Author Topic: Losing your accent (Read 13714 times)

Weh-it-is · « **Reply #30 on:** July 26, 2006, 01:29:45 PM »

Quote from: pecan on July 03, 2006, 09:10:57 AM

When I speak with canadians, my accent is toned down .. so dey can understand me.Â When i home with my family i revert to a modified accent .. I in Canada since I was 13.Â Is ah human characteristic to adpat to de environment.Â Not only Trinis lose their accent, it occurs in just about anyplace.Â

It is all about Linguistics and sometimes, it takes a cunning linguist to understand the theory.

Nuff said!

Toppa · « **Reply #31 on:** July 26, 2006, 01:40:18 PM »

Quote from: warrior queen on June 30, 2006, 10:48:22 PM

for d trinis who livin abroad an everybody in general. why it is when a trini go away for two hours, when dey come back , dey american an english accent thick,thick like if dey born dey. if dey stand up in front of dey fridge to long dey ketch a accent. steups.take yorke for example.

for d trinis who livin abroad, allyuh realise if allyuh accents change?
why does this happen?.

and dont say is because since everyone around u talkin a certain way , u happen to adopt it.

if something in yuh , it in yuh!

jamaicans live abroad for years an they still have dey original accent.

i doh know bout allyuh, but i real love my accent and if im to go away, dis accent never leavin me.

bless!!

People make a conscious decision to adopt the accent...only people who lose accents easily are young children, everybody else playing up on dey damn arse. Some say that it's easier for Americans to understand, but in TnT our official language in Standard English...we are taught to speak better English than Americans, their official language isn't even English, they had none up until recently when Congress finlly decided to get a move on. So that excuse that it's easier to be understood is moot. I speak Standard English when I'm talking to Americans but when I'm with West Indians I revert to my natural creole.

Weh-it-is · « **Reply #32 on:** July 26, 2006, 01:42:23 PM »

Alyuh ever hear people say... when we talk it songs like we are singing!

Our accent is sweet to the ears. Unique is what I'll call it... even when I'm on the phone with a client and they're from Trinidad... I would just listen to them speak and it's like oh gosh... that is meh people with ah smile.

dinho · « **Reply #33 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:14:19 PM »

This one for the foreign based.

I know many of us here live in different parts of the world.

What do people think of your accent in your neck of the wood based on your personal expereinces, both in your corporate and social lives?

Is it a unique asset which brings intrigue and admiration? Do you speak it proudly and use it to your advantage?

Is it frowned upon and cause you to be grouped into a negative West Indian stereotype? Do you mask it with a freshwater substitute dialect?

interested to hear your thoughts.

Queen Macoomeh · « **Reply #34 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:20:51 PM »

I made a career out of my accent, rhythm, patois, mas, pan and predilection for picong..

I am the only West Indian at work, one of 2 that I am aware of within a 50 mile radius...

...as the old song said, I love being me.
Who sing dat...Aloes?

weary1969 · « **Reply #35 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:24:54 PM »

Yep Aloes sing dat song

Queen Macoomeh · « **Reply #36 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:26:03 PM »

ay ay, ah remember dat good fuh somebody who en really sleep since last week Wednesday.

weary1969 · « **Reply #37 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:31:37 PM »

What is impt is impt sleep eh no sleep

TriniCana · « **Reply #38 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:32:54 PM »

I only receive positive responses about my accent. Even today!! So no reason to mask anything.
One thing though, I had to slow down my speech because some didn't understand.
Another thing, words like dotish, lime, eh?, whappen etc had be substituted to stupid, hang out, excuse me and what's wrong to accomodate the obvious stare

Mostly I speak standard english, but I love speaking and writing in dialect....Have to know time and place right ??

Famous quote from Paul Keens Douglas
Blue eye, black baby speaking spanish with an american accent

Queen Macoomeh · « **Reply #39 on:** August 06, 2008, 06:39:40 PM »

Quote from: weary1969 on August 06, 2008, 06:31:37 PM

What is impt is impt sleep eh no sleep

eh?

zuluwarrior · « **Reply #40 on:** August 06, 2008, 07:05:45 PM »

Me eh changin my accent for nobody if yuh doh like it kork yuh f -ing ears .

cocoapanyol · « **Reply #41 on:** August 06, 2008, 07:55:37 PM »

Interesting question. My accent still strong (IMO) after 20 plus years leaving Trini. When I at work, ah guess yuh could say it "tone dong" a lilttel bit in dat I doh use Trini slang but when I get vex all dat does go out de window. Is pure Trini dat does leave my lips and yuh go jes have tuh try and figure out what ah say if yuh cyar make it out.

Whether or not it has brought me negative responses, I doh know because quite frankly nobody ever tell meh nuttin tuh meh face and if dey did, well dey wouldn't ah like meh answer. People who do comment on it though, claim to like it.

Dutty · « **Reply #42 on:** August 06, 2008, 08:12:35 PM »

Depends

In ontario everybody have ah accent...it eh nuttn special..so Trini to de bone

If I happen to be one on one in a bar, in ah airport lounge wuhever...is standard Trini english (no, not no convent accent like cana and macomeh an dem )

On the odd occassion I does have to make ah presentation..especially in yankeeville..I does pour the freshest river water all over mih accent...not to drown out de trini mind you..but to keep de words fresh and clean

matter of fact de only time it was lil advantageous was ah time ah get lost in de wrong part of Lousiville Ky....ah come out to aks directions from ah corner store.. some youth come out ah de shadows, ah could see like dey was about to roll mih...ah spin on dem and say " watch mih which part to get to nort I-75"..dey step back, study mih lil bit...point mih in de right direction and one tell mih " you vistin huh?,..watch out roun heah now"

boss · « **Reply #43 on:** August 07, 2008, 02:24:05 AM »

Quote from: weary1969 on August 06, 2008, 06:24:54 PM

Yep Aloes sing dat song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBw868oj6sg

TriniCana · « **Reply #44 on:** August 07, 2008, 06:03:27 AM »

Quote from: Dutty on August 06, 2008, 08:12:35 PM

Depends

In ontario everybody have ah accent...it eh nuttn special..so Trini to de bone

If I happen to be one on one in a bar, in ah airport lounge wuhever...is standard Trini english (no, not no convent accent like cana and macomeh an dem )

On the odd occassion I does have to make ah presentation..especially in yankeeville..I does pour the freshest river water all over mih accent...not to drown out de trini mind you..but to keep de words fresh and clean

matter of fact de only time it was lil advantageous was ah time ah get lost in de wrong part of Lousiville Ky....ah come out to aks directions from ah corner store.. some youth come out ah de shadows, ah could see like dey was about to roll mih...ah spin on dem and say " watch mih which part to get to nort I-75"..dey step back, study mih lil bit...point mih in de right direction and one tell mih " you vistin huh?,..watch out roun heah now"

Convent wha???

Ah respectable gyul like me ya want to thro......look lef me eh

_{<stares at Queen>}

No meh Trini accent still dere like ah rock in ah river, but its standard english

Ah time ah tell ah Swed "you is ah damn dotish fella' Dey man smile and say thanks
Is only when dey assistant girl who by dey way have ah Trini dictionary on she desk, explain to him wha dotish means.....he get vex

steupse

superoli · « **Reply #45 on:** August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM »

well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

kicker · « **Reply #46 on:** August 07, 2008, 08:36:52 AM »

The whole idea of accent is kinda overrated....

The whole idea of "me eh changing my accent fuh nobody" is a false sense of entitlement that is really just stubbornness that has very little value...

I have a very low deep voice, coupled with a Trini accent and I'm sometimes difficult to comprehend...so in an all-american setting I (somewhat) neutralize my accent just to be understood....and I eh have no shame in that and I'm no less Trini nor less proud to be Trini because of it....It's alot better than constantly being asked "what?" "pardon?" "sorry?" ...or getting a nod and a smile that yuh know is just patronizing because they eh understand a word yuh just said...

Some people are good at maintaining a strong pure Trini accent, speaking clear standard english and being understood...some people aren't

Other than pulling girls for a small brush (esp young girls in College and drunk tings in a bar- truss meh ah know plenty about that

), getting a nice remark about yuh accent here and there, or maintaining a certain form of diction for artistic purposes, the whole accent thing is overrated and superficial....In the business world for the most part, yuh accent eh winning yuh no merit. If yuh incompetent yuh incompetent....and vice versa....The important thing is to be understood, and the more people get to know you, the less they are enamoured of the exotic-ness of a Trini accent....

Trini accent is the nicest though... followed by British & then Jamaican...

Pointman · « **Reply #47 on:** August 07, 2008, 10:43:26 AM »

That's funny, when I'm in the States people ask me where I'm from all de time. In Trini they tell me I have a lil yankee twang. I guess people hear differences. It's all relative to where you are.

ZANDOLIE · « **Reply #48 on:** August 07, 2008, 10:47:37 AM »

Quote from: superoli on August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM

well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

dinho · « **Reply #49 on:** August 07, 2008, 10:53:15 AM »

Quote from: ZANDOLIE on August 07, 2008, 10:47:37 AM

Quote from: superoli on August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM
well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

Oli..

not sure if I ever give you this one..

remember when i bounce you up after the brazil v argentina game at the emirates?

well after we talk and i walk off, i look back and the 5 fellahs i come with watching me so..

$:-\$

one ah dem just jump up and bawl, "what the fook!!".. lol

forget to give u that one.

Jumbie · « **Reply #50 on:** August 07, 2008, 10:59:59 AM »

my wife's trini accent stronger than mines. Not only does she have the accent dong, she knows what circumstances to use which slang as well. We in St thomas and ah taxi driver ask she ..so what part of TnT you from..man tun to me and ask if is meh first time in the caribbean oui. he tell me I looking and sounding like ah yankee. I tun rong and ask him where if his cab going by mcdonalds.

kicker · « **Reply #51 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:01:31 AM »

Quote from: superoli on August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM

well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

haha- you could probably have real fun wid people- people just assume that everyone from the W.I. is black (or non-white)

TriniCana · « **Reply #52 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:14:19 AM »

Quote from: kicker on August 07, 2008, 08:36:52 AM

The whole idea of accent is kinda overrated....

The whole idea of "me eh changing my accent fuh nobody" is a false sense of entitlement that is really just stubbornness that has very little value...

I have a very low deep voice, coupled with a Trini accent and I'm sometimes difficult to comprehend...so in an all-~~american~~ canadian setting I (somewhat) neutralize my accent just to be understood....and I eh have no shame in that and I'm no less Trini nor less proud to be Trini because of it....It's alot better than constantly being asked "what?" "pardon?" "sorry?" ...or getting a nod and a smile that yuh know is just patronizing because they eh understand a word yuh just said...
Some people are good at maintaining a strong pure Trini accent, speaking clear standard english and being understood...some people aren't <---------and just some people jus born so.

Trini accent is the nicest though... followed by British & then Jamaican...

I colored it for my instance.
Totally agree.

I don't understand Jamaican accent though, and god knows I trying hard.
So I understand when others ask me to repeat or slow down, because I do the same with a Jamaican.

******
so uhmm on a side note kicker, you have a very low deep voice???
Something like that radio announcer...Adrian Mora???

DeSoWa · « **Reply #53 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:31:06 AM »

Well mostly I get compliments about de trini accent, especially from the ladies

But I hear what kicker saying...on weekends sometimes I work at a theatre....and ah does get real kix when ah explain to a patron where to go...they would say "Ok" and jus after they walk orf dey would turn to dey fren and say " what did he just say?"

Big Up!

kicker · « **Reply #54 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:32:28 AM »

Quote from: TriniCana on August 07, 2008, 11:14:19 AM

so uhmm on a side note kicker, you have a very low deep voice???
Something like that radio announcer...Adrian Mora???
<stares>

lol ... Deeper than that

FF · « **Reply #55 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:44:32 AM »

Quote from: kicker on August 07, 2008, 11:01:31 AM

Quote from: superoli on August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM
well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

haha- you could probably have real fun wid people- people just assume that everyone from the W.I. is black (or non-white)

meh chinee partner chow does have them girl confuse on a regular when he was/up here

Touches · « **Reply #56 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:51:16 AM »

Cana,

Kicker voice akin to Barry White....but give him two drinks and all dat Yankee twang he does use will go straight out the window.

Yuh should get him vex too...he cyar cuss in Yankee.

cocoapanyol · « **Reply #57 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:03:01 PM »

Quote from: FF on August 07, 2008, 11:44:32 AM

Quote from: kicker on August 07, 2008, 11:01:31 AM
Quote from: superoli on August 07, 2008, 07:27:14 AM
well you know how it does run with me.............white with a Trini accent........iz at least twice a week I have to explain it to people and they still doh get it !

haha- you could probably have real fun wid people- people just assume that everyone from the W.I. is black (or non-white)

meh chinee partner chow does have them girl confuse on a regular when he was/up here

hear nah...ah Chinee wid a Trini accent is de most amuzing ting oui. I remember back when ah was livin in Calgary, ah Chinee fren ah mine come tuh visit from Trinidad. He Trini accent stronger dan all ah we put tuhgedder eh...when he open he mout so...if yuh see confuse look. If he go dong China Town, not ah sould woulda talk tuh he in English, fuss he look like he jes come orf de boat. He livin in de States now an ah sure he still confusing people dey.

weary1969 · « **Reply #58 on:** August 07, 2008, 12:54:13 PM »

D best I ever encounter was an Indian with a Bajan accent when u c Fatima yuh swear she is Trini till she open she mouth. Only in UWI u could meet a Bajan Indian who end up wit a Black J'can guy

TriniCana · « **Reply #59 on:** August 07, 2008, 02:37:09 PM »

Barry White voice eh.....
kicker ya tall