#accents

#accents

A few weeks ago, Jason came back from a reporting trip to Barbados and made a comment about how some Bajans thought he was from the Caribbean, because his accent changed when he was there. This was fascinating to me. The ensuing discussion made me realise that all of us had shifted our accents at various times, which got me thinking about all the unconscious ways in which we code switch, alternating between different identities.

Long Island's accent, characterized by distinct pronunciations like 'caw-fee' instead of 'coffee', has been rated as the second most attractive accent in America, with 27.8% positive mentions in a study.

Parker Posey's Southern accent as Victoria Ratliff in The White Lotus became a huge source of comedy, highlighting the distinctive and memorable nature of some character accents.

One crucial finding of our study indicates that children associate the middle-class SSBE accent with intelligence, while they perceive the Yorkshire accent as lacking cleverness.