Welsh people who don't have a welsh accent?

[faced]

So I'm dating someone who is from Cardiff. He doesn't have a welsh accent? Maybe a few words, but he says that people from Cardiff don't sound Welsh. Especially if their parents are professionals etc

Is he having a laugh? What about Gavin & Stacey? Isn't that set near Cardiff?

Yes, kiw.

I'm from Cardiff but have lived in Barry for 11 years. There is a Cardiff accent, it's obviously stronger with some people. The Barry accent seems to be a stronger version of this. Bryn's 'half of dark' isn't far off to be honest.

Mine isn't particularly strong compared to my sisters but then I'm a bit of a working class snob!

There endeth this boring post.

@marialuisa

I was born in Cardiff and sound RP except there are certain phrases and words that I use that make it obvious where I’m originally from. Amuses DH enormously.

Where to?

My DD was born and bred in a very welsh part of North Wales. She hasn't got a Welsh accent atall, but can still speak it fluently. She now lives and works in London. People are always surprised if she picks up that they're Welsh and all of a sudden she launches into a full blown conversation with them.
DH was born in North Wales too but went away to boarding school and so came back with a posh accent and didn't really fit in
We've moved now, but I lived there for 35 years and didn't pick up any accent.

I’m from Llanelli and we have crazy welsh accents, I’ve lived away for 15 years and it’s still super strong.

This is a great example of the difference S Wales accents
fb.watch/1jJ75tPYNt/

There is a Cardiff accent, a very strong accent in some cases. Not everyone here has it. Just like not every Londoner sounds like an extra from Eastenders. Class, education, family accent/language etc etc all play a part in the way that we speak.

Gavin and Stacey has a a variety of Welsh accents in it. None of them are Cardiff accents.

I’m from Llandudno and don’t have a Welsh accent. But i also don't speak Welsh

I'm live in a middle class area of Cardiff. You rarely hear a Welsh accent here. A lot people who live here aren't from Wales and those that are Welsh have no discernible accent at all. Lots of Cardiff is like this, especially the more middle class communities.

My dh is from Cardiff and he doesn’t have much of an accent

I have nothing to add to any of this except I love Welsh accents and I’d bet that those on here who don’t think they have Welsh accents have nevertheless lovely accents.

I'm from Pembrokeshire and most strangers think I'm English.
It has a lot to do with the Norman influence going back to the invasion. Google marcher territory. Most of the Welsh Welsh were pushed up into the hills and northern counties. We don't speak Welsh either as a first language but that's another story

There is a very distinctive Cardiff accent which is similar to the Barry accent in Gavin and Stacey but like any regional accent the middle class tend to distance themselves from it. Go to Ely or Canton and you will hear a proper Cardiff accent- this is very different from a valleys accent or a West Wales Accent. There isn't a single Welsh accent- it is very diverse and can change within a 5 mile radius.

I'm from Wales and a mother tongue welsh speaker but most people don't guess that I am, they usually guess that I am from the North West (England)

When they find out I am Welsh they say 'You don't sound like you're from Cardiff' or something.

I'm not from Cardiff. I wouldn't expect someone from Cardiff to sound like they were from Barry.

With the exception of Nessa and Dave Coaches, none of the other main characters in Gavin and Stacey even have a Barry (where it is set) accent, never mind a Cardiff one. The majority are West Walian accents.

I grew up in North Cardiff, non-locals who grew up elsewhere in Wales/UK assume me to be English on first meeting, privately educated once I have clarified I’m Welsh. I am neither English nor privately educated. North Cardiff has it’s own accent, which is distinct from the stereotypical Cardiff accent. Both are distinct from the classic Welsh accent most non- Welsh people think of.

It’s fairly normal for working class people to have much stronger regional accents than middle class people, though not always. That applies anywhere.

I don’t have the accent of the area I am from, I was quite RP as a child and more non-specific London- estuary mash up now.

It is due to lazy stereotyping when anyone Welsh is required for a TV role. They almost always go for a strong valleys accent. Accents in Wales vary hugely - even between places that are close together. The Caernarfon accent is distinct from the Bangor accent - yet they are less than 10 miles apart. Some parts of the NE have a fairly strong Liverpool influence (plastic scousers of Deeside), people in Rhos have an accent that is unique to that one village.

This is pretty spot on!
m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2UW8v3Q80

Ahhh, Caernarfon Conts and the Bangor Ayes.

Definitely eye openers to those from the South😂

You will need a translator.

I'm Welsh with no accent. I can have if I want and I do when I speak Welsh. My colleague who knows me very well was shocked when we went to my mums together ( pre-Covid) and I suddenly had a Welsh accent when I was speaking Welsh to mum's neighbour. My mum doesn't have a Welsh accent either.
And my grandmother only did when speaking Welsh.

We are a professional middle class family who were all born in Cardiff and lived in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

My parents are from Cardiff and neither have much of an accent. My grandparents have a bit more of an accent but not much. My parents both left Wales at uni age and didn't go back.

Cardiff is very Anglicised (i.e English-y). It's a standing joke that the capital of Wales is the least Welsh place you can find in Wales. It's basically an English city.

@JovialNickname

Cardiff is very Anglicised (i.e English-y). It's a standing joke that the capital of Wales is the least Welsh place you can find in Wales. It's basically an English city.

There are 4 unis in Cardiff, and as one of the cheapest rents obviously attract students from all over. Dd and her friend are at 2 of them and both are staying after they graduate. They both love it there.

@JovialNickname

Cardiff is very Anglicised (i.e English-y). It's a standing joke that the capital of Wales is the least Welsh place you can find in Wales. It's basically an English city.

Uh no, do buzz off.

Technically 5 bruffin with Univ. Of Wales

The further west or north you go the accent get stronger.