Tongue and Ears
Some one was telling me recently that the Spanish language has no consideration for the sound of the letter J. To Spanish speakers the J sounds like an H, and they have nothing that sounds like our English J.
I disagreed because on the East Coast Spanish speakers would always say New Yersey, but the border state they would pronounce New Jork. I figured if they could just switch that around they would speaking just like us.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 5:18 AM
9 Comments:
Speaking like us?? Now there is a scary thought. My brother and his wife just left here heading back to New Jersey in the company of his Brooklyn born ex Radio City music hall Rockette. My ears...oh...my ears. I've noticed even the Canada Geese overhead are picking up a nasal Merican accent...Hank Hank Hank.
I know I know...out and about in a boat
I am told there only a few words give me away and they are words I don't use often, like "Horrible" and "Measure". There are others too I'm sure. I assimilate my speaking very quickly. I can pick up a Canadian accent just from talking with the boarder guard.
Strange - I've never thought "we" (Canadians) have a discernible accent (except for the East Coast) whereas there's an abundance of varying accents in the U.S.
And I have never understood this "about/aboot" thing...
I have heard you say "horrible" and it definitely gives you away, Jersey Boy :)
Fugeddaboudid!
Badda boom badda bing!
Okay, so I've heared "may-zure" and "meh-shur" as the two ways for measure. How can you mispronounce horrible?
I am not makin' fun of y'all though. I call it "Mon-dee" instead of Monday (same for the other days of the week), and a "creek" is pronounced "crick." Because that's what a native Oregonian calls it.
Beth, it may be a rural thing. You don't catch that twang in the city.
Jaggy, I have a bunch more that will be an article someday.
Supposedly, the guy who created the Disney character of Goofy patterned his accent after Washingtonians. (adding the "ar" sound ... "garsh" instead of "gosh").
It annoys me endlessly when my relatives pronounce it "Warshington". There's no "r" in the word, damn it! You've lived in the state since before I was born. Learn to pronounce it correctly. Geez!
There's still enough "Okie" in my bood, that I usually pick up a southern accent (unconsciously) when around people who have it. Then I have to actually concentrate on "speaking normal" afterwards. lol
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