Accents

I don't have an accent as such but retain my northern short 'a'. Some acquaintances in Edinburgh thought I was posh until they heard me say "Shove up!" to my kids on a picnic mat. An Edinburgh work colleague of DH, who didn't catch my name on the phone, told DH that it was a woman "with a clear English voice". Clear is the key. I don't do loud.

I think mine is a mix of Nottingham/Fife. I've been told I talk a bit 'posh', but I think that may be because a 'careful' English accent in Fife (the real Fife accent can be quite fast and 'broad') may sound that way. When I think of it, though, I've lived in Fife for much more than half of my life, though born in a small Nottinghamshire village. I suppose the early 'informative years' shape your accent as well?

Despite living in Cornwall for many years, I was born and brought up in Birmingham and although I am told my accent has mellowed it is unmistakable Brummie so you will have to imagine Cornish phases spoken with a Brummie accent!

They'll sound very interesting!!!

Indefinable Scottish accent - ie not recognisably from any particular area. Slightly affected by 40 years south of the Border, though I retain the rolled 'r'.

Undefinable, that's the word I need. Mine's an undefinable northern English accent.

I imagine Annobel's is what my dad would have called an 'educated Scottish accent', apparently the most 'trusted' of all British accents.

Indefinable.

!

You can definatley tell that I come from Merseyside although not as strong as Liverpudlian,much softer as from the Wirral side,you can really tell the differance when with my Liverpudlian friend's.

glammanana - yes the two accents are very diffferent really. My Brummie accent is very different from a Black Country accent so it's a similar thing.

Well I'm a Devonian but I'm told that I don't have a really strong Westcountry Accent unless I'm talking to my mum who's accent is very strong. I talk 'posh' in my head though

I sound like a cross between Melanie Hill and Denise Robertson, if you know who these ladies are then you can hear my accent

I've a West Yorkshire accent and have kept it throughout my life, in 4 different countries, Southern England, Austria, NZ and Australia. These days I use Aussie phrases too, just to confuse things.

Mum was born in Liverpool but at age 9 she ended up in a boarding school with Southern kids, and picked up some of their slang, so I have a few other English influences mixed up with the dominant Yorkshire.

I'm married to a Batley man, so there are few influences against retaining my beloved dialect. Anyway, when I started learning German at age 14 I found quite a few dialect words in standard German, which intrigued me. Oh, and my flat Yorkshire vowels has always been an immense help in the German language (alas, more of a hindrance with French).

Having travelled widely in this country and abroad "following the flag", I have largely lost my South Yorkshire accent and do not drop my aitches. In short, people think I sound a bit posh, though it's not something I foster, and I hope that people can still tell that I come from God's own county! I cannot lengthen the A though, and still say bath and not baath. DH has lost his Welsh accent over the years and now sounds very posh - my sister always said his voice made her want to swoon (never had that effect on me - I'm always telling him to shut up!) He does develop a definite Welsh lilt when we go to visit his relatives though!

Baggy, would Annobel's accent be what I have heard referred to as High Caledonian? Or is that something different?

Possibly, arty. I wonder if annobel could tell us?

My paternal grandad was from south Yorkshire and I loved his accent. So earthy and rich.

DD studied Swedish at Hull and said imitating the E Yorks vowels was a great help with Swedish pronunciation.

Long live variety!

arty, I have never heard of 'High Caledonian*. It sounds like a posh kind of accent, maybe like Malcolm Riffkind's, if you can call that to mind. In which case it certainly isn't mine!

Annobel I am heartily glad to hear that you don't sound like Malcolm Riffkind!

Oh Annobel - I thought you would be a bit Morningside (where coal comes in sex!) After nearly 31 years in the Kingdom of Fife I still remain very English - posh some would say

I am a Geordie not broad but you would know where I come from, think Denise Welch and that will give you an idea or that new woman comedian(cant think of her name) who is on Loose Women and just about everything else at the moment.

I have a soft voice and am often asked to repeat what I have said - its a broadly neutral accent with traces of an East London upbringing esp when excited.

Gally - Morningside! Moi? I was brought up in Ayrshire. My Dad came from Fife but didn't have a Fife accent. Mum was brought up in Ayrshire by an English mother. So there you have it. We were discouraged from speaking with the local accent. Maybe it was considered 'common'!

Sarah Millican?

I'm not sure what sort of accent I have. Like everyone else, I suppose, I just consider the way I speak as normal. I used to set the quiz at my local pub from time to time and on one occasion when I wasn't there, a vote was taken on who should set the Christmas quiz. They voted for "the lady with the posh voice" – but had to settle for me in the end.

I grew up in London but have lived in the North since I was 19. People up here think I sound posh/southern but when I go down south I am taken for a northerner, so something must have rubbed off on me.