My Accent

Francis   Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:13 pm GMT
So, I recorded "Comma Gets a Cure". I am a native speaker of English. See if you can guess where I am from, and tell me how "accented" I sound to you, or anything else that you notice about my accent/dialect. Rather than guessing all across the board, to make it easier, I've made it multiple choice! I am from one of the places listed below (listed in alphabetical order by city). All of the cities are in North America.

1) Aberdeen, South Dakota
2) Albany, New York
3) Boise, Idaho
4) Calgary, Alberta
5) Ceder Rapids, Iowa
6) Charleston, South Carolina
7) Chicago, Illinois
8) Dallas, Texas
9) Denver, Colorado
10) Flint, Michigan
11) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
12) Hartford, Connecticut
13) Helena, Montana
14) Las Vegas, Nevada
15) Ottawa, Ontario
16) Miami, Florida
17) Portland, Oregon
18) Rochester, New York
19) San Francisco, California
20) Seattle, Washington
21) Tucson, Arizona
22) Vancouver, British Columbia
23) Washington, District of Columbia


Here is the download link to "Comma Gets a Cure":

http://www2.zippyshare.com/v/86472443/file.html
Guest   Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:44 pm GMT
No sign of NCVS, no sign of Southern American English: I'd guess Phoenix, AZ or Las Vegas, NV; if not those places, somewhere else on the West Coast.
Levee   Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:52 pm GMT
It's impossible to tell so exactly, I guess somewhere from the northwestern US or Canada.
Guesser   Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:10 pm GMT
My guess is Canada or part of the US close to Canada.
Guest   Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:55 am GMT
I do not think it is from Canada. My guess would be San Francisco.
Guest   Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:35 pm GMT
>> No sign of NCVS <<

What is ncvs?
Guest   Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:27 pm GMT
NCVS is the acronym for Northern Cities Vowel Shift, which is spoken around the Great Lakes. To wit:

http://snipurl.com/2tyq5
[en_wikipedia_org]
Sho   Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:23 am GMT
Francis,

It's hard to be precise, but to me you sounded a little bit Canadian.
Guest   Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:47 am GMT
Ottawa
Bob   Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:18 am GMT
Sorry, Frank.

I couldn't bring myself to listen; the possibility of having to tolerate rhoticism was too off-putting.
Guest   Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:54 pm GMT
>> I couldn't bring myself to listen; the possibility of having to tolerate rhoticism was too off-putting. <<

Hmm. You didn't even want to listen to it? What is rhoticism and why is it so bad?
Guest   Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:35 am GMT
Oh I looked up what it is. The pronunciation of the letter "r". So I guess you were being sarcastic, right, Bob?
Guest   Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:39 am GMT
The American way of doing it I think is what he is referring to... A British snob in other words...
Josh   Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:08 am GMT
"It's impossible to tell so exactly, I guess somewhere from the northwestern US or Canada."

As a Washingtonian, I agree.
Guest   Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:46 am GMT
I've noted a common thread in the guesses: most guess either the West Coast or Canada.

Francis, come on--it's time to 'fess up; where are you from?