What causes people to change their accents?

[Sensei Kiisu]

I think this is the right sub-forum since it's related to humans heh?

Anyway, my English friend, has just come back from her holiday in the Dominican Rep. for 3 week, and has developed an extremely strong American accent,

just wondering - does we subconcoiusly change our accent when we're abroad? Since I find it hard to see how our accent of say 18 years can change so much in a mere 3 weeks, - and also, there is no need for it to change is there, so why? People can still understand you in America if you speak in a nothern English accent..

[Azog 150]

I found my accent changed a bit from when I moved from the West Country (Where I had a bit of a West Country burr) to when I moved to Liverpool. I figured this is pretty natural though. All my mates are scousers, so its pretty normal to immitate them a bit (Now I have a strange mix of the two accents)

Basically, I think its pretty natrual. Though if your mate was only gone for 3 weeks then I don't know what thats about. When I go elsewhere I find myself speaking in a stronger accent just so people know where I am from

[Elfdude]

When we are born we can hear a certain number of sounds that we can produce with perfection via our vocal cords. I think our 'full alphabet' includes 240 or so different sounds. As we age our neurons are trimmed multiple times and we lose the ability to hear and reproduce sounds in favor of interpreting a greater variety of the pronunciation as the same sound. Which is basically to say we start out very specific and our mind decides hey, I'm not using this half of my sounds I'm going to cut them and instead interpret them as this half of similar sounds.

Different languages utilize different sounds, this is why some languages can be ridiculously difficult to learn and some words you will always have to use context to determine their meaning even though native speakers can easily distinguish between the sounds.

As you head to different parts of the world different individual communities all typically speak their words with a similar accent i.e. because children who are growing up there are hearing all of the words spoken this way they pronounce them this way. The communities transition till they become extremely homogenous with their accents. This is how languages diverge from one another. For example, Spanish was founded by stranded roman legions in the Iberian peninsula (Spain) because of the high mountains, political strife and local draws the legions decided to settle the area. Over time their Latin accents became more and more different than those of Italy. Eventually this difference made mutual understanding of the language difficult to the point we call one Spanish and one Italian.

When you transition from one area to another your mind gets an opportunity to reprogram it's speech. Many words are unintelligible with certain accents to others with different accents. This increases your desire to pronounce them the same way as people in the area do. You can accomplish this through practice and observation (listening/watching lips) till your accent eventually becomes a hybrid of the two. It's important to realize unless you're a child it's doubtful your accent will ever transition completely away from the one you grew up with. This is because you will always pronounce your sounds with a specific subset of available noises you can make. Speech therapists and some self taught individuals can accomplish native sounding accents via practice; however not everyone is successful at being able to do this. Presumably this is because those who are were not introduced into to the sound basis of one accent as a young child didn't build the brain connections to ever reproduce it. Television/radio has helped this immensely by exposing children to a vast variety of speaking patterns.

[MrMofo]

Possible evolutionary adaptation as well. You go to a new area, if you sound like the people there you're more accepted and more likely to be, i guess reproductively successful.

I was thinking that foreigners tend to get action because of their accents, but, really, that's a modern convention imho. Say, a 1000 years ago, a *frenchman* going to *Italy* would probably not have been welcomed so ... welcomingly, by the local populace (and yes, for all you literal thinkers, i know 1000 years is not evolutionary timeframe; merely an example).

[Elfdude]

Possible evolutionary adaptation as well. You go to a new area, if you sound like the people there you're more accepted and more likely to be, i guess reproductively successful.

I was thinking that foreigners tend to get action because of their accents, but, really, that's a modern convention imho. Say, a 1000 years ago, a *frenchman* going to *Italy* would probably not have been welcomed so ... welcomingly, by the local populace (and yes, for all you literal thinkers, i know 1000 years is not evolutionary timeframe; merely an example).

Actually many cultures have had reputations throughout history of being very good with local women. The only difference is that back then it was perfectly acceptable to beat the tar out of a frenchman for nothing but his accent and his charm. I would say the primary drive is communication.

[MrMofo]

Actually many cultures have had reputations throughout history of being very good with local women. The only difference is that back then it was perfectly acceptable to beat the tar out of a frenchman for nothing but his accent and his charm. I would say the primary drive is communication.

Okay, then allow me to amend. Having the accent slant to suit local flavor makes one reproductively successful while not having the tar whipped out of you by the local men.

haha i'm just talking out of my ass now, thinking out loud.

Seriously though, if you were a lone wandering male somehow accepted into a band of, say, thirty hunter gatherers, the ability to blend in might make one more reproductively successful with time.

[Elfdude]

Okay, then allow me to amend. Having the accent slant to suit local flavor makes one reproductively successful while not having the tar whipped out of you by the local men.

haha i'm just talking out of my ass now, thinking out loud.

Seriously though, if you were a lone wandering male somehow accepted into a band of, say, thirty hunter gatherers, the ability to blend in might make one more reproductively successful with time.

Hehe, it's fine this is all theory crafting anyways.

Perhaps, but our brains are already designed to learn to speak and listen by observing those around us. Most adults won't change their accents at all or only very slightly when moving to a new location.

[MrMofo]

See, i sorta think adults do change their accents unwillingly. I'm from eastern canada, i have an accent, sorta. When i travel i lose it. But the instant i call home to stay in touch with my parents, the instant i get on the phone with my mother, wham, i have an accent.

Ditto for when i'd come home for xmas vacation. I'd reacquire an accent, and then it was like the airport had a filter which filtered it out.

[♔Goodguy1066♔]

I have a bizzare Israeli-Welsh-British-Aussie accent. Oh well, anything's better than a Yankee accent!

[chamaeleo]

Having lived in 8 geographically removed states before graduating high school, I have learned that accents can be extremely malleable. It is probably a function of each individual's exposure, the more cultures you've lived with the easier it is to shift gears. I, and others, have noted a tendency to mimic those with whom you interact on a daily basis, perhaps to help insinuate oneself into new, different cultures...to promote acceptance as an outsider? It's mostly subconscious, but it can be consciously exploited to your advantage.

I was speaking fluent hillbilly within a year of moving from Maine to Georgia, even my swear word vocabulary made a complete turn-over. Likewise, TN to WI I lost the drawl almost completely within a few years. I lapse into a Southern drawl whenever I speak w Southerners, and I usually have more productive interactions than if I were to use my clipped Wisconsin chatter...very useful when negotiating RMAs, credit statements, insurance claims or shipping charges over the phone. As a WI undergrad attending an 8 week geology field camp run by the University of Tennessee, upon returning my Northern friends could not believe their ears...it took me about a month to shake off the drawl! Whenever I speak with Native Americans, they remind me so much of the midwestern accent that I drop the drawl, clip my words in mimicry and say "Holy Cow!" (from habit, not at all appropriate) more often than not.

This tendency to match conversational accents is not all great: my Spanish is pretty crappy right now, after spending a month in Brasil my inflections are as delivered straight from a Pedro Almodovar transvestite character. I'm sure two weeks in Mexico would cure me, assuming that this Portuguese influence doesn't get me lynched.

My everyday accent is a composite: Southern cadence (very subdued drawl) blended with a North-midwest clip (sans nasal pronunciations), punctuated by Californian lingo and expletives. Most people I meet don't know where the hell I'm from...maybe because I'm not really from any one place?!

[Gelgoog]

I have a bizzare Israeli-Welsh-British-Aussie accent. Oh well, anything's better than a Yankee accent!

yea we wouldn't want you to sound awesome or anything

oh should I say "Ello Govna!"

[Copperknickers II]

I think this is the right sub-forum since it's related to humans heh?

Anyway, my English friend, has just come back from her holiday in the Dominican Rep. for 3 week, and has developed an extremely strong American accent,

just wondering - does we subconcoiusly change our accent when we're abroad? Since I find it hard to see how our accent of say 18 years can change so much in a mere 3 weeks, - and also, there is no need for it to change is there, so why? People can still understand you in America if you speak in a nothern English accent..

I alternate between a cockney and glaswegian accent, depending on who i am speaking to (when i am emotional or in very informal situations usually involving family, its london, otherwise its Glaswegian).

I did find i had to significantly change my accent when i was in North America, as full Glaswegian is completely incomprehensible to Americans it seems.

Really it largely depends on the person. I used to live in London, for 3 years, but i have lived in Scotland for most of my life so have a Scottish accent. That said, i have a friend who lived in Hong Kong for his first couple of years then moved from there to Scotland, and he has a strong English accent for some reason (he is of Scottish descent).

[Helm]

I have a regional accent which is different to the region in which I live despite living in this region for 20 or so years.

[TheXand]

I have a mixed English/Scottish accent that just hasn't changed at all despite my having lived up here for the past dozen years or so, moved up when I was 6 or 7.

[The.Delegate]

A couple of years ago I travelled to New Zealand to visit family and go see the sights, and when I left after a month half the time I caught myself thinking in a NZ accent, found I could do a pretty decent imitation accent when I spoke. Same when I went to Quebec last summer I found I could speak in such a way so that locals thought I was a francophone even though I can barely speak a word of french! So yea I really think people will just adapt their way of speaking to their local environment to fit in better, or maybe just because those are the sounds they hear everday.

[the_mango55]

I live in North Carolina but developed somewhat of a new england accent during 3rd grade, when my teacher was from New Hampshire. I lost it in 4th grade.

I also know 2 people from Maryland, one who dropped his accent as quickly as possible and now sounds pretty much exactly like everyone else here, if not slightly exaggerated (then he moved to Idaho so I can only imagine what he sounds like now), and another who sounded the same the entire time.

I also know someone who started to talk like Butt-head in 6th grade, when Beavis and Butt-head came out. He pretty much kept this accent through high school.

[War&Politics]

So if I move to the U.S. I'll lose my ability to speak "propah" English?

[Dr. Croccer]

I used to speak ABN untill quite late into high school, when I developed a really thick Dordrecht accent.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

I'm told I have a cool accent. I come from Chicago but I think my speech is influenced by taking a ton of Spanish (I roll my Rs in some instances without meaning to) and there's a bit of Aussie drawl in there..from when I was in high school and early college when and played videogames with them. I'd adopt Aussie speech so people wouldn't make fun of me...

and now they all kinda jumbled together.

[kavino]

My Mandarin accent changed from Tianjinese to standard after prolonged exposure with the standard Mandarin speaking people.