Why do we assimilate new accents?

[dimreepr]

When a person moves to a new area they, from the start, begin to assimilate the local accent, seemingly subconsciously. Yet to the locals the original accent is, generally, still very strong, however if said person returns home they often sound like a ‘native’ of the region they’ve moved to. I assume it’s a social imperative of sorts but why isn’t the process more complete?

 

The person enters a sort of half way house neither one nor the other, the social fit is incomplete and therefore, in some respects, counterproductive as he/she is markedly different, both, in the new and the old social groups.

 

 

[Moontanman]

I've noticed the same thing, it not quite like picking up a foreign language but you do change you speech patterns to fit what you hear...

[wanabe]

We all have accents that's a given. To me it seems that we do this to fit in with a group we like or relate to. Also to communicate more clearly. There are groups that don't assimilate who maintain their accents seemingly because they can't relate or do not like the people where they precisely reside.

[Phi for All]

I seem to be the only person in the world who doesn't have an accent like the rest of you.

[Moontanman]

I seem to be the only person in the world who doesn't have an accent like the rest of you.

 

 

Indeed...

[iNow]

Better to blend in with the tribe than to stand out. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. By adjusting to local accents, we're increasing our ability to assimilate and become more fully part of the community.

 

When a person moves like you suggest, they are no longer just part of "one world," but are instead a new hybrid or mix of both.

[Ringer]

I seem to be the only person in the world who doesn't have an accent like the rest of you.

 

No you have an accent, I am seem to be the only one without one though.

[Iota]

Social conditioning, where one feels the need to behave in the same way as the majority of people around them. They begin to feel as though they are saying words wrong, and everyone else is right, and are pressured more and more into tweaking their own accent more along the lines of the people everywhere around them.

[Arete]

I moved from Australia to the US. A lot of local dialect from Australia and certain pronunciations of words from Australia are just not understood here. E.g. footpath vs sidewalk, rubbish bin vs trash can, boot vs trunk, etc. Australian tend to drop "r" sounds in words which confuses Americans. Being understood means altering the way you speak a little and these changes become force of habit.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Arete

[dimreepr]

Social conditioning, where one feels the need to behave in the same way as the majority of people around them. They begin to feel as though they are saying words wrong, and everyone else is right, and are pressured more and more into tweaking their own accent more along the lines of the people everywhere around them.

 

 

I think its more socialization you mean, social conditioning is far stronger and tends to be applied by others on individuals (brainwashing) rather than self imposed.

 

 

[dimreepr]

Social conditioning, where one feels the need to behave in the same way as the majority of people around them. They begin to feel as though they are saying words wrong, and everyone else is right, and are pressured more and more into tweaking their own accent more along the lines of the people everywhere around them.

 

 

I think its more socialization you mean, social conditioning is far stronger and tends to be applied by others on individuals (brainwashing) rather than self imposed.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_conditioning

Edited July 16, 2012 by dimreepr

[Iota]

I think its more socialization you mean, social conditioning is far stronger and tends to be applied by others on individuals (brainwashing) rather than self imposed.

 

http://en.wikipedia....al_conditioning

 

That'll be it! I sat there for a while trying to think of the correct term... I even wiki'd the term and thought it was the right one, oops. Thanks for the correction!

[dimreepr]

That'll be it! I sat there for a while trying to think of the correct term... I even wiki'd the term and thought it was the right one, oops. Thanks for the correction!

 

 

No problem, thanks for your input.

 

 

[John Cuthber]

Surely the answer to the question

"Why do we assimilate new accents?"

is, for the same reason we got an accent in the first place.

 

That in turn is essentially the same reason why this is a joke.

First bloke

"I'm sure as hell glad I wasn't born in Spain"

Second bloke

Why?"

First bloke.

"I don't speak the language"

[iNow]

Lol. ^Nice.

 

It took me a while when I was on assignment in Singapore to start calling the elevator a "lift" and when in Hong Kong to call my take-out orders "take-away."

[Lulu]

 

The foreign accent syndrome

And I am glad I was born in Spain,