<p>Linguistically speaking, everyone has an accent. Everyone. There is no such thing as not having an accent.</p>
<p>Take this quiz:
[What</a> American accent do you have?](<a href=“http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have]What”>What American accent do you have?)</p>
<p>Thanks for the quiz link, zapfino. “Inland North” for me. </p>
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<p>It drives me insane when people claim not to have an accent! Or when they trot out that old saw about how Walter Cronkite’s speech patterns defined the “standard” of American English.</p>
<p>A friend of mine just returned from two weeks in Tennessee with her son’s soccer team. Instead of commenting on having to endure 100+ degree heat (the average summer temp here is in the 70’s), they talked about how nice everyone was. They were so impressed with their first experience with southern hospitality.</p>
<p>I was in Colorado when someone told me I had an accent. Apparently i have a midland accent according to the test.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>Never lived in any of these states, but if you time-weight my years in MD, CT, WI & NJ, I probably end up somewhere in eastern PA.</p>
<p>NO. Everyone has an accent! There is no such thing as not having an accent!</p>
<p>When I was in HS, I did a program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The speech teacher has us all read some text, then identified speech issues that we needed to fix. She listened to me and said thoughtfully, “I really don’t hear anything you need to fix.” I was the only one in the class with no issues. </p>
<p>So there you have it: my accent and voice are officially perfect! :D</p>
<p>Here’s a slightly lengthier (but still short) version of the American accent quiz:</p>
<p>[Quiz</a> - Which American accent do you have? - YouThink.com](<a href=“http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?obj_id=9827]Quiz”>http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?obj_id=9827)</p>
<p>I thought this one did a better job, at least for me. The shorter quiz posted in #542 said I have a Midland accent, but in fact I’ve never lived in any of those states. The quiz I’m posting here said I have a “neutral accent,” “probably because you’ve moved around a lot.” Which is exactly right. I know I’ve picked up some subtle distinctions in the vowel sounds of certain words from many years of living various places in the Northeast—distinctions I wouldn’t have made in my Midwestern youth. So I’ve probably got bits and pieces of various Northeastern accents overlaid on an underlying Upper Midwestern accent.</p>
<p>Ok, took the next version of the accent test and I’m a western. Well, I live in the west so it would make sense.</p>
<p>I got neutral which seems to be the same area as Midland. It says I likely moved around a lot (which I did) - I also have a Dad from Chicago and a Mom from Boston (who has much less accent than her sister). She did make the Mary/marry/merry distinction - I can, but in real life, I only make marry sound different. My Dad said them all exactly alike - it was occasionally a subject of discussion in my house, which is the only reason I know! I remember when we lived in California people would be surprised I had no accent. I always thought it was funny - but thought they sounded pretty neutral too.</p>
<p>What I think is odd is the way no one talks anymore the way they did in 1930s movies - which I gather was the best imitation all those actors could do of an upper crust American accent. The only time I hear anything like it is from the Elizabeth McGovern on Downton Abbey.</p>
<p>Quote from random linguistics expert found on Internet:</p>
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<p>This is from a syllabus for a class taught by a guy named Chip Gerfen, now at Penn State. (I don’t know anything about him other than that he has the appropriate bona fides to make statements of fact about accents and I came across his syllabus while searching the InterWebs.) </p>
<p>Seriously, if you think there is such a thing as “no accent,” spend five minutes googling and you will find all kinds of fascinating information about how American English evolved.</p>
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I used to work with Louis Auchincloss and his accent was the most extreme example of that accent I’ve ever hears. I was massively amused to learn that he had been born in Brooklyn.</p>
<p>Inland north. Yup.</p>
<p>Southern…no doubt about it.</p>
<p>I’m “Northern,” which makes sense since I’ve spent most of my life in the areas outlined on their map.</p>
<p>I do notice that I adjust my vocalics (everything about speech except the words themselves) according to my environment. When I studied abroad in England, I came home with a pretentious sounding British accent. Spending time in the South or with Southerners, I picked up y’all constructions. I don’t think I’m doing it consciously (mostly) and it goes away when I get home - just hope I’m not offending anyone while I’m there!</p>
<p>Funny. I took the quiz in post 548. It says I have a southern accent. I was born in raised in Philly but my mom is from North Carolina and I spent every summer there from birth to 12. People always say I have a southern accent. I always thought they were crazy.</p>
<p>I pick up accents ridiculously quickly. After spending 5 minutes with an Argentinian friend, I started using “vos” instead of “tu.” EMBARASSING because people think I do it on purpose. The quiz says I’m neutral.</p>
<p>Makes sense - English is my second language :)</p>
<p>“Wudder” or “wodder” in Philadelphia always confused me. And I’ve noticed most of my latino friends (sometimes myself included) say “Wardon” instead of “Wharton.”</p>
<p>quiz shows me as northern, I’m from southern NE…all the words in that quiz I stated I pronounce differently, many I didn’t even find similar at all.</p>
<p>The quiz says I have a Southern accent, which is odd because I <em>know</em> Southern accents and I only have one sometimes! </p>
<p>Both of my parents were born and raised in S.Carolina, but we moved to NJ when I was a year old. Grew up in NJ (except for 2 years on an overseas Army base with people from all over the US), went to college in Pennsylvania, and have now lived outside Boston for 26 years. </p>
<p>As a child in NJ my neighbor used to make fun of my “southern” accent (this from a family that said “youse guys” - yeah, they were from Brooklyn). My southern cousins used to make fun of my Yankee accent (“Where are you from? New Joisey?”) I swore I was going to live in Maryland when I grew up, because I’d only fit in living in a border state!</p>
<p>When I was 10 and was on the way back to the east coast from living at the Army base on a Pacific island, we saw a guy at Circus Circus who claimed to be able to tell from just a few words where someone was from. My parents couldn’t resist, so we had the guy try to figure me out. He was SO confused, I think he guessed Colorado. </p>
<p>As a result of my bi-accented heritage, I pick up accents really quickly. My husband used to say he could tell when I’d been watching “Designing Women” on TV or was talking to my mom on the phone, because my accent changed. My MIL (lifelong NJ) swears she can’t understand me if I call when we’re in SC.</p>
<p>PS - the only thing worse than a non-local trying to mimic a “Boston” accent is people who think they can do a Southern accent!</p>
<p>I was born in Southern California, grew up in Chicago and Detroit and headed back to So Cal in college and here I have stayed. The test says I am “Midland”…</p>