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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,818,026 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vichel
The first lady on that video sounds very different. I don't know anybody who talks like that. What part of the country would she be from??
It's interesting that there's loads of videos on Youtube just on the Australian accent. I found this one that sounds more like what I hear from teenaged girls, complete with the squeaky voice ...
The way she says 'video' is what I'm talking about with taking the 'owe' sound and making it sound more like 'oi', or 'awe-ye'. It's just slight in this particular Youtube example. Also at about the 24 second mark, where she says "you know".
The first lady has a cultivated Australian accent, you hear it now and then, Margaret Pomerantz is probably another example; neither of which is super upper class sounding - I mean in the past the upper class in Australia had accents indistinguishable from RP in Britain. Her's and Margaret's are still Australian but with that definite 'properness' to their vowels. Keep in mind she probably grew up during the tail end of elocution, which was still pushed in private girls schools in particular into the 1970s.
The first lady has a cultivated Australian accent, you hear it now and then, Margaret Pomerantz is probably another example; neither of which is super upper class sounding - I mean in the past the upper class in Australia had accents indistinguishable from RP in Britain. Her's and Margaret's are still Australian but with that definite 'properness' to their vowels. Keep in mind she probably grew up during the tail end of elocution, which was still pushed in private girls schools in particular into the 1970s.
Oh well, thank god they stopped that elocution rubbish then eh? I didn't like the sound of her at all.
Like most american guys, I absolutely love the australian accent, especially on a cute girl!... but i'm not quite good enough to be able to distinguish the different ones. I also LOVE british accents but that's for a different thread.
Me too, what I dislike is how some latin "speak" english mixing words with spanish or pronouncing them just how they are written, and I'm latin !.
I suppose it goes both ways.
I don't know how many times I've heard "Costa Rica" pronounced (cost-a-ree-ca) by an English speaker.
I learned a few years ago it is Spanish for "Rich Coast."
The Spanish pronunciation makes more sense to me even in English, as (coast-a-ree-ca).
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,818,026 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdCanadian
I suppose it goes both ways.
I don't know how many times I've heard "Costa Rica" pronounced (cost-a-ree-ca) by an English speaker.
I learned a few years ago it is Spanish for "Rich Coast."
The Spanish pronunciation makes more sense to me even in English, as (coast-a-ree-ca).
I think it's kind of endearing, but I don't really understand why they inflect their sentences with what sounds like a question. What separates the different accents? Is it each capital city?
I come from Boston though (probably the least appealing accent ever), so I can't really rag on the Aussie accents
I think it's kind of endearing, but I don't really understand why they inflect their sentences with what sounds like a question. What separates the different accents? Is it each capital city?
I come from Boston though (probably the least appealing accent ever), so I can't really rag on the Aussie accents
No, Australia's accents differ more by the speaker's personality/identity rather than region.
I hear it was a legacy from British style "class-system."
Stranger still, it is common for females to have a "less broad" (pitch and/or drawl?) accent than males;
an ideal that women should sound graceful and elegant, whereas men talking that same way can seem "fruity."
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,818,026 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdCanadian
No, Australia's accents differ more by the speaker's personality/identity rather than region.
I hear it was a legacy from British style "class-system."
Stranger still, it is common for females to have a "less broad" (pitch and/or drawl?) accent than males;
an ideal that women should sound graceful and elegant, whereas men talking that same way can seem "fruity."
Yes, although the different isn't all that huge. Age is probably the biggest factor, then urban/rural, and then gender. Although when you stack all those up you have a situation where a teenage girl from the city (interestingly young kids retain a slightly more Aussie accent than teens in my experience, which isn't really surprising) can sound like she has a totally difference accent than her uncle or aunt from the country. If you see films from the 80s you'll notice that some teenage girls spoke broad Aussie; now this seems to occur only in the 'poorest' suburbs of the cities and in rural areas. For those born after about 1988 teenage boys speak with the same 'watered down' accent. Maybe this adds a bit more individual variation than compared to in North America where variation seems mostly regional.
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