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Comment by kjackson2012 | Hacker News Reader

kjackson2012·

I have a friend from Hong Kong, and she has an English accent, having being educated in British schools.

For fun, I asked her to talk in an American accent, and what fascinated me, is that she talked with an almost exactly Southern accent. So maybe the Southern accent is a vestigial accent leftover from the transition from British to American accent.

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I don't have the source but I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that a Southern accent is mostly a slowed-down version of a British accent.

Did you enquire further about it. I can probably, with effort, muster 3 distinct USA accents that I'd label Southern, New York and West-Coast - but they'd be based on mass media.

I'd say people can often do several USA accents because they're used to hearing a lot en_US speakers from Hollywood movies.

What always freaks me out a little is when you visit some out of the way place, Gambia say, and they talk in USA accents because they've learnt English either from films or Voice of America.

Non-native English speakers attempting a general American accent they've picked up from media or US teachers is the rule rather than the exception. You know Britain has left behind a strong colonial legacy when they don't. What freaked me out was a Burmese English teacher speaking with the sort of Cockney accent that's only ever heard in low budget British gangster films.

The Southern accent is probably the strongest and most "famous" regional American accent. That might be why your friend tried to imitate it.

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