Are There Regional Accents In Your Country?
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
January 12, 2010 8:48am CST
I was born in Ashton-Under-Lyne, near Manchester, England and would say my accent resembles some of the female cast on "Coronation Street!" However, if I had been been born in Blackpool, Lancashire (like my nephew) then I wouldn't really have an accent at all..and they are known as Sangronans. Even though I spent most of my life in Blackpool I will never be classed as a Sangronan! Down the road from Blackpool is Preston and their accent is what we describe as being "broad Lancashire" and is very pronounced. The nearer you get to Manchester the broader the accent becomes. I would say most counties in England (and others in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) will be the same...with different accents of course.. but only YOU can tell me that, depending on where you are all from. What is definite, though, is that we're not all posh and speak like the Queen or Hugh Grant hehe lol.
I am familiar with the New Yorker's accent in America..but only from the television and I have no idea if people who are born and bred in Las Vegas (as an example) have a distinctive accent.
I've heard of the southern drawl but I'm sure it's more complex than that my friends. I am a bit naive about these things and need educating on the subject. That goes for all countries!
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14 responses
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
13 Jan 10
I live in Texas and the accent of east Texas is very different than the accent of western Texas. The east Texas accent has more to do with Louisiana or Arkansas - depending on if you are in the southern or northern part of that part of the state.
The accent that you saw in the TV show "Dallas" actually were closer to the western accent.
You do have a lot of Spanish speaking Texans and you can get speakers who grow up only speaking English but with an accent like their parents.
Now, my family is from the north (New Jersey) and I have a bit more of a "Yankee" accent than you might find in the normal "Texan."
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@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
13 Jan 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee
Yes, from the song - mostly...
Down south they call any one from the north "Yankee" so, while I'm from the "Mid-Atlantic" area, since we were on the side of the North, I'm considered a "Yankee."
Down here, they are the "Yankees" and the "Rebels" or Yanks and Rebs.
Funny thing, my brother, who is older and my sister who was born here, both have more "Texas" accents than I do, because I was more influenced by our folks than by friends.
I worked for the Health Department and got my sister a "Native Texan" birth certificate and our brother wanted to know HOW he could get one - I had to tell him he couldn't, he wasn't born here!!! 
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
Thanks for that, it's very interesting. Can you tell me where the term "Yankee" originated from? All I can think of is "Yankee Doodle Dandy" which doesn't help much lol.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
Hehe lol. Dare I ask who the Rednecks are? It's a term I have heard used to not sure as to what it means. Forgive my ignorance on the subject as I don't want to upset anybody.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
Are there any that have unique dialects...say for example, someone from the Deep South could say something and a New Yorker would reply (politely lol), "What you on about?" and vice versa?
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@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
12 Jan 10
I've heard that there are quite big differences between the way people speak in different regions of UK. I live in Estonia, it's a small country, with about 1.3 million population, but even there we have a couple of dialects. There is like ordinary Estonian language spread throughout the country. On the islands, however, people speak with "island accent". They pronounce some letter in a way that is different from the usual Estonian. In Southern or South-Eastern Estonia there is a dialect that differs pretty much from ordinary Estonian language. There are many totally different words and the common words are spelled different. So you see, even in a country that small, like Estonia are different accents present.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
You must enlighten me on where Estonia is. 
I've heard of it and something in my brain says it used to be part of the old Soviet Union, am I right? If I'm wrong (and offended you in the process) I apologise but there have been so many new countries springing up in that region of the world it's hard to keep up...and thank you for telling me about the differences between the mainland and the islands, it's much appreciated.
I've heard of it and something in my brain says it used to be part of the old Soviet Union, am I right? If I'm wrong (and offended you in the process) I apologise but there have been so many new countries springing up in that region of the world it's hard to keep up...and thank you for telling me about the differences between the mainland and the islands, it's much appreciated.@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
13 Jan 10
Estonia lies in the North-East Europe, south of Finland and East of Russia. Yes, our country has (unfortunately) been part of the Soviet Union, but managed to break free 20 years ago. The area of our country makes up 45 000 sqkm, so it's relatively small country with low population density.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
Wow, was it 20 years ago? How time flies. It is a lovely name, Estonia, I cannot imagine it being a horrible place to live.
@adamc151 (476)
•
12 Jan 10
Well, i too live in England so like you say there are sooo many different accents depending on which county or city you live in. I live in yorkshire and though my accent isn't really that strong i know people and live near people with fairly strong yorkshire accents :)
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
How interesting. My mother-in-law is from West Cumbria (Maryport) and her husband was born and bred in Carlisle so she moved here. Their accents are so different to one another it's untrue and the respective places are only about 45 miles apart. When I first met her I couldn't understand a word she said but I've now got used to her accent...took me a while though!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
Yes, I know what you mean. Years ago I went out with a guy from Pontefract...or "Ponty" as it's known locally. His accent was quite strong...maybe 'cos it's near Leeds I don't know. Are there variations, such as between North and South and West and East?
@poingly (605)
• United States
12 Jan 10
America has it's fair share of accents for sure! Oddly, I was speaking with someone from Arkansas recently that told me that many accents are starting to disappear slowly. The ones that do exist are often less pronounced than they used to be. He credited it a lot do to more and more mass media becoming more and more prevalent.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
Is that so? How interesting. Not sure what the situation is here in the UK but I do know that the Brits are holding on to their identity for dear life. There's been a big revival in locally made produce, as an example. People are becoming more proud of the region they live in and want to promote it as much as possible to the outside world that may not even be aware of what is available.
@udayrao2 (781)
• India
13 Jan 10
Yes - I live in a country where not only there are different accents and dialects but probably the only country which has yoo many official regional languages - India.
So normally any Indian learns upto 2 or 3 languages easily and if he has travelled or lived in south India maybe picks up some more languages too. For example I live in Mumbai my mother tongue spoken at home is Konkani (mainly spoken in Goa, Mangalore and along the west ( Konkan) coast of India), living in Mumbai I speak Marathi the local language and Gujrati, also Hindi the national language and then English(learnt in school and a medium in education & used for official/business purposes), and in domestic travelling picked up Kannada & Punjabi, and while overseas travelling learnt German & some Russian, & then French in school!!! and somehow picking up languages seems to be easy and comes naturally. And I am sure there are many more like me in India who speak even more languages very naturally.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
I am humbled by your ability to pick up so many languages. Well done my friend!
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
13 Jan 10
I come from the most complicated country when it comes to accents. The number of ethnic groups and towns and villages, is as many as the accents that my country has. There is a different accent for every town and region which distinguishes them from the other neighboring places. what is funny is that even two neighboring villages could have different accents.
You could easily pinpoint from what place a person is with the way they talk. Just listening will make you guess the exact place where that person comes from. It's really amazing to think that you all are from one country but with different accents.
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@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
13 Jan 10
I am from the south and I do have the southern drawl..lol. I have traveled quite a bit and the first thing people ask me is if I'm from Texas...lol..Nope..Tennessee. They say awwww....yes I knew there was something different about your accent. I actually try to control it a bit. I didn't know how much of a drawl I had until I heard myself on the answering machine. My b/f is from Indiana and he has more of a northern accent. He calls my accent a southern twang.There are also a lot of words used in different areas. Slang mostly. I have found that when I learned Spanish that the same is for Mexico as well. Accents and slang differences.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
It's amazing how different we all are on both sides of the Pond...but the same in may ways i.e. all these different accents. It's great to know these things and thank you. I know what you mean about hearing your voice on answering machines and the like. I cringe whenever I hear my voice on machines, it's 'orrible!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
12 Jan 10
Hi Janey,
Yes there's a lot. I live in a country with different dialects. The national laungualge is Tagalog or Filipino but when you go to the different regions and provinces you will be surprise -- we have not only different accents but have different local dialects. we are in our own way "linguistic" LOL.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
I'm learning more and more about the Philippines every day since joining MyLot, it's fascinating stuff! Don't get me started on dialects in the UK, there are hundreds of them hehe lol. By the way, do you mind if I ask you what your first name is? Mine is Jane...not surprisingly!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
13 Jan 10
thanks for sharing me your first name-- mine is marilaine. i combination of my parents name-- mari (from mariano, my father) and laine (from elaine, my mom). so you have your own versions of different dialects? wow, amazing right?!
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
Hi Marilaine, what a lovely name! Do you have a middle name too? Mine is Elizabeth but I promise I don't have any more lol. A friend of mine has lots and lots of children (is due to have her FIFTH soon) and one of her boys has been named after the local football team...wait for this...he's called PRESTON NORTH END RULE!! Preston North End is the team and Rule is the surname! It's true!
@happy2512 (1266)
• Philippines
13 Jan 10
Here in the Philippines each region has different languages but when we are taling our national language each region has different accents in speaking. I think it is common everywhere has different languages & accents.
@PastorP (1170)
• United States
12 Jan 10
Hi Janey1966 .
I was born and raised in northeast New Jersey USA. I had the tendency to say wadder for water and idear for idea.
Using idear was cured in Bible institute. We were in public speaking class and giving little speeches. Then we would anonymously critique each other. One paper I got asked, "What is an idear?" And it had a picture of a deer with a mighty big eye.
Later, pastoring in North Carolina for just over a year knocked out a good bit of my New Jersey accent!
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
That's so funny, thank you for such an entertaining post. You seem to have taken the criticism lightly. I'm not sure many would. It was bad enough me comparing the Cumbrian accent to a Geordie one here in England. I got short thrift I can tell you!
@esjosh (912)
• India
13 Jan 10
Hey Jeny,
Here in INDIA as per the last Census there are 29 languages are spoken. Now you can imagine how much the accents will be there for each language.
We have an old saying here in Gujarati is "BAR GAME BOLI BADLAY"[i][/i]
It means if you cross twelve villages the accents get changed. And there are 638596 Villages in INDIA (As per the STD Census of 2001.
BAR GAME BOLI BADLAY is a saying only, but it is also based on some old experiences, hence if we consider it's logic then there are 638596/12= 53216 accents can be found in INDIA.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 10
Wow, that's amazing! Thanks for that, I now know a bit more about Indian accents...and many of you speak English too. I'm ashamed that I can only speak English and no other language but we are not encouraged to do so. We did French and Spanish at school and my brother did German but we never carried it on, if you see what I mean.
@Cutie18f (9551)
• Philippines
12 Jan 10
Yes, I guess regional accents are common everywhere. In my province, there are as many rural twangs as there are towns. One would know where someone comes from by his or her accent. You can close your eyes and listen to the accents of the people around and you would know where you are. I guess this has a lot to do with the place's location and lifestyle. City people have the tendency to speak fast while people who live in more laid back environments have the tendency to speak very slowly.
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@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Jan 10
Fascinating comment, thank you! At one time I could not distinguish a Cumbrian from a Geordie accent but there are subtle variations, rather like your province.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
24 Feb 20
I'm surprised by this question. All countries in the world have regional accents, also small ones like, say, Denmark. Many have disappeared - also many languages spoken only by few people have disappeared - due to the advent of radio and TV. People hear the standard language of the country and by and by lose their own accent. Besides, if you want to be able to communicate with people living outside your area, you need to know the standard language.
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