Midwestern English in LA? (Los Angeles: transplants, home, college)

[EnchantedEvergreen]

I notice that people in the Los Angeles area and much California talk just like people in the Midwest. I am from the south Chicago suburbs and notice a few things. No one (accept "out of towners," inner city people, and "trendy" people) speaks with a noticeable accent. That means no funny sounding letters and lack of slang.
The point I'm trying to make is that people like me, middle class, and most upper class people in both areas speak "Midwestern" English. I think that's really nice because if I come to a nice part of your town, I won't have trouble being heard. I noticed this on TV, radio, and from friends of mine.

[Fontucky]

I take it you haven't spent much time around the So Cal surf culture.

You may not notice it, but I can pick out a Southern California native before they finish one short sentence. There's a discernible yet subtle accent, or cadence, or whatever. I'm no linguist, but something's there and I recognize it.

As far as where you're from, that accent is as noticeable to us as a Brooklyn accent is. I can always recognize a Northern Illinois/Chicago accent.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by EnchantedEvergreen

I notice that people in the Los Angeles area and much California talk just like people in the Midwest.

I can easily tell if someone is from the midwest: Chicago, Michigan, Buffalo, etc. There's somewhat of a nasally drawl.

When saying Charles, instead of char-urls people pronounce it chair-urls.

They also sort of look the same too. Every January 1st, with their very white skin, Disneyland hats, Bo Schembechler sun glasses, and frustrated frowns after every Rose Bowl game getting back on the buses back to LAX and then on to the gray skies and snow.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by EnchantedEvergreen

I notice that people in the Los Angeles area and much California talk just like people in the Midwest. I am from the south Chicago suburbs and notice a few things. No one (accept "out of towners," inner city people, and "trendy" people) speaks with a noticeable accent. That means no funny sounding letters and lack of slang.
The point I'm trying to make is that people like me, middle class, and most upper class people in both areas speak "Midwestern" English. I think that's really nice because if I come to a nice part of your town, I won't have trouble being heard. I noticed this on TV, radio, and from friends of mine.

Thats because Los Angeles seems to be the most desired place for Midwesterns to relocate. There are so many "transplants" here that one would have to think that the rest of the country is all moving to LA.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

I take it you haven't spent much time around the So Cal surf culture.

You may not notice it, but I can pick out a Southern California native before they finish one short sentence. There's a discernible yet subtle accent, or cadence, or whatever. I'm no linguist, but something's there and I recognize it.

As far as where you're from, that accent is as noticeable to us as a Brooklyn accent is. I can always recognize a Northern Illinois/Chicago accent.

I disagree. It's been a while now, but I remember reading that west coast english was one of the only "dialects" that was without accent. that is to say its a dialect without being a dialect, pure american english if you will

[pbergen]

i read somewhere that there's no such thing as pure american english. although the average person who doesn't have an obvious regional accent most likely thinks he or she speaks standard american english (i call it the language of suburbia), a linguist might describe it as neutral with some subtle regionalisms. even "proper" american english (for instance, the speaking style of tv news anchors) is still considered an accent.

[pbergen]

it's funny how a lot of us don't realize that the way we speak has been subtly affected by the places we've lived.

i grew up with a lot of blue collar italians and irish in the new york area. some (but not all) of my classmates and their parents spoke with the thickest, most stereotypical accents imaginable. picture james gandolfini, bill parcells, joe pesci, or tony siragusa, and you'll have a good idea what some of my friends' dads were like.

yet in spite of being surrounded by such strong accents, i never developed one myself; in fact, i always assumed that the way i spoke was completely standard. in college (still in the northeastern u.s.), this belief was reinforced when i met people from suburban chicago, seattle, the bay area, southern california, florida, and suburban dallas and houston who pretty much seemed to talk the way i did. if there was any divergence in pronunciation or cadence, i just dismissed it as an individual quirk.

but once i actually visited some of these people on their home turf during summer breaks, i began to pick up on the differences.

in chicago, people say the words "talk", "walk", and "caught" like "tock", "wok", and "cot", whereas i would say "tawk", "wawk", and "cawt". waitresses there seemed slightly perturbed when i asked for a "cawfee" and "ahr-inj juice" and confused when i ordered a soda (as opposed to "pop"). not to mention, their accents are awfully nasal compared to what i'm used to; they would pronounce "larry" as "LAIR-ree" and "american" as "uh-MARE-i-kin", whereas i would say "LAH-ree" and "uh-MEH-rih-kun".

once my chicago friends and i were all back in new york, i started to notice that even they had a subtle midwestern inflection to their otherwise neutral american english. although their pronunciation of the telltale words was relatively muted, it had now become obvious to me. evidently, being exposed to a place where midwestern english is the norm had made me more attuned to the regional differences.

the same thing happened with my LA friends. i never felt that the way they spoke was particularly noteworthy until i visited LA for the first time. being surrounded by native southern californian kids made me realize that my friends' quirks, such as interjecting the word "yeah" in every other sentence (e.g. "so, um, yeahhh, you know, that place was pretty cool, and um...(pause)...yeahhh..."), wasn't just an individual thing. i also noticed that a lot of the girls spoke with what might be described as a valley girl accent and cadence, even if they grew up in san marino, beverly hills, fullerton, or torrance. interestingly, none of them seemed to realize this until i pointed it out. but to me, it's now very apparent in a good number of the native younger southern californian females i've met.

similarly, there's a certain flow to the way a lot of the native californian guys speak. i can't put my finger on it, but it kind of sounds like a really relaxed midwesterner with a generally neutral accent - there are some of the same pronunciations, but with a different flow. again, it's something that's become obvious to me as an outsider, but hard to quantify.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

I disagree.

You disagree with what? That I can pick up a subtle So Cal speech inflection in natives?

Oh, ok. I must be imagining it.

[the one]

everyone has an accent. i didnt think i did, until i moved to the bay, and someone told me where i was from. real "east los". blew me away. i aint even from east los.

we all have accents. but LA folks, might have a mixture of foreign/urban/surf/transplant. its an amalgam. too many folks coming form evrywhere. its bound to happen.

it also depends on where you grew up. in east los or south central you will have an accent. south central is a particular one. its a bit spanish, with hood speak. very interesting it is. i love listening to the lil hoodrats on the bus or train. black and brown girls talking with a spanish/hood accent.

its great.

i love LA.

[CaliDude1]

A couple of years ago I was at a grease joint in Atlanta. I pointed out the specific piece of fried chicken that I wanted. "I'll take this one right here," I told the guy behind the counter. He responded with, "You must be from Cali." I wondered how he knew I was a West Coast guy when all I was trying to do was experience some good southern eats. It was because I said "hee-er" as opposed the southern "hurr".

Californians have accents. I don't know if I would call them midwestern,though.