What is accent

Using one in place of the other completely changes what word you've uttered for example, from 'forest' to 'split' , just as replacing l with r in English would change lip to rip. Because English has different rules for the use of aspirated and unaspirated p , an English speaker learning Thai will make the same sorts of mistakes that a Japanese speaker makes in using English l and r.

It's not only individual sounds that can cause a person's speech to sound foreign. Sound patterns also differ from language to language. For instance, an English syllable may begin or end with a cluster of consonants, as with the str and ngths of the word strengths. In Japanese, on the other hand, a syllable contains only one consonant followed by one vowel - as in ma or ki. The one exception is that a syllable may also end with an n , as in san.

For this reason, pronouncing English consonant clusters is hard for Japanese speakers, and they may produce a vowel sound between the consonants in a cluster. Finally, sentence structure differs from language to language as well. In Russian, for example, it's not necessary to have a connecting word like is in the sentence The house is very large.

For that matter, no word corresponding to English the would appear in the Russian version of this sentence either. But a native Russian speaker learning English who says only House very large will sound distinctly foreign.

Sometimes two languages will allow the same sentence form, but in different situations. English, for example, allows a word or phrase to be moved to the front of the sentence in certain contexts: l Spaghetti I like but lasagna I hate. This same word order is allowed in Yiddish; the difference is that Yiddish allows it to be used in a much broader range of contexts. So a native speaker of Yiddish, seeing that English has the same word-order possibility, might say something like: 2 My brother has no idea how to save money.

A house he's buying now. Here, He's buying a house now becomes A house he's buying now , just as in l I like spaghetti becomes Spaghetti I like. Both l and 2 would sound fine in Yiddish, but only l sounds normal in English; in 2 the speaker seems to have an accent. It depends on whether we're talking about first- or second-language learning.

To change your accent you have to want to. Really want to, deep down. This usually happens without much effort because you move to a new place, mix with different people, or develop new aspirations.

Do you need to change your badge of identity? Some popular prejudiced against certain groups many Ask-A-Linguist postings suggest that a lot of people in the US are prejudiced against people from the Southern US. I myself changed my pronunciation of words like book, look because of pressure. But it is sad to succumb to pressure like this — it is no different from dark skinned people using skin whitening creams to look like pale skinned people, or East Asian people having their eyelids operated on to get European looking eyes.

Anyway, if you do decide you have good reasons for changing your accent, and you want to put in some effort these are some things to do. Here is what is recommended as a method by one of our panelists, Suzette Hayden Elgin.

If you do this, it is best to choose recordings of someone of your own gender. The amount of time it takes for this to yield good results varies from one individual to another, depending on many factors.

Be careful not to work with any one tape so long that you start sounding as if you were trying to do an impersonation of the speaker. Menu Skip to content Home About. What is an accent? Why are the accents a particular place like they are? Can I change my accent? Identify the accent you want to speak. Expose yourself to the accent you want as much as possible. Definition of accent Entry 1 of 2. Definition of accent Entry 2 of 2.

Examples of accent in a Sentence Noun Regional accents are common in the U. She spoke with an American accent. The tourist had a foreign accent. He has a heavy southern accent. Put the accent on the first syllable of the word. Verb the town's promotional literature accents its vital role in American history.

Huriash, sun-sentinel. First Known Use of accent Noun before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4 Verb 14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a. Apply market research to generate audience insights.

Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Richard Nordquist. English and Rhetoric Professor. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. Updated April 14, Featured Video.

Cite this Article Format. Nordquist, Richard. Definition of Accent in English Speech.