The American Accent?..?

Question

I know that in the U.S. we can pin point a British accent almost anywhere....but I've always thought that American's have no accent...sortof the plain jane. You've got the Irish accent, of course the British, Dutch, Etc...... ..I was just wondering if it was easy to pin point an American because of their "funny" accent or lack of...

Answer 1

yea... valley girls and their blonde sounding accents and then Brooklyn accent and jersey accents and southern accents...but people out of our country consider us to have accents

Answer 2

Well, i'm british and OF COURSE americans have an accent!!! I know that you can distinguish and irish accent from the english accent, but would you be able to distinguish and newcastle accent from a liverpool accent? Or a cornish accent to a welsh accent?? Yeah, i can pin point most american accents, the new york accent is the most annoying (no offence), texas accent, blah blah blah

Answer 3

everyone has an accent! i personally dont think i have an accent but im from near Liverpool UK and when i go down south near London to see family they all think i have a really strong Liverpool accent...i guess its because we all get so used to how we and other people around us speak that we dont seem to notice accents as much if they are similar to ours. for example some of my friends have basicaly the same accent as me so when they speak i dont recognise an accent. but one of my friends recently moved from Cheshire which has a posh accent and at first it was so distinct but now ive become used to it so i dont really notice it any more.

but yes, Americans do have quite strong accents. apart from the few American accents that can sound a bit English, i dont know the parts of America where these accents are from though, sorry!

and also there is no such thing as a British accent, there is English, Scottish and Welsh accents and then there is Northern Irish which is a bit more nasal than the Irish accent. and because i live in the UK i can tell them apart and to me they are all really different (apart from Scottish and Irish which can be hard to remember which is which sometimes) but i could understand if they all sound similar to someone whos not from the UK

i cant tell the difference between Canadian and American accents so when i meet a Canadian and think they are American they seem to get really offended lol! but i guess living in the UK i hear all of the different British accents so i can tell them apart. kinda like i cant tell the difference between New Zealand and Australian accents cos they are pretty similar

so to answer your question, yes if i heard an American accent in a crowd it would be really obvious to me and i would instantly be able to recognise it as an American accent.

Answer 4

I got free drinks when I traveled around outside the U.S. all because people liked my accent! Whenever I would compliment someone on how lovely their accent was, they seemed surprised and reciprocated it back to me. They couldn't really tell what part of the states I was from, but they certainly could tell that I was American.

Answer 5

Every country has an accent, every place has an accent. The midwest of the US has what is generally deemed neutral due to the mere fact that our speak is characterized neither by the quickness of northerner speak nor by the slow drawl of southerner speak.  

Answer 6

Yes. I'm an American living in australia and most people can tell that based on my accent. However, sometimes Americans and Canadians sound alike, so some people will confuse us. For example, when I'm talking to someone who doesn't know I'm American, they usually say "Excuse me, are you American or Canadian?" and it's usually so they don't upset the person, cause some americans don't like being mistaken for canadians, or the other way around. Me, I don't mind, as long as the person/people don't already know I'm American.

Hope that helps (somewhat)

Answer 7

Accents are so important in today's world . The variety and richness of those from different parts add to life's interest . I would say quite catagorically there is no such thing as an " American "accent . To my ear the tones of the deep south are quite distinctive from that of the Bronx or Candian Mid West . Again the accents in Britain vary from place to place . The gutteral Glasgow , the nazal Brum (or Birmingham ) or indeed the strange resonance of London's Cockneys are so vastly adrift of the mellifluous tones of Lewis and Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland . The Irish and Welsh are further examples  of language equating with identity . Be proud of accent - long may it continue  !!

Answer 8

American's have the accent. I am an American, but think about it, the language is called English, andfor good reason. It originated in England and therefore the English techniquely have no accent.

Answer 9

well, I like the american accents... its pretty s**y...=)

Answer 10

An accent is defined as a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality. So yes we as Americans have accents to those from different parts of the world we just don't notice it or consider it an accent because everyone talks the same way, but I have known people from the south who's accent is very noticeable and claim that I am the one with the accent. So in short an accent is just how you pronounce and say words so everyone has an accent.

Answer 11

I'm an American that spent almost 3 years living throughout the UK. We Americans definitely have accents! We all know the regional ones (Southern, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota) are easy for even us, Americans to hear. But when I lived in the UK... Not only could they spot that I was an American. But that I was from California! Now that I'm back in Los Angeles... Even I hear the "California accent" when people speak.