Re: "the texan accent comes from the scottish who settled there."
I beg to disagree. Texans are Southerners and their accent is southern United States too. Scottish accents are found, however, in New Zealand and some parts of Canada, especially the further away from the U.S. border you are.
It's true that many of the white settlers who came to Texas were of Protestant Scotch-Irish stock and their ancestors who arrived in New York and Philadelphia in the mid-1700's most likely spoke with Scottish accents; but these were lost as their descendants moved further south into Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas.
I would hate to raise any point of issue with a Texan for fear of being shot dead on the spot...prior to any questions being asked, by which time, of course, it's too late. Is that not how things operate over there?
Sorry...but Americans right now are not my favourite people and there are reasons behind that statement. Maybe I can be reassured but that's doubtful as things stand.
>>Texans are Southerners and their accent is southern United States too.<<
True, the accent is Southern in the southeastern part of Texas, but to me, the accent changes a lot as you go north and west. I can usually tell between a Texas and a Southern accent. Like I said, it's the second largest state in size and population, so there are bound to be a lot of different regional accents.
>>I would hate to raise any point of issue with a Texan for fear of being shot dead on the spot...prior to any questions being asked, by which time, of course, it's too late. Is that not how things operate over there?<<
Yeesh. Excuse me while I pop my eyeballs back back into my sockets. I rolled them so hard when I read this.
What kind of accent do you speak with? Do you like your accent? What kinds of accents do you like or dislike?
I myself speak with a Boston accent. The best way to describe this is that it’s an American East Coast accent except the letter “R” is replaced by an “ah” sound. So the word “artist” becomes “ahhtist” and the word “car” becomes “cahh.” Interestingly, an “R” is often added on to the end of words that end in a vowel, so “idea” becomes “idear.”
I like my accent but I will admit it’s a dead giveaway as to where I’m from. While in Nashville, TN once I had a hard time communicating. Once I had to ask for a glass of water three times because the waiter couldn’t understand my pronunciation of water.
Hehe so anyways, what about you? And remember, everyone has an accent!
Damian,
Whether we're your favorite people or not hasn't got much to do with language or the Texas accent for that matter.
As it stands, there is a bit of a prejudice here in the North against Southern accents (a legacy of the Civil War), but this is of course is unfair, as is any prejudice solely because of accent. Sure, Texas is the home of our old friend George W., but it's a huge state...trumped only by Alaska. I don't think everyone there speaks the same way or necessarily shares the same views as George Bush (Look at the distance between El Paso and Corpus Christi). While the papers in the U.K. seemed to paint the election as a "landslide" for GWB, he won 51 to 49.....hardly a landslide by any means. I think it would be wise to keep this in mind.
I remind everyone that this forum is about English and other languages. If anyone wants to discuss politics or culture without addressing the issue of language and how it relates, then there are dozens of forums out there that are tailored to each and everyone's needs.
This forum has always been at a higher level than most other Internet forums out there because of the freedom one has to post here and the diversity/intelligence of its members. I do my best each day to maintain this higher level and enjoy doing so.
Happy Holidays, folks,
mjd
Damian,
I'm kind of disappointed at your statement, you've never come across to me as the kind that would say something like that.
I know that the United States doesn't enjoy a particularly warm and friendly reception around the world, and I certainly won't argue for the Administration. But you do need to realize, first of all, in this last election 49% of the voting population did not vote for Bush. And certainly, while Bush won in Texas, not everyone in Texas voted for Bush. Therefore you can't lump every American into the same camp. I mean I've had horrible experiences with British travelers, but I never let that outweigh the good things I think about the British.
Anyway, Texas is a much more diversified state than many, including myself think.
And it's true, Southern accents are discriminated against by Northerners. I have to admit to it myself, I've thought down of people with Southern accents before. Up North we tend to lump anyone with a southern drawl in with this stereotypical redneck crowd that's racist and simple. But you have just as much racism and simpleness up North. Bush really doesn't help ease the stereotype about the Southern accent either, especially around the world, I'm sure.
I always am just amazed at how different accents happen to develop. It's really interesting to analyze.
Dear Tomster,
I'm from the West Coast...General American speaking territory (with the possible exception of eastern Washington) and even I have had trouble understanding people from Tennessee. Many of them sound like they have marbles in their mouths when they talk.
I'm surprised that Seattle English doesn't have a Boston sound to it since most of the early settlers and pioneers here came from New England, primarily Massachusetts; but Seattle sounds very much like the so-called General American spoken from the West Coast all the way to Ohio and then into parts of Pennsylvania ending in Delaware on the Atlantic coast. This type of English is considered neutral sounding by most people I've talked to, with no distinguishing characteristics but I don't know what it sounds like to your ears.
