Accent Analyzing

Hello.

I was doing some reading about accents, when I stumbled upon this forum.

I have a recording here of The Rainbow Passage, and I was wondering if you could listen to it and tell me where you think I am from.

http://fizleglitz.com/media/rec0405-180933.mp3

It's interesting because I have moved recently and everyone here can tell that I am not from here originally, at least based on certain words/slang, however, they think I sound the same (as them) overall. To me, they all sound very different, and I can pick them out a mile away!

I was born and raised in the same place and lived there until recently, so it should be a pretty accurate representation of this place! (At least, I would think so!)

I say a lot of individual words distinctively, however, none of those particular words are in this passage, so I wouldn't think that the most blatant stereotype of this place would be heard in my recording-- but the vowels and other sounds, probably!

So, I am curious to see some responses; if you could help, that would be wonderful! (And, of course, I'll let you know where I'm from and where I live now after some responses.)

Thanks!

Lauren

Hi Lauren!

I started a thread on a similar topic just earlier this evening, it would be fascinating for me to hear where people think I'm from, accent-wise. I think I have fairly standard British English with a barely noticable regional accent but others may disagree.

http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t10193.htm

Would you say The Rainbow Passage or Comma Gets a Cure is the best to record? I'm going to do it now.

Rob

Hi Rob!

The only reason I didn't record Comma Gets a Cure is because it was so much longer and I wasn't feeling patient! The Rainbow Passage is also public domain, so I thought it would just be easier to use it. Beyond that, I have no idea!

I'm not very good at pinpointing accents, definitely not to the degree of anyone here, but it's really interesting. I can't wait to hear yours.

Lauren

Well, here goes!

http://localhostr.com/files/2d1645/comma-rob.mp3

Lauren,

I listened to your recording and unfortunately have zero skills in this area but it's still always interesting to hear different accents!

I suppose what is also interesting is trying to guess your age from it. I would guess anywhere from 18-25 but it's hard to tell!

Surprise me!

Rob

This is interesting. Lauren, I cannot guess where you're from, but I know that you're not from around where I live. Maybe somewhere in the Midwest? You pronounce vowels differently in several words. Rob, I'm not the best with British accents. To me, you have a typical-sounding accent from what sounds like the south of England. That's as far as I can narrow it down. Am I right?

I've uploaded myself reading both passages. Can anybody guess where I live?

Comma Gets A Cure
http://localhostr.com/files/ce15e0/comma-brian.wma

The Rainbow Passage
http://localhostr.com/files/20b336/rainbow-brian.wma

Hey Brian!

See this is interesting because although I don't know anything about American accents, your voice reminds me of the actor Justin Long. I didn't check up on that though so it may be that I'm talking complete rubbish, but I immediately thought of him when I heard your voice.

Wow, really? I never really thought that I sounded like him. But hey, Justin Long is pretty cool, though. :)

Uninformed Brit commenting with no reference material and simply what it immediately reminded me of, probably not the same at all!

Brian, that's really interesting. What are some examples of the vowel sounds that I pronounce differently?

Lauren, it's words like "arch", "pot", "god", and "Aristotle". To me, "Aristotle thought" sounded something like "Aristahtle thaht". That's just sorta how it sounded to me.

Yeah, I do say "Aristotle thought" like that. Now I'm curious how other people say it; is that odd?

Hmm... is that an example of the cot-caught merger? (They're homophones to me.)

Wow homophones? SO different in British English!

Rob, it's only like that in certain parts of the U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot-caught_merger#Cot-caught_merger

That link talks about the father-bother merger and cot-caught merger.

And, I did a search of this forum for cot-thought and I happened to come across this page, so apparently I'm not the only one:

http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t8916.htm

Personally, I say the vowels in "cot", "thought" and "caught" the same way. I think I say the vowel in "palm" a bit differently, though it's hard for me to tell with that "l" in there.

If they are homophones, then yes, you have the cot-caught merger. I have it as well, but to me, it seems like I pronounce them more like "cawt"