Re: USAGE: 2nd pers. pron. for God

On 12 Sep 02, at 10:48, Thomas R. Wier wrote:

> Quoting Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>:
>
> > I was born and raised in Germany, but grew up speaking (roughly) RP; my
> > father is from England. Specifically, from Leicester, but he doesn't
> > speak like the locals -- to me, it sounds like a rather neutral
> > "generic British" accent. Then came school which had the result of
> > overlaying a "generic American" accent, and what I speak now depends on
> > whom I'm speaking with.
>
> Did you get your schooling in Germany or Britain? In either
> case, I don't see why American accents would be taught in
> school. (Of course, if you had lots of Americans as classmates,
> that might change things.)
It had to do more with the school than the geographical location. I
went to the International School here in Hamburg. While most teachers
were from the UK, there were many students who were either American or
non-native English speakers with a fairly American accent. It's from
them, I suppose, that the pronunciation changed. (I also vaguely
remember getting ribbed for my RP-oid pronunciation in first grade.)

(I also heard, from an Albanian, that it's easier to acquire a decent-
sounding "general American" accent than a British one -- he said that
he preferred British pronunciation but that it was difficult to get a
convincing rendition of one and so he settled for American. Perhaps
because there's enough variation across the States that it's not so
important to get your phones exactly in the right position.)

Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>