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I find that people who quickly take on new accents are usually highly empathic, sensitive, observant, auditory, and imaginative. They are often people pleasers and possess a high degree of awareness in general - both self awareness and sensitivity to social cues. Such a person could easily pick up an accent in just one summer, although once taken out of that region and returned to their previous location would gradually revert to their original speech patterns for the same reasons they picked up the new accent - they mimic what they hear around them.
Another way I typically see people take on new accents is through media consumption. Case in point would be all the college girls from the mid west, east coast, or south who all sound like they were born and raised in the valleys of California because of watching MTV reality shows or... something. ? I've even caught myself wanting to take on a British accent after watching too much BBC programming.
My Uncle (grew up in Boston) picked up a Minnesota accent because he was a door-to-door salesman. I'm not sure how quickly he learned it, but it's very strong. I would guess if you have a reason to pick up an accent, you'd pick it up quickly.
Besides the obvious (growing up in a certain region), what are other ways people can develop a regional accent?
For example, would it be possible for someone to spend a summer in a different region and develop the accent strongly?
No. Anyone who "picks it up" that quickly is putting it on, in my opinion. You need to spend years in a region before you start picking up the accent and even then, it will likely be mixed with your original accent. I know from experience - not just myself but I know a lot of Aussies living in the UK too - some have been here for years and still sound strongly Aussie. I don't know anyone who has ever strongly picked up an accent within only a few months. I've been living in the UK for 7 years and everyone here tells me I still sound American but my American family back home say that I have picked up an English accent a little bit. If after 7 years I've only picked it up "a little bit" I don't think it's realistic for someone to strongly develop it over one summer - unless, perhaps, they are a very young child still learning how to speak, still very impressionable - and even then, I would expect anything they picked up over the summer to fade not long after they left.
Having said that, I do know of a special needs child who is American - born and raised in the US, but her parents are Chinese and although she doesn't speak a word of actual Chinese, she has picked up her parent's Chinese accent. But like I say, she is special needs - I have NEVER seen that with "normal" kids... my parents grew up in Philly and so they pronounce "water" like "wood-der" but I grew up in central PA and say "wah-der".
I read somewhere that the accent people grow up with is determined by the kids they hang out with much more so than the accent of the parents. You can be somewhat surrounded by an accent without living in an area. I grew up in Arkansas in a small town but for some odd reason, something like 20% of my class was originally from the Chicago area. Those were the kids I hung out with and it definitely influenced by accent. I actively imitated their accent until it became my own.
While attending SUNY-Albany, I resided in the "Kosher Quad", which not coincidently had the highest percentage of Downstate residents.
To make a long story short, an upstater went to an upstate university and somehow developed some sort of generic metro New York accent. Freaked me out!
I'm still trying to figure out what would be best for this character. Basically, I'm writing a Southern belle type character but she's supposed to be from Oregon. So far, I guess my best idea is that she grew up around Southern culture (she's supposed to have an aunt from Georgia and an uncle from Virginia, and she also grew up on lots of country music and stuff) but I'm not sure if it would make sense for her to speak with a Southern accent due to those factors or if I should tweak something.
I know one girl who had relatives from the South but hadn't been there herself. She spoke with an accent because she was around her relatives a lot when she was growing up. But I don't know how common that is?
I lived in Texas for three years and by the time I left I had a slight accent. But that may also be because my mum's from there.
According to most, I have a slight English or Aussie accent in my everyday speech, probably from watching too much TV out of those countries.
I read somewhere that the accent people grow up with is determined by the kids they hang out with much more so than the accent of the parents. You can be somewhat surrounded by an accent without living in an area. I grew up in Arkansas in a small town but for some odd reason, something like 20% of my class was originally from the Chicago area. Those were the kids I hung out with and it definitely influenced by accent. I actively imitated their accent until it became my own.
Yeah, this is definitely correct. Parents have a small influence on their kids' accents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goodybag
Thanks for the replies, guys.
I'm still trying to figure out what would be best for this character. Basically, I'm writing a Southern belle type character but she's supposed to be from Oregon. So far, I guess my best idea is that she grew up around Southern culture (she's supposed to have an aunt from Georgia and an uncle from Virginia, and she also grew up on lots of country music and stuff) but I'm not sure if it would make sense for her to speak with a Southern accent due to those factors or if I should tweak something.
My immediate thought reading this is that she just happened to like the accent (from her Uncle/Aunt) and she started speaking it until it became natural. That's not unheard of.
Eleanor Roosevelt spoke with a British accent because she had British tutors. You think about that angle.
On a random accent note, I knew a girl who spoke with what can best be described as a Trans-Atlantic accent. It was really weird to me, but my mom thought she spoke beautifully.
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