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Old 04-27-2011, 10:10 PM
 
326 posts, read 685,990 times
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I don't think californians have accents but when I hear fellow east coasters I immediately think they have an accent even though I probably sound just like them... I don't know why this is
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Old 04-28-2011, 12:54 AM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,581 posts, read 27,254,765 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
Wasn't that over 150 years ago? If so, that would be a long time for such a speech pattern to survive. However, an interesting thought.
Really dude? You really think I'm 150 years old?
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Old 04-28-2011, 01:22 AM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,760,092 times
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Speaking of regional speech: A black guy using dude. That's rare.
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Old 04-28-2011, 02:04 AM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,581 posts, read 27,254,765 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
Speaking of regional speech: A black guy using dude. That's rare.
Haven't spent much time in SD I take it? Told you, I've picked up a few terms here and blacks use that term here as much as anyone else
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Old 04-28-2011, 02:22 AM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,760,092 times
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No, I haven't. Most of my time is spent in the varrio, ese.
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Old 04-28-2011, 07:28 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,118,638 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo View Post
Really dude? You really think I'm 150 years old?
A girl I know from Ireland said to me that it was really interesting because a lot of the Irish who immigrated to the city were from Cork and they have that habit there according to what she said.

I don't see anything in that quote that would indicate your age. The girl you know could have been an SF or Irish historian for all I know. Plus you used the past tense. If you'd said "a lot of the irish who have immigrated to the city are from Cork", I'd have thought you were speaking about now. Plus my gggrandmother did come to San Francisco from Cork in the 1850s.
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Old 04-28-2011, 03:22 PM
rah
 
Location: Oakland
3,314 posts, read 9,201,282 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn View Post
(Pats self on back.)

I knew immediately this guy wasn't from SoCal. He said California like the "Cal" almost rhymes with cow. Or cauiflower. A SoCal native gives it the Cal rhymes with Hal. Or Cal as in Cal Worthington. (Edit: Someone else on this thread also picked that up. That's what happens when you skip around on the thread. Well done.)
yeah, i've noticed that some Northern Californians sometimes seem to almost drop their L's at the end of words...kind of like the L is nearly forgotten, and then quickly/quietly added on at the end of speaking the word. "Control" would sound a bit more like "controe", "cal" sounds a bit more like "cow", "missile" would be more like "missoe", etc, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
Speaking of regional speech: A black guy using dude. That's rare.
not in California it ain't! Even many of the most ghetto, non-surfer dude types of people here in the Bay Area use the word "dude" a lot.
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Old 05-12-2013, 10:14 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,197 times
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Default California regional dialects

Quote:
Originally Posted by KC6ZLV View Post
Every region has their own dialect.

I think there are about three or four general California dialects that have a noticeable difference in pronunciation. Northern California, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. The differences are subtle in most cases, to very obvious in some parts of the San Joaquin Valley. There are several others where the main difference is in the use of vocabulary or slang. They usually appear to belong to metro areas specifically. One of the classic ones is how highways are addressed. Here in Sacramento it is usually, "I-5, US-50, Hwy-99." People from Los Angeles invariably say, "the-5, the-50, the-99." I hear freeways in the Bay Area often addressed with just the number. "one-oh-one, six-eighty," and so on. In Fresno they quite often add the preposition "on" in front of the number. "On 41, on 168, on, niney-nine ." A lot of people in Fresno drop the pronunciation of t. I should also note, that dialect in the San Joaquin Valley is the result of the Okies who came during the depression. The degree of the dialect ranges from imperceptible in the cities to very noticeable in some rural towns.

There are quite a few maps of American dialects.

[URL="http://aschmann.net/AmEng/#LargeMap4Left"]American English Dialects[/URL]

This one shows the San Joaquin Valley as having a dialect. It also shows the Bay Area as having a dialect similar to the "Midland America" dialect. I've seen other maps which show the same dialect extending through the Sacramento Valley to Portland. I've also seen maps showing this dialect followed the railroads to the West. The same article mentioned Sacramento and Portland sharing some of the characteristics found in Philadelphia.

[URL="http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/dial-map.html"]FAST-US-1 Intro to American English Reference File[/URL]

The second map shows a difference between Northern and Southern California, but a difference between Northern California and Oregon. I think the people in the Sacramento Valley up through the Portland Metro area speak the same.
I would say you are right on in regards to accents in California. I will add my thoughts in general. Words we say..how we say them ...names we have for things etc. My family came to the San Joaquin Valley in the 1880's...From the Azore Islands...as many many immigrants in the Central Valley..East Bay etc. My other side from Michigan. Settled originally in what we call "The Islands" Roberts Island..Brannon Island which is basically the San Joaquin Delta very close to Stockton. Then moving "closer to town" Stockton,French Camp, Lathrop and Manteca area..and yes we say hwy 99..hwy 50 ...I -5. Things are changing though as we have so many B.A.T.S. Bay Area Transplants...moving to "The Valley" My family were successful farmers..and those that were not farming worked in the local community. Private business...etc..We actually had a small orchard of almonds(aahmonds) and walnuts..We had a few A-pricot trees as opposed to ahpricots. The joke is if you grow almonds you call them aahmonds. Forget the L as it is silent.Well unless one is pronouncing the candy bar "almond joy" Then the L is pronounced. I would say this is very regional as I live in the Bay Area right now and I get strange looks when I pronounce almond that way. I refuse to change as it is my connection to my home.
We say ditch instead of canal. We say "freeway" unless we are giving one directions then we might say. I-5 or interstate 5. hwy 99 etc. I do feel it is urban/rural difference although I would say even though Sacramento, which we cal "Sacto" and Oakland"East Bay" are about equal distance..the San Joaquin Valley would be closer to "Sacto" in culture.
I have a friend from So-Cal who frequently teases me by saying "stop speaking with that Valley accent" There is a bit of an almost twang in some things we say. Not to be confused with what So-Cals would consider "Valley" accents. Trust me it is apples and oranges. I remember my cousin coming up here from "L.A." in the 60's.. He used the word "bitchen" all the time. We were mortified!!! As were my parents. Well until we knew what it meant.
Many of us consider anything south of Bakersfield "L.A." There can be a bit of hate between Nor-Cal and So-Cal. California is as diverse as it's micro-climates. There are many of us up north that cringe when we see a dodger uniform...Go Giants!!!.
A few other odd notes...We say San ha-zA..all run together for San Jose. Well unless we are speaking Spanish then it is as it should be. Living in the East Bay now when we hear someone say "Frisco" it is like nails on a chalk board and they are usually not from here. We would say "The City" which has nothing to do with population as even in Oakland we refer to San Francisco that way, NEVER Frisco. I also have noticed that my friends from S.F. that are native have a bit of a midwest accent. Very odd..but then they feel the same when I say "aahmonds"
Just my thoughts...
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Old 05-15-2013, 08:08 PM
 
120 posts, read 215,845 times
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We have what is referred to a News Casters Accent. However we do have certain words and inflections that give us away. We tend to elongate our vowels and some of us say words such as "like" every other word. I try to break that habit but the more I try the more I say it. Like, damn it! Anyway, if you are interested, type "what US accent do I have. You will be asked how you pronounce words and i will give you an answer. I got a Western Accent, surprise, and my Martins Ferry, Ohio born boyfriend got Midlands. It's pretty good. Also remember that many people from Oklahoma came here during the Dust Bowl so in the San Joaquin Valley, you may hear traces of the accent. Example: Pin-pen merger. Supposedly they say those words the Same. I am in Los Angeles and I do say ind instead of end. Also remember, California has a wide variety of immigrants from other states and countries so their influences are great on the language and accent here. Spanish plays a big part , in fact. Anyway, Have fun and post you results.
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Old 05-15-2013, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,118,638 times
Reputation: 6920
I took the quiz and have a Western accent. No surprise considering my whole family's been in the West since the 19th century.

What's interesting is my son was born in Northern Virginia and also tested as having a Western accent. Apparently there's a strong familial influence.

Last edited by CAVA1990; 05-15-2013 at 08:27 PM..
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