Peter Lofting wrote:
FWIW
In England, within the first 30 seconds of someone opening their mouth,
its still possible to place a person to within half a county or less
purely from pronouciation.
With longer listening that picks up key marker vowels its also possible
identify what class of person they spend their time with - via either
community, work or travel. That is particularly true of immigrants who
learn their English from different classes of contact.
e.g. an Australian who lived in Canada and then moved to S. London
bears the footprints in their accent.
My accent nowadays varies wildly with who I'm talking to ...
- d.