American Accent

I''ts simple like this: where can you hear "pure" & standard Vietnamese accent ? Hanoi ? Wrong, actually Hanoians usually pronounce "r" and "d" much the same. And many other things. USA is a big country with such a diverse & heterogenous population, so finding an accent model to follow is close to impossible!!
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Arial" id=quote>Trích từ:But trying to figure out which accent is "pure" american one is really problematic.[/QUOTE]
What do you mean by saying "pure"?

Dear members and readers,
Thank you for your interest and contributions to "American Accent". I''''m sorry I wasn''''t able to join you guys sooner. Regarding many people''''s questions on American Accent, my co-workers at NEO will be in charge of answering all of your questions from May 1st. The nick that they''''re gonna use is accentclinic.
to captor_o_fsin: this is longarm, not longatum. Sorry I wasn''''t able to reply sooner and looks like I don''''t have enough time right now. However, either I or my team will come back soon to answer your questions.
to iu29: It took me quite a while to master the words you mentioned. I''''ll share with you my experience when I''''ve got more time.
to britney, color2mylife, invincibleguy, loveunder_xxx, hoangtudeucang and quidnunc: thanks for your contributions. Keep it up!
to devastated: Take it easy!
to winall2, you might find this piece of information useful, cheers.

Above is Scorps'''' question and I think it''''s more suitable to discuss it here.
You can take this for reference, Scorps.
+ Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture.
The standard accent used in US radio and television news broadcasts is based on accents from the Midwest.
+ What is the definition of the "American Standard Accent"?And this is the answer from Steven Schaufele, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. of Linguistics, English Department:
Standard American English, accent & all, is the dialect native to the north-central region of the U.S., roughly from the Ohio River valley westwards to roughly Nebraska and reaching as far south as Kansas. This is the dialect that has been identified as most acceptable to the majority of Americans. And therefore it''''s the dialect you''''re most apt to hear coming out of the mouths of radio, TV, and movie personalities who are supposed to represent American ideals. Johnny Carson, Harrison Ford, William Shatner all speak this dialect natively.
Best, Steven --
+ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
General American is the supposed standard system of American English pronunciation. The idea of a uniform media American accent has declined in popularity since the late 1960s.
Like the British Received Pronunciation, General American was never the accent of the entire nation. Rather, it was derived from a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters.
Sebastian - Every day I learn

[/QUOTE]
Được longarm sửa chữa / chuyển vào 20:15 ngày 27/04/2004

Oh well, American Eng... i like it da most... It is so kewl and pop though.
Mister Longarm, can ya teach me how to speak as da American do? Would be my honor then....

Goodness me, 4 pages of debate on just American accent!! You people amaze me. ^^;;
Personally, I like guys with Amercain accent. @_@ Sounds very boyish and cute. My definition of ''proper, elegant and pure" English actually goes to Brittish, rather than American.
American seems a lot more hip, relaxed (even in ways of pronounciations seem to have been simplified. Lazy Americans who speak through their noses!!! =P)
<-- a Brittish girl all the way! XD

There you go, f_t_d! This one is easy, isn''t it! How about the same question with THANK you! and thank YOU! and thank YOOOOU!
Được britneybritney sửa chữa / chuyển vào 18:57 ngày 12/05/2004

As for quidnunc?Ts question regarding how ?othank YOU? and ?oTHANK you? differ, I?Tm not sure about this but I just wanna give it a try
Britney was holding a meeting for English club members at 9 A.M. Unfortunately, she turned up 30 minutes late due to traffic congestion and couldn?Tt find where the club members were sitting. She asked a waiter for help and after being shown the right place, Britney said ?oThank YOU?. The industrious mod, probably out of carelessness as well as happiness, tripped over a bananâ?Ts skin and fell off. Well, I know there are many nice guys in this box who are very willing to come and pick her up. I could hear Britney say ?oTHANK you? quite clearly.
So, is it a correct answer?

Uh oh? u r right, winall2. Of course we have to let our voice flow naturally when speaking American English. But there is a fact that to let it flow naturally we must omit some ?~light?T (schwa) sounds and lay stress on important ones. Otherwise it would be very ridiculous.

Your explaination really blew me away! You''re really cool! One quick question, did THAT really happen to Brit and was THAT how she naturally slipped out? If so, there she goes! She''s really a master American speaker.
Hey, by the way, I''m wondering if I freaked the guy out? Where are you? Come and join me, old pal! The forum''s been down for a while since you last showed up.

Wow, moonlight_tt, you got the point. And have a good imagination. I just want to make it clear: THANK you is used when you are really grateful, for example when someone give you a helping hand or give you a present and make you really happy. Thank YOU is kind of lip-service. If you buy a bunch of bananas, pay the salesperson and get it, just say thank YOU.
Được amor sửa chữa / chuyển vào 15:24 ngày 12/05/2004

But trying to figure out which accent is "pure" american one on CNN is really problematic.

Correct, check out this article for more information.
CNN, a subsidiary of the AOL&Time Warner Group, is the leading broadcasting network in the world. With millions of people from almost every country in the world watching the news on the CNN TV channel, it is obvious that this media giant has a huge impact on what kind of English will be spoken as an international standard. The purpose of this article is raise awareness regarding the following issues:


Is CNN dominated by the US American version of spoken English?

Does CNN reflect cultural diversity by employing newsreaders, anchors and reporters who speak various versions of English?

Does CNN also employ newsreaders and anchors who speak English not as their mother tongue but as a second language?
The more opinions and viewpoints we gather, the more objective the picture we are drawing will become. We therefore would like to invite you to share your experiences and thoughts with us in an open forum. My opinions and observations are based on CNN Europe. The results represented here might be different in other parts of the world.
With CNN being an US American news network you might be tempted to think that most of the newsreaders, anchors and reporters are Americans and therefore speak American English. Taking a closer look, however, you will discover that there is a great variety of spoken ôEnglishesằ on CNN Europe.
The following is my view on how I perceive and experience different English accents as I have my personal favourite newsreaders and anchors. There are, of course, a lot more newsreaders and anchors working on CNN and it seems that they present all major types of spoken English. Richard Quest
 Richard Quest is quite an impressive figure as he has a very distinctive way of presenting a news show. Seeing him on TV itõ?Ts very likely you get the impression that in ad***ion to his qualification as a lawyer he is also an actor and that sets him apart from other news anchors. Richard Quest speaks a very British kind of English and especially his intonation is all but American. As of autumn 2003 he is the co-anchor of ôBizNewsằ, a rolling three hour live morning news and business European breakfast programme.
Becky Anderson
Becky Anderson has a very clipped accent, that might be regarded as ôRPằ õ?" the British standard pronunciation. She lives in London and has a BA degree in Economics and French from Sus*** University. You can see and õ?" more importantly hear her British accent õ?" on CNNõ?Ts breakfast business show ôWorld Business This Morningằ.
Rosemary Church
Rosemary Churchõ?Ts accent is anything but American. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, lived several years in England and also in various parts of Australia and has studied at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Michael Holmes
Michael Holmes was the first Australian anchor for CNN International to join the network in April 1996. You can clearly make out his distinctive Australian accent.
Tumi Makgabo
Tumi Makgabo was born in South Africa and alongside English, she also speaks several African languages. To me her accent is very close to ôRPằ, the British standard of spoken English. Anand Naidoo
Anand Naidoo is from Johannesburg, South Africa where he studied Journalism. To me, his õ?" English also sounds very close to RP õ?" the British standard of spoken English. Ralitsa Vassileva
Ralitsa Vassileva mother tongue is Bulgarian and Iõ?Tve included her in this list as an example of non-native speakers working for CNN. Realist Visalia speaks American English and if you listen carefully you can make out her Slavic origins.
Guillermo Arduino
Guillermo Arduino presents the weather on CNN Europe and he does it in such a way that you think the sun is always shining. I thought he was Italian until I checked the CNN website to learn that he is from Argentinia and you can hear it clearly in his accents when he speaks.