Skip to main content

The Sound of My Voice

I popped in for a visit with Ms Mac this morning and discovered a delightful recording of her voice and a discussion of accents. So, here is a recording of my voice demonstrating my own accent. As I was speaking, answering the three questions posed by Ms Mac, I was sure I do not have an accent, but as I listen, I apparently do. I just don't know how to describe it. (I used studio.odeo.com to create this).


powered by ODEO

Comments

Anonymous said…
It's hilarious that you don't believe you have an accent at all. Then again, I don't think I have one either, and plenty of people would disagree. Evidence: there is a town near Denver named Arvada, pronounced "are-va-duh" (diphthong [æ] like "bat" in the middle). I think this is an ugly interpretation of that word, and where I'm from it would more likely be "are-vah-dah" (pure [ɒ] like "bot" in the middle. I knowingly mispronounce this word almost every time in the name of beauty. Other people just blame it on my southern roots. . . or my snobbery. . .which may be the same thing. . .
1:05 PM
Scout said…
Hey Liz-beth (my niece for those who don't know). When I was reading your post, I read Arvada the way you say it--it seems to fit. The other way sounds like someone trying to speak Spanish and getting the vowels all wrong. Like Grass-ee-ass. hee hee

Speaking of ass, are we all going to make a list of words we can't say at Christmas this year?
1:19 PM
Anonymous said…
Ha ha! I've already been rehearsing with Brett. He's not as practiced at the "no use" words yet.
1:25 PM
dive said…
Wow, Robyn; you are SOOOOO American!
It's lovely to hear your voice at last; I can even hear you smile!
My stupid village broadband means I can only listen to the first couple of sentences, but I'll listen to all of it on monday at work.

I'm now off to party for the Revolution but I'll try listening again when I get home; the connection is usually better after midnight.

As for my accent. Imagine a slightly less plummy Stephen Fry.
1:27 PM
Scout said…
I am pretty American, but it suits me since I'm supposed to be American.

I don't know what plummy means, so you'll have to post your own blurb, Dive.
1:48 PM
JanieBelle said…
Well your voice is just nipply.

Just so y'know.

:)
7:11 PM
Taihae said…
haha i signed on to that recording website, and I've been merrily recording my warbling for an hour....though i dont think i have the guts to post it...always been a bit shy of a singer.
7:12 PM
Old Knudsen said…
I hate my own accent but many love it, I go more country within 10 minutes of being around relatives from culchie land, ah pity I'm so stone age and can't tape it, Robyn, you're now a real person to me, I had you at being more posh, I wish I could put you saying NIPPLE on a loop for my own personal uses.
8:15 PM
Scout said…
Old Knudson, posh? hmmm.
9:29 PM
Sassy Sundry said…
Wow. That's your voice. It sounds different from what I had imagined it to be (I did picture it way more midwestern, but you have a bit of southern in there too), but it's nice to hear.

I wish I could do this, but I don't think I have a microphone with the laptop. Besides I was also out until almost three this morning, and the voice is sounding a little groggy.
9:29 AM
Ms Mac said…
Well done Robyn! Not only for being brave enough to post your voice but for being clever enough to get Odeo to work!

A friend and I were discussing that hearing someone's voice often personalises someone far more than a picture ever can.
12:25 PM
Scout said…
Sassy, you can really hear southern in there? My niece (Lizard) is southern, and I bet she'd howl over that one. I can't hear it at all, but them I'm a little immuned.

Ms Mac, it does a little nerve, but I figured I didn't really care. And it adds a new dimension to a world that is a little artificial sometimes.
1:33 PM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Robyn, I finally got around to listening to your voice. Somehow it doesn't go with your face. Plus you sound like a school teacher. ;)

I've been playing catch up reading your blog as this time of year there isn't enough time in the day for me.

So you don't like nipple rings either I bet eh???
3:13 PM
Scout said…
You think I sound like a school teacher?!? Hmm, Knudson thought I would sound "posh." I don't get it.
3:18 PM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
well, maybe a sexy school teacher's voice... how's that?
10:25 AM
Anonymous said…
Hello Robyn

I enjoyed listening to your voice and I thought you must be quite young otherwise you couldn't imagine you don't have an accent of some sort.

This is exactly what I used to think about my own voice, a long time ago! I speak BBC English so I was sure that was THE only way to speak properly and that everyone else had an accent.

Your 'accent' must be what one mostly hears on the radio in America. Once I get hold of a microphone I'm looking forward to taping my Home Counties English accent.
4:55 PM
Anonymous said…
sorry, that was me, Deborah
4:57 PM
Scout said…
Deborah, nice of you stop and listen. I am actually mid 40ish and am beginning to look my age. I sound pretty young, though, and when I answer the phone, almost everyone calling thinks I am my 16-year-old daughter.

When you record your BBC self, give me a buzz so I will know where to find you.
5:34 PM
Anonymous said…
http://media.odeo.com//files/5/0/3/2098503.mp3

Hello again, robyn

I wanted to do this a second time but every time I try the whole thing gets jumbled, like at the end of this one. It's a bit quiet too, never mind!
2:40 PM
Scout said…
Deborah, that was lovely, althought it cut as you were about to five an example of some kind. In the US, accents are more a tag for region than for class--poor grammar being the key low-class or redneck marker. Within each region and accent distinction, there are ways in which people separate high from low based on speech.

There are people who think of southern accents as low, but that's not true really. It's just that there are quite a lot of rough types with bad grammar in the south who give the place a bad name. How's that for being a snob?
4:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...
21 comments
Read more

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...
20 comments
Read more

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
16 comments
Read more