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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Accent change

13 replies

Homebird8 · 08/04/2018 04:56

My DS is 15 and his voice is naturally deepening. In the process he has developed an accent from an area we have no links with. Anyone else had this? Is it to do with the change in his pitch or could there be some other reason? Will it settle to something else or is it here to stay?

For background we come from the Midlands in the UK but DS has lived in NZ since he was eight. The accent is making him sound like he comes from Bristol. Family accents are Midlands, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Manchester. He has heard the New Zealand accent round him for the last six or seven years.

I can’t imagine where Bristol accent is coming from. If I mention it he tells me to ‘Shurrup’ in a long suffering way. It’s not something he is trying to do. Another child pointed it out to me and now it’s all I can hear. Anyone had similar?

OP posts:
AjasLipstick · 08/04/2018 05:43

What...like "Oi don't know" for "I don't know"??

And...does it matter? My accent is quite odd after years of moving about.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 08/04/2018 10:13

Oh we already have the Oi for I. That’s the Midlands for you.

The most noticeable is saying words like ground as if it has a w in the middle. Something like growned.

I don’t suppose it matters. It’s just that he’s the first person I’ve been close to who has a voice which is changing. I don’t have brothers, went to an all girls school and DS is my oldest. I wondered if it is common and part of the change in size of the voice box or whether it is something that will change back. Perhaps he’s an oddity?

OP posts:
MargotLovedTom1 · 08/04/2018 10:18

How can you say 'ground' with a w sound in the middle? It would be gronnd/grahnd otherwise, which sounds Northern Irish to me? Grin

I don't remember my brother's accent changing at all, or any other boys in have known. It's probably an unconscious affectation.

AjasLipstick · 08/04/2018 10:24

We moved from England to Oz three years ago and our DC have very odd accents OP.

tearbear · 08/04/2018 10:29

iv just spent a minute trying to say ground without the w sound in it and I cantGrin

iklboo · 08/04/2018 10:43

Do you mean ground like 'grow-wund'?

Original poster
Homebird8 · 08/04/2018 11:20

It’s hard to explain the w in ground. Perhaps if you think of the word sew and then swapped the s for gr and added nd at the end it might be similar.

iklboo, that double syllable version would be more like a New Zealand accent and easier to understand. Maybe it is a bit like that but run together again to make one syllable.

Anyway, it seems that it’s not common to change accent with the change in voice. Perhaps I’ll put it down to the UK/NZ mix although DS is the one of us who sounds most reliably British whoever he’s speaking to.

OP posts:
Heratnumber7 · 08/04/2018 11:35

There was a prog on TV about a woman whose accent changed after a bump on the head.
Hers changed to French. It was a big problem because voice recognition sw didn't recognise her and she had all sorts of issues with her bank and stuff.

Moxiebelle · 08/04/2018 11:40

Probably just a teenager thing. My dd sometimes comes out with all sorts of weird accents. She is very good at taking off a stereotypical teenage girl too and sometimes reads out her friends social media interchanges to me in that way which is hilarious.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 08/04/2018 11:48

Aren’t teenagers wonderfully amusing, unpredicatable and inventive! I’ve loved every stage so far but the teen bit is exciting and wickedly humourous. When he gets that sparkle in his eye and chooses to put on an accent though, it’s usually Russian.

Interesting what you say about the head injuries though Heratnumber7. DS has had a few of those and another child was the one who first noticed the accent a couple of years ago after the major one. The accent has become much more pronounced as his voice has deepened though.

OP posts:
Showergel1 · 08/04/2018 11:48

Could be someone he watches on YouTube or a new friend he's met? When I was younger the mockney accent was cool and lots of people suddenly developed a 'Landan' accent despite living in NW England their entire lives.

Then when I went to uni I ended up with a very neutral kind of accent to fit in with everyone else, now I'm back oop North you can tell I was born here.

Accents can change or be changed. Mine is heavily influenced by who I'm around because I naturally pick it up and am quite good at accents in general. I wouldn't worry about it.

Original poster
Homebird8 · 08/04/2018 11:49

Not really worried. Just wondering why it’s an accent he doesn’t know anyone with. Might be YouTube though. Hadn’t thought of that.

OP posts:
Heratnumber7 · 09/04/2018 17:53

It's a definite "thing"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreignaccentt_syndrome

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