Which accent do I have?

Travis   Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:23 am GMT
>>Lazar:
Thank you so much for your advice! In fact I've always thought that the sounds "p", "t" and "c" were always aspirated, but now thanks to you I know that they aren't.<<

/p/, /t/, /k/, and /tS/ are normally aspirated word-initially and before stressed vowels in English dialects except in the aforementioned cases /sp/, /st/, /sk/, and /stS/ and elsewhere are unaspirated. There are some cases like some dialects aspirating word-final /p/, /t/, /k/, and /tS/ at times, but these cannot be applied to English in general.
Gabriel   Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:37 pm GMT
The sample at http://media.putfile.com/no-special-title is a reading of the opening sentences of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. My native tongue is Spanish and I began learning English at age 10.
Lazar   Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:50 pm GMT
Gabriel:

Your accent is excellent (the criticism of your rather conservative RP notwithstanding). Your /l/ is a bit light in "filled" and "sandy hole", but aside from that it sounds basically native to me.
Gabriel   Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:30 pm GMT
<<Your accent is excellent (the criticism of your rather conservative RP notwithstanding). Your /l/ is a bit light in "filled" and "sandy hole", but aside from that it sounds basically native to me.>>

Thanks Lazar, though I didn't realize that criticism was levelled at me (I thought it was meant for Son of Pain). I know I speak in a form of RP, which in itself is conservative, but I don't think it's anything like U-RP (Son of Pain's intonation seemed reminiscent of this kind of speech, in my opinion).
Lazar   Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:54 pm GMT
<<Thanks Lazar, though I didn't realize that criticism was levelled at me (I thought it was meant for Son of Pain).>>

Now that I look back, you may be right. ;-)

<<I know I speak in a form of RP, which in itself is conservative, but I don't think it's anything like U-RP (Son of Pain's intonation seemed reminiscent of this kind of speech, in my opinion).>>

No, I don't think your speech is U-RP. Your reading sounded more natural to me than Son of Pain's did. (Even though Son of Pain did pretty well, I think I'd be able to tell from his pronunciation and intonation that he wasn't a native speaker.)
Guest   Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:11 pm GMT
KING'S ENGLISH...