what can i do to sound californian?
>>Yeah, rising intonation (known in linguistics as "high rise terminals" or "uptalk") is fairly widespread in California, tho it's not the only place it's turned up.<<
Yah, it has shown up here at times (I catch myself using it on occasion), for instance, even though it is not the dominant pronunciation here at all.
My friend Jeniqa just moved here from Cali and she agrees with the above. I have noticed that she generally rolls her "r's" and pronounces her "o's" as "ahh's" like, hawt. Pawpular. Prawbably.Wrawng.
Best of Luck Eric on all of your Japo-Cali journeys,
> My friend Jeniqa just moved here from Cali and she agrees with the above. I have noticed that she generally rolls her "r's" and pronounces her "o's" as "ahh's" like, hawt. Pawpular. Prawbably.Wrawng.
I thought the Colombian pronunciation of O would be different from this, I have never heard a native Spanish speaker speak like that.
<<I thought the Colombian pronunciation of O would be different from this, I have never heard a native Spanish speaker speak like that.>>
Colombian? Who said anything about Colombia?
<<pronounces her "o's" as "ahh's" like, hawt. Pawpular. Prawbably.Wrawng.>>
What exactly do you mean by "aw?" "Aw" can mean a lot of different sounds in different accents.
> Colombian? Who said anything about Colombia?
The person mentioned above has moved from Cali, therefore I assume her to be Colombian.
Cali as in California, not as in Cali, Colombia.
I have not heard of this abbreviation, I thought it was the Colombian city.
<<I have not heard of this abbreviation, I thought it was the Colombian city.>>
An interesting misinterpretation, but understandable, I guess (altho the thread *is* on California...but hey, we all do that kind of thing sometimes). Anyway, yes, sometimes California is referred to as "Cali" as a standalone reference. However, the shorter version "Cal" is used when differentiating between "Norcal" and "Socal" (and even "Orcal" for the extreme northern parts closer to Oregon. Along the lines of this naming system I've also decided that there's also a "Bor-cal," which is not so much a subregion but may apply to wherever boring parts are ;) )
Anyway, if anyone's curious about the vowels "oh" and "ah" as they may be realized here in California here's a recording of myself (responding to a post on another thread so ignore the references) I did a little while ago:
http://media.putfile.com/Kirksayhostingolangcafe
"what can i do to sound californian?"
Speak very poorly.
Kirk, where's HT's recording that you referred to in yours?
I just checked your link and realized I'd already heard HT's recording.
The best thing a person can do to blend in is to copy the intonation and stress of the speakers. Use the central vowel liberally. Important to remember: in English, some syllables are very short and reduced while others are longer and stressed. In Japanese, syllables tend to have the same length. If you are a native of Japan, work to differentiate between your pronunciation of L and R. In the L, the air should flow around the sides of the tongue while the tip touches somewhere behind the top teeth. In the R, some air should pass over the tip of the tongue.