[TAG] [Off-topic] Cultural notes

[Ben Okopnik]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 06:58:41PM +0700, Mulyadi Santosa wrote:
> sounds a bit texas to me... is that right?:D

  "Ever'body says words different," said Ivy. "Arkansas folks says 'em
  different, and Oklahomy folks says 'em different. And we seen a lady
  from Massachusetts, an' she said 'em differentest of all. Couldn' hardly
  make out what she was sayin'."
   -- John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, 1939

Regional accents can be very hard to judge even for a native - e.g., the
average Californian probably wouldn't be able to identify a north
Georgia drawl or a Texas twang... might be able to tell one from the
other, though - which isn't much to boast about, given that those two
average more than a thousand miles apart. They're going to be
essentially impossible when presented in written form - unless the
writer has Mark Twain's gift for conveying accents... which I can't lay
claim to. So you're _definitely_ climbing a steep hill. :) No bonus
points for guessing "Texas", though - that's the most likely guess for a
non-American about some unknown American regional accent.

For the record, it was pretty similar to this, although a bit slower:

http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=105

(A lot of accents are disappearing these days; people move around and
resettle quite a lot. E.g., if you want to hear a real Florida accent,
you have to go at least 20 or 30 miles inland and then search fairly
hard; the coast is all populated by Yankees now. :)


Ben
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