Posted on 11/25/2011 4:19:03 PM PST by blam
What Kind of American Accent Do You Have?
November 24, 2011
Xavier Kun
To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they "don't have an accent."
Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you're from). Go through this short quiz and you'll find out just which accent that is.
1. What is your age? Under 18 Years Old 18 to 24 Years Old 25 to 30 Years Old 31 to 40 Years Old 41 to 50 Years Old 51 to 60 Years Old Over 60 Years Old 2. What is your gender? Male Female
3. We're going to start with two ordinary words, "cot" and "caught." Do you think those words sound the same or different? Same Different Same, no wait I mean different, well, I don't know...
4. What about "don" and "dawn"? Same Different Same...ish. Maybe a little different.
5. OK, what about "stock" and "stalk"? Same Different Almost, but not quite, the same
6. Now then how do "collar" and "caller" sound? Same Different Almost, but not quite, the same
7. Do you think the word "on" rhymes with "dawn" or with "don"? dawn don Well, I don't think don and dawn sound any different in the first place so on would obviously rhyme with both
8. Moving on, what do you think about "Mary," "merry," and "marry"? All 3 sound different Mary and merry sound the same but marry is different from them All 3 sound the same
9. Our next word is "horrible." How does that first vowel sound? It's just like in the word "whore." It's the same "o" sound as in "hot." Neither one
10. Now for "pen" and "pin." Don't worry about what others say is correct, just tell us how they come out in an ordinary conversation. Same Different Close. Pen sounds almost, but not quite, like pin.
11. What about "feel" and "fill"? Same Different Well, I think they're different even though they sound very, very similar almost to the point of being the same
12. When you say "about," does the "ou" sound like the "ou" in "loud"? No Yes
13. Last question. When you say "bag" does it rhyme with "vague"? Yes No
What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The South
That’s a Southern accent you’ve got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don’t have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it.
To get your results in plain numbers, go to the BBCode or Plain Text option and copy the text in the box.
Result Breakdown:
77% The Midland
69% The Inland North
68% The South
64% The Northeast
52% Philadelphia
50% The West
28% Boston
9% North Central
I’m geographically from The West—but I met an online acquaintance in person while we were meeting yet another online acquaintance from one of those countries where the English is even funnier, and we got to talking a little about accents. He told me that I and a good number of other people from my area sound like Chicagoans from his time there.
He might’ve moved away before the Northern cities vowel shift got into full swing: I’ve listened to samples of it, and I’ve never heard it in person—including from him.
And I’ve noticed one thing in particular about the questions. I don’t merge “cot” and “caught.” Although I’m from an area that, according to some, has some vestigial resistance to the general merging in this region, I probably didn’t pick up the habit from my peers; instead, I probably just noticed a spelling variation and maintained a corresponding distinction in my speaking. I do notice that probably the majority of people where I grew up don’t merge “don” and “dawn,” though.
If I alter just that one question to merge “cot” and “caught,” I get roughly similar but noticeably different results:
88% The Midland
77% The Inland North
63% The West
57% The Northeast
52% Philadelphia
48% Boston
46% The South
43% North Central
I’m solid West
To me, “cot” and “caught” sound the same, as do “pin” and “pen” and “merry,” “marry,” and “Mary.” Also, “many,” “mini” and “Minié” sound the same, and they rhyme with “any” and “shinny.” In addition, “end” rhymes with “Sindh” but not with “send.” I pronounce the prefix “anti-,” as in “anti-Communist,” like “aunt eye,” not “Auntie.”
And as I see it, there is also no cow in Moscow.
I am from Philly. They pegged me as definitely Boston. I’ve been to Boston twice.
That’s because you say ‘bah-stn’, instead of ‘bo-ston’!
I have no idea as I don't watch whatever channel she works for.
I however can recognize a forced fake southern accent from a mile away.
The strongest Southern accent I have ever heard was form a girl who had just started teaching. She was from Cherter S.C. but all I could hear was Shaaztuh. It took maybe a dozen times before I finally had to have her write it down.
She was so pretty she could have said it any way she wanted. My best friend asked me what she looked like. Hhe was standiing on the second level porch of the dorm. When I walked by I looked back at him. He had a thumbs up, them immediately raised both thumbs up. Yet she was a two thumbs up. After the date I discoverd we had pretty much different ways of seeing the world and only dated once more.
No matter the differences we had I could have listened to her talk all day and night.
That was fun. The West.
Half of my exes large immediate Texas family has a Texas accent, and half doesn’t, speaking that awful no accent anchorman speech that is infecting the country, even though they grew up together. I’ve never figgered that one out.
I took it again and took a bit more time the second time around,there was only two which I changed. I noticed that I had not been reading the third option when I thought I already knew the answer but once it was little better than what I had thought was the best.
On another one I simply realized I had barely missed it the first time.
Just those two changes put me in the South, I had been Philadelphia before.
I only have an “African-American” accent when I want one.
You mean like Hillary? :)
| 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. |
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| Philadelphia |
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| The West |
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| The Inland North |
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| Boston |
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| The Northeast |
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| The South |
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| North Central |
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| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz |
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I prefer to call it Educated Southern. Northerners have no problem pegging me for southern yet I don’t sound deep South like I did in my youth.
Yeah, it’s a farce, it reads your IP address.
I was born and raised out among the prairie dogs and tractors.
I answered as follows:
“cot” and “caught.”...same
“don” and “dawn”...Same
“stock” and “stalk”...same
“collar” and “caller”...same
“on” rhymes with “dawn” or with “don”...yes
“Mary,” “merry,” and “marry”...same
“horrible.” How does that first vowel sound? It’s just like in the word “whore.”...yes
“pen” and “pin.”...different words
“feel” and “fill”? ...different words
When you say “bag” does it rhyme with “vague”?...No
It said I have a Boston accent...I live in Maine.
Nice colors, but doesn’t mention “tonic” as a possibility. That’s what the locals call it here in Barney Frank’s congressional district. The aisle signs in the “stowap and showap” are even marked such.
Me neither. I can't stand to listen to her self-important, 'tude-filled, elitist demeanor.
I graduated from high school in Mackinaw City. My facination for the Mighty Mac, remains to this day, though I haven’t been up there in decades.
Well put!
Nailed me.
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