We do have dialects, Creole is one of the easiest to pick out. It has French, English and some Spanish mixed into it.
Speaking of pidgin languages, Yiddish is a great one to study. Since there are three different main ones I know of, Russian, German and Polish.
Then there is Ladino, which I only realised was a thing a year or two back - basically a Jewish language based on old Castilian with huge amounts of influence from Arabic/Greek and other Med languages
If you ever want to hear funny sounding English you should listen to me.
Mazzyx on
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PasserbyeI am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Abby - I think it's also that most Americans aren't so crazy proud about their dialects as you Norwegians seem to be of yours. Most Americans are willing to leave their dialects and accents behind.
Oh man Appalachian folks don't even sound like they are speaking English sometimes.
I read a study a while back which had discovered that the oldest form of English still being spoken was in a small town in the Appalachians. I thought that was pretty cool.
I didn't know if it was just because it was on TV or if everyone actually did talk the same way in america
I think it's partly because so many people who came here were leaving their country, not just migrating. I'm not sure, though. I think it's also that languages other than English aren't generally held in high regard in American culture.
I grew up with a modern variation on Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole), which consisted of about 75% English, with the remaining 25% a mix of Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese. My friends' grandparents spoke a different variation of Pidgin which was about 50% English and the rest everything else. I met a 96 year old woman who'd been born in Ewa Plantation who spoke only Japanese and Pidgin, and her Pidgin had maybe a handful of English words and was a big mix of everything else.
heh
yeah, maybe the melting pot has resulted in bland gruel on the language front
but still it's wierd that there's so small differences beetween english and english in america
I mean, yeah, I can understand foreign-influenced languages disappearing but there's still something going on that makes everyone else in that huge fucking country talk so similarily
I don't think it's quite accurate to say that we all talk similarly, though. Syntax can be similar often times, but there can also be a variety of different words used, and often times different areas have very distinct accents. For the longest time I couldn't make heads or tails of my old roommate's West Virginia accent. It's just not such a huge difference as to really be called a separate dialect most of the time.
yeah, it's a generalization
but still
the us just seems so
oversized in this respect
like, you have to travel the length of my entire country to get real differences in dialects when I can take a long walk
maybe it comes from us being kind of stationary compared to you
my lineage consists of a couple hundred years of never moving more than a short boatride away
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
Inquisitor on
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PasserbyeI am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered Userregular
I read a study a while back which had discovered that the oldest form of English still being spoken was in a small town in the Appalachians. I thought that was pretty cool.
That is because what goes to Appalachia stays there. Forever. Breeding with itself.
I mean, yeah, I can understand foreign-influenced languages disappearing but there's still something going on that makes everyone else in that huge fucking country talk so similarily
America was settled a lot more recently than any European country. I'm not well-informed about American history, but I imagine colonial-era America had a lot more long-distance travel and cultural exchange than late-medieval Europe, too.
like, you have to travel the length of my entire country to get real differences in dialects when I can take a long walk
maybe it comes from us being kind of stationary compared to you
my lineage consists of a couple hundred years of never moving more than a short boatride away
Mmmmn, I'm not sure on that either. A lot of people in the US tend to stay where they were born as well. It's just that, like I said, most Americans don't cling to their dialects/accents, they don't see language as a part of their heritage. Kind of makes me sad, but that's how it is for most people.
Joanna and her friends hang out every Friday night. After a few weeks, one of her friends brings her (twin) brother, who was curious as to where she was going; they get along reasonably well, and she figured he'd enjoy it, so she decided he should come. A couple of weeks after that, he asks Joanna out to a movie, which she gladly accepts; his sister, who knew Joanna before he did, is pissed, and Joanna catches a little of their conversation before they drive away. Is it reasonable for Joanna to call Nina and tell her it's okay/to lighten up, or is that not a thing girls do?
It's reasonable if Nina isn't an idiot, sure. Judging from this situation I wouldn't assume that, though. :P
Abby - I think it's also that most Americans aren't so crazy proud about their dialects as you Norwegians seem to be of yours. Most Americans are willing to leave their dialects and accents behind.
Oh man Appalachian folks don't even sound like they are speaking English sometimes.
I read a study a while back which had discovered that the oldest form of English still being spoken was in a small town in the Appalachians. I thought that was pretty cool.
We're nationalistic in the extreme, really
about everything
Scandinavia
Norway
Our part of the country
our county
our city
our borough
nationalistic is a misnomer at these levels but it still seems apt
it's not patriotism
it's not something you can call someone out on not being, for example
it's not something you prove or try to show
it's just the knowledge, as steadfast as the belief in the sky being above you or the ground below
that my country is the best. Everything about it, even it's flaws are the most wonderful in the world.
My city is the greatest. It's not the biggest, it's not the prettiest
Actually a lot of the difference in accent and dialect comes from stationary populations. Actually the US was pretty stationary(I mean not compared to Europe) so that is where developed a lot our accents. The mobile population is still a really new thing in the US. More like the last 3 generations.
I think the worst accent I ever heard belonged to a middle aged doctor from NZ who had spent much of her adult life in the US and was then kidnapped in Yemen about 5 years back. When she was freed she gave some interviews and her accent went all over the place and in the end I had to turn off the tv it was so painful
I mean, yeah, I can understand foreign-influenced languages disappearing but there's still something going on that makes everyone else in that huge fucking country talk so similarily
America was settled a lot more recently than any European country. I'm not well-informed about American history, but I imagine colonial-era America had a lot more long-distance travel and cultural exchange than late-medieval Europe, too.
I would think so. for one, there was a point in moving in america.
Here people largely didn't move beyond the next valley over.
Abdhyius on
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PasserbyeI am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Abby - Americans can be crazy proud about things like that too. Most just don't consider language to automatically be a part of that.
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
Isn't "hella" every 2nd word out of the mouth of anyone from NorCal?
wazilla on
Psn:wazukki
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TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
Is the paper something which is likely to enrich the friend's life and/or learning experience, or is it like 90% of school assignments in that it's utterly useless for anything other than judging whether you've applied the modicum of effort necessary to get your gold star and move on to the next money sink?
IMO, if it's something you can pay a lay-person to do, it's not something to be concerned about missing.
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
Isn't "hella" every 2nd word out of the mouth of anyone from NorCal?
Saying "hella" and "sweet" just mean you have been watching South Park.
Joanna and her friends hang out every Friday night. After a few weeks, one of her friends brings her (twin) brother, who was curious as to where she was going; they get along reasonably well, and she figured he'd enjoy it, so she decided he should come. A couple of weeks after that, he asks Joanna out to a movie, which she gladly accepts; his sister, who knew Joanna before he did, is pissed, and Joanna catches a little of their conversation before they drive away. Is it reasonable for Joanna to call Nina and tell her it's okay/to lighten up, or is that not a thing girls do?
It's reasonable if Nina isn't an idiot, sure. Judging from this situation I wouldn't assume that, though. :P
I'm having Nina call Joanna and be flummoxed that Joanna actually wants to go out with Max. Mostly Nina is just having the classic issue of "my siblings can't date my friends", but she'll get over it. They're in college, so being a little immature isn't unreasonable.
Joanna and her friends hang out every Friday night. After a few weeks, one of her friends brings her (twin) brother, who was curious as to where she was going; they get along reasonably well, and she figured he'd enjoy it, so she decided he should come. A couple of weeks after that, he asks Joanna out to a movie, which she gladly accepts; his sister, who knew Joanna before he did, is pissed, and Joanna catches a little of their conversation before they drive away. Is it reasonable for Joanna to call Nina and tell her it's okay/to lighten up, or is that not a thing girls do?
It's reasonable if Nina isn't an idiot, sure. Judging from this situation I wouldn't assume that, though. :P
I'm having Nina call Joanna and be flummoxed that Joanna actually wants to go out with Max. Mostly Nina is just having the classic issue of "my siblings can't date my friends", but she'll get over it. They're in college, so being a little immature isn't unreasonable.
Damn, this is the coolest thing anyone in [chat] has ever said.
Silas Brown on
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AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
Isn't "hella" every 2nd word out of the mouth of anyone from NorCal?
Saying "hella" and "sweet" just mean you have been watching South Park.
I can definitely tell differences in how people speak across the US. Heck, I can tell the difference between SoCal and NorCal, though I guess it is kinda subtle.
Isn't "hella" every 2nd word out of the mouth of anyone from NorCal?
Saying "hella" and "sweet" just mean you have been watching South Park.
California is huge, though
California is at least five different regions huge. :P
Joanna and her friends hang out every Friday night. After a few weeks, one of her friends brings her (twin) brother, who was curious as to where she was going; they get along reasonably well, and she figured he'd enjoy it, so she decided he should come. A couple of weeks after that, he asks Joanna out to a movie, which she gladly accepts; his sister, who knew Joanna before he did, is pissed, and Joanna catches a little of their conversation before they drive away. Is it reasonable for Joanna to call Nina and tell her it's okay/to lighten up, or is that not a thing girls do?
It's reasonable if Nina isn't an idiot, sure. Judging from this situation I wouldn't assume that, though. :P
I'm having Nina call Joanna and be flummoxed that Joanna actually wants to go out with Max. Mostly Nina is just having the classic issue of "my siblings can't date my friends", but she'll get over it. They're in college, so being a little immature isn't unreasonable.
Damn, this is the coolest thing anyone in [chat] has ever said.
Abby - Americans can be crazy proud about things like that too. Most just don't consider language to automatically be a part of that.
I can see that, but still
to lose it you have to talk to people who talk differently
people around me aren't talking a dialect, they're just talking normally
but if you're exposed to other dialects alot then you notice your own
then the question is if you just change it like it ain't no thang or if you try to keep it
I'm having this issue living in London and it seems my accent is changing slowly - although to what depends on the listener. So for example today I went to an Australian cafe and was surrounded by Aussies for an hour, which seemed to influence my accent so when I was paying the bill the Aussie waitress thought I was Australian (huge faux pas in English speaking circles!). Whereas a month or so ago I was at a BBQ with lots of English people I didn't know and a lot of them mistook me for English. Then on the phone I often get asked if I'm South African.
To me it sounds like I'm still speaking NZ English.
I have a Kiwi friend back home who within 5 minutes of being around Americans picks up this weird pseudo American accent. It is very odd but he cannot help himself
Posts
But he's in Denmark.
This is also true of Valley Girls.
Then there is Ladino, which I only realised was a thing a year or two back - basically a Jewish language based on old Castilian with huge amounts of influence from Arabic/Greek and other Med languages
I read a study a while back which had discovered that the oldest form of English still being spoken was in a small town in the Appalachians. I thought that was pretty cool.
Face Twit Rav Gram
yeah, it's a generalization
but still
the us just seems so
oversized in this respect
like, you have to travel the length of my entire country to get real differences in dialects when I can take a long walk
maybe it comes from us being kind of stationary compared to you
my lineage consists of a couple hundred years of never moving more than a short boatride away
Oh in that case congratulate him on trying to turn Denmark into America.
Oh we definitely have dialects (note my story of growing up with Pidgin). But they're few and far between compared to most other countries.
Face Twit Rav Gram
That is because what goes to Appalachia stays there. Forever. Breeding with itself.
I love how you add extra syllables to made up words in games. Mah-lay-ah-dee. :P
America was settled a lot more recently than any European country. I'm not well-informed about American history, but I imagine colonial-era America had a lot more long-distance travel and cultural exchange than late-medieval Europe, too.
Fuck yeah. $100 bucks is chump change.
Mmmmn, I'm not sure on that either. A lot of people in the US tend to stay where they were born as well. It's just that, like I said, most Americans don't cling to their dialects/accents, they don't see language as a part of their heritage. Kind of makes me sad, but that's how it is for most people.
Face Twit Rav Gram
It's reasonable if Nina isn't an idiot, sure. Judging from this situation I wouldn't assume that, though. :P
We're nationalistic in the extreme, really
about everything
Scandinavia
Norway
Our part of the country
our county
our city
our borough
nationalistic is a misnomer at these levels but it still seems apt
it's not patriotism
it's not something you can call someone out on not being, for example
it's not something you prove or try to show
it's just the knowledge, as steadfast as the belief in the sky being above you or the ground below
that my country is the best. Everything about it, even it's flaws are the most wonderful in the world.
My city is the greatest. It's not the biggest, it's not the prettiest
but it's the best
I would think so. for one, there was a point in moving in america.
Here people largely didn't move beyond the next valley over.
Face Twit Rav Gram
Isn't "hella" every 2nd word out of the mouth of anyone from NorCal?
IMO, if it's something you can pay a lay-person to do, it's not something to be concerned about missing.
Do I have an identifiable Chicago accent?
Saying "hella" and "sweet" just mean you have been watching South Park.
I'm having Nina call Joanna and be flummoxed that Joanna actually wants to go out with Max. Mostly Nina is just having the classic issue of "my siblings can't date my friends", but she'll get over it. They're in college, so being a little immature isn't unreasonable.
I can see that, but still
to lose it you have to talk to people who talk differently
people around me aren't talking a dialect, they're just talking normally
but if you're exposed to other dialects alot then you notice your own
then the question is if you just change it like it ain't no thang or if you try to keep it
Damn, this is the coolest thing anyone in [chat] has ever said.
It's somewhat worrying.
California is huge, though
California is at least five different regions huge. :P
you're making fun of me, aren't you
Another 12 or 13 counts of crimes against Humanity.
I'm having this issue living in London and it seems my accent is changing slowly - although to what depends on the listener. So for example today I went to an Australian cafe and was surrounded by Aussies for an hour, which seemed to influence my accent so when I was paying the bill the Aussie waitress thought I was Australian (huge faux pas in English speaking circles!). Whereas a month or so ago I was at a BBQ with lots of English people I didn't know and a lot of them mistook me for English. Then on the phone I often get asked if I'm South African.
To me it sounds like I'm still speaking NZ English.
I have a Kiwi friend back home who within 5 minutes of being around Americans picks up this weird pseudo American accent. It is very odd but he cannot help himself