I have an accent?!?

Question

i was raised in south west florida. but people born and raised in florida don't have southern accents like people from north or south carolina or any of the other southern states. i never talked like a redneck. i actual kind of talk like a surfer cuz i grew up around alot of people that talked like that. but when i moved to jersey everyone says i talk different (not in a southern accent) but different. i realized i say "dollar" funny i say dullar sometimes and i can't pernouce malboro to save my life what kind of accent do i have. what does a floridian accent sound like?

Answer 1

Everyone has an accent. That includes everyone. Not just English, everyone. A good linguist can place your background by your accent/dialect and language use markers.

We theater type people aren't that good but we do know how to adjust our speech so that we sound like we belong somewhere else.

SW Florida (Tampa, Naples, St. Pete, etc...) is inhabited by a majority non-local population. For the most part, the dialect spoken over there is a mixture that sounds most like "American Standard English" (aka Broadcaster Standard) except in those people who still maintain a native dialect from where they moved from.

Fact is, your new friends in NJ have "an accent" too. They tend to speak a combination Eastern New England and New York variations.

Your pronunciation of dollar and your misplacement of "r" in "pernounce" is Southern American English while an inability to vocalize "marlboro" (if you say "mahbro") is a marker for New England.

What you really have is "no identifiable regional accent" because the accent you speak with is an amalgamation of many due to the transient nature of the people of SW Florida.

Bottom line: you do "talk different", that's the nature of geographic dialects. There are well over 100 regional dialects in the US alone (there are also many different dialects of "southern"). You can learn to speak with any dialect you'd like but you will always have certain markers to your natural "accent". ☺

Answer 2

Southern accent

Answer 3

Dictate to a tape recorder; then play it back and compare to other accents.

Answer 4

i think its cute to have an accent i my self find man very attractive its appealing and when you love some one ,youll find words just sound so appealing but to answer yor question i dont know.....

Answer 5

Hi,

From what you have said not only you talk with an accent,
you also walk with one .

Rgds............