Californian dialect
After watching a documentary on American accents a few days ago, I've developed a heightened awareness of regional linguistic subtleties. Everyone knows that there is "Northern" and "Southern" American English, but it is much more nuanced and localized than that, hence my newest hobby: obliterating all traces of the Californian dialect from my speech.
Over the past few years, I've consciously made an effort not to sound Californian. Unfortunately, armed with my newfound linguistic knowledge, I've realized that Californian has already insidiously burrowed its way into my brain. I could not find much information about the characteristics of the dialect, but I did learn one or two things.
Firstly, there has been a shift from the standard "oo" to "ew". Words like "food" and "move", for example, are pronounced "fewd" and "mewve". I regrettably do this. Secondly, based on my own observations, Californians have much more exaggerated inflections. Their voices go up and down in stereotypical Valley Girl fashion. Even people not from the Valley exhibit this characteristic, though to a lesser extent.
No doubt there is more, but that is not the most significant point. What is significant is why this matters to me. One's speech is invariably tied up with a number of intangibles that have no real connection to linguistics. The most notable of these is emotion. One's speech is an important part of one's self-image. How you speak or try to speak is a reflection of how you want to project yourself to other people. Rather surprisingly, I've realized that it is not a huge concern for me to preserve my original Iowan accent. I lived in Pittsburgh for six years and did not once worry about sounding like the locals, however terrible they might have seemed to my ears. If I moved to the South and picked up regional quirks, I might even consider it enriching. But given my feelings about California, the influence of the Californian dialect has suddenly taken on gigantic proportions. It is imperative that it not be the dominating factor in my speech, and I really don't care what takes its place.
This phenomenon extends further. You might be amazed to hear that my Iowa obsession started just three years ago. It was not until I began hating California that I started remembering my childhood state with especial fondness. I've reached out for a lot of things to place in diametric opposition to California, and that became one of them. My favorite state, my accent, even mannerisms and word choices have all gotten a free ride from the fact that I don't want this place owning any one of them.
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NPR Report on Californian
NPR Report on Texan
"What about immigrants? Do they learn Texas twang under the assumption they're learning English?"
Over the past few years, I've consciously made an effort not to sound Californian. Unfortunately, armed with my newfound linguistic knowledge, I've realized that Californian has already insidiously burrowed its way into my brain. I could not find much information about the characteristics of the dialect, but I did learn one or two things.
Firstly, there has been a shift from the standard "oo" to "ew". Words like "food" and "move", for example, are pronounced "fewd" and "mewve". I regrettably do this. Secondly, based on my own observations, Californians have much more exaggerated inflections. Their voices go up and down in stereotypical Valley Girl fashion. Even people not from the Valley exhibit this characteristic, though to a lesser extent.
No doubt there is more, but that is not the most significant point. What is significant is why this matters to me. One's speech is invariably tied up with a number of intangibles that have no real connection to linguistics. The most notable of these is emotion. One's speech is an important part of one's self-image. How you speak or try to speak is a reflection of how you want to project yourself to other people. Rather surprisingly, I've realized that it is not a huge concern for me to preserve my original Iowan accent. I lived in Pittsburgh for six years and did not once worry about sounding like the locals, however terrible they might have seemed to my ears. If I moved to the South and picked up regional quirks, I might even consider it enriching. But given my feelings about California, the influence of the Californian dialect has suddenly taken on gigantic proportions. It is imperative that it not be the dominating factor in my speech, and I really don't care what takes its place.
This phenomenon extends further. You might be amazed to hear that my Iowa obsession started just three years ago. It was not until I began hating California that I started remembering my childhood state with especial fondness. I've reached out for a lot of things to place in diametric opposition to California, and that became one of them. My favorite state, my accent, even mannerisms and word choices have all gotten a free ride from the fact that I don't want this place owning any one of them.
*
NPR Report on Californian
NPR Report on Texan
"What about immigrants? Do they learn Texas twang under the assumption they're learning English?"