Do I talk funny?
Several years ago, I was talking to someone and he asked why Steven and I talk differently.
"We talk differently?" I asked him.
"Well, yeah. You don't pronounce things the same way most people around here do."
"Could it be that we're from California? Maybe we have a Californian accent instead of a Coloradan accent."
"Maybe." He didn't seem convinced. I wondered if it was a product of education, or having lived in other countries as missionaries. Did we pick up a foreign accent somewhere along the way? I don't know.
Another time a lady was sure I was from England because she thought I had an accent. My ancestors may have come from England centuries ago, and I enjoy British TV shows like "Doctor Who" but no, I'm not from England.
More recently, Hannah has begun mocking the way that I say certain words. For some reason, when I say the word "about" it sounds like I'm Canadian and it sounds like "aboot". No, I'm not Canadian, nor have I ever even been to Canada, but that is the way that particular word comes out of my mouth.
Also, according to Hannah, when I say certain words starting with "wh" (like "wheat") it comes out more breathy somehow, with some emphasis on the h. ("h-weet") Why? I have no idea.
Is how people talk a product of their surroundings? Is it due to how the people around them talk? Does what we learn in school or read in books affect how we speak?
A few days ago I was talking with a few other women from church about boots, and one lady said she wanted a pair with a hill. A hill? I wondered: is that some kind of arch support? It seriously took me about 15 seconds - a long time in the midst of a conversation - before I realized that she had meant a heel. Duh! As I thought about it, I realized that a lot of other people pronounce that word and other similar words that way, and that I'm the odd one who says them to rhyme with eel rather than ill. Is that a Colorado thing? or a Midwest thing? I don't know. It's just another example of how I talk weird.
"We talk differently?" I asked him.
"Well, yeah. You don't pronounce things the same way most people around here do."
"Could it be that we're from California? Maybe we have a Californian accent instead of a Coloradan accent."
"Maybe." He didn't seem convinced. I wondered if it was a product of education, or having lived in other countries as missionaries. Did we pick up a foreign accent somewhere along the way? I don't know.
Another time a lady was sure I was from England because she thought I had an accent. My ancestors may have come from England centuries ago, and I enjoy British TV shows like "Doctor Who" but no, I'm not from England.
More recently, Hannah has begun mocking the way that I say certain words. For some reason, when I say the word "about" it sounds like I'm Canadian and it sounds like "aboot". No, I'm not Canadian, nor have I ever even been to Canada, but that is the way that particular word comes out of my mouth.
Also, according to Hannah, when I say certain words starting with "wh" (like "wheat") it comes out more breathy somehow, with some emphasis on the h. ("h-weet") Why? I have no idea.
Is how people talk a product of their surroundings? Is it due to how the people around them talk? Does what we learn in school or read in books affect how we speak?
A few days ago I was talking with a few other women from church about boots, and one lady said she wanted a pair with a hill. A hill? I wondered: is that some kind of arch support? It seriously took me about 15 seconds - a long time in the midst of a conversation - before I realized that she had meant a heel. Duh! As I thought about it, I realized that a lot of other people pronounce that word and other similar words that way, and that I'm the odd one who says them to rhyme with eel rather than ill. Is that a Colorado thing? or a Midwest thing? I don't know. It's just another example of how I talk weird.
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