WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Do Accents Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren voc obam here with another classic episode from our

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<v Speaker 1>erstwhile host, Christian Sagar. This episode sets out to answer

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<v Speaker 1>a question that lots of us around the office, having

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<v Speaker 1>backgrounds in theater, We're curious about how do accents work? Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Christian Sager and I'm speaking with an American accent?

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<v Speaker 1>But where do accents come from? Not just mine, but

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<v Speaker 1>all of them? First, let's figure out what an accent is.

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<v Speaker 1>Accents are just a part of something bigger called dialects.

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<v Speaker 1>An accent refers to the way a person or a

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<v Speaker 1>group sounds. A dialect refers to the accent and the

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<v Speaker 1>grammatical features inherent in a person's speech. So an accent

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<v Speaker 1>is just a way of pronouncing a language. Every single

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<v Speaker 1>person speaking has one. Your accent results from how, where,

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<v Speaker 1>and when you learn the lane which you're speaking in,

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<v Speaker 1>and it gives impressions about you to other people. No

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<v Speaker 1>one has a single fixed accent determined by his or

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<v Speaker 1>her experience, because we can and do control the way

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<v Speaker 1>we speak, both consciously and unconsciously. In fact, most people

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<v Speaker 1>change the way they speak depending on who's listening. And

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<v Speaker 1>our accents can even change when we have new life experiences.

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<v Speaker 1>But where to accents in general come from. Well, primarily

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<v Speaker 1>two things isolation and human nature. We're social animals, and

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<v Speaker 1>when we're in groups, we like to behave in similar

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<v Speaker 1>fashion and show that we belong, and we do this

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<v Speaker 1>in multiple ways. Language is no different. When groups become distinct,

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<v Speaker 1>the way they speak becomes distinct too. So if a

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<v Speaker 1>single group separates socially and geographically, think of Group A

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<v Speaker 1>going to one island and Group BE going to another,

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<v Speaker 1>then over time they develop distinct dialects. They may eventually

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<v Speaker 1>even sound like two different languages. Humans are widely traveled species,

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<v Speaker 1>and as distinct groups mingled with others, their accents changed,

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<v Speaker 1>combining some traits while losing others. No accent is particularly

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<v Speaker 1>better than another. While you might hear some folks talk

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<v Speaker 1>about accentless English, what they're really talking about our dialects

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<v Speaker 1>like received pronunciation or general American, which are the reference varieties.

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<v Speaker 1>They're transcribed in dictionaries and often taught to foreign English students,

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<v Speaker 1>But they are accents nonetheless, So what does your accents

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<v Speaker 1>say about you? It depends on who's listening. You might

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<v Speaker 1>have an accent that is associated with a particular place,

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<v Speaker 1>like London, for example, but some people may just associate

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<v Speaker 1>that with England. And in all languages, some accents have

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<v Speaker 1>higher or lower perceived prestige, meaning they are often associated

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<v Speaker 1>with a higher social class. For example, Americans have often

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<v Speaker 1>looked down on the Southern US accent. The Southern accent

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<v Speaker 1>is associated with several real stereotypes, but other English speakers,

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<v Speaker 1>say in the UK or Australia, might not share the

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<v Speaker 1>same prejudice. They will, however, have their own stereotypes about accents,

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<v Speaker 1>and these stereotypes won't completely carry over to other English

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<v Speaker 1>groups either. So if there's an accent joke in a

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<v Speaker 1>British film, your American friends might not get it at all.

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<v Speaker 1>These perceptions are not based on anything inherent in the accent.

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<v Speaker 1>If you play recordings of different accents to non English speakers,

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<v Speaker 1>they won't be able to tell which ones are high

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<v Speaker 1>or low prestige. But if you really feel that your

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<v Speaker 1>accent isn't working, then the good news is that you

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<v Speaker 1>can change it. You'll have to work at it, figure

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<v Speaker 1>out exactly how you would like to sound, and then

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<v Speaker 1>expose yourself to that as much as possible, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is possible. Today's episode was written by Ben Bolan and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. From more on this and lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com