tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post502231083770685136..comments2024-03-29T16:58:01.576+13:00Comments on AmeriNZ Blog: Accent angstArthur Schenckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10568299067544221996noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-17916071445352320682010-04-20T09:03:04.656+12:002010-04-20T09:03:04.656+12:00Yeah, Bill sometimes makes some errors, but none s...Yeah, Bill sometimes makes some errors, but none so huge that I dismiss the entire book. I loved "Down Under" (called "Notes from a Sunburned Land" in North America) about Australia, and an about the attack on a lesbian couple he describes in detail in "Walk in the Woods" is completely accurate (I met and spoke with Claudia Brenner).<br /><br />There's also a documentary series called, if I remember correctly (and I probably don't), "The Story of English" which was also interesting, if a bit dated already.Arthur Schenckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10568299067544221996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-43116487000305883832010-04-20T01:58:07.746+12:002010-04-20T01:58:07.746+12:00I LOVED "Mother Tongue" even if there we...I LOVED "Mother Tongue" even if there were a few factual errors in it.toujoursdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08106158181662408311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-31857285936221972202010-04-19T23:23:14.635+12:002010-04-19T23:23:14.635+12:00toujoursdan: Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue...<b>toujoursdan: </b>Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue" is a good look at how the American accent, in particular, came to be.<br /><br />I admit that I don't know much about the Australian accent, but the original convict settlers were generally from the lower classes. As an aside, they supposedly invented the word "mate" to describe the fellow male convicts with whom they developed sexual relationships in the absence of women.<br /><br />New Zealand's accents are largely derived from the places in Britain where the colonists came from. Dunedin, for example, was heavily Scottish, and their influence on the language in the area can still be heard.<br /><br />And believe me, the rest of New Zealand makes fun of Auckland for everything BUT its accent: It doesn't have one. Auckland has the largest portion of any part of New Zealand who weren't born in New Zealand (it also has a large percent of not born in Auckland, for that matter). That multiculturalism means there are many accents in Auckland.<br /><br />The New Zealand colonists sought to "build a better Britain", one without the rigid British class system. As a result, people's class was fluid, and so was their accent.<br /><br />Today, there's a distinct accent among young Polynesians born here to foreign-born parents, and that accent has similarities with that of lower-class people of all races.<br /><br />But television has caused such a mixing and mingling of accents—including American—that I'm not sure any particular accent will survive.<br /><br /><b>Nik: </b>Snap! I fully admit that there are people—including on the TV news—that I sometimes have trouble understanding. But more often than nut, the problem isn't accent as much as speaking clearly—enunciation. I encountered the same thing in America.<br /><br />So, I agree with you that the accent here isn't particularly worse or better than anywhere else.Arthur Schenckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10568299067544221996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-56159382541073599832010-04-19T18:07:38.846+12:002010-04-19T18:07:38.846+12:00Hah, that's funny, I just read this article 10...Hah, that's funny, I just read this article 10 minutes ago myself! I too thought she was rather up it -- I remember the same complaints in the US about the mumbling incoherent younger generation. The N Zilland accent isn't particularly worse or better than anywhere else, really, and some folks are easier than others to understand. No worries mate!Nikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08817525516356141103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-55192400444776750112010-04-19T01:49:02.171+12:002010-04-19T01:49:02.171+12:00My understanding is that while British, American a...My understanding is that while British, American and Canadian accents are based on geography*, New Zealand and Australian accents are based on economic class.<br /><br />*Insert numerous exceptions here. (I remember Aucklanders making fun of rural South Islanders and the way they speak.)<br /><br />So when people whine about accents it's usually a proxy for race or class wars.toujoursdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08106158181662408311noreply@blogger.com