Why some people lose their accents but others don't - linguistic expert

[Behind the Aegis]

The way a person speaks is an intrinsic part of their identity. It’s tribal, marking a speaker as being from one social group or another. Accents are a sign of belonging as much as something that separates communities.

Yet we can probably all think of examples of people who seem to have “lost” their regional or national accent and of others whose accent stays firmly in place.

Given the personal and social importance of how someone speaks, why would anyone’s accent change?

You may think of your accent as a physical part of who you are — but a conscious or subconscious desire to fit in can influence the way you speak, whether you want it to or not. Research has shown a person’s accent will move towards that of the group of speakers with which they identify at some stage in their lives. Accents are a fluid feature of speech. If someone moves from Australia to the U.S. to work, for example, they will probably at least modify their accent, either consciously or unconsciously.

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[bucolic_frolic]

1. It takes a rigid mind blocking out new information to not adapt

Authoritarians never change their accent.

I just made this up on the fly from a few examples I can think of. Not sure if it holds any water.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. I don't understand your comment at all.

Millions of people have accents that don't change, including those who speak a second or third language, as hard as they try, it never really changes. What does that have to do with 'authoritarians'?

[bucolic_frolic]

4. I'm thinking of an authoritarian personality I knew who could not lose his NY accent

Rigid mind is what I'm thinking.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Oh, OK. Now, I understand what you were trying to convey.

I suppose it can be for some, but I have never lost my primary accent despite living all over the country. It is not as strong as it used to be, but it is still there and comes out in great times of joy, anger or stress.

I don't associate losing an accent with authoritarianism, because there are multiple factors which may be involved. Immigrants, not all, but many, never lose their accent.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. Not true

I've lived in the USA since I was 13, and I'm 80 now. People tell me I still have a distinct English South African accent. I'm not aware of it when I speak, of course, although when I hear a recording of myself, I'm struck by how strong the accent is.

[SarahD]

2. Accent? I don't have an accent!

Growing up, I spoke like the characters in "Fargo." Then I grew up, moved around the country, and ended up speaking West Coast Something or Other. Some of the little timber towns out here are interesting because the residents speak like they just moved from Arkansas, even though it was five generations ago when their great great grandparents migrated to work in the lumber mills.

[liberal N proud]

6. I wonder if the longer I live in the south, will I speak southern

Y’all’

[Dulcinea]

11. Not necessarily.

I've lived in GA for 35 years & have never picked up a drawl. But then again I live in metro Atlanta, a big transplant area.

When I visit the Pittsburgh area where I grew up, I slip back into "yinzer" mode in about 2 days!

[liberal N proud]

12. I work in rural South Carolina where it's thick

Like another language sometimes.

But I lived in Cleveland for 17 years and never picked up their slang like towmotor

[Aristus]

7. I was born and raised in Texas, and used to have a classic Texas twang.

But I’ve lived in the Northwest for all of my adult life, and it’s pretty much gone away. I still use “y’all” and “dang” regularly, which sounds a little incongruous in my Washington State accent.

But I can slip back into my Texas pretty easily, and usually do so when I’m in a very good mood or a very bad mood.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Bush Jr. sometimes forgot to use his Texas Accent

It was weird that no one else in his family had it and that he didn't have it all the time.

[Aristus]

15. Ah, yes; the Connecticut Cowboy.

If he hadn't been so good at telling right-wing Texans the shit they like to hear, they would have rousted him out of the state decades ago. Few people like a poseur.

[Upthevibe]

9. Kick. N/T

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. This us sort of off topic, but...

I've found that when traveling in Ireland and Scotland, I unconsciously pick up the local accent. It's not because of exposure to those accents growing up because my Irish ancestors were Famine migrants.

When it's happened and I hear myself, it's pretty jarring.

[hunter]

14. My wife and one of our kids are accent chameleons.

They quickly assimilate the accent of whatever environment they are in.

My accent is frozen somewhere in the U.S. American West.

[NNadir]

16. My wife is as well. When we lived in California, she spoke perfect Californian, but when her mother called...

...she'd say in perfect New Yorkese (var. Staten Island), "I tawked to my mutter."

I can turn it on and off at will myself, and do so, often in the context of joking. I cannot however, imitate a Scots accent, although my father could as is father was Scots. Somehow I never learned that one, and to be frank, have difficulty understanding Scots English.

I am told by the French that whenever I speak French - my French is at best marginal - my accent is close to perfect.