American Accent

I never used to think I had an accent. But I know I do. At least sometimes. I used to always think I had a "standard" accent. But apparently, I speak a brand or two of dialects. I think I became aware of having some language quirks back in college when my dear friend, Ayanna, pointed out a personal mispronunciation of mine. Her ears perked up when I said the word "saw" (as in the past-tense verb of "to see). Now, how do you say that word? I had been saying "sall". Yup. The 'w' transformed into an 'l'. For example, "I sall it." Not sure why I do/did it. I also would say "drawling" for "drawing". After Ayanna pointed out my speech flaw (no, I don't say "flall" in this case :)), I've been self-conscious of it. I make sure to say it properly. And I've never researched this language phenomenon, but I know I am not alone in it. Once a year or two ago when chatting with my nephew who grew up in the middle of the country (and not on the East Coast like me), he would type sort of phonetically (but not so accurately and more so annoyingly!) and he actually demonstrated the same phenomenon. I can recall the precise word, but it was a sound ending in "-aw" that was depicted as "-all".

And then while in the Middle East with another American student, I realized that I didn't enunciate the first 'r' in the word "February". Since then, I think I now alternate between "Feb-ru-ary" and "Feb-u-ary".

There was also a time when a couple of college students from Chicago came by the house attempting to sell magazine subscriptions. They told me I had a DC accent. Another time, while I was a State Dept. intern, my friend, also an intern, from Connecticut, but studying in NYC, she told me I had a Southern accent. I was taken aback and I think sort of offended! How dare she! I am from Maryland and of the belief that we are not a southern state! (I know, it's debatable, but I'd rather not be considered Confederate. :-P)

I've come to realize that often times, accents are in the ears of the listener. I had a guy from Washington state, I think, and he - I don't think he was white but he "acted" white and he said I sounded "black" to him. Then on the other hand, when I used to make frequent visits to Philly to hang out with my cousin, one of her acquaintances, a black guy, told me I talked "proper". WHATEVER. F*** you! hehe... J/k. But I do suppose I get a little offended if I'm ever labeled as talking white. *shrugs*

And finally, the only other example of my speech that I can think of at this time, which makes almost no sense to me, is my name. Now, I figure of all people in the world, I know how to pronounce my name and I say it correctly. But maybe not! When speaking on the phone or telling someone my first name, the idiots relay back to me "Shana/Shayna" or spell back, "s-h-a-n-a/s-h-a-n-n-a?" Friggin' morons. :-P

And here's a fun quiz I took. See? I tolja I didn't have an accent! ;)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The Inland North
Boston
North Central
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

and

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English 20% Yankee 10% Dixie 0% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?