Regional Accents/Dialects

[SS4]

Brummie and proud (I pronounce Solihull as solly-ull rather than soley-hull)

Most Brummie / Black Country accents on TV are false, exaggerated versions of the real thing spoken by actors from outside the area, Tim Spall is the best example. To a proud yamyam such as myself they sound about as accurate as Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent in Mary Poppins.

I'm sure a lot of you remember the Halifax adverts with Howard thingy who spoke with genuine Brummie accent. It really annoyed me that when they replaced him with a cartoon representation, rather than use his voice the used the usual fake 'thick Brummie' accent we're used to hearing on TV.

Agreed. It would be interesting to see how the Brummie/Black Country accent comes across to overseas visitors since it seems to be a domestic pastime to make people in the West Midlands look thick.

 

[Kneedown]

Having lived in the East Mid's most of my life i've got the regional accent, with a touch of North Nottinghamshire.
When we go back to Wales though, for a break or to visit the family, Mrs K'down always notices that it doesn't take long for my Welsh accent to come out!

 

[Madge Wildfire]

People who say they have a Yorkshire accent are making the same mistake as those who say they have a Home Counties accent - it doesn't exist.

People in Hull have a noticeably different accent from those in Settle, and likewise those in Whitby do not sound the same as those from Sheffield.

Accents can be different over a very small distance.

I was born in south Lincolnshire and when I was about 8 years old my family moved house about 15 miles north of there. My shock at the accent of the locals was such that I could not believe we had not moved to the back of beyond.

 

[Class172]

Brummie and proud (I pronounce Solihull as solly-ull rather than soley-hull)




Agreed. It would be interesting to see how the Brummie/Black Country accent comes across to overseas visitors since it seems to be a domestic pastime to make people in the West Midlands look thick.

I'm half way in between with Solihull, I pronounce it as Solly-hul; it annoys me when people say it the 'soley' way. Likewise, I pronounce Wolverhampton as 'Wulver-ampton' (west midland sound) and Hereford as 'ereford.' Worcestershire has its own unique accent.

Most Brummie / Black Country accents on TV are false, exaggerated versions of the real thing spoken by actors from outside the area, Tim Spall is the best example. To a proud yamyam such as myself they sound about as accurate as Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent in Mary Poppins.

I'm sure a lot of you remember the Halifax adverts with Howard thingy who spoke with genuine Brummie accent. It really annoyed me that when they replaced him with a cartoon representation, rather than use his voice the used the usual fake 'thick Brummie' accent we're used to hearing on TV.

Oh I do loathe those fake accents, I say that you can only do a brummie or black country accent if you are from the nearby area. I love imitating the announcements on the train.

 

[aspierail]

Many people say to me that i have an Australian accent.

 

[Minilad]

Many people say to me that i have an Australian accent.

When in the States I have often been mistaken for an Aussie. Yanks do mistake English and Australian accents frequently so I have been told

 

[Eagle]

Here's my east Dorset accent. Quite hard to classify if you're not from round there.

The text is a version of The North Wind and the Sun by Aesop, which is used as a standard for phonetic transcriptions. It was quite hard to read this out without enunciating too much (doing that tends to smooth out your accent)

 

[Mojo]

When in the States I have often been mistaken for an Aussie. Yanks do mistake English and Australian accents frequently so I have been told

I would imagine in a similar manner to which many (including me) struggle to distinguish between a Coventry/Birmingham/Wolverhampton, Newcastle/Sunderland, Australian/New Zealand and American/Canadian accent.

 

[Minilad]

I would imagine in a similar manner to which many (including me) struggle to distinguish between a Coventry/Birmingham/Wolverhampton, Newcastle/Sunderland, Australian/New Zealand and American/Canadian accent.

Yeah but surely you could tell the difference between an Australian and American accent

 

[gnolife]

Macclesfield born, Lived in Manchester since I was 3
my parents are both Manchester born, but my dad's parents were Jamaican, and my mum's parents are both from Shropshire.
My accent gets mistaken for flippin all sorts, including Scouse, Geordie, Cockney, Irish, Scots and occasionally, middle-eastern (the place varys from time to time) (the last one is probably people reading my surname, and getting misconceptions from it)

 

[Eagle]

I would imagine in a similar manner to which many (including me) struggle to distinguish between a ...Australian/New Zealand...

Really? I can't imagine how you'd confuse those. To me a New Zealand accent sounds very similar to a South African accent.

 

[Stewart]

Just a general northern accent here. Which is good, because I'm anything but

 

[newbie babs]

Madge Wildfire

You go to the extreme saying Yorkshire accents don`t exist. Yorkshire is a huge county and of course there are going to be different ways they say words in each town but underlying is a Yorkshire Accent.
I know I have lived here for over 22 years and I can hear the slight differences in those living in Sheffield to Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster but there is a Yorkshire accent.

 

[2Dogbox]

Brummie accent and damn proud of it. And before anyone starts that's a Brummie accent not a Black Country accent which is often portrayed on TV as a Brummie Accent

Well said mate, I am fed up with the portrayal of the brummy accent on TV usually as black country and usually as a metaphor for being "thick". . and if I had a pound for each time someone tried to do an impersonation of me and came out with "yam yam" etc I would be rich. Most annoying.

 

[chris89]

It's a common mistake to confuse the Cornish accent with the Bristol or Somerset one.

I have found that a lot myself. The accents in the West Country are varied enough to tell the differnce.

But then my friends try to put on fake Somerset accents and to me is painful since being from Somerset. Even had a guy in Pizza Hut in Edinburgh doing that, what was annoying

Chris

 

[Eng274]

An Edinburger, born and bred, I am fitted with the accent as standard. It is nondescript enough (compared to the Glasgow accent) that it is difficult to imitate. Though according to the QI elves, the Edinburgh accent is the most reassuring accent for an airline pilot

I never realise how thick my accent is until I travel to Glasgow, or I talk to someone whose first language isn't English.. as the word "ken" in place of "know" never travels very far (Though I've overheard 'ken' being used in Falkirk!) and my commonly used phrase "aye, nae bother" is frequently mocked by foreigners :roll:

 

[Butts]

An Edinburger, born and bred, I am fitted with the accent as standard. It is nondescript enough (compared to the Glasgow accent) that it is difficult to imitate. Though according to the QI elves, the Edinburgh accent is the most reassuring accent for an airline pilot

I never realise how thick my accent is until I travel to Glasgow, or I talk to someone whose first language isn't English.. as the word "ken" in place of "know" never travels very far (Though I've overheard 'ken' being used in Falkirk!) and my commonly used phrase "aye, nae bother" is frequently mocked by foreigners :roll:

I ken what your on aboot..... - often heard here in Falkirk also Alloa from my experience.

 

[mbonwick]

Another good one is the pronunciation of Eddie Stobart;

is it Stow-bart
or Sto'bart?

 

[WestCoast]

Another good one is the pronunciation of Eddie Stobart;

is it Stow-bart
or Sto'bart?

I say Stow-bart!

 

[Butts]

I say Stow-bart!

Ditto

 

[Drsatan]

Ditto

Me too

My accent has veered all over the place - for instance, despite living south of the M25 all my life, once I was asked when I was 11 whether I was from Birmingham or not. I've also been called 'posh', and have been alternately told by a couple of people that I either speak with a slight estuary twang or a slight cockney accent! Now I'd say that I have a definite Southern accent with a slight West Country influence, having lived in Exeter for a while (even though I haven't noticed many people in Exeter with West Country accents!)

 

[chris89]

An Edinburger, born and bred, I am fitted with the accent as standard. It is nondescript enough (compared to the Glasgow accent) that it is difficult to imitate. Though according to the QI elves, the Edinburgh accent is the most reassuring accent for an airline pilot

I never realise how thick my accent is until I travel to Glasgow, or I talk to someone whose first language isn't English.. as the word "ken" in place of "know" never travels very far (Though I've overheard 'ken' being used in Falkirk!) and my commonly used phrase "aye, nae bother" is frequently mocked by foreigners :roll:

My girlfriend say's ken a lot and first time i heard that really confused me (Armadale), as never come across people in the Highlands who said that.

Now she types that and says it to annoy me :L

Chris

 

[mbonwick]

I say Stow-bart!

Sto'bart is apparently how it's supposed to be pronounced. Certainly it's how myself and most other Cumbrians pronounce it!

 

[IanXC]

I had to respond to this point in a different thread...

There is no such thing as "no accent", I hear that all the time! Everyone has an accent, what your saying is you believe you speak a form of Standard English (or essentially Received Pronunciation). RP is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as "the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England"

To be fair to Class172 I also grew up in Droitwich Spa and to this day I'm often described as having "no accent". I think its just that there are no particularly distinctive parts to it.

I'm half way in between with Solihull, I pronounce it as Solly-hul; it annoys me when people say it the 'soley' way. Likewise, I pronounce Wolverhampton as 'Wulver-ampton' (west midland sound) and Hereford as 'ereford.' Worcestershire has its own unique accent.

Oh I do loathe those fake accents, I say that you can only do a brummie or black country accent if you are from the nearby area. I love imitating the announcements on the train.

Yup its definately Solly-hul but I'd say something more like Wul-verhampton, honestly where have your Hs gone! 'ereford indeed, thats nearly as bad as 'ull.

Another good one is the pronunciation of Eddie Stobart;

is it Stow-bart
or Sto'bart?

Definitely Stow-bart

 

[Class172]

To be fair to Class172 I also grew up in Droitwich Spa and to this day I'm often described as having "no accent". I think its just that there are no particularly distinctive parts to it.

You're from Droitwich Spa?? Has the place changed much since you were there?

Yup its definately Solly-hul but I'd say something more like Wul-verhampton, honestly where have your Hs gone! 'ereford indeed, thats nearly as bad as 'ull.

It's only a few, I definitely say Hull properly though - I'm not aware of anything else as far as I know.
It's probably the 'farmers' accent creeping in there, which is heard in Worcestershire; even more so where I was born in Wiltshire.

 

[WestCoast]

To be fair to Class172 I also grew up in Droitwich Spa and to this day I'm often described as having "no accent". I think its just that there are no particularly distinctive parts to it.

It's still a common misconception to say "no accent" in a wider context of English speaking countries. I bet an American or Irishman wouldn't think you had "no accent"!

A good thing is to listen to a recording of yourself and judge. Some people hate doing that (myself included)!

 

[IanXC]

You're from Droitwich Spa?? Has the place changed much since you were there?
It's only a few, I definitely say Hull properly though - I'm not aware of anything else as far as I know.
It's probably the 'farmers' accent creeping in there, which is heard in Worcestershire; even more so where I was born in Wiltshire.

Yup! Lived there from 5-18. Haven't been back for a while but last time what struck me is that it actually has the town centre a place of its size always ought to have had!

I was conscious when I lived there of how Bromsgrove sounded more an more Birmingham, and Worcester sounded more an more 'farmer' as you put it! Bit like being in the middle of a big squeeze!

It's still a common misconception to say "no accent" in a wider context of English speaking countries. I bet an American or Irishman wouldn't think you had "no accent"!

A good thing is to listen to a recording of yourself and judge. Some people hate doing that (myself included)!

Oh gosh no! I have enough trouble recording my voicemail message thingy, where you listen back and I promptly have an identity crisis cause I'm convinced its not me!

 

[Class172]

Yup! Lived there from 5-18. Haven't been back for a while but last time what struck me is that it actually has the town centre a place of its size always ought to have had!

I was conscious when I lived there of how Bromsgrove sounded more an more Birmingham, and Worcester sounded more an more 'farmer' as you put it! Bit like being in the middle of a big squeeze!

The town centre's in the complete wrong place; current housing proposals threat to make it much worse - I am strongly opposed to one of the developments.

Bromsgrove definitely is more brummie sounding generally speaking; I regard it as a satellite town of Birmingham. South of Bromsgrove (the A448 effectively) the accent is more biased towards the more traditional accent.

 

[Spaceflower]

Eddie Stobbat

 

[Trog]

I speak southern bland myself. I don't remember even hearing the local traditional accent (Broad Bucks) for years.

It is interesting that we have so many accents in such a small area, you would think that as this country basically invented modern travel and communications. It would be blurred out more here than elsewhere.

Does anyone know how the GB accent density compares with other countries?