s. Scone will always be scon. Aluminium is aluminum in Canada, but I steadfastly refuse to say it that way. I would feel like a child struggling to pronounce the word correctly. I still cringe when I have to write 'tyre' as 'tire'. Fortunately they are both pronounced the same way.

Well, the 'ladies' of the world outside North America go for 'arse' pronunciation, regardless of its spelling. (At least that's what I'm told.)

I occasionally go to Ontario. On one occasion, as I was trying to order a home delivery with difficulty , the young Canadian Canadian transferred me to an Indian lady who understood me perfectly.

[said]

I'm also a flat grass and bath person. I've also adopted gararge. A r s e is now a s s. Scone will always be scon. Aluminium is aluminum in Canada, but I steadfastly refuse to say it that way. I would feel like a child struggling to pronounce the word correctly. I still cringe when I have to write 'tyre' as 'tire'. Fortunately they are both pronounced the same way.

Altringum
Scaisbrick
Aluminium - as it is spelt.
Grarse, Barth, Gar-arge
Scone - as in stone.
Merrsey as opposed to Mearsey as in Bear

[Derek H]

Good point!

I don't know how to evaluate the complete lack of answers to my question: Can we really hear our own accent?
With so many who claim to know everything and have academic contacts at all levels, also in this field, I had at least hoped to get one or two comments.

[The PNP]

Almost

Mr Hamble told me to use my index finger to press one side of the nostril
shut and say Alt ring ham.

Mr Hamble pronounced it Ska riz brick rd as the Sat Nav did.

Like you I would say skaise brick.

I'd say it as Altring'm.....Btw, having lived for many years in Scarisbrick, here it's pronounced as 'Scaresbrick' as in: scares and brick.

[The PNP]

I don't know how to evaluate the complete lack of answers to my question: Can we really hear our own accent?
With so many who claim to know everything and have academic contacts at all levels, also in this field, I had at least hoped to get one or two comments.

I would agree we're often not aware of our own accent.....Until travelling elsewhere, when the different accent of those around us makes realise we stand out.

Anther exception I find, is when doing something manual with another person. I become aware that I've reverted to abbreviated 'Northern'-speak. Begin to hear myself saying 'Affet' for have to, 'inth' for in the, 'downth' for down the, 'laan' for lane, etc.

[seivad]

I would agree we're often not aware of our own accent.....Until travelling elsewhere, when the different accent of those around us makes realise we stand out.

That's exactly what I meant when I said I became acutely aware of my accent when we first arrived in Canada.

Anther exception I find, is when doing something manual with another person. I become aware that I've reverted to abbreviated 'Northern'-speak. Begin to hear myself saying 'Affet' for have to, 'inth' for in the, 'downth' for down the, 'laan' for lane, etc.

Those words bring back memories of my dad and his family. It does my heart good

[Hector]

Let's develop this a bit, and move into another area of pronunciation: intonation, or how our voices rise and fall.

In standard British English, the voice generally drops in tone at the end of a statement such as 'I went to the shop.', but rises at the end of a question like 'Did you go to the shop?' Very often in North American and Australian variants this is not the case. Such 'rising intonation' is known as Valley Girl Speak (named after young female Californians, among whom the feature is particularly noticeable) or as 'rising Australian question intonation'.

With the popularity of American films and cable drama series, young British speakers of English, and also those for whom English is a foreign or second language, have learnt to sound as if they are perennially asking questions.

Has anybody succumbed to this? And what about your children or grandchildren? My daughter, who is coming up for 33, did it as a teen but stopped doing it at some point. Sadly, it
is very much a feature of my 5-year-old grandson's spoken language.

[*concerned*]

Here is a test.

How do you pronounce 'book'?

Both ways, depends if singular or plural

"Have you read that buk yet?"

"I have lots of books I have not read yet"

[Hector]

Both ways, depends if singular or plural

"Have you read that buk yet?"

"I have lots of books I have not read yet"

Are you saying that you change the vowel sound depending on number?

[*concerned*]

Are you saying that you change the vowel sound depending on number?

Yes, as I guess many also do.

[Hamble]

Both ways, depends if singular or plural

"Have you read that buk yet?"

"I have lots of books I have not read yet"

Interesting twist.

I would still say b uh k and buhks.

Mother would say boo k and bookes.

[Hamble]

I'd say it as Altring'm.....Btw, having lived for many years in Scarisbrick, here it's pronounced as 'Scaresbrick' as in: scares and brick.

Ahh!

I always get " your (sic) are not from around here are you"?

Proudly I say Southport in Lancashire which pleases my shared loyalty and belonging.
Bury also formerly Lancashire.

[Hector]

Ahh!

I always get " your (sic) are not from around here are you"?

Proudly I say Southport in Lancashire which pleases my shared loyalty and belonging.
Bury also formerly Lancashire.

Of course the reason for the misspelling of 'you're' is because the pronunciation is identical to 'your'. It's only an issue when we write. I've noticed that some people try to avoid the error by always writing, 'you are'.

As you do, Hamble, I always say Lancashire, and whenever I get the opportunity I ramble on about the Wars of the Roses.

[Hector]

How do you pronounce 'Darwen', H?

Sorry. Missed this earlier. I pronounce it the same as the surname of the author of The Origin of Species and the place in Austryleea.