I found out from one of my fellow bloggers that George Mason University has a web site called the Speech Accent Archive. This extract from the home page explains its purpose:
“The speech accent archive uniformly presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed. The archive is used by people who wish to compare and analyze the accents of different English speakers.”
Since I’m a GMU Alumnus, I dutifully made a recording of my voice and sent it off to GMU. Maybe it will end up in the Archive…or maybe not. But it is preserved for posterity (or however long HR’s halfVAST Blog exists) right here.
So do I have a regional accent? And if I do, what region of the US?
OK. Now, I am going to try to do it. But, I am laughing so hard, it might take awhile! I don’t hear a regional accent in your voice. You sound like the folks who live around here. But, it is GREAT hearing you!
That’s interesting, as I’ve met people over the years who have asked me if I was from Western Pennsylvania due to my “accent.” I think maybe the choice of words in the text used for the recording tends to normalize the accent. for example, even though I’ve been gone from PA for a long time some Pittsburghese still creeps into my speech.
I thought the choice of words was difficult and I am guessing they picked those words for the purpose of emphasizing differences in regional pronounciations. I am not good at guessing where accents come from. That was a fun experience, though, and a great resource to sample. Thanks for encouraging me to do that. I am trying to schedule other family members to record their voices, too.