Accent is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music), liaisons (word
connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations).
Accents are influenced by a people’s geographical region of origin, their age, social background and education, and whether they have moved away from their home area. Nowadays it may also be influenced by external factors such radio or television. Amongst speakers of English as an additional language accent is often influenced by the pronunciation and intonation patterns of the first language.
Contrary to popular belief, grammar and accent are completely different, unrelated terms. Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the language.
connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations).
Accents are influenced by a people’s geographical region of origin, their age, social background and education, and whether they have moved away from their home area. Nowadays it may also be influenced by external factors such radio or television. Amongst speakers of English as an additional language accent is often influenced by the pronunciation and intonation patterns of the first language.
Contrary to popular belief, grammar and accent are completely different, unrelated terms. Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the language.
My accent, being from south-west, has to be different from someone far off, say north-east. Here's a story:
An Outsider in a small Texas town around Christmas time, saw a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. But one small feature was all wrong: the three wise men were wearing firemen's helmets.
Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, he left. At a "Quik Stop" on the edge of town, he asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.
She exploded into a rage, yelling, "You darn Yankees never read your Bibles!"
The Outsider assured her that he did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible.
She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and riffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage. Sticking it in the guys face she said, "See, it says right here, 'The three wise men came from afar.'"
An Outsider in a small Texas town around Christmas time, saw a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. But one small feature was all wrong: the three wise men were wearing firemen's helmets.
Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, he left. At a "Quik Stop" on the edge of town, he asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.
She exploded into a rage, yelling, "You darn Yankees never read your Bibles!"
The Outsider assured her that he did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible.
She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and riffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage. Sticking it in the guys face she said, "See, it says right here, 'The three wise men came from afar.'"
by Ben69 September 6, 2006
Get the accent mug.American accents includes a huge variety that differs from state to state, even from borough to borough in nyc. It is not superior or inferior to any other English accents, and is just as beautiful as any other accents. Not all Americans sounds like hicks, and there's nothing wrong with sounding like a hick either.
by Ethanofnyc January 7, 2007
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by visagiftcard April 7, 2007
Get the Long Island Accent mug.The verbal diarrhoea and bizarre speech strong drugs (not necessarily Heroin) cause in bag heads and Chavs.
They slur, stammer, and speak from the back of the throat in a strange, zombie like, and above all LOUD voice, with entirely random emphasis, and a truly stunnin use of the word FUCK in all its forms, used where there should have been a pause. All apparently with absolutely NO self awareness AT ALL!
See Bez from The Happy Mondays for an excellent example!
They slur, stammer, and speak from the back of the throat in a strange, zombie like, and above all LOUD voice, with entirely random emphasis, and a truly stunnin use of the word FUCK in all its forms, used where there should have been a pause. All apparently with absolutely NO self awareness AT ALL!
See Bez from The Happy Mondays for an excellent example!
Man, Im fuckin WELL in fuckin NEED man, fuck, you know what I fuckin MEAN man, lets DO this fuckin place man, come on, fuck it, I dont fuckin give a SHIT me man, you know what I fuckin MEAN man? FUCK! U got any spare CHANGE man? HEY!! FUCK you man FUCK you!! etc etc etc ad nauseum
by ..WiL May 20, 2005
Get the Heroin accent mug.The Baltimore accent is a dialect that originated among the blue-collar workers of Baltimore City and is often referred to as "Baltimorese". Its most notable characteristic is the nasally stressed "O" vowel producing a sound close to "Eh-oo". People also tend to use the word "hon" a lot, although this is heard mostly only in the city. The accent sounds very similar to the Philadelphia accent, but with a dash of a southern to it. While it is heard most often and thickest in Baltimore City it is not limited to the city itself and has colored the speech of all the surrounding counties, varying in intensity and usage depending on how close or far from the city one is. If one is thirsty, they ask for a glass of "wooder". If they want to go to Ocean City they say they're "goeen downey owe shin." On the weekends one goes "say-leen" on the "chest-peak bay". "L"s are darkened or not pronounced unless at the beginning of the word. Unlike the south, the i's in words like "right", "might", "kite", etc. are shortened and sound much more northern. "Th's" get pronounced as "d's" or "t's". Unique to Philly and Baltimore, the accent in addition to the Philly accent is the only east coast accent to have developed with inclusion of the pronunciation of "r". Other local dialacts like charleston, new york, and boston do not pronounce their "r"s.
Often Marylanders will try to say Maryland has no accent, but the Baltimore accent makes it impossible to prove this. For all they know, they may have a hint of the accent themselves and never know until they leave the state and come back.
Often Marylanders will try to say Maryland has no accent, but the Baltimore accent makes it impossible to prove this. For all they know, they may have a hint of the accent themselves and never know until they leave the state and come back.
The Baltimore accent is not exactly northern and not exactly southern - how fitting for a state that is just that!
by baltimorekid December 15, 2008
Get the Baltimore Accent mug.The first DLC installment in Call of Duty Black Ops. The main four characters arrive at a Soviet cosmodrome abandoned by the remnants of the "Ascension" group and are met with a horde of zombies, given the new perks (Stamin-Up and PhD Flopper) new weapons (Matroyshka Dolls and Gersch Device) they must outwit those of the undead. Also,this was the first map to introduce easter eggs.
by Group935 August 2, 2017
Get the Ascension mug.the accent that people in the philly area have. its mostly just certain words that are pronounced differently. and it happens to be one of the most studied accents in the country.
word = regular way to say it = philly way to say it
water = wah-ter = wooder
about = uh-bowt = uh-beowt
down = down = deown
strawberries = straw-beh-reez = straw-burr-reez
prostitute = pros-tih-toot = pros-dee-toot
beautiful = byoo-tih-full = byoo-dee-full
out = owt = eoht
around = uh-rownd = uh-reownd
towel = tow-ell = tal
prayer = pray-er = prair
mayor = may-er = mair
how = how = heaow
bagels = bay-gullz = beggles
the OW sound is pronounced "eouw". it's hard to type you have to hear it.
that gives u an idea of the philly area accent. there are more i'm forgetting
water = wah-ter = wooder
about = uh-bowt = uh-beowt
down = down = deown
strawberries = straw-beh-reez = straw-burr-reez
prostitute = pros-tih-toot = pros-dee-toot
beautiful = byoo-tih-full = byoo-dee-full
out = owt = eoht
around = uh-rownd = uh-reownd
towel = tow-ell = tal
prayer = pray-er = prair
mayor = may-er = mair
how = how = heaow
bagels = bay-gullz = beggles
the OW sound is pronounced "eouw". it's hard to type you have to hear it.
that gives u an idea of the philly area accent. there are more i'm forgetting
by hiphophead293847 October 23, 2009
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