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Agree with the above posters. Go to New York's Spanish-language neighborhoods in Queens (like Corona) or the Bronx (e.g., Norwood), and Hispanics generally answer your Spanish questions in perfect "Noo Yawk" American English. Down South, they'd most likely speak with American southern accents, y'all. Hispanics here have no detectable foreign accent unless they recently arrived undocumented from Mexico or Guatemala. Otherwise they grew up here and attended local schools with required English each year (sometimes called "language arts," but it's still English language + US-UK literature). They're native speakers of English for all intents and purposes.
I disagree somewhat, I live in New York and a lot of US born Hispanics have a Latin twang to their voice. By that I don't mean they sound foreign, but rather uniquely Latino.
I disagree somewhat, I live in New York and a lot of US born Hispanics have a Latin twang to their voice. By that I don't mean they sound foreign, but rather uniquely Latino.
listen to how that chick at :50 seconds talks, that's what I'm talking about
NYC's "Latino accent" does have Spanish influence, but it's also heavily based on the old "white ethnic" accent that Jews, Italians, and many others spoke 100 years ago - much more so than even NYC's blaccent, which is also distinctly New York.
NYC's "Latino accent" does have Spanish influence, but it's also heavily based on the old "white ethnic" accent that Jews, Italians, and many others spoke 100 years ago - much more so than even NYC's blaccent, which is also distinctly New York.
A good point. What is more "native US" than the Noo Yawk accent? -- which is the old working-class-white accent of Jewish, Sicilian Italian, and Irish immigrants (and their descendants) who arrived in the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The "Hispanic twang" is still American English, and I think only a minority of US Hispanics have it.
I don't know if it's the geographical isolation or not, but I can easily detect Hispanics from the San Luis Valley of Colorado. I went to college in Alamosa and there is a distinct accent most Hispanic residents have that is different than other towns and cities outside the Valley.
NYC's "Latino accent" does have Spanish influence, but it's also heavily based on the old "white ethnic" accent that Jews, Italians, and many others spoke 100 years ago - much more so than even NYC's blaccent, which is also distinctly New York.
Latinos in NYC don't all speak the same, though. In the video I noticed that the chick in the thumbnail speaks differently from the two dudes after her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by masonbauknight
A good point. What is more "native US" than the Noo Yawk accent? -- which is the old working-class-white accent of Jewish, Sicilian Italian, and Irish immigrants (and their descendants) who arrived in the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The "Hispanic twang" is still American English, and I think only a minority of US Hispanics have it.
Well of course it's still American, but at least where I live I do think most US born Latinos have a detectable Latino twang in their voice. The way they speak can be any combination of white, black, or uniquely Latino, though.
St Paul, Minnesota got a significant wave of Mexican immigrants in the 1920s. The descendants of those immigrants are completely assimilated now and speak with a standard Midwestern or sometimes a classic Minnesota accent.
Hispanics will naturally assimilate into the regional accent that they're living in. This applies to all people as well. First generation immigrants will no-doubt retain at least a faint foreign accent, unless they arrived in the US at a young age. 2nd generation and on will not have an accent. If you hear someone with one, they are doing it on purpose.
Hispanic-American celebrities shouldn't really be taken as examples. Many of them purposely have Spanish accents because of money. I have Spanish-speaking friends who act and frequently run into auditions for Hispanic roles with Spanish accents. Why? Americans in general perceive Hispanics to have a Spanish accent or find it funny so there is a demand for that type of role. They had to practice and eventually learned to talked like that but in reality many of them can talk English without a trace of Spanish.
I don't really understand this post. I'm a second generation Italian-American, am I or my parents expected to speak with a Neapolitan accent?
In a city like Miami I could see U.S. born Latinos speaking with a Spanish inflection. However in New York I'd expected a Nuyorican to have a New York accent or some Tejanos to have a Texas twang.
A good point. What is more "native US" than the Noo Yawk accent? -- which is the old working-class-white accent of Jewish, Sicilian Italian, and Irish immigrants (and their descendants) who arrived in the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The "Hispanic twang" is still American English, and I think only a minority of US Hispanics have it.
Don't know if they were working class, but there were small Jewish & Roman Catholic communities in the 13 colonies before the US Revolution, & afterwards. Not sure about Irish, that was certainly before the Potato Blight & the hungry times & the massive exodus from Ireland.
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