This is interesting. According to the quiz, I have a "neutral" accent, which is associated with the lower Midwest, Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and northern West Virginia. I have never lived in this area, but the description does say I could just as easily be from somewhere else and that I may have moved around quite a bit as a child, which is true. But I challenge the notion that people from this part of the country don't have a regional accent. Many folks from the region, especially its southernmost reaches, speak with what sounds to me like a slight southern accent.
@Rutterman Absolutely. I briefly considered languages and linguistics as a major until I discovered how into dialects I would have to get. Imagine not only learning a foreign language, but learning it well enough to pull off some local dialect or be able to pull off multiple local dialects? And then do that with multiple languages!
@Rutterman Exactly. And to do it conversationally. I can carry *basic* conversations in French or German, but no way could I switch on or off a Bavarian or Québécois dialect!
@Rutterman 😂 I don't blame them.... I was equally adamant when I decided I'll not choose a single maybe. Lmao!! All my answers were a simple Yes/No or Same/Different 🤣😛
@TexChik Lol. I definitely noticed a difference between the way country folks talked versus those from the big cities. I lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.
@fazer1k It's interesting how people from outside the U.S. always seem to get Northeastern or Northern on the quiz. I've never seen any other result for non-Americans.
@Rutterman I guess in reality that just means the Northern American accents most closely match the British use of vowel sounds. I have been to most American states including New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey (included in the North eastern category) and our accents are really not alike. They are certainly a closer match than the southern U.S. accents though! Also, accents vary widely across the UK - mine is from the South of England.
I got the neutral result as well, but it is lies. Not only am I not from the region shown in that, but I do, in fact, consider my local identity more important than my national one, and I did not move around much growing up.
@SW-User Very interesting. I suspect you actually sound somewhat different from people in the Northeastern U.S.
SW-User
@Rutterman Yeah, I do, but I can see why it would give me that. I pronounce "r"s in words the British way, and there are only a few American accents that do that.
@SW-User That's true. Some southerners also pronounce their "r"s that way, but a Northeastern accent probably is closer overall to the way you speak than a Southern accent is.
It gave me neutral, but only foreigners think I sound especially American. To Americans I sound vaguely European, but nobody can place the origin. I certainly don’t sound Russian anymore.
@bijouxbroussard Well, at the time, it was very confusing, and I barely understood why everything around me suddenly went to shit. But I suppose now it gives me a wider sense of perspective on some things :)
Southern, but I tone it back when speaking with Yankees or those people from California, as both seem to be unable to understand English when I speak naturally.
Grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Live in Wisconsin, so it makes sense. I still feel like I speak “neutral”. Don’t have the stereotypical Chicago accent— “Da Bears”. Or the lesser known Wisconsin one — think sorry pronounced “sore-ry” or bag pronounced “baig”.
@Magenta No, I've moved around. Lived in the Northeast, South, and Pacific Northwest. Living in different places, especially when growing-up, might well have a neutralizing effect on one's accent.
I got Neutral and it pretty much fits.... I've lived in Texas just about my entire life and have had people ask if I was from California since I don't have much of an accent.
@fallnhope That's interesting. I used to live in Texas and I found that not everyone raised in the state has a Texas accent, or at least not much of one. A lot of people I knew from Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio did indeed sound "neutral", or like someone from the West Coast.
I want to check this out, too. I know what type of accent I think I have, but it would be interesting to see what the quiz says. I would classify your accent as neutral from having heard your voice. 😄
@bijouxbroussard That is interesting. Do you think it's accurate or do you think your accent should have been classified as something else? Of course it might be difficult to know how it should have been classified without knowing all the different categories on the quiz.
@Rutterman I think I sound like a Westerner, although there are some specific words I pronounce differently (like “ahnt” for aunt). I spent some time taking classes in New Haven, Ct and noticed that accent is probably closest to a San Franciscan accent.
@bijouxbroussard yeah, they actually did a survey on New York accents in a video and showed ethnic group had much more similarity than borough. Like Irish in Manhattan and Irish in Brooklyn sound more similar than they do with say Polish or Italians in their same borough.
