asperger's and accents

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I'm from england, born in london, raised in somerset and consider myself to have no accent. Various people however say I have a very odd accent, that they either can't place or say is american. The american might be down to how much american shows I watched as a kid. I had a habit and still do a bit of repeating any words I hear someone on a show say that I find interesting in as near to their accent and voice as I could. Then again as I've heard a fair few aspies say they've been mistaken for having a american accent it could just be something in the syndrome.

MAN, maybe you and Whoopi should have a history lesson! Blacks(a term some have hated almost as much as colored) have been called negro(Refers to race class, and also an almost INTERNATIONALLY known word meaning BLACK, but ALSO hated), colored(Frankly, I can see the distaste there and, in a sense, we are ALL colored!), and african american(people feel that ALL blacks originated in africa, and that IS where most people originating from are BLACK). So african american is NOT a term indicating nationality, but a PC term indicating RACE! If you want to complain, talk to the blacks from the 70s and 80s! I WON'T use the term that is probably a white/black trash way of saying negro, and that blacks STILL say, but a white dare NEVER say to a group of blacks or an angry black.

BTW I don't mean to offend, I am just stating the TRUTH! As for whoopi, SHE is one of those blacks where, if I were black, or I ever said the word, I would use that white trash way of describing her. People like her make blacks look bad! Frankly, I don't know HOW she got the role of gynan(sp?).

Last edited by 2ukenkerl on 07 Mar 2009, 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, a lot of people think the old NJ accent is like the old NY accent. Surprisingly, the accents seem to be disappearing.

I don't know what indiana accents USED to be like, but I haven't heard any speak like what you described yet. I hope I never do. I HATE that type of accent(no offense to those here that speak that way). As for texas? Accents THERE seem to be disappearing also. Those that DO have such an accent often sound nice. If it were weaker, it would sound better. I thought I heard you before. I'm going to have to keep an eye out. I bet you sound nice.

I describe accent as some affectation of the standard sounds. Standard american(which seems to be spreading over the US), is that way. It is ODD when you come from california(south/west) and find that you now have what many call a midwest(almost north/east) accent! (midwest is a misnomer. I guess that comes from like the early 1800s when it was about as far west as things got in the US. TODAY, you might almost call it the middle east of the US.)

SURE, there are some states that were late to remove such affectations. You may STILL see it in several areas. SOME places have very different slang or an odd vocabulary, but that is a DIALECT! SOME may pronounce things differently, like the often accepted "nucular"(that george bush was ridiculed for), but that is just a different way of saying things. Having been exposed to nucular, and the like, I have to take umbrage that people act like it indicates george bush was an idiot. BTW YEAH! I KNOW it is nuclear, etc... I just spelled it the way many pronounce it.

Then again, WHO KNOWS? There is an interesting way of speaking that I have noticed is used ONLY by some females! Is THAT an accent? It fits my definition of an accent. It OBVIOUSLY has nothing to do with the area, since it may be in California, New York, Texas, etc... Not ALL females do it, and I have NEVER heard a male do it. BTW I kind of like it, so don't think I am being sexist simply because it has to do with the sex. HECK, I have heard it mixed with some other accents. I sometimes wonder how odd it would be if you ran it through one of those voice changers to make it sound otherwise male.

Maybe so many aspies are thought to have an "american accent" because they state the words, leaving out the affectations, and thus sound american. That ALSO explains why they are accused of speaking in monotone(Leaving off STANDARD affectations that are used in MANY languages to express emotion, emphasis, and questions.). I say STANDARD because they are used in perhaps ALL european languages(including english, french, italian and german), and many others(such as hindi).

I agree that accents everywhere are evolving. It was interesting to read the one poster from England who is picking up "American" from tv. (Sorry! On behalf of the US. We love UK accents!)

But as far as our observations - I think its that some people (aspies?) can detect the slightest variation. I know I can. I think its because I typically zone out when someone's talking and notice things like clothes or accent or gestures - everything but the actually words - as a means of compensating for not understanding spoken word like an NT. One of super powers that allows me to blend in anywhere. (Mimic)

I live in Atlanta and the high school kids have very soft accents - barely detectable. My husband - who is 45 (an immature 45 though) sounds like Andy Griffith if he's around older native Southerners. Otherwise he tones it down. I tell him he sounds so OLD when he speaks super Southern. He says words like "folks" and other country words. I know he has his reasons for doing the old school accent - and as I learn about language and aspergers - I am trying not to let it get it to me. But I do tell him everytime - how OLD he sounds.

So - yes - our regional accents are softening on the other hand - they will probably always have their differences. Like, the way a Southern US teenager says "dude" - is just slightly different than the way a kid from Santa Cruz (NorCal) would say it. And kids in NorCal are now saying "y'all" and "ain't" thanks to the proliferation of urban language in advertising, music and the whole marketability of words like "yo!" . But they don't sound the way the kids here say them. So, while we, as populations, imitate what we hear there will likely always be regional differences.

Unless of course we all end up living our entire lives indoors and our only human interaction is with the TV or radio. And its not just aspies who do this. Almost everyone I know works from home and is isolated.

Also - what I (and Lightning88) do - is learn to appreciate or at least be entertained by all accents and not let them grate on us. Its not easy - I know. Read all my billions of rants about Georgia accents - but acceptance its a process.

I`ve had some trouble with accents earlier, not so much that
i have an odd accent but that in the area i grew up there was
this thick insane accent. So i grew up and used that like every-
one else around me. Then at 16 i moved to my own place in another
part of the country, there the accent was different so i switched.
And i dont mean i chose to, it just happend since it to me sounded
so weird to talk with my original accent when few others did, even
though it was normal to me, but i switched very fast. Then i moved
again and the same thing happend. I noticed most others didnt do
this, they just had "their" accent all the time, which to me makes
more sense, but for some reason i switch to whatever those around
me speak. Or i used to when i was younger, now i travel less and
talk with few people so its not so much of an issue. The latest years
its just been the regular norwegian they talk in the capital here, its
ok with me, clean and easy to understand. I do however now live in
an area with an insane thick accent again, so i do stick out if i open
my mouth no need to switch again when i dont talk much, but i
do get that strange feeling if i end up in a lengthy conversation with
a native, i sound so strange in my ears luckily i know the accent
here well and can easily switch to it if i feel like it. Its a funny one,
thick as mud, if you come from the capital for example you have no
idea what people are talking about here.

Last edited by ImTheGuyThatDidThat on 07 Mar 2009, 7:11 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Yeah, I like a lot of UK accents also.



OH, I CAN detect them when they are there. My MOTHER used to have a STRONG boston accent. NOW, she doesn't.



Andy griffith has it all. Accent, Dialect, and the kind of regional thing that can't really even be called a regional dialect.



Yeah, but those tend to be DIALECTS.



I actually LIKE most NATIVE english accents! That means almost ALL US native english speakers, UK, ireland, etc.... HECK, I EVEN like some others(for english of course), such as danish, german, and swedish.

I like "foreign" accents, almost all! The only one that freaks me out is Vietnamese. The reason I know that is I heard one today and it had been YEARS since I heard a Vietnamese accent. Since before I became all accepting and appreciative.

So when I heard these Vietnamese women talking to each other and to the store clerk - I spun around to find at the source of that NOISE. Wow!

My hair stylist is from Thailand and I love listening to her - even though I usually have no clue what she's saying. And no problems with Chinese, or Indonesian but Vietnam. Wow! That takes some getting used to.

accents..
I love the idea of an "english accent"..I suppose that would be the BBC newsreader received pronunciation.I don't know anyone in real life who speaks like that.

Of course, typical yorkshire mentality here, nothing worse than being described as English ... I will admit, West Yorks accent is not particularly attractive. And my, can we differentiate between incredibly geographically close areas..to explain to those not from Yorkshire, Mel B has a broad Leeds accent (West Yorks), Sean Bean/Artic Monkeys -Sheffield (South Yorks) and Patrick Stuart is POSH.

I am more yorkshire (or aware of it) when with people of differing accents..I don't go as far as saying "Aye" instead of yes and reducing "the" to "t'"....I hope! .
I personally have trouble with strong Indian accents, particularly when stresses are placed on different syllables to where a native speaker would put them. I worry this comes across as racism sometimes...


I actually have more bother translating words in text speak....don't get it at all. Mind you, in a wierd ironic sense, I sometimes slip into doing emails /texts in yorks dialect, it looks funny written down.

So on that note, s'long and sithee

My boyfriend grew up in Fairfax and he's got pretty much an exact mix of a northern and southern accent. He actually makes me sound more southern than him sometimes! He also has family in both Maine and Georgia, so that could all be colliding into his Virginia accent as well. But he's hilarious. We're always saying to each other, "Okay, let's be serious now" but within a few seconds, we do something stupid and we both laugh our heads off.

OMG The Canadians! I don't know how many times I've heard "eh" and "aboot" come out of a Canadian's mouth. And I'm not just saying that because I watch South Park. Canadians are funny. But you're definitely right about them arguing a lot. Last fall on YouTube, a Canadian and I got into World War III and about thirty other people joined in. I actually ended up winning and people were like "Team America!" LOL

I think Minnesota has truly more tourists from any other state. That and Ohio. I swear half the cars here these days are from Ohio!

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but this reminds me: is someone from the UK interested in perhaps listening to a recording of me reading or saying something in one of the accents I (or others) often find myself doing that others claim sounds British? I am from and still live in Philly but of course this second accent sounds pretty far off. I guess it would make sense going PM for this as I don't want to clutter the forum more...

I feel like I have a pretty non-specified American accent but others assume I'm a foreigner... I'm often asked what country I'm from, and have even been mistaken for an exchange student in my OWN high school. How embarassing.

I have undiagnosed AS and I have an accent, but not all the time. when I first meet people I tend to articulate very carefully and so I really sound like I have an accent. I've been asked if I'm from New Zealand, England and other places. Or, people just don't know and they look at me like 'wow'. English is the most common (I'm australian) because of the articulation I emphasise, but I also have Dutch heritage and sometimes I change my sentence structure to the dutch way of speaking. I don't know why I do that. Just for variety, really.

When I'm relaxed I often speak broadly australian. My voice has been a big issue for me because it is really unusual (I also have musical ability that shocks people and some training) and because I often wish to be a wallflower using my voice properly is something that takes courage. It just f*cking stands out and my hearing is sensitive too.

Strange as it sounds, I have to remember that I don't care what people think and I don't need people in my life so that I have the courage to be who I am. I also have supportive in my life which is great, but I do get sick of even them looking at me in amazement at my expressions and stuff I say.

Interesting thread. I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada. Just the other day my mom was telling me how I sounded like an Englishman as a child. I've had people ask me if I'm french. I don't even know anyone french, and have only been to Quebec briefly.

While in Wyoming this summer, people did recognize me as Canadian, but that was because of the typical "eh". I did notice myself having conversations with people and I could hear myself copying their accent. I had to discontinue the conversation, as I was scared of offending them.

I'm Australian and I'm always told that I have an accent, mostly I'm told that it sounds British and occassionaly people tell me that they think I'm from New Zealand, I never understood this until I realized that I have autism/AS.