what is the major sign of the Texas accent?

19thcentury   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 14:02 GMT
w....t?
Ed   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 18:44 GMT
Listen to Bush, and you'll see
19thcentury   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 19:12 GMT
oh come on,tell me something!i've just been listening to,and get nothing-people say that accent got relly huge charactor,but....acturally i find Renée Zellweger's accent is natural for me.
and could anyone tell me which accent does the actress Anna Faris speak with,Arkansas?
in fact i'm not American,so just let me know
Joanne   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 20:25 GMT
Well, there are a lot of Texan accents (it's the second largest state in area and population, after all), but one common feature that comes off the top of my head is the monophthong. For example, the "i" in "night" is diphthonged in General American English, but with the Texan accent, the second half of the diphthong is eschewed, so it sounds like "naht." The prominence of the monophthong varies among the North, South, East, West, and Midland Texan accents, and whether they live near the urban areas or the country.
Roo   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 20:26 GMT
Some Texans pronounce ''form'' as ''farm''. It sounds strange.
Joe   Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 21:03 GMT
Actually, yes, listening to President Bush would be quite an easy way of hearing a Texas accent. I mean I can't think of any other Texan that I hear quite as much. Actually, he's the ONLY Texan I hear because I don't know any Texans.

But Texas is a big state so yes, the accents do vary.
Brennus   Tuesday, December 14, 2004, 06:02 GMT

I've always liked the way Texans frequently say "pretty" with metathesis in it instead - perrty - even if it's incorrect . For example, PERRTY please tell me if you like it; I play good guitar and I sing PERRTY well to; PERRTY little theng ; PERRTY little love song ...etc. This pronunciation is found in many other states too but not to the extent that it is in Texas.
Brennus   Tuesday, December 14, 2004, 06:04 GMT
perrty well to = too
Ben   Tuesday, December 14, 2004, 21:34 GMT
Bush definitely has some regionalisms specific to Western or perhaps Midland Texas. Particularly the way that he occasionally overemphasizes the "t" in the words like "better" and "pitted" (bet..r as opposed to the standard American bed..r).
Joanne   Tuesday, December 14, 2004, 23:32 GMT
Actually, I thought that part of his accent was something he retained from Yale University!

And what's up with Washington foisting all these Yalies on us as president and presidential candidates, anyway? Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, Bush, Jr., John Kerry, and the next US Pres, Hillary Clinton.

Conspiracy? Hmm...
Jim   Wednesday, December 15, 2004, 00:44 GMT
It's cross-party cronyism. The Yale old boys club is a bond that stretches across the Republican-Democrat divide. How nice that they have something to share.
Paul   Sunday, December 19, 2004, 17:31 GMT
From my observation, vowel sounds are drawn out, and pronounced differently

-the "oo" sound is pronounced uh ie "roof" is pronounced "ruhf"
-the "eye" sound is pronounced "aa" ie: "pipe" is pronounced paap, right sounds like raat
-words beginning with the long O (owe sound) like orange sound more like arange
-sometimes words like "milk" or "pick" sound more like "melk" or "peck"

That's just a few of the differences though.
saad   Sunday, December 19, 2004, 19:38 GMT
bush almost has a weak texan accent. although i don't know much about his life, he was born in connecticut, went to yale (also in connecticut), and harvard in boston. half of his accent seems genuine, but it gets thicker when he wants to turn it on. as i understand, the texan accent comes from the scottish who settled there. which could make sense, since it sounds very nasal and back of the throat to me.
Joanne   Sunday, December 19, 2004, 19:51 GMT
You're right, Bush was born in Connecticut, to WASPy New England parents. But he was raised in Midland and Houston Counties in Texas before he went back east to Yale...so I guess his accent is understandably his own. Oh, and there are many more influences on Texas accents than Scots-Irish who settled there!
saad   Sunday, December 19, 2004, 20:24 GMT
yes, but where do all those crazy texan sayings come from? heh