which accent do you prefer British or American?

César   Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:16 pm GMT
Mostly. That kind of accent that sounds very pompous? Yes... but given the options of nice British accent and American accent, I stay with American.
akhil   Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:54 am GMT
personally speaking, i like british accent a lot! i prefer using it over the american one! the most brillaint thing about the british accent is that it sounds more perfect & decent! even the british accent is more easily understandable! i like the way each word is stressed upon when spoken! since i belong to a country that was formerly a british colony, the indulgence of british systems & methodologies can still be seen in academic & official arenas.

thanks!

AKHIL, NEW DELHI(INDIA)
Pete   Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:21 pm GMT
<<American English sounds just like the language of the people>>

Yes, it's so common. Every non-native speaker ends up speaking like that, it's quite boring sometimes.

<<I mean, British English sounds arrogant to my ears, and forced. British is the language of the "Queen," and I hate that crap.>>

Yes, RP English is the rich English people accent. Queen's English. And yes, It sometimes sounds arrogant and forced, and snotty and sometimes snobbish. That's the more I like it. :)
Larissa   Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:28 am GMT
what does "RP English" mean? thanks in advance
Uriel   Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:31 am GMT
Received Pronunciation.
Larissa   Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:43 am GMT
thanks Uriel :)
Mike   Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:23 am GMT
<<That's interesting. I live in New England, and I pronounce "bode" and "bowed" exactly the same, with [oU]. In fact I've never heard of anyone in this region (or anyone outside of Britain, for that matter) maintaining distinctions like "bode-bowed".>>

I pronounce "bode" and "bowed" differently, with /o/ and /oU/ respectively. Lazar...I think you will find you pronounce "bode" and "bowed" at least a bit differently surely. Surely you don't pronounce "rode" and "rowed" the same, do you? At least I can't imagine myself pronouncing them the same way.

I'm from Northern Scotland, by the way.
Uriel   Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:11 am GMT
Why not? Rode and rowed are exactly the same for me (and I'm not from New England).
Lazar   Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:48 am GMT
<<Lazar...I think you will find you pronounce "bode" and "bowed" at least a bit differently surely.>>

Nope, they're exactly the same. ;-)

<<Surely you don't pronounce "rode" and "rowed" the same, do you?>>

Again, those are exact homophones for me.

I've read about pairs like "bode-bowed" and "rode-rowed" being pronounced differently in Scotland, as well as in dialects that lack the toe-tow merger*, but for most Americans, those pairs are homophonous.

* From what I've read, I think that the non-homophony of the above pairs in Scotland is not actually the result of a toe-tow distinction, but rather of differing morphemic analysis. Am I right on this? (i.e., I presume that "toe" and "tow" homophonous for you?)
Mike Bonx   Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:32 pm GMT
<<* From what I've read, I think that the non-homophony of the above pairs in Scotland is not actually the result of a toe-tow distinction, but rather of differing morphemic analysis. Am I right on this? (i.e., I presume that "toe" and "tow" homophonous for you?)>>

"toe" and "tow" are distinct for me. I do, however, have a distinction between [o] and [o:] in "hose" and "foes" as the result of differing morphemic analysis.

P.S. I've added my last name to avoid ambiguity, because I think there's another person with the name "Mike" in this forum.
Guest   Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:03 am GMT
"rode" and "rowed" are pronounced the same way in standard English.
B@fi   Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:03 am GMT
Californian English
Mandy   Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:05 am GMT
what does "RP English" mean? thanks in advance

RP = royal piss
Mike Bonx   Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:28 am GMT
Lazar, as you're toe-tow merged, what vowel do you use in both? Do they both sound like my "toe" or my "tow"?
Ali   Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:23 pm GMT
i'm an engish to persian translater and seriously following the british accent because of its' high social classes. it is also more beautiful.