Accents in the UK
17 Jan 2005 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karohemdThis is quite interesting, the nation voted Sean Connery's accent to be the most pleasant.
They're trying to build a "map" of accents across the UK, there's loads of info on the BBC Voices website.
Accents are a peculiar thing and in my mind quite important that we keep them alive. However, people should also be able to speak a standard version of their language as some accents are sometimes very hard to understand for non-locals.
Especially people who speak in public, on TV or on radio should have a rather average accent. I always think it's a sign of low education if someone can't express themselves in a standard way that is understood (and liked) by all.
I'm proud to be able to speak my local dialect (although quite far from being as perfect as that of my grandparents) as well as High German and I like the dialect. I still have a slight accent in terms of intonation and pronunciation (e.g. very few hard consonants like t or p) but not as harsh as some people I know. Having lived outside my hometown for 15 years has certainly something to do with it as our dialect is very confined and only spoken in a small area about 30 km across on the German side while reaching quite far into the Czech Republic. Even people from just outside this area will have some difficulties understanding it, as it's not just an accent but a proper dialect with its own vocabulary, pronunciation, usage and even grammar.
While some sort of standard language is important, it's also important to keep local variations alive as the language constitutes a large part of what defines people. Sadly, dialects are dying out, at least in Germany. In middle school, I was one of two or three pupils who could speak dialect properly, despite being brought up in reasonable High German, I only learned dialect when I was in my early teens. I even used to correct my grandparents if they used a particularly strong dialect word. ;o)
It's cool to go the local butcher's and ask for a "Väiering Gstandns", though. :o)
They're trying to build a "map" of accents across the UK, there's loads of info on the BBC Voices website.
Accents are a peculiar thing and in my mind quite important that we keep them alive. However, people should also be able to speak a standard version of their language as some accents are sometimes very hard to understand for non-locals.
Especially people who speak in public, on TV or on radio should have a rather average accent. I always think it's a sign of low education if someone can't express themselves in a standard way that is understood (and liked) by all.
I'm proud to be able to speak my local dialect (although quite far from being as perfect as that of my grandparents) as well as High German and I like the dialect. I still have a slight accent in terms of intonation and pronunciation (e.g. very few hard consonants like t or p) but not as harsh as some people I know. Having lived outside my hometown for 15 years has certainly something to do with it as our dialect is very confined and only spoken in a small area about 30 km across on the German side while reaching quite far into the Czech Republic. Even people from just outside this area will have some difficulties understanding it, as it's not just an accent but a proper dialect with its own vocabulary, pronunciation, usage and even grammar.
While some sort of standard language is important, it's also important to keep local variations alive as the language constitutes a large part of what defines people. Sadly, dialects are dying out, at least in Germany. In middle school, I was one of two or three pupils who could speak dialect properly, despite being brought up in reasonable High German, I only learned dialect when I was in my early teens. I even used to correct my grandparents if they used a particularly strong dialect word. ;o)
It's cool to go the local butcher's and ask for a "Väiering Gstandns", though. :o)
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Date: 17/1/05 12:02 pm (UTC)