A 'California Accent' Exists: Do You Think You Have an Accent?

by AdriHead Posted 2012/09/20 19:00:00

Related Topics: Accents, California, California Accent

700 votes
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	Yes	457 votes	65%
	No	243 votes	35%

A California accent? Like, no way, dude. You can't be serious. Though Californians -- and other West Coasters -- often pride themselves in thinking that they are free of accents and speak in the purest linguistic form, a new study is here to tell us that that's all a load of crock. The California accent is alive and well!

Researchers found that California is actually home to a very distinct dialect and accent. Some examples? "Black" sounds like "block," "pen" sounds like "pin," and in general the Californian "a" is very nasally. So... whether or not you're from California, we've got to ask: Do you think you have an accent when you speak?

JEZEBEL.COM reports:
A team of researchers is canvassing California to try and nail down some of the linguistic peculiarities native to its various regions. Conventional wisdom holds that, aside from garish movie caricatures like Spicoli and Cher Horowitz, the English spoken on the west coast is clean, accentless, and standard.

spicoli cher horowitz english spoken west coast clean accentless standard

+27

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Tunnel Vision 2012/09/23 00:14:16

Yes

+6
Everyone has an accent depending on who is listening.

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More polls by AdriHead

evangel... to Orsino 2012/09/20 21:55:39

hahahaha They have a different accent. I spent much time with the British navy when I was in Hong Kong. That was before Hong Kong went back to China and they know who's American simply by the accent

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me being me 2012/09/20 20:17:57

No

I've been told I don't. It does come out on rare occasions though.

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RLUX 2012/09/20 20:17:26

Yes

I GOT ONE'DEM HECK ACCENTS

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CaliforniaBlonde 2012/09/20 20:17:05 (edited)

Yes

Ha ha, well according to this I do. But I didn't think I had one.

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666_Maggots~PassionForGlory... 2012/09/20 20:17:02

Yes

I have South New Jersey accent. And no, I do NOT say "Joisay" (apparently people think that). I say it "JER-SEE".

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Green is a color 2012/09/20 20:17:02

Yes

I am from the south. So..Yeh.

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Jacey 2012/09/20 20:16:45

Yes

I have a weird accent its a mixture of Michigan and English accent cuz I live in Michigan but I've been going to school in England for 6 years

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click1695 2012/09/20 20:15:02

Yes

If you speak. You have an accent. Of any sort.

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MissAdventure 2012/09/20 20:13:55

Yes

You bet I have a thick accent, and it's a southern drawl. You're welcome.

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TKramar 2012/09/20 20:10:36

No

+2
But the rest of you talk funny.

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Ryoko 2012/09/20 20:10:07

Yes

Yes. I have a normal accent.

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Huki68 2012/09/20 20:04:07 (edited)

Yes

Everyone have accents from another foreing person LOL

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gmiing 2012/09/20 20:03:19

Yes

Born in Biloxi, MS, raised in Boise, Idaho, lived in New Jersey and currently in Texas. What do you think? LOL

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««Gingey, the Master Debate... 2012/09/20 20:02:54

Yes

+2
I have a Texas accent and I am not ashamed of it, unlike many other Texans...

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Illjwamh 2012/09/20 20:02:11

Yes

+1
There is no such thing as "accentless", any more than there is "pure linguistic form". Wherever you're from, you're going to sound different to anybody who's from somewhere else.

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Jlmpatro 2012/09/20 20:01:25 (edited)

Yes

The accent is very regions previously colonized and for the metropolis. The herald is typical within the country and varies from one region to another. All have accents and pronunciations.

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C. C. Rider 2012/09/20 20:01:06 (edited)

No

LOVE the CA accent! IT is clean and crisp is the best way for me to put it. When I visit my cousins in LA it is a blast to listen to them.

As for me..I live in the South..all they know is I am a Yankee! lol But they can never guess what state. and make that DAMN YANKEE to them. lol

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Gordon 2012/09/20 20:00:20

Yes

I've not noticed a California accent even though I've been there. I'm from Virginia, and y'all sound different that educated Southerners. One of my uncles was a professor at UCLA, and they lived in Brentwood. I did notice a lot of drugged out people in LA, and they slurred words without making much sense. Perhaps that is the CA accent they studied. LOL!

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Tella6 2012/09/20 19:59:20

Yes

+1
I don't know since I can't hear myself speak. I think everyone has a accent to foreigners. I'm south african.

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Tom R 007 to Tella6 2012/09/21 23:18:56

+1
Correct! Every single person who speaks has an accent :-)

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Rustie 2012/09/20 19:58:04

Yes

Though I am not from California.

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Ian 2012/09/20 19:56:36

No

No, actually I can't tell.

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DP 2012/09/20 19:55:24

No

I speak in a non-regional dictation after years of being disgusted at how thick the Yinzer accents were around me. I sound like a newscaster from a vague place instead of a hick. I'm okay with being told that I sound "stuck up" because I try to pronounce words as clearly and neutrally as possible. Sometimes, people think that I'm from Maine. I think that's a compliment.

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Tom R 007 to DP 2012/09/21 23:18:10

You still have an accent. Come to my country and speak and see if no one says that you have an accent. Every person on the planet who speaks has an accent.

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DP to Tom R 007 2012/09/22 02:29:40

+1
Yes, but I don't have an "accent" here in america. You can't pinpoint from where I am form. Now, from a linguistic standpoint, every different dialect has an accent.

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Tom R 007 to DP 2012/09/22 02:52:52

What if you went to Texas? Wouldn't they think you had an accent? Many American newscasters speak in what's called a General American accent, which (despite what many Americans seem to think) is still an accent.

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DP to Tom R 007 2012/09/22 22:30:18 (edited)

Yes, I would have an accent according to them, but as I said before, my accent is more neutral than their own. I would just sound like a snobby Yank.

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Lulu's Mom 2012/09/20 19:54:10

No

But people from other states tell me I do.

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disclaimer 2012/09/20 19:50:21

Yes

If your voice sounds different, you have an accent. I have a California accent, sure. Not that bloody awful valley girl accent, but I still talk different from, say, a New Yorker.

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kyle 2012/09/20 19:47:59

No

+1
not much of an accent in ohio maybe other people will think we people have an accent i really dont know

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Gordon to kyle 2012/09/20 20:04:26

+1
My father earned his master's degree from Kenyon College when I was a boy. People spoke very clearly in Ohio when we spent 8 months a year there for 3 years.

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kyle to Gordon 2012/09/20 20:07:07

+1
i know i speak very clearly cause i live in ohio i can tell a difference from different people that live in a different state from there accent it is very interesting

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Professor Wizard 2012/09/20 19:47:54

Yes

+1
A screwd up one...

I was raised from 6mts to agae 9 in High Wycombe England...

Then spent 2 years bouncing around the world.

Then landed in Missouri - many years ago.

So now I have a Midwest / English Accent... very unusual!

I could NEVER get away with making a prank phone call to someone that knew me.

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Donnie 2012/09/20 19:46:36

Yes

i have a Midwestern accent how ever that sounds; it doesn't register to me because that how i sound and those around me sound.

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Barbi Rose 2012/09/20 19:45:59

No

+1
Like no, like this is like so like silly a question to like ask!

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Donnie to Barbi Rose 2012/09/20 19:48:13

+1
lol.

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Barbi Rose to Donnie 2012/09/20 20:04:23

like thanks :)

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Shawna 2012/09/20 19:40:23

Yes

+3
Everyone has an accent from someone's point of view. We don't have an accent to our own ears because we are used to hearing similar speech all around us.

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Illjwamh to Shawna 2012/09/20 20:03:21

+1
Exactly.

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Tom R 007 to Shawna 2012/09/21 23:16:16 (edited)

+1
Exactly! How can any intelligent person answer "no" to this question? (unless they are mute).

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