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Lots of coastal Californians have what I call the "surf-drawl" accent epitomized by Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, though his is obviously a highly exaggerated version of it. Of course it's thicker in SoCal but I've even detected it in a few Bay Area residents.
I think I've only met one inland Californian and honestly she just kinda sounded like a hick.
I've been razzed about talking sort of like John Denver did.
Native Californians, who have Native Californian parents, who are not too citified, have what I call the Southwestern Rural Twang. In other words, Cowboy.
It depends on where your from, though. I've met rural folks from central California who had prominent Oklahoman accents (likely descended from dust bowl refugees). On the other hand, I was shooting pool the other day with some folks from NE California, and they sounded like they from Montana or Wyoming.
On another point in this thread...who here actually pronounces the g in 'going'? I know some people do for sure, but I always assumed that standard American English omitted the g in informal speech (I always have). For example, if I were to say that I was heading in to Sacramento for the day, I'd say: I'm (g)onna head on in to Sac in an hour or so, anybody else goin'? In that example, I'd also usually drop the 'g' in 'gonna.'
I personally consider myself to have a pretty neautral accent, except I did catch myself saying "crick" to refer to a "creek" the other day.
Last edited by Widowmaker2k; 10-15-2009 at 01:46 AM..
There's something different about how a Californian pronounces vowels. Not quite sure how to describe it.
Here in the midwest, if I say "got", the short "O" sound is very exaggerated. "GAHT".
When I hear it from a Californian, it's slightly different. Less emphasis on the "shortness" of the vowel, you might say. "Got" sounds more like "Gawt" to me.
I'm from CA and i can def tell when someone is from teh south, nyc, boston, new england, etc...but can you guys tell when someone is from CA. do we have an accent? cuz i have no clue. lol.
Thanks!
I've had several professors and coworkers from southern california. They all had a light accent. I don't know how to describe it, I'd use the words surfer or valley-girl. Not stupid sounding like you saw on TV in 1991.
I mean, putting all pretense aside, it's essentially a splinter off of some of the Southern accents of the mid to late 19th century. Nothing to be ashamed of, after all, it's all due to history and early migration patterns.
It's more the person hearing. Some people have amazing discerning abilities- in Boston, one coworker said she could tell the difference between Massachusetts towns and said she could tell I was from northern California.
What the heck is the difference between NorCal and SoCal? Besides that they talk slower in LA? I have no idea.
Where does that one come from? I heard that one up in Spokane, WA.
I looked it up, and some people said it was the rural South (which is what I assumed), but one claimed that it was a rural Oregon/Washington thing. They're probably both right, I'd imagine it started in the South, but migrated to the Pacific NW in the last 150 years, with the early immigrants.
Another key indicator of a Northern Californian (or at least somebody influenced by Northern Californians) is the word "hella."
I looked it up on UrbanDictionary.com and found some amusing definitions (user submitted, of course):
Good definition:
Quote:
Hella. Originated from the streets of San Francisco in the Hunters Point neighborhood. It is commonly used in place of "really" or "very" when describing something. The Fillmore is hella better than the Mission.
Thank God LA is hella far away.
Bad definition (though amusing, poking fun at Northern Californians):
Quote:
Term used to indicate personal superiority. When spoken in conversation, the receiving party immediatley knows that the person saying the word is of a high class because of that person's NorCal roots.
Thusly, if the receiver is not of the same geography and stature, negative emotions arise from envy. A primary example is that of the frustrated SoCal dweller who is frequently subjected to the mighty and humbling presence of NorCalers.
Alternatively, Hella can alert other prestigious NorCalers that they are dealing with a higher species much like themselves. NorCaler: "That was Hella cool!"
SoCaler: "Huh? Wha? Hella? That sounds dumb."
NorCaler: "No sir. You sir are Hella dumb. Good day."
SoCaler: "Oh yah. You're...dumbererer. Keanu rules!!"
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