I was wondering what are the characteristics of the accent in Seattle. How does it differ from other cities? Is it true that this is the newscaster's accent?
Seattle Accent
-Is it true that this is the newscaster's accent? -
No, these are newscasters-like cities:
1. Omaha
2. Columbus
3. Denver
National newscasters don't pronounce bag as [beig], and they don't use a rounded vowel in words like dOllar, pOlitics, cOllege.
No, these are newscasters-like cities:
1. Omaha
2. Columbus
3. Denver
National newscasters don't pronounce bag as [beig], and they don't use a rounded vowel in words like dOllar, pOlitics, cOllege.
Word that end in -ing are pronounced as -een by some. Such as running --> runneen; driving --> driveen (but king == king).
I think some other places do something similar. Like in like California running --> runneeng; king --> keeng, etc.
I think some other places do something similar. Like in like California running --> runneeng; king --> keeng, etc.
In my opinion the Seattle accent sounds just like a newscaster accent--a Canadian newscaster accent--where they do have -ag raising, a rounded cot-caught vowel, etc.
It's a little hard to define a Seattle accent, for the same reason it's hard to define an Atlanta or Dallas or San Francisco accent--all the transplants tend to drown out whatever vestiges of a "local accent" there may have once been.
Bill Gates is a native of Seattle, and he uses a rounded vowel for the COT-CAUGHT phoneme. This is generally the case with most natives of the Pacific Northwest, from Northern California upward. But like I said, the metropolitan nature of a lot of US urban centers makes it pretty hard to pin them down dialectically. You can often find people who grew up in a large US city who have accents totally unlike the traditional "local" speech.
Bill Gates is a native of Seattle, and he uses a rounded vowel for the COT-CAUGHT phoneme. This is generally the case with most natives of the Pacific Northwest, from Northern California upward. But like I said, the metropolitan nature of a lot of US urban centers makes it pretty hard to pin them down dialectically. You can often find people who grew up in a large US city who have accents totally unlike the traditional "local" speech.
Yes, it's amazing how future descendants are not affected by their parents' accent.
Does the accent in Seattle stick out to people from different areas? Is it easy to pick out a Seattle accent, like it is to pick out, say, a Chicago accent, or a California accent? Or is it often confused for a different accent, like say a California accent?
To me, this Seattle newscaster sounds like someone from Denver CO or St. John's Canada or Tucson AZ because she uses the unrounded vowel /A/ in Paula [pAl@]...I guess the local accent would prefer the rounded vowel here /Q/: [pQl@]. So I guess, Seattle newscaster's accent is different from the Seattle local accent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSZsZdwVa9s
Seattle-born Amy Walker, 25, posted a clever video on the Internet of her performing 21 English-language accents not long after moving to Philadelphia recently. Last weekend, someone put the video on the Web site Break.com and it has since generated 1 million views across the Internet and mainstream media interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBIrfnvv0pE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBIrfnvv0pE
Is it jarring when people pronounce "cot" as "caught", and "tot" as "taught"?
What's the correct pronunciation of the word "sorry". I pronounce it as "sari", but my grandpa pronounces it as "sohrry". Is he just weird, or is that really the correct pronunciation? We are both from Washington state.
[sQri] (sohrry, sawry) is more Canadian, [sAri] is more (General) American.
I've never heard a Canadian pronounce it as ['sAri], but I've heard [t@'mAro(U)] pronounced by Canadians many times...
I've never heard a Canadian pronounce it as ['sAri], but I've heard [t@'mAro(U)] pronounced by Canadians many times...