What causes people to talk with accents?

Question

What causes British people to talk with British accents, or Spanish people to talk with Spanish accents?
How come American people can speak with an accent if they want, such as British. (I do this sometimes with my friends. xD)

Answer 1

I has to do with that person's social environment. A person will most likely mimic the way others talk in their area. This is true for kids learning to talk and even for adults who move from one location to another.

Answer 2

Everyone gets their version of their native language exactly the same way, by growing up among people who speak that way.



Actually, there is no such thing as A British accent, there are lots of them, depending on where you grew up and were educated.



Few people who learn another language after their formative years can speak without an accent. For most, here are sounds they can't make, there are ways of talking that are much more natural to them.



Everyone speaks with SOME accent -- you just don't think of the way you talk as having an accent, but people who talk differently would describe you as having an accent.



There is no one American accent: people from Georgia don't sound the same as people from Washington, Texas, or New York (to name just a few).



A lot of people can imitate other people's accents, but there's usually a few sounds that give them away.



So, for instance, in the TV series (a British show) As Time Goes By, there is a recurring character who's American.



The actor's accent is pretty good on the whole, but to this American's ears, he doesn't sound QUITE American all the time.



(For fans, I'm referring to Mike Barbosa -- as I say, most of what he says is spot on, but now and then I can tell he's a Brit imitating American speech.)



I bet when you and your friend try to talk with British accents, real Brits would say you're getting it wrong.

Answer 3

Well... I'm not a language scientist or sort of, but I think it depends on the different locations. For example, first Americans came from Britian, but while Americans started taking Indian words and deleting a couple of useless British words; while the British took words from France, etc. Also, the Indian way may have graually affected American English (accent), but not Britsih English (accent). However, it's really easy to learn an accent of your same language especially in a language like English; even that, me, the innative, can diffrenciate (sorry for my spelling mistake(s).) between Aussie, British, Irish, and American. It's not a big deal, you know.

Answer 4

Right, firstly, not just american people can speak with other accents, there are multiple accents in most countries, and i'm sure they too would be able to put on accents. When people try to speak in other accents other than their own, like when you speak with a british accent, it may sound like it to you, but it is most likely not exactly the same.



Secondly, i'll try to explain why people get accents. when you are born the muscles in your face are able to create any shape with your mouth so that you can pronounce any word that you learn. but as you get older, the muscles that you use repeatedly to make the sounds of your mother tongue, grow stronger, and the other muscles that are not required to speak english with an american accent, grow weaker. this is why when you speak in another language, or when spanish people speak english for example, they speak with a spanish accent, because they are trying to make sounds like an american, with facial muscles that are modified for speaking spanish.

Answer 5

welll

I have a "Portuguese accent" supposedly, and it's probably because Portuguese is my first language & I grew up all my life in Portuguese-speaking countries, so that was the language I spoke most, but even then my accent is faint compared to my siblings because I speak English more then them.



As for speaking in other accents, I can EASILY speak in an American or British accent. It's not just Americans who speak in other ones.

Answer 6

Simply environment...example, if you take an Italian boy or girl, born in Rome to a British father and an Ethiopian mother, and transplant the child to a Chinese enclave on the west coast of Mexico for him or her to be reared in, then end result will more than likely be of an inter-racial child with a Mexican accent typical of that same area.

Answer 7

It's all in the vowels that make an "accent" noticeable by a foreign language speaker. Most Romance languages from Europe will say "Oooo-Esss-AHH" instead of "You-S-EY" for USA. Why? Because the vowels are: ah-aye-eee-ooo-you for the aeiou. After that, it is word choice that clues the listener what dialect. But, no matter what language you learn, the one ingrained habit is counting. After the number 10, you can't count very fast aloud in a foreign language.

Answer 8

People learn to speak by listening to the people around them. They imitate the sounds they hear. So people born in England will probably talk like English people. Those born in Japan will probably talk like people from Japan. Those born in New Jersey will probably talk like people from New Jersey but people will still use a New York accent to make fun of Jerseyans even though we never say New Joisey.



If you weren't born in England, you can still sound like an English person by imitating the sounds you hear from English people.

Answer 9

Yep, I consider we have been each doing it whilst! I known as apple seeing that i couldnt get into my itunes account and bought through to a buyer offerings girl in California i consider it was once. Anyway, I adored her accessory and he or she immediately spotted mine so we have been speaking for a long time even tho we looked after out my account crap after a couple of mins...considering it now i am hoping i didnt get her into concern :)

Answer 10

That's interesting huh? I'm not sure why but i think since they're used to speaking their own accent????

Answer 11

its just a habit

its liek being with people who eat with there hand you will eventually eat with your hands

you subconciously indertake it when your yound with out noticing

Answer 12

OLD HABIT! It's not always easy to get rid of em:)

Answer 13

they pick it up from their parents

Answer 14

It is the "LANGUAGE GENE!"



Thanks, RR