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r/Accents

▲ 4 r/Accents

Describing the English accent of Dutch/German non-native speakers?

Hi! I may be overthinking this-- is it simply just 'slightly accented English'? I just feel there is a specific 'English accent' of countries with a native language evolved from the root that created German/Dutch/Danish but not Italian/Spanish/French or indeed Eastern European countries further West.

I noticed this both with my German friends and my Dutch friends who speak English fluently; they do not have much of their native accent but the accent they have in English is not quite purely British RP, nor American. I can best describe it as 'clear' English?

Examples in acting would be Famke Jansen or Michiel Huisman, influencers online like Feli from Germany, Camilla Lorentzen, Nikkie tutorials a bit, and PewDiePie. I know you can hear there is an accent underneath but I would never be able to pinpoint it or confidently say they were anything but American/Canadian/English lol.
To me their accent in English is very 'universal' despite all these people coming from different regions and countries.

Just curious to know if there is any other thoughts on this or a term for this overall!

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u/thebonlebon — 23 hours ago
▲ 25 r/Accents

I have a question specifically for Americans who speak without the cot-caught merger but with the lot-cloth split about words that include "og."

In case you're wondering whether this question applies to you, speaking without the cot-caught merger means that you use different vowels for "cot" (/ˈkɑt/) and "caught" (/ˈkɔt/), and speaking with the lot-cloth split means that you pronounce "lot" with the same vowel as in "cot" (/ˈlɑt/) and "cloth" with the same vowel as in "caught" (/ˈklɔθ/).

If this accent applies to you, I assume that you pronounce the word "hotdog" as /ˈhɑtˌdɔg/ with both vowels being different.

I'm wondering how you pronounce words with "og" in them.

I used to be under the impression that most "og" words were affected by the lot-cloth split, but I noticed something interesting. In this video, people repeat the words "hog" and "dog" several times. And aside from Peter, I feel like they are all pronouncing "hog" as /ˈh**ɑ**g/ and "dog" as /ˈd**ɔ**g/. The difference in vowels is especially noticeable with Sheryl's pronunciations of these two words.

Now this is making me question the pronunciations on other "og" words. How do you pronounce these words?

* log /ˈlɑg/ or /ˈlɔg/?

* jog /ˈdʒɑg/ or /ˈdʒɔg/?

* slog /ˈslɑg/ or /ˈslɔg/?

* hedgehog /ˈhɛdʒˌhɑg/ or /ˈhɛdʒˌhɔg/?

* dog /ˈdɑg/ or /ˈdɔg/?

* goggle /ˈgɑ gəl/ or /ˈgɔ gəl/?

* toggle /ˈtɑ gəl/ or /ˈtɔ gəl/?

* boggle /ˈbɑ gəl/ or /ˈbɔ gəl/?

* cog /ˈkɑg/ or /ˈkɔg/?

* cognitive /ˈkɑg nə tɪv/ or /ˈkɔg nə tɪv/?

* analog /ˈæn əˌlɑg/ or /ˈæn əˌlɔg/?

* dialogue /ˈdaɪ əˌlɑg/ or /ˈdaɪ əˌlɔg/?

* frog /ˈfɹɑg/ or /ˈfɹɔg/?

* bog /ˈbɑg/ or /ˈbɔg/?

* other words you can think of

u/Ok_Engineering_2031 — 1 day ago
▲ 1 r/Accents

What’s my accent?

Hi guys, I’m from Germany and I have this weird accent no one seems to be able to place. What do you guys think it is? I attached a video with a black screen and my Voice.

u/Alternative-Bag-1853 — 20 hours ago
▲ 5 r/Accents

Where am I from? What area?

Grew up in the same area my whole life, never lived anywhere else and I’m a Native English speaker.

u/OrvillePekPek — 2 days ago
▲ 4 r/Accents

What two US states do you think I grew up in?

Or what general region of the US do you guys think I'm from? Bonus points for those who can guess the immigrant community I grew up in.

I get a lot of different opinions and have gotten some pretty wild and specific ideas, but I have never met someone who could guess everything. I'm interested to see if anyone can figure it out and how I sound to people.

u/ireally_gabs — 2 days ago
▲ 0 r/Accents

Can you guys tell me how I can improve my accent and sound more American? Please feel free to share any feedback

u/Arman_hossainalif — 2 days ago
▲ 0 r/Accents

Would any of you think that she speaks natural British English, or does she sound like someone who affects a fake accent?

u/Sure_Distance1 — 4 days ago
▲ 3 r/Accents

Has my accent faded?

(And can you figure out where exactly I’m from)

u/erik_knz — 3 days ago