I can't seem to locate my accent.

From an early age, I've pronounced a few words rather oddly. I'd pronounce Mary, my grandmother's name, as "marry" (ă, like in "pat" instead of âr, like in "care"). This is but one example. I recently discovered that a faculty member of the English department at my university also has trouble making the distinction between "Mary," "marry," and even "merry." She is from Massachusetts, so she has an excuse. I have no excuse.

More troubling is my pronunciation of words such as "bagel" and "vague." I fail to use the long ā, like in "pay," and instead pronounce an ĕ, like in "pet." Everybody seems to pick up on the fact that I say "Butter my beggle, please." I had begun spelling it that way to those who knew of my handicap. But what handicap? I can say it the correct way if I think about it; it must simply be that I'm too lazy to pronounce a "long" vowel.

Traditionally, the vowels /ei iː ai oʊ/əu juː/ (as in bait beet bite boat beauty) are said to be the "long" counterparts of the vowels /æ ɛ ɪ ɒ ʊ/ (as in bat bet bit bot put) which are said to be "short".

Go ahead, say those words yourself and tell me that it isn't less straining to pronounce the "short" versions! I find that I am always striving to take the path through life with the least strain, and my speech is no exception. I also mumble most of the time. I am always struck with a pang of irony when I mutter to someone that I am an English major. Ah well, better than Communications.

Hey. You changed the colors of your page. Orange is a nice change. Maybe you have a southern accent. ha ha.
» KkaMA67 on 2007-03-16 03:22:13

I just make the color of the header match the color of the most recent entry. Different colors stand for different things. There is orange, blue, and green.
» Bartholomew on 2007-03-16 03:26:00

maybe its from listening to too many english bands
» changbang on 2007-03-16 09:43:43

That could be it. There was a period for about two years when all I listened to were English bands and all I watched were English TV shows and movies. I noticed the way I talk changed after that.
» Bartholomew on 2007-03-16 11:49:58

I say some words differently from my friends, but I've also moved across the country a couple times and I've lived from as far north as New York down to as south as Florida. So my accent is a little screwy sometimes. Oh well.
» LostSoul13 on 2007-03-17 12:54:00

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