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Post by rikita on Nov 15, 2016 20:18:19 GMT
I am writing something where someone is speaking in an Oklahoma accent, and I need a couple of adjectives or similar to describe his manner of speaking - I have heard lots of people from Oklahoma of course, but am not good at describing accents ... can anyone help me out? Note: This is Rikita's thread, created by Rikita. When it was moved from the US board to this one, it got attributed to Bixa, but it is RIKITA'S thread.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2016 20:56:23 GMT
I suppose that you already know that most descriptions of an Oklahoma accent are not flattering. In any case, the basic adjective to describe Oklahoman things is "Okie" -- an Okie accent, an Okie landscape...
It kind of pains me to give you synonyms for terms often used about things/people from Oklahoma, but common terms are: hick, hayseed, hillbilly, yokel, clodhopper, redneck...
If you are looking for something more neutral, you would say things like: common, country, rural, backwoods...
Naturally, any of these words would probably infuriate anybody from the cities of Oklahoma. I was once on a bus that passed through Oklahoma City in the middle of the night and to my surprise, it looked very sleek and shiny. I would never have used any of those adjectives to describe anything that I saw.
If you expand your description to the way anybody from the "south" speaks, you would just say "drawl." That does not offend anybody.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 15, 2016 21:17:59 GMT
It borders Arkansas, where Bill Clinton is from. That might give you an idea, but I'd rather anyporters from the US south or southern midwest provide more details. Clinton has a bit of a drawl, and is a very educated speaker of English. It is important not to "overdo" accents.
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Post by rikita on Nov 15, 2016 23:39:25 GMT
thanks ... what i mean is really just adjectives to describe the manner of speaking (basically in the text i am writing the person hears someone from oklahoma and says something like "he said this and this in a very xxx sounding english" - the person themselves is a german speaker and thus has not been exposed to the accent before) - for myself, it is the first english speaking place i ever went to (and spent almost half a year there), so it basically just sounds "normal" to me, and i can't describe it, am not good at describing accents anyway, like i can hear they are different, but can't usually describe why ... "drawl" already helps a lot, thanks!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 16, 2016 0:29:52 GMT
Lots of people in Oklahoma would describe themselves as having an "Okie" accent, but like many self-descriptions, I don't know if they object to others using it.
What if you said something on the order of, "He sounded as though he came from Texas or Oklahoma"? Or, since you say the person is a German speaker not necessarily familiar with American accents, you might say, "He talked the way cowboys do in the movies."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2016 0:45:09 GMT
I think that much of it depends on which part of the state you want to describe.
The Northern and North Western part of the state in particular, the accent has more of a twang.
The Southern part of the state has more of a drawl.
Both are very distinctive from one another.
The one thing they both share is that each one is spoken slowly.
You never hear someone from Oklahoma speak rapidly. (The same applies to most of the states in and around that region of the US)
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Post by rikita on Nov 16, 2016 8:02:55 GMT
thanks ... i think i will go with slow and drawl (the person in question is from teh southern part), might also bring in the "like a cowboy from the movies" thing, though on the other hand movies are usually dubbed in germany, but i like the description ...
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Post by lagatta on Nov 16, 2016 11:05:23 GMT
Yes, because it isn't derogatory. For some reason Southern accents have become negatively connotated in the US, even the most elegant ones such as those of famous Southern judges, orators and so on. I don't feel qualified to explain it; once again I'd leave that to anyporters from those regions or who have lived there.
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