Mad kitty!

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Cathi wrote:

((((The very wonderful Proclaimers))))

No way anyone could mistake their singing accents for American!


No way. And I think there are several Irish singers that sound Irish.

But not U2, Sinead O'Conner, The Cranberries, Clannad, Enya or The Corrs,
all big Irish exports that sing with American accents (Although when they
sing in Irish it may be different).

Yowie

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Cathi wrote:

((((The very wonderful Proclaimers))))

No way anyone could mistake their singing accents for American!


No way. And I think there are several Irish singers that sound Irish.

But not U2, Sinead O'Conner, The Cranberries, Clannad, Enya or The Corrs,
all big Irish exports that sing with American accents (Although when they
sing in Irish it may be different).

Yowie

"LOL" wrote in message
om...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...


They say that while people have different accents whilst speaking,
almost
every singer who sings in English *sings* with an American accent :-)

Yowie


Accents do seem to largely disappear while singing, but I'd always
assumed that's because it's the song dictating the rhythms and
stresses, etc., whereas in speaking there are no such constraints.

bands like The Proclaimers that sing poppy radio-suitable tunes but in their
native accents make a stark contrast to the usual "popular music" sound.

Yowie

"LOL" wrote in message
om...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...


They say that while people have different accents whilst speaking,
almost
every singer who sings in English *sings* with an American accent :-)

Yowie


Accents do seem to largely disappear while singing, but I'd always
assumed that's because it's the song dictating the rhythms and
stresses, etc., whereas in speaking there are no such constraints.

bands like The Proclaimers that sing poppy radio-suitable tunes but in their
native accents make a stark contrast to the usual "popular music" sound.

Yowie

"LOL" wrote in message
om...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...


They say that while people have different accents whilst speaking,
almost
every singer who sings in English *sings* with an American accent :-)

Yowie


Accents do seem to largely disappear while singing, but I'd always
assumed that's because it's the song dictating the rhythms and
stresses, etc., whereas in speaking there are no such constraints.

bands like The Proclaimers that sing poppy radio-suitable tunes but in their
native accents make a stark contrast to the usual "popular music" sound.

Yowie

"Cheryl Perkins" wrote in message
...
O J wrote:
Hi All,

I want to raise a point that's just been touched on in this thread.
That is, how quickly we revert to our childhood accent when we've been
speaking to someone from 'home'.

snip

Oh, yes, that's very common. Also, if you grow up in an area with a strong
regional accent, it's quite common to have at least two perfectly natural
accents. It's almost like bilingualism. There's the way you speak with
family and close, particularly childhood, friends, and the more formal,
less strongly accented way you speak in formal work or school situations.

Yes, I think its a form of Bilingualism. Its mentioned in "To Kill a
Mockingbird" where, IIRC, the family's servant/maid speaks "good English"
whilst working inthe house, but when she goes to her church, she shocks the
protagonist by speaking like the rest of the "black folks" (blame the story,
not me).

I suspect its got something to do with how we learn language (and therefore
grammar and pronunciation). I don't know what age it is, but I think its
around 8, that is the cut-off for learning a language intuitively. If a
person is exposed to a number of different languages or dialects or even
accents before that time,they can quickly and easily switch from one to the
other without having to think about it - all are their *native* tongue.
After that time, however, you have to learn language in the adult way, and
your native tongue/accent will always have an influence on the other
languages you speak.

Listening to my friend Alfred, an Australian born to Chinese parents, I am
always amazed how he can talk with his brothers in both Chinese and English
and neither he nor his brothers even notice when they've changed from one to
the other. To *my* ears it sounds like "blah blah blah blah, down to
Wollongong, turn right, blah blah blah blah, no worries, blah blah, Seeya".
I crack up each time, and htey have *no idea* that they've had half the
conversation in Cantonese and half the conversation in English, and are
often surprised that I didn't understand it all (since I don't speak
Cantonese at all). Alfred speaks in perfectly flawless Australian English
with no trace of accent, and perfectly flawless without a trace of accent
Cantonese. His parents, although speaking perfectly good and understandable
English, have a pronounced accent and have a noticably different speach
pattern than their sons. And they either speak entirely English or Entirely
Cantonese, they don't switch half way through a conversation without
noticing.

Yowie

"Cheryl Perkins" wrote in message
...
O J wrote:
Hi All,

I want to raise a point that's just been touched on in this thread.
That is, how quickly we revert to our childhood accent when we've been
speaking to someone from 'home'.

snip

Oh, yes, that's very common. Also, if you grow up in an area with a strong
regional accent, it's quite common to have at least two perfectly natural
accents. It's almost like bilingualism. There's the way you speak with
family and close, particularly childhood, friends, and the more formal,
less strongly accented way you speak in formal work or school situations.

Yes, I think its a form of Bilingualism. Its mentioned in "To Kill a
Mockingbird" where, IIRC, the family's servant/maid speaks "good English"
whilst working inthe house, but when she goes to her church, she shocks the
protagonist by speaking like the rest of the "black folks" (blame the story,
not me).

I suspect its got something to do with how we learn language (and therefore
grammar and pronunciation). I don't know what age it is, but I think its
around 8, that is the cut-off for learning a language intuitively. If a
person is exposed to a number of different languages or dialects or even
accents before that time,they can quickly and easily switch from one to the
other without having to think about it - all are their *native* tongue.
After that time, however, you have to learn language in the adult way, and
your native tongue/accent will always have an influence on the other
languages you speak.

Listening to my friend Alfred, an Australian born to Chinese parents, I am
always amazed how he can talk with his brothers in both Chinese and English
and neither he nor his brothers even notice when they've changed from one to
the other. To *my* ears it sounds like "blah blah blah blah, down to
Wollongong, turn right, blah blah blah blah, no worries, blah blah, Seeya".
I crack up each time, and htey have *no idea* that they've had half the
conversation in Cantonese and half the conversation in English, and are
often surprised that I didn't understand it all (since I don't speak
Cantonese at all). Alfred speaks in perfectly flawless Australian English
with no trace of accent, and perfectly flawless without a trace of accent
Cantonese. His parents, although speaking perfectly good and understandable
English, have a pronounced accent and have a noticably different speach
pattern than their sons. And they either speak entirely English or Entirely
Cantonese, they don't switch half way through a conversation without
noticing.

Yowie

"Cheryl Perkins" wrote in message
...
O J wrote:
Hi All,

I want to raise a point that's just been touched on in this thread.
That is, how quickly we revert to our childhood accent when we've been
speaking to someone from 'home'.

snip

Oh, yes, that's very common. Also, if you grow up in an area with a strong
regional accent, it's quite common to have at least two perfectly natural
accents. It's almost like bilingualism. There's the way you speak with
family and close, particularly childhood, friends, and the more formal,
less strongly accented way you speak in formal work or school situations.

Yes, I think its a form of Bilingualism. Its mentioned in "To Kill a
Mockingbird" where, IIRC, the family's servant/maid speaks "good English"
whilst working inthe house, but when she goes to her church, she shocks the
protagonist by speaking like the rest of the "black folks" (blame the story,
not me).

I suspect its got something to do with how we learn language (and therefore
grammar and pronunciation). I don't know what age it is, but I think its
around 8, that is the cut-off for learning a language intuitively. If a
person is exposed to a number of different languages or dialects or even
accents before that time,they can quickly and easily switch from one to the
other without having to think about it - all are their *native* tongue.
After that time, however, you have to learn language in the adult way, and
your native tongue/accent will always have an influence on the other
languages you speak.

Listening to my friend Alfred, an Australian born to Chinese parents, I am
always amazed how he can talk with his brothers in both Chinese and English
and neither he nor his brothers even notice when they've changed from one to
the other. To *my* ears it sounds like "blah blah blah blah, down to
Wollongong, turn right, blah blah blah blah, no worries, blah blah, Seeya".
I crack up each time, and htey have *no idea* that they've had half the
conversation in Cantonese and half the conversation in English, and are
often surprised that I didn't understand it all (since I don't speak
Cantonese at all). Alfred speaks in perfectly flawless Australian English
with no trace of accent, and perfectly flawless without a trace of accent
Cantonese. His parents, although speaking perfectly good and understandable
English, have a pronounced accent and have a noticably different speach
pattern than their sons. And they either speak entirely English or Entirely
Cantonese, they don't switch half way through a conversation without
noticing.

Yowie

Kreisleriana wrote:

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:20:14 +0100, "Exocat"
yodeled:


The most excruciatingly bad attempt at an English accent it's ever
been my misfortune to hear. Unfortunately. Ruined a great show for me.

Purrs

Gordon & the TT


That was the consensus from the show's English fans. Made me glad
I wasn't handicapped in that way-- they deprived themselves of a
absolutely hysterical comic performance.

Apparently, Daphne is just as phony.


--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Kreisleriana wrote:

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:20:14 +0100, "Exocat"
yodeled:


The most excruciatingly bad attempt at an English accent it's ever
been my misfortune to hear. Unfortunately. Ruined a great show for me.

Purrs

Gordon & the TT


That was the consensus from the show's English fans. Made me glad
I wasn't handicapped in that way-- they deprived themselves of a
absolutely hysterical comic performance.

Apparently, Daphne is just as phony.


--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki