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Subject: Accents
doughnut_jimmy [del] to
All
What are accents? And why do people in different parts of the United Kingdom say certain words differently?
But what i really want to know is why do people with Welsh, Irish or Scottish accents all sound the same as English people when they are singing?
Do they forget where they come from?
Discuss.
But what i really want to know is why do people with Welsh, Irish or Scottish accents all sound the same as English people when they are singing?
Do they forget where they come from?
Discuss.
Never heard of The Proclaimers then ? :)
I always thought Trouble by Coldplay should have been covered by Chas n Dave - it sounds perfect in mockney.
More importantly why do idiots write with accents?
Spelling thing wrong on purpose is a krap thing to do.
Spelling thing wrong on purpose is a krap thing to do.
I have a question for a Scottish person; when you are reading this in your head, are the voices spoken in a Scottish accent?
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when you read this jimmy, do you read it in an estuary whine ? :)
I don't get it, was i meant to read that in a Scottish accent?
When you read something, you read it in your own accent, not your own dialect/language. That are two different things.
When I read English I read it with my Frisian/Dutch accent, but I do not translate it in my head to Frisian or Dutch.
The same for the Dutch language. When I read Dutch texts I read it with my Frisian accent (most of the times I even don't know how I would have to do it without Frisian accent), but I would not translate it to Frisian.
So the question is are we really talking about accents or about dialects?
When I read English I read it with my Frisian/Dutch accent, but I do not translate it in my head to Frisian or Dutch.
The same for the Dutch language. When I read Dutch texts I read it with my Frisian accent (most of the times I even don't know how I would have to do it without Frisian accent), but I would not translate it to Frisian.
So the question is are we really talking about accents or about dialects?
I was purely talking about accents, but that's an interesting point.
I don't think English people know 2 or more languages fluently compared to other European countries - to be able to answer that one too well - but with my basic German knowledge, i think i attempt to read German aloud in my head in English.
I don't think English people know 2 or more languages fluently compared to other European countries - to be able to answer that one too well - but with my basic German knowledge, i think i attempt to read German aloud in my head in English.
Than I believe you're German knowledge is too basic and I don't believe you do both at the same time. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that you first read German and than translate it to English, not at the same time. My German knowledge is also basic and I do the same. I'm fluent in two languages (Frisian and Dutch) and I'm also a proficient English speaker. I never read in another language than which there actually is written. If I don't know a word I'll look it up, but I don't translate the other words. I remember when I was three that while learning Dutch I had to translate everything to Frisian and when I was 13 I translated English words into Dutch (study books were in Dutch). Now I don't translate it anymore, because it takes too much time.
Back to accents. Accents are, I think, always fluently used by the ones which use it. The difference between an accent and a dialect is that a dialect has different words, an accent a different pronunciation which often is used consequently (for example the consequent difference between American and Brittish 'a'). For example the word 'me' means the same in both English and Dutch, but is pronounced differently. A Dutchman would not think: "hey this is also an English word, let's pronounced it with an English accent", but he applies Dutch pronounciation rules to that word. Another example is this great song about accentual differences. Americans and Brittish read words which are written the same in a different way, they are translating it to their own accent, but when a non-native proficient second language speaker sees a word in his second language he won't translate it to his own language. A dialect is a combination of different accent and different vocabulary. In a Frisian dialect, for example, they say 'sneon' for Saturday while we say 'saterdei'. I do not translate this word when I'm reading it, but I don't use it neither when I'm talking or writing to someone speaking that particular dialect.
To answer your question: when you're purely talking about accents I'm quite sure everyone will read things with his/her own accent unless words are used which are unfamiliar to him/her.
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Back to accents. Accents are, I think, always fluently used by the ones which use it. The difference between an accent and a dialect is that a dialect has different words, an accent a different pronunciation which often is used consequently (for example the consequent difference between American and Brittish 'a'). For example the word 'me' means the same in both English and Dutch, but is pronounced differently. A Dutchman would not think: "hey this is also an English word, let's pronounced it with an English accent", but he applies Dutch pronounciation rules to that word. Another example is this great song about accentual differences. Americans and Brittish read words which are written the same in a different way, they are translating it to their own accent, but when a non-native proficient second language speaker sees a word in his second language he won't translate it to his own language. A dialect is a combination of different accent and different vocabulary. In a Frisian dialect, for example, they say 'sneon' for Saturday while we say 'saterdei'. I do not translate this word when I'm reading it, but I don't use it neither when I'm talking or writing to someone speaking that particular dialect.
To answer your question: when you're purely talking about accents I'm quite sure everyone will read things with his/her own accent unless words are used which are unfamiliar to him/her.
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