Sunday, March 28, 2004, 09:43 GMT
There are a great many different accents in America. The basic American accent, like people have said before, is basically midwestern. However, those of us who are from different parts of the country definitely speak differently.
I'm from Atlanta, while my parents are from different parts of Georgia. My father has a different accent from my mother, and I picked up (somehow) a slightly different accent while growing up.
In the south, at least in Georgia, there are a few different accents. You've got the low country accent, which is the classic, genteel southern aristocratic sound. There's also the mountain accent, which is MUCH softer and more reminiscent of various British accents, but it's definitely not the Queen's English. There's also a lower-class accent that folks around here call "redneck" or "hick" which is pretty close to what I wound up speaking. And then, there's the Governor accent, which I honestly don't think that anyone learns natively, but every prominent state politician speaks in to sound more "authentically" native.
I don't recommend learning any southern American accent (With the possible exception of the low country tone) as a primary mode of speaking in the US. It's very much looked down upon. People consider southern speakers as automatically stupid and backwards, which is often far from the truth. (Most of the classic literary authors in America are southern. Hemmingway, Faulkner, O'Connor, Conroy, Twain and more.)
In high school, I learned to speak more like the man on the 6 o'clock news. (The national news, meaning Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings, who speak with a perfectly coached midwestern accent.)
I'm from Atlanta, while my parents are from different parts of Georgia. My father has a different accent from my mother, and I picked up (somehow) a slightly different accent while growing up.
In the south, at least in Georgia, there are a few different accents. You've got the low country accent, which is the classic, genteel southern aristocratic sound. There's also the mountain accent, which is MUCH softer and more reminiscent of various British accents, but it's definitely not the Queen's English. There's also a lower-class accent that folks around here call "redneck" or "hick" which is pretty close to what I wound up speaking. And then, there's the Governor accent, which I honestly don't think that anyone learns natively, but every prominent state politician speaks in to sound more "authentically" native.
I don't recommend learning any southern American accent (With the possible exception of the low country tone) as a primary mode of speaking in the US. It's very much looked down upon. People consider southern speakers as automatically stupid and backwards, which is often far from the truth. (Most of the classic literary authors in America are southern. Hemmingway, Faulkner, O'Connor, Conroy, Twain and more.)
In high school, I learned to speak more like the man on the 6 o'clock news. (The national news, meaning Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings, who speak with a perfectly coached midwestern accent.)