[Wikipedia-l] The value of Pronunciation

[Arwel Parry]

David 'DJ' Hedley wrote:

>>David Gerard wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>I was amazed when I moved to Walthamstow (London E17). I heard accents
>>>from people obviously born here that sounded like NOTHING ON EARTH I'd
>>>ever heard before. The Australian accent is incredibly homogeneous by
>>>comparison.
>>>      
>>>
>>American, too.  I pride myself (more or less) on speaking a very
>>standard American English with a very standard American accent.  This
>>has become more important as I speak to people whose first language is
>>not English, because a very mainstream American accent is easy to
>>understand (for people who watch American movies, at least, which
>>means a lot of people).
>>
>>Germans and Dutch and French have reported to me that I am easier to
>>understand than Angela, for example.  (She has a beautiful accent in
>>my opinion, but it sounds Very British.)
>>
>>Now, even so, I once took a fun little quiz/survey online (which I
>>can't find now) which was able to identify that I'm from the south --
>>it utilized vocabulary and pronounciation questions and in some cases
>>I had no idea that there were regional variations at all.
>>
>>--Jimbo
>>_______________________________________________
>>    
>>
>
>Most of the world can't even tell what language i'm speaking most of the
>time. I'm from Newcastle, England and have the accent to suit.
>
>I think that in Britain, the further North your accent originates from, the
>harder it is for those not from your area to understand you. The London
>accent is fairly easy to comprehend in comparison to a Manchurian or Geordie
>accent.
>
>- D. Hedley
>  
>
Manchurian? I didn't even know the northern Chinese generally spoke 
English... :)  Mancunian's not a difficult accent to understand (IMHO) 
-- see the current Doctor Who (well, it's Salford rather than Mancunian, 
but it's right next door). As to the further north you go, once you get 
past Glesga' and Embra, and west of Aberdeen you find they speak a very 
clear English in the Highlands/Inverness area with just a nice soft 
accent. The real distinction isn't "north" -- the really impenetrable 
accents are urban, and of course the accents which consistently end up 
at the bottom of surveys of desirability are Scouse and Brummie.

-- 
Arwel Parry
"Most planets have a North!" - Doctor Who
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/