Buzz
When you enter a bar or pub that's far from your hometown, chances are someone will ask where you're from as soon as you speak. Our accents are like a calling card—they reveal our origins, link us to a specific area, and sometimes even lead to stereotypes.
10. Sign Language Also Has Its Own Accent
Certain cities—like Buffalo and Boston—have such distinctive regional accents that it's immediately obvious when you're talking to someone from there. But you don't even have to speak out loud to have an accent; American Sign Language carries its own regional flavors too.
Philadelphia is home to an accent that's instantly recognizable, to the point where the peculiarities of its speech, like the way locals say “Iggles” for their football team, were even covered in a full article in The Washington Post. Interestingly, this accent also exists in Philly’s own version of American Sign Language.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have begun studying the “accent” of the deaf community in Philadelphia. They've discovered that certain words, like “hospital,” have transformed in unique ways in Philly compared to other regions. The hand shapes, positioning, and overall communication style are also distinct.
The researchers believe these unique differences are worth preserving. They're launching a long-term initiative to interview native Philadelphians and fully document their version of sign language. They are also considering the possibility that this community may have its own sentence structure.
As recently as 1984, deaf children in Philadelphia were taught in boarding schools, which may explain why the city's unique accent still persists in the community today.
9. ‘Ax’ Has An Unexpectedly Deep History
If you hear someone say “ax” instead of “ask,” you might instinctively assign them certain ethnic, educational, or cultural traits. It's one of those pronunciations that transcends regional dialects and speaks to broader social perceptions.
In 1988, Dr. Richard R. Green, one of the heads of New York City's schools, launched a campaign against the word “ax,” calling it one of his “speech demons.” He was determined to eliminate it. Ironically, this pronunciation is centuries old and has had many respected users.
Jesse Sheidlower, president of the American Dialect Society, traces the pronunciation back to around the eighth century. The Old English word “acsain” evolved into “ax,” a logical shift in pronunciation. This change has been used for centuries, including by the famous Geoffrey Chaucer. The spelling “axe” even appears in one of the earliest English translations of the Bible.
While saying “ax” might be considered more historically accurate, it doesn't fit within the standard pronunciation of modern English. Although many other early English accents faded away, this particular pronunciation has persisted in places like the Caribbean and the American South.
This makes the topic quite sensitive. On one hand, it's simply how some families have spoken for generations. On the other hand, the common pronunciation has evolved so much that “ax” has become a regional quirk that many people deliberately avoid.
8. Your Accent Could Make You Appear Untrustworthy
Researchers Boaz Keysar and Shiri Lev-Ari from the University of Chicago conducted a study on how we judge others based on their accents. Their research shows that we tend to see people with accents different from our own as dishonest or untrustworthy.
To carry out the study, they recorded 45 trivia statements in three distinct ways: in a native accent, a mild accent (such as Polish, Turkish, or Austrian-German), and a strong accent (like Italian, Korean, or Turkish). Volunteers were asked to listen to the statements and rate their credibility. The volunteers believed they were taking part in a knowledge assessment. The results were revealing, with statements spoken in a native accent rated as much more truthful than those delivered in a strong foreign accent.
In a follow-up experiment, participants were told that they were part of a study investigating whether understanding a speaker’s accent affected how likely they were to be believed. As in previous tests, native speakers and those with only a mild accent were judged as far more credible than those with a strong accent.
The researchers believe this phenomenon likely stems from cognitive fluency. When someone’s speech is difficult to understand or their accent is unfamiliar, our brains work harder to process the information. Since our brains prefer ease, we’re more likely to question the truth of what’s being said.
This same principle explains why rhyming words are easier to recall, and why businesses with short names tend to perform better. According to the researchers, our tendency to see accented speakers as less trustworthy likely has less to do with bias and more to do with our lazy brains.
7. The Dangerous Biblical Accent
The practice of judging a person’s trustworthiness based on their accent even appears in the Bible. In Judges, Chapter 12, the Gileadites captured several fords of the Jordan River after defeating the Ammonites. The Ephraimites, who had not helped the Gileadites, soon became their enemies as well.
When the Ephraimites attempted to escape across the fords, they were asked to pronounce the word “shibboleth” to identify their allegiance. Their accents caused them to say “sibboleth,” marking them as enemies. They were immediately labeled as foes, captured, and killed. According to the text, 42,000 Ephraimites lost their lives.
Translating this story has been challenging in languages that don’t differentiate between the “s” and “sh” sounds, which was the fatal flaw for the Ephraimites. There’s also uncertainty about the original meaning of the word—it can refer to either an “ear of grain” or a “flowing stream.”
6. The News Anchor Accent
If you watch a local news broadcast anywhere in the United States, you’ll hear the headlines delivered in a uniformly neutral accent. It’s a generic style that removes any regional nuances. It also features certain quirks, such as adding dramatic pauses, speaking in an exaggeratedly slow manner, and emphasizing clear pronunciation.
Learning this style of speaking is a key component of most broadcasting programs. For instance, at Temple University in Philadelphia, these courses teach everything from enunciating each syllable—especially the “-ing” endings that often get dropped—to removing regional speech patterns, phrases, and accents.
However, the news anchor accent may soon be a thing of the past. For example, the “big announcer” voice that once ruled radio is largely extinct, replaced by a more approachable, everyman type of speech.
Despite its decline, the news anchor accent is putting up a fight. It’s so ingrained and expected that any deviation from it stands out and can even spark negative reactions from the audience. When Vanessa Ruiz, a bilingual NBC anchor from Phoenix who has lived in South America and Europe, pronounced certain words with a more natural accent, viewers became so upset that she had to calmly respond, impressively keeping her cool without resorting to any curse words on air.
5. We Have An Accent Before We Can Speak
It makes sense that the accent we hear most frequently in our early years is the one we adopt. However, research from Wurzburg University in Germany suggests that we begin to develop and speak with our accent long before we utter our first words.
The researchers discovered that newborn babies’ cries contain patterns that resemble the speech rhythms and accents of their parents. For instance, French babies were more likely to raise the pitch of their cries at the end, mimicking the cadence of a French accent. German babies did the opposite, much like their native language’s pattern.
These accents were observable in babies as young as three days old. The researchers hypothesize that this may be an early attempt by babies to connect with their mothers by imitating her sounds as best as they can at that age. While it’s already known that babies can hear in the womb, this study suggests that they also engage with those sounds.
Therefore, crying might lay the essential foundation for language, communication, and a baby’s future accent.
4. We're Generally Stuck with Our Accents
Since we begin to form our accents even before speaking, it’s no wonder we tend to retain the accent we initially develop. While influences from other regions or languages might occasionally creep in when we move, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever be able to sound like a native speaker from a different place.
There are few distinctions as stark as the difference in pronunciation of the “r” and “l” sounds between native English speakers and English-speaking Japanese. Researchers at the University of Washington, after observing the first six months of babbling in both English and Japanese babies, found that Japanese babies stopped articulating the “r” and “l” sounds around 10 months of age.
According to linguists from UC San Diego, children devote so much energy to learning how to communicate with their immediate circle—family, friends, and neighbors—that they don't focus on adopting other accents. By the time they’ve perfected their way of speaking, they’re approaching puberty and have rarely practiced any other accents.
Our brains are conditioned to recognize specific patterns, which is why so many foreign actors attempting an American accent end up sounding like John Wayne. This immediately stands out to Americans, regardless of their regional accent. However, this is where our brain’s processing of accents mostly ends.
Our brains begin to filter out the subtle differences in sounds and shapes necessary to adopt another accent. This information is discarded as irrelevant, which means learning a new accent requires a conscious effort. Every individual sound must be recognized and practiced, demanding significant work.
In a study at the University of Washington, babies of various ages repeatedly heard “la la la la la.” When the “la” shifted to “ra,” the babies were conditioned to expect something behind them, prompting them to turn and look.
When six-month-old Japanese and American babies heard the altered sounds, 67 percent of them turned to investigate the sound cues. By one year, 80 percent of the American babies responded. However, only about 59 percent of the Japanese babies reacted, implying that not only is it difficult for us to pronounce foreign words, but we also struggle to perceive them as well.
3. Chimpanzees and Goats Have Their Own Accents
When a group of Dutch chimpanzees joined a group of Scottish ones, it created a unique opportunity to observe how their vocalizations evolved as the two groups became more familiar with each other. Zoo researchers discovered that the chimps were altering their accents.
The two groups were brought together at the Edinburgh Zoo, where staff began focusing on the grunt the chimps used to signal apples. The Scottish chimps communicated in a much deeper tone compared to the Dutch ones. Over a span of three years, their calls gradually shifted to become more alike.
Researchers from the Universities of Zurich and York suggest that if chimpanzees can modify their regional dialects and accents when integrating with new social groups, then it's likely that our earliest ancestors had the same capacity. However, some critics argue that the study's conclusions do not align with the available data.
The main point of contention in the debate is whether the chimps were simply altering the words they used to describe apples or changing how they pronounced those words. It remains unclear if the chimps were just blending in or genuinely learning new ways of communicating.
On the side of a changing accent, there is evidence that other animals appear to modify their vocalizations to fit into new social groups. Queen Mary University’s study on goat vocalizations found that young goats will alter their calls to match those of their new companions. These early stages of vocal learning may resemble the processes that early humans underwent, hinting that animal communication is more complex than we once thought.
2. Foreign Accent Syndrome
Although it can be challenging for us to mimic accents different from our own, there’s a strange phenomenon in which this can occur overnight. It’s known as foreign accent syndrome (FAS).
When British citizen Sarah Colwill was hospitalized for a severe migraine, she woke up speaking with a Chinese accent. Similarly, Kay Russell discovered that her accent had shifted from British to French after experiencing a migraine. The cause of FAS is still unknown, but most of the 150 recorded cases have been linked to a stroke or head injury. In the case of the women with migraines, it is believed that the severity of the episodes may have resulted in brain damage.
After a car accident, British citizen Julie Matthias found herself speaking with either a Chinese or French accent. While she still could speak English, this isn’t always the case. Colwill, for instance, has experienced a significant loss of vocabulary. Even more troubling, she suffers intense physical pain when attempting to write in her native English.
In certain instances, a person’s entire language may be replaced. For example, in 2012, Alun Morgan found himself speaking fluent Welsh after suffering a stroke.
According to research conducted by some of the few universities examining the condition, the altered accent typically isn’t a flawless substitution. Individuals whose accents shift unexpectedly tend to stress words differently and more often than native speakers do.
However, identifying a concrete cause can be tricky. One patient, whose Italian accent would occasionally switch to a South American or English one, was found to have a brain tumor that disrupted brain signals. After undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, her foreign accent vanished.
People with FAS often experience depression, partly because they feel disconnected from a core aspect of their identity and are treated differently by others.
1. Singing And Accents
Numerous studies have shown that many foreign singers adopt an American accent when they sing, often by choice. Since rock and roll has long been associated with American culture, adopting an American accent seems like a logical strategy for entering the U.S. music scene. However, there are exceptions, such as the Proclaimers, who keep their native accent even when singing, demonstrating that the American accent shift isn’t inevitable.
Researchers at the University of Auckland examined how words are pronounced when sung and discovered a fascinating shift in the way people pronounce words depending on whether they are singing or speaking. Their findings indicate that singing rock and pop songs in an American accent feels more natural because of the rhythm and slower pacing of the lyrics.
Researchers from the University of Auckland found that singing lyrics in an American accent is easier due to the rhythm and pace of the music, showing how the act of singing itself influences pronunciation, making it easier for some to adopt an American accent even if it’s not their native one.
While the “pop music accent” has become quite common, it is not as prevalent in other music genres such as country. In those styles, singers often adopt different regional accents, like a twang for country music or a Jamaican accent for reggae.
