What type of accent do you have?

dancersmom
Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:52:59 +0000

I suppose we could transcribe your pronunciation of la as luh. When I say la it does not rhyme with “the” or with “a”; it’s not even close :). For me, la rhymes with the fa in father and the so in sod. The vowel sound I use in ahh and la would come close to matching the French pronunciation of the vowel in the word France.

I too find it interesting that linguists can tell where we have lived by the way we speak. I do, however, think that it can’t be done with 100% accuracy because we humans sometimes purposely modify the way we speak. For example, when I was a child I pronounced the word “egg” with a long A sound. That’s how my mom and all of her family pronounced the word. They are of German descent (I don’t know if that has any bearing or not) and are natives of Louisville, KY. At some point during my youth I noted that others pronounced the word “egg” with a short E sound. I consciously decided to modify the way I pronounced the word. I have found it interesting to note that I’ve heard some older adults in Cincinnati pronounce egg the same way as my mom. I’ve never heard a young person in this area pronounce it with a long A sound. I have always wondered if the non-standard pronunciation was something that was common in German immigrant families or if it was something that was simply common among Ohio River valley natives in the past.