Can You Place this Accent?

[suprunp]

(Richard Mille Watches; YouTube)

Would you be so kind as to tell me whether you can place this accent?

Thanks.

 

[jutfrank]

He speaks with a very natural American accent but with a trace of Latino, which comes through more by rhythm and cadence than by any of the sounds he pronounces.

 

[suprunp]

Thank you, jutfrank!

How about his Ls (they sound a bit softer to me than I'd have expected)?

Thanks.

 

[GoesStation]

He has a Chicano (Mexican-American) accent. He probably spoke Spanish at home and Spanglish among his friends as he was growing up. He may have attended a bilingual elementary school with half his classes in Spanish and half in English.

His accent is extremely common in the Southwest of the United States. There are also large numbers of Americans who speak Spanish-influenced English with a similar sound but less distinctly accented. Many of them don't speak Spanish at all. The speaker's children could grow up to be in this group.

 

[jutfrank]

Thanks for your answer, GoesStation.

How can you identify that his accent is from Mexico, rather than, say, Puerto Rico or anywhere else?

I think he's in Florida, so I was guessing he may have been born in the Caribbean.

 

[GoesStation]

Thanks for your answer, GoesStation.

How can you identify that his accent is from Mexico, rather than, say, Puerto Rico or anywhere else?

I think he's in Florida, so I was guessing he may have been born in the Caribbean.

I shouldn't have attributed his accent to Mexico. I've been in Los Angeles for the last two weeks and I'm afraid I've been infected by its powerful provincialism.

If the YouTube presenter is from south Florida, he's much more likely to be of Cuban descent. I can't tell the difference, if there is one, between a Cuban-American accent and other Hispanic-American accents.

 

[jutfrank]

Thank you, jutfrank!

How about his Ls (they sound a bit softer to me than I'd have expected)?

I'm not sure exactly what you mean about his Ls.

 

[suprunp]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean about his Ls.

Some people, I've noticed, may rather half in jest say 'love', for example, with an /l/ from 'leaf'. His Ls to my untrained ear sometimes sound closer to the one from 'leaf' where I'd have expected them to be closer to the one from 'let'. But if they sound standard to you, then they sound standard to me as well.

 

[emsr2d2]

What is this purported amusing difference between the "L" sounds in "love", "leaf" and "let"?

 

[suprunp]

What is this purported amusing difference between the "L" sounds in "love", "leaf" and "let"?

I think I might have mixed them up a tad.

There's apparently a difference between /l/ in 'leaf' and /l/ in 'feel', rather than necessarily between those in 'love', 'leaf' and 'let'.

In any case, I'm not that interested in minute technicalities, but rather in whether the man's Ls sound 'native' to native speakers.

Thanks.

 

[Skrej]

One of the tell-tale traces of his slight (but noticeable) Hispanic accent is substituting /d/ for /ð/ and /θ/- note he repeatedly says 'des' for 'this' and 'deese' for 'these'.

Also (again slight) traces of that trouble many Hispanics have with the short i sound /ɪ/ , substituting a long 'e' /iː/ sound. This isn't quite as noticeable to me as the first one, but it's still there.

Both suggest Spanish was his first language, although he's likely been bilingual from an early age.

 

[jutfrank]

whether the man's Ls sound 'native' to native speakers.

His Ls sound native-like to me.