Michigan accent and other American accents thoughts?

[Wickatricka]

So I just realized that I have a accent and you probably do too. Now I'm talking about different words for things and different pronunciation for things. No matter how subtle it is you will notice it when talking to people from different places in the US. Let me give you some examples of a Michigan accent and I can back this up just from living here this is how people actually talk (Anyone from Michigan could help me out here) but here we go. Just read this how its written.

"I went down to the Ciddy with Bolth my friends and my Deeahd. The said some guy Drownded in the river the other day I swear this town gets worse every day. There was a FI-yerr the other day at the supermarket some Kiyd started it trying to smoke some cigarettes. Man its gonna take my FREVer to move out of this state I swear."


Look it up see if this applies to you for your area.


So do you have an accent?

 

[GrimTuesday]

I'm from the Pacific Northwest, so we have a fairly flat, unaccented way of speaking (unless you consider the lack of an accent an accent). I actually find it rather jarring when I meet another American who actually has an accent because I'm so used to hearing everyone talk like me, considering its the way that most TV people speak as well.

 

[iwinatlife]

Well I'm originally from new england but live in texas and was raised by my mother who was from Iowa so I am pretty accent neutral however I work in a call center so I get to hear all sorts of accents from all over the country some more sterotypical than others

 

[Euryalus]

Oh god the Bolth XD

I'm actually corrected here all the time for saying BOTH! and BOAT! Because missing an L is wrong apparently >.>

Also they "correct" me for saying soda, "pool" (instead of a michigan pull), and bull (like my pull).

Another thing that's different from other places, but not michigan so much, is when for is in the middle of my sentence I say it "fer"

I moved to Michigan from Ohio, and despite all bluster, you wouldn't think they were all that different... I was wrong though. Horribly wrong XD

And seriously Fellow michiganders, the hand thing is kind of stupid XD

 

[soren7550]

I'm not sure. I know that for the longest time I talked with a bit of a hillbilly accent thanks to my folks (weird, considering that none of them are from the south), but I've been told that I and every other New Yorker pronounces 'New York' different from the rest of the world. (although I sort of believe he may have been fucking around with me since I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out how else you'd pronounce it)

 

[BurningWyvern90]

Not really. I'm originally from West Virginia, so I can put on an Appalachian accent, and now I've lived in Minnesota on and off for four years so it's crept in a little and I can put it on as well. But my normal voice is the most generic American accent possible.

 

[Ariyura]

I have a Boston accent that I didn't even notice until I moved to Vermont. It took someone pointing it out to me before I even thought about it.

 

[Launcelot111]

I have a bit of a Southern accent, nothing too heavy but some people claim they can't understand me when I go to the Midwest or something (despite their dopey Midwest accents). Anyway, I still need an interpreter to talk to more than a few people in my neck of the woods.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I guess I have a bit of the Californian accent, although I could not tell you any special pronunciations that come with it to save my life. It's nice since the accent itself is never very heavy, plus considering our racial breakdown, you'll find just about any accent fairly easily if you look for it. I'm sure if I went to a different part of the U.S. like the south or northeast, I'm sure people would let me know I sound a bit different.

 

[shrekfan246]

I have a Boston accent that I didn't even notice until I moved to Vermont. It took someone pointing it out to me before I even thought about it.

Well, you never consider how weird your accent is until you move out of the area that spawned it.

I don't think the Vermont accent is all that odd, we mostly just soften up a ton of hard consonants, but I'm sure it sounds all weirdly slurred and crazy to people who love to enunciate.

But yeah, that's my contribution. I don't really stress or enunciate a lot of hard consonants. Especially "t" if it's not the beginning of a word. Which makes it hilarious to actually think about saying "Vermont", because it just ends with a hard stop instead of a 't'.

 

[Nexxis]

I have a slight New Yorkish accent, but some words I pronounce with a southern dialect since most of my family is from North Carolina and I've lived there for about 10 years. Before then, I was born in and frequently returned to New Jersey, a hop skip and jump away from NYC which is why I have a slight New Yorkish accent.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I'm from Rochester, NY myself. We have a tendency to pronounce the letter "a" (and all open vowels) as "æ" (Near-open front unrounded vowel, also known as the letter ash).

Here's a handy chart for those confused!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_vowel_chart_with_audio

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

I moved to Michigan from Ohio

You traitor. How could you go there, of all places, and leave fair, beautiful Ohio?

Back on topic: I've got a fairly standard accent, since my parents were originally from the Pacific Northwest, the originator of the "standard North American accent." But I've picked up a few Ohioan pronunciations - like "cyalender" (calendar) and "maylk" (milk). But, thank goodness, I have yet to say "warsh" (wash) like some of my friends do.

 

[Euryalus]

I moved to Michigan from Ohio

You traitor. How could you go there, of all places, and leave fair, beautiful Ohio?

Back on topic: I've got a fairly standard accent, since my parents were originally from the Pacific Northwest, the originator of the "standard North American accent." But I've picked up a few Ohioan pronunciations - like "cyalender" (calendar) and "maylk" (milk). But, thank goodness, I have yet to say "warsh" (wash) like some of my friends do.

I know it's horrible, but I had no choice D:

None of them even know how awesome buckeye candies are the blasphemers! XD

Still wear the proper colors when I can though!

 

[uchytjes]

There isn't much I really notice about my accent aside from the occasional mispronunciation of "water" as "warter" and "wash" as "warsh". Oh, I'm from Iowa, so thats something if you want to put an area to it.

 

[gritch]

I moved to Michigan from Ohio

I'm from Ohio and I just spent about 2 months in Michigan for an internship. I didn't notice a huge difference in accents. Of course it doesn't help that I spent most of my time around Ann Arbor, college towers always have a more diverse accent pool in my experience.

Back on topic: I've got a fairly standard accent, since my parents were originally from the Pacific Northwest, the originator of the "standard North American accent." But I've picked up a few Ohioan pronunciations - like "cyalender" (calendar) and "maylk" (milk). But, thank goodness, I have yet to say "warsh" (wash) like some of my friends do.

I haven't noticed any of these accents but maybe it's because I've lived in Ohio most my life. Still I don't believe I've ever pronounced calendar "cyalender", milk "maylk", nor wash "warsh". These pronouncations don't seem common from where I'm from - did you perhaps move to Southern Ohio?

I'm originally from central Ohio and the traveled to Northern Ohio one accent I definitely noticed was the way "root" is pronounced. There's a nearby town up here called Rootstown pronounced Rutstown and according to my calc professor you take the square rut instead of root.

 

[Kotaro]

I've lived in Connecticut for almost my entire life, so any accent I may have is very subtle and only crops up in a few words (like a softer "t" when saying, for example, "water" or "Latin").

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

I'm from North New Jersey so I speak with a slightly modified New York accent I think. When I speak "properly" (not like an inner city thug) most people ask if I'm from New York, well they used to at least.
Living in Southern New Jersey for about 4 or so years has mellowed out my accent considerably and now its more neutral I think.

 

[Euryalus]

I'm from Ohio and I just spent about 2 months in Michigan for an internship. I didn't notice a huge difference in accents. Of course it doesn't help that I spent most of my time around Ann Arbor, college towers always have a more diverse accent pool in my experience.

Well for the most part it really isn't different, but when you start to notice things after living there for a year or so, you hear it all the time.

I'm just taking a dig at my IRL friends. XD

 

[SckizoBoy]

so I am pretty accent neutral

Question: do you mean to be 'accentless' or 'accent which cannot be consistently or accurately placed'?

I'm from the Pacific Northwest, so we have a fairly flat, unaccented way of speaking (unless you consider the lack of an accent an accent).

Ah, now, see, that sort of self-profession that you do not have an accent is quite inaccurate. You assuredly do have an accent... just not one that can be geographically ascribed beyond a national level or perhaps a regional level for a more discerning ear. I used to think I have no accent, but upon speaking with an American, it became quite obvious that I did, I just didn't have one that was recognisable beyond being vaguely 'south-eastern' to my fellow Brits. I think that if you speak to an 'unaccented' Brit, an 'unaccented' Aussie, and 'unaccented' Canadian etc. accents would be designated, if very broadly.

Anyway, yaaay... first Brit to post, unless ninja'd. >_>

To my American cousins... not quite right, I'm a son of immigrants... OK, to my 'adoptive' American cousins, you'll find that this phenomenon occurs in pretty much every country with a more than one major settlement and a clearly dominant lingua franca.

The quaint thing about the UK is that irrespective of where you go in the country, move less than fifty miles in any direction and you're apt to encounter at least two different native accents on the way. *shrug*