the California accent (Los Angeles: real estate, 2014, estate)

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

I'm guessing you didn't grow up in Lakewood, Downey or Bellflower.

Correctimundo!

Just remember that SoCal starts at about Santa Barbara and extends all the way to San Diego.

The cities you named bring to my mind islands of uneducated people, low class areas. I'm guessing you didn't grow up in those cities either!

BTW we don't call it "back east" out here. Only easterners call it that. Dead giveaway of a New Yorker or the like.

[radiolibre99]

Some people might find this funny but I detect the California accent in Sean Penn. When I hear him in interviews, that's what I think of when I think of a generic almost neutral California accent. There hints of that CA surfer accent in there that I can detect similar to how a young Southerner might some twang in their otherwise neutral accent (sort of like Aziz Ansari).

Obvious ones are Keanu Reeves.

[Lovehound]

Well I just checked and Penn is a genuine SoCal, attended Santa Monica High. Secular household. I would think it could be quite possible he could have some surfer talk in him since SM is of course mere blocks or a few miles from the beach.

Keanu Reeves has his a very mixed heritage from a quick gloss of Wikipedia. Doesn't appear to be California at all except after he began his acting career. I could be wrong...

But to complete the picture where are your roots radiolibre? You have to rule out your listener bias.

I'm from SoCal and accept that I may not be unbiased, but national news and other national media sound strictly the same way I speak English.

You should hear my Gringo Spanish!

BTW I'm white bread, and a college graduate. I've always been good at English in school. I'm well educated, upper-middle class, no ethnicity at all, family on both sides been in the country for generations.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Well I just checked and Penn is a genuine SoCal, attended Santa Monica High. Secular household. I would think it could be quite possible he could have some surfer talk in him since SM is of course mere blocks or a few miles from the beach.

Keanu Reeves has his a very mixed heritage from a quick gloss of Wikipedia. Doesn't appear to be California at all except after he began his acting career. I could be wrong...

But to complete the picture where are your roots radiolibre? You have to rule out your listener bias.

I'm from SoCal and accept that I may not be unbiased, but national news and other national media sound strictly the same way I speak English.

You should hear my Gringo Spanish!

BTW I'm white bread, and a college graduate. I've always been good at English in school. I'm well educated, upper-middle class, no ethnicity at all, family on both sides been in the country for generations.

Born and raised Texan, and can tell the difference between Texan Southern accent and the Deep South states such as Tennessee and Georgia. I notice the little twangs in someone such as Aziz Ansari or Danny McBride because they're both from Virginia. They speak pretty neutral but the accent slips out now and again.

It's the same concept with Sean Penn. His accent is for the most part neutral but I can still hear the Californian in it. It's almost a few decibels away from sounding totally Spicoli from Fast Times.

Not everyone is going to sound like a surfer. Just like not every Southerner is going to sound like a yokel. A lot of people have pretty much neutral accents these days with minor slips in their vernacular.

You can hear it in younger New Yorkers such as Joe Santagato from YouTube. He sounds pretty neutral but with certain words you can hear the New Yorker.

[Lovehound]

Sorry, I know few if any of those people. My personal travel takes me mostly to AZ, UT, NM and a bit of CO, and I rarely detect any accent in those states. Mind you, I don't have a "native test kit."

I think if there is any California accent at all it's pretty close to mainstream US English.

By the way, just how exactly would you define unaccented US English? What's your comparison standard? Mine is national media television, primarily news programming.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Sorry, I know few if any of those people. My personal travel takes me mostly to AZ, UT, NM and a bit of CO, and I rarely detect any accent in those states. Mind you, I don't have a "native test kit."

I think if there is any California accent at all it's pretty close to mainstream US English.

By the way, just how exactly would you define unaccented US English? What's your comparison standard? Mine is national media television, primarily news programming.

Yes, it's the standard accent you'll find on Television and media news sources. Neutral is pretty easy to find on TV.

But I've traveled around the country a lot and I was surprised to find how no matter where I went I found that rural almost southern sounding accent in every state. It's probably just the standard rural accent but while it varied a lot, it was still "country" in a way. I heard it in people in Oregon, Inland California, Colorado, and met people from Ohio who sounded straight country. Granted all of these people were much older, but I think that it might be a generational thing too.

[Bert_from_back_East]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Correctimundo!

Just remember that SoCal starts at about Santa Barbara and extends all the way to San Diego.

The cities you named bring to my mind islands of uneducated people, low class areas. I'm guessing you didn't grow up in those cities either!

BTW we don't call it "back east" out here. Only easterners call it that. Dead giveaway of a New Yorker or the like.

First of all, I'm not from New York nor have I ever lived in New York or in a state that borders New York.

Second of all, it's a screen name -- don't put too much stock into it. Usually, when someone asks where I'm from, I rarely, if ever, say "back East." Instead, I tell them the city and state in which I grew up. Also, there are many people in California, whether they grew up here or not, who use the term "back East," similar to how there are many people in the East who use the term "out West."

Thirdly, there are few self-respecting residents of Santa Barbara and neighboring communities, whether they grew up in the area or not, who consider themselves Southern Californians in the same vein as people from Los Angeles or Orange County. I take it you've probably never heard of the "keep LA 90 miles away" campaign that has quite a bit of traction in Santa Barbara County. The purpose of the movement is to keep the surly, elitist attitudes such as yours as well as haphazard development as far away from their idyllic community as possible.

Finally, many people who grew up in Lakewood or East Long Beach during the 1950's, 60's or 70's are certainly NOT low-class, uneducated rednecks. For the most part, those areas have always been solidly middle- or upper-middle-class and, to a large extent, still are. Of course, the character of those areas has changed over the years due to the inundation from the Third World, but much of the original character has still been retained.

If I had to guess, you grew up on the Westside or in the Valley. Based on some of your posts, it seems like you're descended from more of an East Coast tradition, specifically New York/New Jersey, than a Texas/Oklahoma/Lower Midwestern tradition like most white people in the Gateway Cities.

[radiolibre99]

Hmm, I don't know if a study has ever been done on this but I have noticed, and this is purely anecdotal, that Californians with linkage to the East Coast fare a lot better than natives with generations in CA. A lot of the upper middle to wealthy people I've talked to in LA have familial connections to the East Coast. It reminds me a lot of South Florida.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Yes, it's the standard accent you'll find on Television and media news sources. Neutral is pretty easy to find on TV.

Well there you go. The TV neutral sounds very natural to me, I'm pretty sure that's MY accent: none or neutral TV. However it's quite possible I'm not typical of some or most Californians. I rarely hear any California accent if there is one, but I also travel mostly in business and highly educated circles, definitely don't interface with poor or ghetto people. And IE is a place I avoid except for the Interstate during travel.

You are more widely traveled than I. I have sometimes "helicoptered in" (jet travel really) on business trips at various spots across the country, but never long enough than to do my business and GTFO back home.

I really like the Southern accent, it sounds so comforting and soothing. I dislike NY and NJ (not the same) and also realize there are multiple accents in NY.

Speaking about accents I find Indian (the country) accents to be amusing--when you can understand them. Funny, I think the statistic is something like 99% of India speaks English as a second language!

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Well there you go. The TV neutral sounds very natural to me, I'm pretty sure that's MY accent: none or neutral TV. However it's quite possible I'm not typical of some or most Californians. I rarely hear any California accent if there is one, but I also travel mostly in business and highly educated circles, definitely don't interface with poor or ghetto people. And IE is a place I avoid except for the Interstate during travel.

You are more widely traveled than I. I have sometimes "helicoptered in" (jet travel really) on business trips at various spots across the country, but never long enough than to do my business and GTFO back home.

I really like the Southern accent, it sounds so comforting and soothing. I dislike NY and NJ (not the same) and also realize there are multiple accents in NY.

Speaking about accents I find Indian (the country) accents to be amusing--when you can understand them. Funny, I think the statistic is something like 99% of India speaks English as a second language!

Who in their right mind would ever find that nasally Brooklyn accent appealing? I have a buddy of mine from Rhode Island, love him to death, great guy but his accent grates my ears. I hear him on the phone with his buddies and they all sound like Peter Griffin clones. Not appealing.

I am Texan to the core, but I have a very neutral accent. Most people are shocked to find out I am from Texas and just assume I am from CA. Most young people in Texas, if they were born in the burbs or the city, typically have neutral accents. That is just standard these days and the only way you'd know otherwise is with certain words or slips.

I think the Northeast and the Eastern side of the Deep South still have heavy accents.