Speaking of which... (UPDATED)
Last week my coworkers and I got into a conversation about accents and regionalisms. Our team is comprised of people from Northern Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, and New Jersey via the Bronx. After talking about differences in pronunciation we discussed phrases that you only hear in certain parts of the country. There was one from Mississippi that was new to me: might could. Used in a sentence: "I might could go to the store." Replace the 'could' with 'be able to' and you get the Yankee version.
The next day on the train I was reading Express and read about a project at George Mason University on spoken English accents. On the project's website you can upload a sample and it will be transcribed, analyzed, and added to the project. Meredith especially like this one from Mississippi. Definitely check out the site.
Oh, and if you've never done this before go take the What Kind of American English Do You Speak? test. In 20 quick questions the test builds a profile for the special brand of American English you speak. I've included Kristin's and my profiles below. When you take the test post your results as a comment. (When they ask for how to format your results, select "Livejournal / Blogspot".)
Oliver's Linguistic Profile: |
| 60% General American English |
| 25% Yankee |
| 10% Upper Midwestern |
| 5% Dixie |
| 0% Midwestern |
Kristin's Linguistic Profile: |
| 75% General American English |
| 15% Yankee |
| 5% Dixie |
| 5% Upper Midwestern |
| 0% Midwestern |
Update: My coworker Meredith found another language quiz. http://gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
6 Comments: (Post a Comment)
Bruce:
65% General American English
15% Upper Midwestern
15% Yankee
0% Dixie
0% Midwestern
This is about right. I spent 2.5 years in New England, the rest in CA or UT.
Julie's Linguistic Profile:
60% General American English
20% Yankee
10% Upper Midwestern
5% Dixie
0% Midwestern
okay, my results, born and bred Texan...
65% General American English
15% Dixie
15% Yankee
0% Midwestern
0% Upper Midwestern
where did all that Yankee come from???
Fiona
Straight from Mississippi to your ears:
50% General American English
35% Dixie
10% Yankee
0% Midwestern
0% Upper Midwestern
David:
80% General American English
10% Upper Midwestern
5% Yankee
0% Dixie
0% Midwestern
Bonnie:
60% General American English
20% Upper Midwestern
15% Yankee
0% Dixie
0% Midwestern
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