41
General Science / Re: 'Everyone Has An Accent But Me'...
« on: 06/07/2023 16:15:30 »When I was a little kid, I thought British people all had thick accents. So did Australians, apparently. But you know, we all have accents. I have an American accent. People in Windsor, Canada near where I live have Canadian accents.It depends. I grew up in a part of Northern MN which had a regional accent(people from other parts of our own state could tell we were from there by hearing us talk.) Later, when I was almost 11, we moved to the Pacific NW. I remember being told by other kids that I "talked funny". I, however, didn't notice anything odd about their speech. This is likely due to the fact that I grew up exposed to TV, on which pretty much everyone spoke with a neutral "American" accent and I just grew used to it. On the other hand, I had one uncle who lived in Georgia, who, to my ear had a Southern accent.
But what is that called when you think everyone has an accent, except you? I once heard the term ethnocentrism. That might apply. There's also the word culturocentrism.
And what is the explanation for this? Why does everyone seem to have an accent but you? Do the language centers of the brain have anything to do with it?