Changing accents
Posted by Linda on April 23, 1998 at 13:48:19:
In response to an unqualified opinion., written by P. Bingham on April 22, 1998 at 20:33:42
] I would think this is because, as a whole, the family remains the most important influence in a persons life (even as much of our activities beg to differ), not the television. You can lose your accent by transporting to another region, over a period of some time, of course. But not by listening to the media, unless of course you make a conscious effort to do so. I used to have a very heavy Southern accent but since have lost it, not because I wanted to but because I was raised in California. When I go back to florida or Georgia, I revert back to my southern dialect. It's embarassing. My husband laughs at me when I speak to my relatives on the telephone as I do revert then as well. I have new neighbors from Indiana who have a southern dialect amd I'm truly worried.
] Patricia
] ]
I think that you are right. But the influence in not necessarily just family. I left all my family in the South, but I have lost most of my own Southern accent. I, too, revert when I go home, though not so much in other parts of the South, just my hometown, when with family.
So, the influence must be from all the people that you speak to regularly.
I must admit that even though my pronunciation and dialect have changed, I still speak quite slowly. I even still have trouble understanding many of the speedy speaking New Yorkers. I always say that I still listen with a Southern accent :-)
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