TV & radio wiping out regional dialects and accents?

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GSV

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My grandfather flew a B-17 out of Rattlesden England in WW2. He told me that when his crew was initially assembled they actually had a hard time understanding each other. Someone from Brooklyn NY would need a while to decipher just what an Alabaman was trying to say.

Regional accents were apparently much stronger back before broadcast media sort of homoginzed the spoken language. Has anyone else heard of this? If this was true in 1942 I wonder how distinct the speach of Civil War soldiers must have been.

Is this true in other countries as well?

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Originally posted by GSV:

Is this true in other countries as well?

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Not true for Russia at least. I am always surprized how the people who speak about 100 languages in the same country can speak perfect Russian as well.
 
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Regional accents were apparently much stronger back before broadcast media sort of homoginzed the spoken language.
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I did take note when I called Hesco to talk to Beenie (Ben) in Alabama ..that when I was put on hold the radio program in the background was featuring the traffic report with an "accent neutral" reporter ..as was the disk jockey.


There are still places in PA where I occasionally hear some unknown language and say "beg pardon?" and they kinda get a little smile and begin to speak in universal "American".
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Let's not forget that the written language is also getting "homoginzed."
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And whats' often referred to as an "accent" is actually a dialect. An accent is something a non-native speaker may or may not have, and it is not the same as a dialect, which is the local variant of pronounciation and vocabulary of a common language.

I think it's important that people learn to speak and understand the standard version of their respective native language. For an English-speaking individual that is standard English, for a German and Austrian it is High German, etc. Dialects are great in their variety and richness, but it's not something that should be flaunted at all occasions. We are not living in our villages with little contact with the outside world anymore. Well, mostly.
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Otherwise we'd all be speaking our own version of some kind of ghetto talk, and communication would become really difficult.

By the way, isn't it so cool that a person from Cornwall can understand a person from Brittany and vice versa -- presuming they don't speak only the Kings English and French.
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I'd like to mention a funny thing, a pet peeve of mine, really. Here in Cauliphonia people generally speak a very bland type American English -- if they speak English at all.
What drives me absolutely nuts are people on the news who pronounce "this year" and "last year" as "Thish sh-year" and "lasht sh-year." They als like to talk about "temprat-shures," with emphasis on "shures." What on Earth is up with that? Do they think they are Sean Connery?
Another favorite of mine is the pronunciation of "auto" as in "uh-doh insurance." It simply drives me up the wall.
 
Try China. One thing (maybe the singular thing that approaches OK) when China was under the ugly veil of communism: Putonghua (literally; common language). It's basically Mandarin, but still in China some people really can't understand each other. So now we know how Chinese are so good at acting as they understand every word, but maybe are getting 20%!

I think it's hilarious when people hear me say a few stock phrases: "My Paulo, you have a Beijing accent"...(The only reason is my teacher was from Beijing!!!!)
 
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Originally posted by Pablo:
.I think it's hilarious when people hear me say a few stock phrases: "My Paulo, you have a Beijing accent"...(The only reason is my teacher was from Beijing!!!!)
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I was in Guilin in a gift shop in a hotel. I was able to complete my transaction using my very limited Mandarin. The Chinese person behind me didn't speak the Guilin area dialect (I think it's a variation of Mandarin) or Mandarin. The local Chinese clerk and native Chinese customer then switched to English. They could also have gotten out some paper and written to each other.
 
quote:
Originally posted by GSV:
My grandfather flew a B-17 out of Rattlesden England in WW2. He told me that when his crew was initially assembled they actually had a hard time understanding each other. Someone from Brooklyn NY would need a while to decipher just what an Alabaman was trying to say.

Regional accents were apparently much stronger back before broadcast media sort of homoginzed the spoken language. Has anyone else heard of this? If this was true in 1942 I wonder how distinct the speach of Civil War soldiers must have been.

Is this true in other countries as well?

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cheers.gif

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My father emmigrated to America in 1938 from Northern Ireland. He was a submarine sailor for the US Navy in WW2. Many of his fellow sailors found his brogue amusing. He is now 80 y/o and he still has a brogue.
 
When I was about 17, at a vacation resort in Wales, my buddy and I took up with two girls who lived about 25 miles (Chorley in Lancashire) from where we did (Liverpool). We had to 'double date' (even to staying within speaking distance in the dunes at night) because his girl spoke normal english as well as their local dialect, but mine only spoke dialect. I couldn't understand more than about one word in three!
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... mine only spoke dialect. I couldn't understand more than about one word in three!
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And since 17 year old guys are easily distracted and generally miss 1/3 of what's being said, I can see how that situation would have been problematic.
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Originally posted by moribundman:

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... mine only spoke dialect. I couldn't understand more than about one word in three!
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And since 17 year old guys are easily distracted and generally miss 1/3 of what's being said, I can see how that situation would have been problematic.
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Guilty as charged, sir!
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Though I do recall that NO! seemed to be a four syllable word...
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Just an observation: When you listen to a song sung in English, by someone who sings well, note that there is usually very little or no accent to be heard, i.e. it all comes out as 'no-accent/middle American'.
Think of the Beatles, Jim Nabors, Aussies like Keith Urban, or most Country/Western singers- It all sounds pretty much the same when they're belting it out. You only hear the differences during interviews.
Another observation: I was attempting, somewhat successfully, to imitate various flavors of English. Brit English seem to be sounded out from the back of the throat, Aussie English seems to come from the front of the mouth and tip of the tongue, and other varieties can come from a mixture of tensing this or that. Relax it all, and it comes out mostly Middle American. So, is 'Middle American" the inevitable result when you file all the edges off of regional varieties?
 
He's a Kiwi - most famous Aussies are.Being rich and famous in a country of 4 million doesn't make you a world famous millionaire,the second step for most Kiwi's is Aussie.Transfering across the Tasman Sea both ways has been going on for as long as we have been around,some of our so called native birds have been blown over hundred of thousands of years ago.We have an Aussie living with us - so long as he keeps his mouth shut he's welcome...
 
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