new york accents?

Question

people tell me i have one o__O
i never got that though i don't think i have one
more specifically i've been told i have a brooklyn accent
i don't think i have an accent >__>
so why do people always tell me this
and yes i live in brooklyn :]

i'm chinese.

Answer 1

We'ans down hea' in Texas aint got no accents neither.. dont y'all agree?!!! But you'uns up yonder shur do talk kinda funny like...y'all know what I mean!

Answer 2

I've traveled to Europe & Asia. No one's ever told me I have an accent. No one. Some people would say I have a Chinese accent when speaking English, while others won't. It's strange: No Chinese person ever told me I have a New York accent when speaking Chinese?! I never knew there was such a distinction. There's a total of 62 counties in New York State: 5 of these are called "New York City", "Downstate New York", or "Lesser New York". The remaining 57 counties are called "Upstate New York" or "Greater New York" So what do you mean when you say "New York accent?": New York City only? or just Upstate New York? If each county or borough have their own accent, then New Yorkers would not have just "1" New York accent, but "57" distinctive New York accents or more. But that would cause a confusion: Which one are you really talking about? There's many nationalities in New York, so someone whose ancestors were from another country would have a distinctive accent also. Again, "What's a New York accent?" Voice of Reason: New Yorkers pronounce "sauce" as sow-as. "York" as yoh-uk. "Talk" as towuk. (Orlando people say "taaac") Are you sure? I live in New York, and I DO NOT speak that way. Seems like your Voice of Reason isn't reason enough for me. This was the way I was taught how to speak English in NEW YORK CITY: sauce = "saw-s" York = rhymes with "fork" or "your + k" Talk = rhymes with "chalk" or "tall + k", but sometimes when spoken quickly, it just seems like the l sound is missing from the word "talk", so some people would mistakenly think it's pronounced "tawk", which it really ISN'T. LonG IslanD, is just emphasis on the beginning and ending of each word so people could say it correctly: Even though it sometimes sounds like "Lawn guy lind", it's actually two words: Long and Island, not one word.

Answer 3

If you were born and raised in Brooklyn, then you are in denial if you think you don't have an accent. I'm from Texas and believe me, I've got the accent. It's not a bad thing, it's normal.

Answer 4

Yeah, I never noticed it. I went to Vegas and others states and people sound the same, like it's New York, well except for the south, etc. WTH is a NY accent? I never got it..is it like a snobbish, bratty sound or something?? lols

Answer 5

Because "normal" to you is an accent to them. Like if you go down south, you're the one with the accent, not all the people with the southern drawl.

It's all just a matter of perspective.

Answer 6

because when you live in a place and everyone has the same accent, you don't notice. I live in Kentucky, and when I leave the state to go north, people ask me where I'm from, and say that I have a southern accent, when I don't notice that I do.

Answer 7

You don't think you have one because you sound like everyone else who lives in Brooklyn...people who don't live there and have the same accent can definitely hear it.

Answer 8

Some people tell me that too. We pick up this accent very quickly when we are around other people who have it. Don't think its a bad thing! You could always get rid of it anyway.

Answer 9

Because you wouldn't know. It seems normal to you when you have it. If you had a southern or Jersey accent, you wouldn't realize it much either.

Answer 10

I think they are probably correct.
Have a friend tape you reading a passage of a book or something. Then play it back, maybe you will find a definite answer.