US Language Attitudes

[SepherStar]

I disagree. "Normal" is what you hear on TV and is generally what you hear in California. In the mid-west you hear things like "warsh" for "wash", "crick" for "creek" "keyamp" for "camp".

[cheeveka3]

Not southern Indiana they sound southern and I have to admit somewhat ignorant an dumb but that's just me Though no offense to anyone who's sounds southern

[kawaiimadness]

There is no such thing as the ''american'' language. Its just an adapted version of the traditional English language.

[cheeveka3]

My bad I meant to say Southern Midland should be considered southern or it own cause there is not common features between the Nothern Midland and Southern Midland even the development of the accents Have a different history most people would consider the Southern Midland accent up north a illiterate or sound unintelligent or might even call them Racist usually people that speak like that are usually viewed as Racist by some people

[cheeveka3]

I feel that the southern Midland sou be considered im from Wisconsin and when I came down Indiana I swear I feel like it's the South lol

[trilobright]

No no no, Midwesterners are not accent neutral. In the southern Midwest they sound more Appalachian or Southern, while in the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes it's the Scandinavian-influenced "doonchaknoow" accent that Sarah Palin has tried like hell to ruin. Even when Midwesterners (or many Californians) sound generally normal, they still mess up a lot of words, like pronouncing "pen" like "pin", "merry" like "Mary", and similar sorts of subtle malapropisms.

[MultiMinnesotagirl]

@trilobright I am Minnesotan, and I say pen like pen, not pin. And how the heck are you supposed to sare Merry?

[darris321]

I AM KANSAS!

MY ENGLISH IS BETTER THAN YOURS!

fear me, mortals lol

[vTHExUNKNOWENv]

New York & the big D baby 4 life!!!!

[Fooliiable5]

That is funny, bc I always thought West was concidered most "normal" and "correct. Guess that is an awakening for me...

[crazitaco]

im live on the southern end of texas (lived here all my life) and i really don't have a "southern style accent".ive had people from out of state comment how i really did not sound like a texan. one time, i even took a "what american accent do you have? quiz and i scored as midland, which is basically "normal english"

[80FrontStreet]

@crazitaco I'm from North Louisiana and I'm the same way!

[Jsd8675]

@sandrodream1 Must piss you off that we're the prominent nation on Earth, huh?

[GenuineCriminal]

I agree minnesota > all

[adgw1423]

Weird, people from Ohio and Michigan talk weird as shit - they pronounce Michigan as "Meatchicken"

[Kelsie154]

@adgw1423 ummm... I'm from Ohio and I don't pronounce it as meatchicken. :P

I pronounce it as mish-uh-gin. :P

[Volksverhetz]

Your map of so-called "Midlands" U.S. English is INCORRECT. Your western and northwestern boundaries are too restricted. You have most of Iowa excluded, for example, which is wrong. The Midlands accent also extends much more to the west than your map shows. You exclude parts of Nebraska (unjustly), and you exclude ALL of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and the Dakotas, which is also wrong. All of these excluded areas should be included in your Midlands map.

[Presbyterian4life]

In Illinois, south of Joliet, English is invading by a hick twang that is more reminiscent of southern dialects than any sort of standard American English, in my opinion.

[SunnyKimbre]

I LOVEE the southern accent!

[crazyhorse1369]

In the south we are nice untill you are not nice to us . Atleast in my town thats how it is .

[lordblazer]

I always wondered why I don't have a weird accent being from Oklahoma city.. ITs there.. everyone says its quite neutral, but I do a lot of international travel so my accent changes a lot.

[blondecowgrl009]

Yay im from northern missouri, i dont have and accent. but southern missouri does.

[jjjester123321]

fuck you for not saying iowa is in the neutral.

[skamilf]

im from east l.a. moved to the souht in 2005 most ppl down here think I just learned English a few years ago...lol or that im a wetback because I have chicano accent i guess.

[lkjkorn19]

What accent does the guy who starts to speak at 0:29 have? It makes me think of an "Americanized Irish" accent (which of course is non-sense). (I'm not a native English speaker, please pardon the silly question.)

[informationplz]

It sounds Midwestern..the long O..nasal tone. Maybe Eastern Midland..To me he sounds like a normal guy from the Great Lakes area of the US, he does work in Michigan..Peace...

[lkjkorn19]

Cheers! :)

[MultiKdizzle]

the American accent most known around the world is the standard Hollywood accent, the one emulated by most newscaster.

The Midwestern accent is slightly more nasally.

[theeggwasabird]

THIS CLASS SUCKS!

[Kelsie154]

finally a video that says ohio sounds normal.

most people say we sound extremely southern... and we don't. :P

[UltimateVenom]

it's water, not warder or wooder. americans, pronounce your t's as t's, not d's; you sound like fucking idiots.

[caliguy92]

If you go across this huge country, you'll see most people don't talk like that you idiot...

[UltimateVenom]

actually, most americans DO pronounce their t's as d's so you're pulling that information out of your ass.

[caliguy92]

Ummm...After traveling across this great nation and visiting family living from Columbia, South Carolina to British Columbia, Canada and actually being from the United States and knowing my nation's dialects all too well, I think that what I say to be true about Americans and their pronunciation of our t's and d's is far more valid and accurate than a naive and arrogant foreigner as yourself...

So stop talking out your ass...shithead

[caliguy92]

The only part of this country where the t becomes d is in the Northeast in places like New York or New Jersey and states in New England where J.F.K. is from...J.F.K. is a great example because he was famous for his Boston/Harvard accent...

[Falling4UToday]

yes we pronounce our ts as ds, and thts just us, dont like it, dont listen to it. part of who we are. cant change that

[UltimateVenom]

don't listen to it? how can i not, when everything on tv is american and all the culture and community is american influenced? and i live in the uk.

[Falling4UToday]

well im sorry about tht. all i can say is deal with it. accents are accents, let them be

[UltimateVenom]

oh sorry, i thought you mean in norway. yes, i suppose because norwegians think that danish sounds like a norwegian with a potato in their throat.

[Falling4UToday]

ummm i have no clue wt ur talking about, i think u replied to the wrong person lol

[tintintabulations]

And I'm sure Norwegian sometimes sounds ridiculous to other Nordic language speakers.

[UltimateVenom]

yes but there are 2 different languages in norway and a vast array of dialects. and the dialects aren't just like different accents because they use completely different words and spell things differently.

[tintintabulations]

Do any of the dialects make people sound like "fucking idiots"? I wouldn't know, as I don't live in Norway...

By the way, the sound you're hearing in "water" is not a "d" or voiced alveolar plosive (in IPA /d/), but rather an alveolar tap (in IPA /ɾ/) which is a common intervolic allophone in virtually all American accents as well as Australian and New Zealand English. To actually pronounce a voiceless alveolar plosive "t" sound in "water" would sound affected and foreign to an American.

[tintintabulations]

The real difference in the pronunciation of "water" in American English has to do with the first vowel. It's usually rendered ['wɔ.ɾɚ] or ['wɑ.ɾɚ] outside the Northeast. In New York City it's often ['wʊə.ɾə] and in Boston it's often ['wɒ.ɾə].

[UltimateVenom]

how do you pronounce those symbols?

[rach6st]

your username even sounds english

[dreapster]

And you said that statement in English, BRAVO!

[MickeyLove01]

you're here again, what is your problem with English? I bet you're not even really from Italy

[teddythefrency]

In France my country , the most "standard" or "correct" dialect of French would be the dialect spoken between Tours and Angers(former Royal domain), but in reality, in the media , this is the "Parisian" or Ile-de France dialect which is heard.

In the North prevail a kind of "belgian" accent (Cht'is) in the West the breton accent, in the East the Alsacian (with a german substrate) in the South a Langue d'Oc substrate in the Alps a kind of Swiss-Savoyard accent etc...

Very interesting.

[UlyssesMagnus]

Also she derides me for not making pen sound different than pin. In the So Cal accent there is not difference.

Also I lived in San Fran and if one tries to hear it one can tell the difference between No Cal and So Cal accents. It is hard to define but the No Cal accent is more "studious" with the vowels harsher and rounder.

[soundsfromnothing]

I hear ya! I live up north now myself. I've noticed the accent in Sacramento has a little twang, compared to those of Socal. They sound closer to a midwestern accent, or maybe a Utah accent. I didn't notice it much in S.F. itself, but around South San Jose/ Gilroy area (where you start getting into the farms again) I noticed there was more of a drawl. The East Bay though, sounds more like So cal to me. I think we S. Californian's tend to elongate words though, because of the slang influence.

[soundsfromnothing]

(continued). Words like Duude, for example..and you know some people put on that almost Southern sounding surfer accent (maybe, originally, people emulated a certain surfer w/ southern roots?). I notice that I say "ALL" instead of "I'll." Also, yer, fer etc. I tend to say "Pin" a lot too. LOL! Does she say Can, kind of like Kee-yen?

[soundsfromnothing]

(continued #1)areas of the midwest used would be, parts of IA, NE, KS, MO (think Walter Cronchite) etc. As far as the CA accent goes, much of it actually comes from the midwest. In that time period from the late 20's/early 30's-50's, peoples from the midwest migrated to CA. Their accents mixed w/Southwestern accents already present, plus those of NYers & others from the East coast. The result of mixing, was an accent closest to the central midwest, but w/o any real twang.

[macthecomedian]

i always thought us southern Californians had the "standard" dialect. the midwest and midland area have a slight minnesotan accent, and a bit of the southern drawl kinda thing. i cant see anything "wrong" with CA, not to say a drawl or minnesotan accent is wrong, its just nothign sticks out in a CA accent. newscasters, most actors, radio personel, etc, usually have a "CA accent" - in my opinion, of course.

[dropandlongD]

I agree

[soundsfromnothing]

That's pretty close. The Californian accent is considered to be the "standard" accent ( or "dialect," depending on what someone calls it-it's more of an accent than anything). it used to be that the "midwestern standard" was the norm for announcers & newscasters. It was an artificial "accent" that was developed by looking @ the way that certain mid-westerners spoke & putting the most neutral words into a format (to help peoples from other areas speak in a mutually understandable way). Those

[UlyssesMagnus]

What is very strange is how subtle the Cali accent is compared to other regions and how although because our accent is heard so often we feel we "don't have an accent"

e.g. I grew up in So Cal and went to private schools and my fiance grew up in New England. Although she has worked to drop her accent I notice that she stresses can in a way that to my ears sounds like barbies mate Ken. Whereas I rhyme with fan.

[LoveKandR]

In a place so diverse I fail to see how you can call one 'proper' over another. Perhaps Midland simply appears to the ear to have the least deviant pronunciation. In that case it's a purely subjective yardstick.

[Brettwbeyer14]

hmm... i always thought the midland region had a bit of a twang or southern drawl. im from michigan though where are english is more ridget, but in my opinion more authoritative, direct, and concise without any laziness in the pronunciations.

[just1nr0cks]

All I have to say is tell a native Virginian he or she doesn't speak the most "proper" form of American English...you'll be chewed up and spit out. Apart from the Appalachian region and the isolated coastal areas, Virginians have a very neutral way of speaking and they've been doing it since the times of Jamestown. Also, never tell a person from northern Virginia (myself included) that they are a Southerner...whew!

[monumentfloyd]

I think theres more racism in the North than in the South.

[timetraveler3797]

The detroit area is very diverse, but hugely defacto segragated.

[pepjrp]

That is the case in most all Northern cities, but not so true in the South, yet that uninformed Black man in this video definately has no idea. And that segragation breeds anger and sometimes violence when a minority of either side enters their socalled turf.

[MrSackpfeife]

it's spelled definitely, not definately, you moron.

[pepjrp]

Oh you so smart MrSuckfeife.

[pepjrp]

I totally 100% agree. And I have lived in both extensively. In fact, interesting that the Black man went right to his feeling of old South prejudice, but never a mention of the large, Northern cities that are easy prey on a White person. I am a European American and the Blacks that I encounter in the South have always been friendly and courtious, but in Chicago, St. Louis, I have been constantly been called racist names or had acts of aggression or even put as joking used against me quite often.

[firestormrex]

@pepjrp I disagree. Chicago is the most friendly of the great American cities. And I come from the South, so I'd know. So genuinely kind. Even the subway/metro workers.

[pepjrp]

@firestormrex Thanks and I understand. You and I are generally speaking of our experiences in each region that happen to be different since we don't know the same people. I also wanted to note that since the Black gentlemen was generalizing about his experiences in the South, that I wanted to ad mine from the North as well. Unfortunately, his comment is heard by many more since it takes place in the video and my counter must be read if I'm lucky.

[lordblazer]

@pepjrp

northern cities are very racist towards black people. I feel a lot safer in the south there are more black people there, and cities like Atlanta and Austin make the south bearable. But typically its best not to fuck around the rural areas... But when I was in the Northeast. It amazes me the crap that black people put up with on University's campuses and other institutions.

[crazyhorse1369]

@lordblazer Hell yeah come down to austin my friend , We like everyone down there . I was raised there .

[lordblazer]

@pepjrp

The US in general is too racially segregated for comfort man. Its not healthy for a multi-cultural society, and currently there is a rejection of multiculturalism coming from all ethnic groups.

[theskiesbelowme]

@pepjrp I have noticed that too. Blacks in the South can be a lot more accepting of whites than people up North.

[pepjrp]

@theskiesbelowme Thank you for your comment as it's nice to find someone in agreement with me. Doesn't happen real often. Ha. I found it interesting of lordblazer's comments as I think that he was disagreeing with me when he said that whites in the north were more racist, but those actions he experienced may have been retaliation against the kind of racial experiences that I spoke of.

[pepjrp]

@theskiesbelowme Maybe the real truth is both groups are mean to each other in the North, but the South where Northerner's like to paint a picture of across the board racism, somewhat like the Black gentleman in this video portrayed us as, is really the kindler gentler place. :-)

[theskiesbelowme]

@pepjrp That's true. We have lived together for so many hundreds of years in the South, with generation after generation of whites having black mammies even, that it really makes sense for us to have better race relations than we did 60 years ago.

[vanitycult]

this is such an amazing documentary...caught it on PBS a couple years ago. thanks for posting

[marinasaturday]

IMO I thought the west was proper. the midland seems to me like they have an accent ie minnesota. but my opinion

[kmm0010]

There are also regional standards, which differ from region to region.

[Skabur123]

@kmm0010 Indiana/illinois area sounds to me more "elegant" and "knowledgeable"

[Brettwbeyer14]

i agree midlanders are in between northern and southern. they have a twang and southern drawl in their accent.

[krol0909]

@marinasaturday There is no such thing as 'proper' objectively. Dialects change from region to region, state to state, city to city, and sometimes even smaller (boroughs in NYC). I speak 'midland' English and don't sound anything like people from rural areas in my state (Wisconsin), but I think I sound about the same as most people on the news. I've lived in CA, too, and in San Francisco you have some people with strong regional accents and some people with accents very similar to my own.

[firebreathone]

Interesting how the midland dialect is deemed proper and correct.