I am a native Southern Californian and I can’t stand when people say “Cali”. It’s totally the way you can tell someone is a transplant or tourist. I’ve never heard a video address this, so thank you!
Yes, people get confused with that. Basically it’s what ever it’s ending with. “Yeah, no”. Then it’s will be no. If you say “No, yeah”. Then it’s a yes.
Native Californian, Bay Area (old) girl here! Still totally speak 😉 with a California accent and use “like” way too much! Some of the words in this video weren’t even being used yet back in my day, but the accent was already there! When the song “Valley Girl” came out I was teased relentlessly and called Val🤣. SF is just called The City in the Bay Area and beyond.
@@ItIsYourMom I'm Mexican, black hair, golden brown skin tone, and dark brown eyes and I was called a "white boy" in middle school when I told my peers I came from California to Chicago. I think they meant the surfer stereotype.
I was 16 when Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out and I saw the movie in San Rafael! Then the Go-Gos came out with We got the Beat! Do you still live in the city?
You did. Lol I'm a Valley girl from the north San Francisco, Fremont, Burlingain, Pleasanton all the malls Sacramento I'm 61 love to all the Socal Valley girls. Best times
Great presentation. I'm an 83 year old linguist, 3rd generation Californian. Very accurate summary of our styles of speech here. Thanks forvyour contribution.
I love this! My kids grew up in Northern CA and of course say "hella" all the time (my students do, too!), but one thing that I think is interesting is how people use hella in a variety of functions in the sentence. For example, just last night my son said "I"m gonna study hella," meaning "I'm gonna study a lot"!
"Hella" really sounds stupid to a lot of non-Californian Americans. It gives the listener the sense that the speaker can't really formulate their thoughts clearly and is just throwing out mindless, ambiguous words in a sort of word-salad of vague, poorly articulated, half formulated ideas.
@@MrTomherzog Regional differences exist all over the U.S. "Y'all" sounds weird to people outside the South, but that doesn't mean that Southerners shouldn't say it. Similarly, some people discriminate against others because of their accent, but that just shows a lack of understanding of linguistics and how language develops over time and space. California has always been a hub for slang for many reasons, and honestly, people who grow up here and have "hella" as a part of their lexicon really don't care what other people think, nor should they.
NorCal gal here. One thing I noticed is that me and my friends who I grew up with have a tendency to talk really fast. And I have been criticized for it, even a doctor said to me that something was wrong with me (my mental health) he can tell by how fast I was talking. But I have always talked fast, its cultural, at least I thought it was.
One of my granddaughters, born and raised here on Maui speaks like a valley girl. That is her dialect. I guess she got it off TV and movies. I lived in NorCal for ten years, but never heard anyone call it that, but that was in the 80s. Anyway, I think my granddaughter’s accent is so cute.
Lovely and informative video. As I expect you know, you are correct about women tending to use upspeak more than men and that it causes them to seems less assertive. I went to a women's college in the early '70s, then to a co-ed graduate school. I noticed that the women in my classes almost all used upspeak in answering professors' questions while the men made assertive (often bullshitty) pronouncements and were treated more respectfully. I changed my intonation and hey presto change-o, my answers started being more respectfully received. I have carried that little lesson with me ever since.
I think the vocal fry is a more recent trend. I’ve definitely been saying “hella”, “dude”, “awesome”, and “rad/radical” since I was a kid here in the bay. I don’t remember hearing “sick” until later, we used to call every good “tight”.
I first heard vocal fry in 1981 from someone in Long Beach and just assumed the poor girl had something wrong with her vocal chords. Thank heavens the ailment never made it to NorCal.
I'm from Southern California. I notice that I do vocal fry in a subtle way, but it's there. I also do up talk, but only when asked my name. Anyway, excellent video and probably the best I've seen that really describes the accent. Thank you mentioning "Cali." I dislike it SO much.
I wrote a letter to my brother in 1982 and told him that "The Roxy Music concert was totally awesome," and he told me that I sounded like a Valley Girl. He lived in Texas at the time.
I went to jr. high and high school in a suburb of Seattle in the late 90’s/early 2000’s and we all said hella. I never knew it was considered NorCal slang! I still say it all the time, though I notice younger generations don’t really use it as much. Something else I noticed watching this is that, even though I was born in socal and moved to Washington state when I was 10, I say the words totally, rad, awesome, dude, and like way more than my coworkers and friends. Like, hellllllla more.
as a gen z person hella was used a lot around the mid 2010s, now it’s not used as much anymore. i’m from nevada and because of the internet it was probably used all over the country because of it
Yep, SoCal born and I recognize some speech traits on the list, upspeak, vocal fry and "dragging out words" when I'm off the clock and just vibing. When I'm on the clock I enunciate more.
I noticed that if you visit different cities or county from California, people have different California accent. Like the one from the video, that accent is more from the rich part of LA to the valley. There's the northern part of California from kern county, people tend to sound more ghetto and dumb slang that people watch from you tube videos.
Ever since I move to Socal when I was a little Kid I fell in love with the California accent I though that if you had a Valley Accent you were Speaking perfect English lol 😅, but not until I started Traveling to other states I found out I actually had a California Valley accent my self from Growing up In socal. lol.
Thanks for this, "Cali," it's like totally awesome! I'm speaking as an English dude who has been given the role of "Ziggy the Hippy" in my theatre group's Christmas pantomime production of The Snow Queen... and naturally my mind goes to the west of the US... or the south! So I'm kinda trying out a McConaughey-ish Texan or some kind of... well, Californian. What I don't want is to come across as an English dude doing some kind of stereotypical generic "American accent"! Anyway I'm going to try out some of your tips with my lines, and I will probably be coming back to this video frequently over the next few months... oh and can I say your self-awareness of your own accent is like totally adorable??? 🥰 ... Have an awesome day! 🤗
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher thanks, I will! I was just having a practice of my lines, actually. Now if only there was a video on “appropriate hippie gestures”… 🤔
I wanna add that Californians put like emphasis on words in a sentence after a pause. They say things like: "Dude, we went to the BEACH and we saw a lot of SHARKS on the coast, so we were like totally scared to SWIM" or "I'm sorry, I can't DO that right now, you know? I'm HELLA busy"
Unspeak was used sort of in an approval way too. Using the example 'I'm going to the beach' was followed by a 'aww lucky' or 'oh that's such a good idea', it was an easy way to connect by saying it and giving you an easy response to my answer. I don't know if that makes sense. Also it was sometimes a humble brag but said very passively to keep things cool. "I drive a Porsche" sounds a little less pretentious when it's said like a question.
Something i didn't notice until college was the regional difference in how we say highway nanes. Northern Californians say, "101 south". Southern Californians say, "South on the 101."
Also when I lived in the bay we never said sf, it was the city. Outside of the bay but still in the north we use the whole name. We also call Sacramento 'Sac.'
No smoke but, this is no way complete in California accents, as a black man who grew up in California I know that you are over looking the African American, and Hispanic accents from north and southern California. Thank you for the introduction to California accents but there are so many more that are prominent.
I'm from San Diego and can attest to this. When I moved to Portland O.R. whenever my girlfriend and I would hang out with Oregonians I would get off looks for calling her and other woman "dude" I never even thought it would have been considered odd to call a woman "dude"
i love the way you explained the accent as a fellow californian! and also the explanation on the 6th T sound is what i was looking for! by far, the most concise video on the cali accent. i like saying cali and frisco but frisco never caught on.
Another location abbreviation used, especially in So cal, is "The IE" as I live in work in or have friends in the IE for Inland Empire. Also, southern Californians call local freeways by there number instead of their actual name. For example The 5, the 10, the 405 the 60 etc. And when some ask how far a location is, we usually don't say how many actual miles but instead state the approximate time it takes to get to the destination, usually because traffic can very fairly busy even to go a short distance, in So Cal.
I honestly feel called out and attacked. Haha I’m born and raised in SoCal and grew up going to the Grapevine (or Central Valley) where there’s more of a southern dialect, but I’ve don’t almost all the stuff you talked about and I don’t know if I like that. 😂😂 thanks for sharing!!!
Interesting! Born & living in Nor CA, I hadn't thought of how I say things. I guess I say 'maa-ann' for 'man' alot- "Awe maaann, really? Look at this traffic, just, why??" Kind of "I wasn't expecting there to be this much traffic right now." I tend to say, "noo way, for real?" If Iam suddenly hearing something surprising- perhaps if weather will be very hot or really cold etc. I agree with 'The City' for SF, or simply, SF. I tend to say 'Iam from CAL' , never cali. or Iam more specific- 'NorCal'. Nice vid, fun to watch! Since I have family in TX I tend to say y'all sometimes .... its amusing how people react to it here in CA- 'y'all enjoy the rest of this nice day!' 😉
I've spent most of my life in California, Northern and Southern (and never once heard anyone say "Cali" until I moved to New Mexico) but when I return to my birth state of Wisconsin I notice that they do the upspeak thing a lot more than folks in California do.
I'm a native of southern California. The 'beach cities, to be exact (Redondo. Torrance. Manhattan, Hermosa, Venice and Santa Monica) I've been told I have a 'California accent'. I either talk like a surfer or a valley girl.
@@davidrubio-lf5rc My family moved to Chicago from Palm Springs and EVERYONE, peers, always called me a "white boy" when I told them I'm from California. I'm Mexican, golden brown skin tone, black hair, dark brown eyes. Hilarious.
Actually quite informative--but you also have an underlying accent that perhaps may be from the upper Midwest. You say example as if it were "exampil", and you also have a bit of the "iya" sound, as in "Hi--I'm Kiyathee" (Cathy). Anyway, it's all fascinating--and thanks for sharing!
I think I’ve heard many words you pronounced in this video through the movie! and never know before that’s the Californians things😂 By the way I love your video so much!❤
16:13 For some reason, in the last 2 years, British adolescents are using LIKE in almost every sentence. I was like, why are all these folk suddenly speaking like me? What's next? Grody? Gnarly?
The stereotypical Valley Girl Accent is gone. No one I know talks like that anymore. But echos of it have lasted forever. It was the accent was used by high school girls for a brief time and was immortalized in the 1982 Frank Zappa song. I think it owes a lot to the surfer accent of the time. 'm a So Cal native but older. I still say dude and use it for both genders. I've never in my life said SD for San Diego. I have said San Dog and have heard others say it.
I'm from the valley...if you grew up in the 70s, 80s here...there was a distinct accent with young people..some of the valley lingo eventually spread throughout the state...example...putting "like" at the beginning of sentences
Interesting video, I'm older now and wondered what makes California girls just sound so comfortable (to me). Obviously one video is not going to break down the accent completely but it's a start. I think the vocab might be a bit outdated. I don't hear younger Millennials using those words anymore, except hella and probably like. But if we're talking 90s and that time period, it seems pretty spot on and I'd also add "cool" and "sweet".
@@omidzakeri7393 Hi! I live in Palm Springs, CA and have met people from the East Coast of the USA and it is so fascinating that we all have a slightly way of pronouncing words. I know someone with a West Virginia accent and it is very distinct. And I'm trying to learn it.
Oh dear, you are totally sick and awesome in this video... Btw, those words like 😅 totally, awesome, sick, Hella, hecka, dude are my life savers and a mighty thanks to you for teaching me those words and moreover that I had survived last two years in my daily conversations largely due to those few words... 😂 Love those cute little turtles as well and they are as awesome as you are my dear.... 😍 I also liked how you pronounced "totally taco", in here and that accent was 😂 just intriguingly cool and interesting as well , wished that you could have had pronounced more like that in your Videos.. 😂🤩 So, have a good day my Cali, I called "cali" cause you liked calling "Cali" right and have a quiet and sweet good night my dear teacher... Hugs.xoxoxo Gams ❤️
I laughed the whole time because I'm from Socal... Palm Springs, CA, and I totally say most of the words mentioned. Hahaha!!! Usually I say "dude" when I'm very upset. And I learned a few months ago that we don't pronounce our Ts! Like, I would say, "mount'n" instead of mountain. Hilarious .
In recent years I've noticed that most Americans, especially younger ones, men included, (sadly) began to speak like valley girls. This is a great video deconstructing the valley speak!
Haha not in recent years. Almost everyone was already talking like that in US highschools by the early to mid80s. Well other than for fry and creaky voice which I think became a lot more emphasized perhaps not until 00s.
@@rtp5768 I mean it's me who noticed that in recent years because I don't live in the US and only learn about it from RUclips. But thank you for interesting information.
THANK YOU! Third generation Bakersfieldian here. I CRINGE every time I here Cali, or San Fran or worse Frisco. However, I'm not sure that I drop the T in Sacramento or any of the others you mentioned. But then, I'm not a Valley Girl.Speaking of which, have you seen the movie "Valley Girl?" That's where the accent became viral. The clips used here are from "Clueless" which takes place almost entirely in Beverly Hills. Thanks for an interesting and informative video.
Yep, from the Bay Area. I hate the terms Frisco or Cali. Don't mind Sac. I grew up calling San Francisco "The City". No Valley Girls or upspeak here. I know that they are from SoCal when I hear that.
@VampcatVvvvV Thank you! Yeah I especially feel that way being BAY AREA BORN AND RAISED. Don't go calling it "Frisco" or even "San Fran" and "Cali" is something only people NOT from California say! Here in the Bay Area, when we talk about San Francisco, we ALWAYS HAVE referred to it as "The City" ("I'm going to The City later")it automatically indicates San Francisco❤️And yes, when I say Sacramento, it sounds like "Sacramenno," I drop the t.
Great video especially the vocal fry lol, which maybe started out trying to sound kind of sleepy or whispery or super chill (primarily by females), but got in the language and stayed lol. The biggest part of valley speak to me is a stylized intonation pattern that can’t really be taught, you just have to hear it a lot. You were questioning yourself about up-speak (rising intonation), I think we all use it a lot in mid conversation to indicate a series or that we aren’t finished speaking etc, and questions also don’t necessarily have it- you know all this. Intonation patterns are pretty complex. If they asked your name at Starbucks and you stated your name without a bit of upspeak it would actually sound kind of robotic and weird. I think we tend to answer questions with a slightly elevated tone. Especially if it’s part of a series or list of questions. So much of language is in the tones and you just have to hear them and live them, right? We only do the straight statement sound in certain situations. But it’s true if you use rising intonation it in the wrong place it could sound questioning or unsure. Valley definitely has it as part of their stylized sound. Awesome and observant video! I was just talking to my fam about the vocal fry sound the other day watching the “Bling Ring” lol 😀 but I think I called it a growly or airy sound lol.
I was so lost the first time I saw that skit, aside from how we talk about directions and highways. I realized there's some truth to how we speak though. I always called it "lazy tongue" and sounds just come out how they come out. There's definitely a mush mouth sound too. Not "What are you doing here?" but more like "Wha aryu doing ere" Bay Area and NorCal are slightly different. There is no highway talk like us, and much less vocal fry.
I’m a native San Franciscan, long since ripped away from there to the Midwest and central plains of the U.S., and one of my fellow students in college was from a rich suburb of SF (in Marin County, I believe). Her “a” vowels, as in “back,” were almost like “bock.” It fascinated me, and I wondered if I’d had that accent when we moved from there to Missouri when I was 8… 🤔
Thank you for your comments about “Cali”. If there is a single most effective way to demonstrate that you are an outsider, that one is it. There is another term, however, that not only marks one as a newbie, but grates like sandpaper against a native’s ear: “Frisco”. Frisco refers to St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (which never came close to San Francisco) or a brand of jeans. San Francisco or “The City” are the only acceptable terms to a Northern Californian.
The most distinguishing feature of the California accent is the vowel shift. For example, what makes your “best” sound particularly Californian is not the elongation of the vowel but the shifting of the vowel from the standard /ɛ/ to /æ/. There would be nothing Californian about simply pronouncing “best” with an elongated vowel like /ɛː/.
Only Californians from outside the Bay Area refer to San Francisco as SF and thank you for pointing out the Cali thing. Fingernails on a chalkboard every time someone says it.
NO! I AM AN NATIVE SAN FRANCISCAN way older than you and we abbreviate SF often just for making it easier to text/type. The one that is NOT ACCEPTABLE IS CALLING IT "frisco". THOSE ARE FKNG FIGHTING WORDS. Only people who never knew the REAL SF call it that. Frisco is in Texas. SF is a lot more acceptable than the dreaded stupid "frisco".
What I'm finding out with with white California's is that a lot of white Californians do not like the word Cali Frisco or even nicknames for certain cities in California which I find because a lot of these nicknames came out of the Black and Latino comunnity
I'm a Californian girl and in the 90s, nobody in our schools or city said the word "sick" maybe it depends on the generation, recently I hear it all the time. We used to say "dude thats so dope", and "like", "awesome", "hella" 😂
I am wondering about the Spanish influence on California accents. Our “likes” seem to be comparative to the way a lot of Californian & New Mexican Latinos use “como.” I lived in both. But also, I think some of my vowel sounds are similar to Spanish.
There is influence but its subtle. More in that some words used in Spanish often have been introduced into English vernacular. In general I think, the influence has not been as strong, because for a long time, talking in Spanish in public was discouraged, even shamed, especially in the 90s. And Spanish language instruction was also discouraged in classrooms unless absolutely necessary. Its changed a bit. But immigrant parents, often trying to immerse their children into the mainstream faster sometimes prohibited their own kids from talking or learning Spanish. As a result some never learned the language. There was that pressure to fit in and succeed. Its really a shame some parents resorted to that because most kids who learned Spanish growing up, also learned English pretty well, attended college, and became part of mainstream culture as successfully as any other group.
@@danmur2797I was somewhat raised by a Guatemalan nanny who only spoke to me in Spanish. Her son lived with us too and we were besties. Also, my mom married a Spanish speaker and there were other marriages and such. People intermingle languages in private if not in public. I later moved to New Mexico and there are Albuquerque music stations in Spanglish and words or phrases like “es que” “como” and “like” are used interchangeably and often.
A friend of mine has a first name Dude. So whenever he walks into a room everyone goes “Dude” his Brother’s name is Pilgrim. So he gets “ how is Pilgrim?
Scot’s have a rhotic r too. By the way there’s no such thing as a generic ‘British’ accent just like there’s no generic ‘American’ accent. The UK is composed of different countries (Scotland, Wales and England) as well as the Province of Northern Ireland. They all have very different accents and regional differences within each country too just like in the US. There are different pronunciations for words, different phrases and slang in usage in the English language that are typical to the UK or to the US. Ditto SA, Ireland, NZ & Oz. It’s a language that enriches itself all the time and uses influences from other languages too. 🙂
The “California accent” has changed over the years. We lived in Venice, CA in the early 60s when I was born and I grew up in Ocean Park and WLA. My parents and grandparents were recent transplants from NYC. And although I am African American, my family’s roots are in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and the Caribbean. I didn’t learn African-American Vernacular English and African-American English until later in life and all of it was foreign to me. When I was growing up, we talked like Wally Cleaver and the Brady Bunch kids (with the exception of Peter and Bobby who were not born in California). For some reason, the entire country is adopting the Southern California accent, which, with the exception of certain slang expressions, was in my experience the same in the city, the beach areas, and the Valley. The accents often differed by ethnicity, as most Black people or their parents were born in the South, primarily Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Arkansas, and the parents and grandparents of most Latinos spoke Spanish at home. Southern California, particularly Los Angeles County, is a melting pot. So, the specific “California accent” described in this video is very WHITE, and not at all indicative of California or even Southern California as a whole. Today’s “California accent” is very exaggerated and sounds more vapid than ever and is completely annoying. Why the entire nation is adopting it is beyond me.
Not a native speaker, but it's fun to hear an expert's take on the vocal fry of US girls. Seems like it mainly affects women, am I right? Didn't know how to describe it in English, so I called it "froggy voice". Nice to know that I wasn't far off. Don't know why it's such an off-putting mannerism, but it's something to do with "fake". For me it enhances the impression that many American women give off anyway. As if they're putting on an act. Q: is the creaky voice thingy a movie/entertainment industry invention?
I am from the OxC born and raised! I grew up in Orange and Santana! I've now lived in Texas for 13 years! Back in the day my white surfer buddies used words only a Californian would know like Bra and I am not talking about the thing women wear! Or how about Gnarly as in those waves were Gnarly Bra! Or Bodacious! Those wVes were Bodacious! My dad was a Chicano from Santana and I heard other slang too! Like chingadera and ese!
Dude, totally, awesome, sick, like I’d say have been totally commonplace nationwide since the early 80s and are not any more common in CA than elsewhere since then. Perhaps the use of some of those lessened in some areas since then but I mean in NJ all four are still in like so totally beyond routine usage to this day, granted I think 80s talk and styles hit NJ and the general tristate region extra hard. NJ did have heavy mall culture too. Val/surfer talk and styles spread super fast nationwide, although some stuff like tubular, grody to the max and especially gag me with a spoon I don’t think spread nearly as universally and I don’t think were used a lot in many areas routinely.
When I visited Greece, the locals knew I am from California without me telling them. I was so surprised, how could they tell? 😅 Also my friend always told me, "You are such a valley girl" . I never understood why. 😅 Your video explains. Maybe because of how I speak. 😅
Southern Californian dude here. Grew up all around Orange County and San Diego. I’m in my early 20s and totally speak like a Surfer Dude 😅😂. In other states or even overseas people say if I’m a surfer or that I sound like an actor from Hollywood. Happens all the time. Can my fellow Californians relate? 😂
I frequently hear another version of the glottal-stop T in words ending in "en", where the first part of the word stops, then is followed by a very distinct "EN". Instead of button being "bu-(d)un", it's more like "buh..enn". The T is completely erased, not even hinted at. It's kind of jolting when you hear it.
I'm a native Southern Californian, and I don't talk that way at all. I only apply "awesome" to something that generates wonderment, and "totally" is a synonym for "completely." A "dude" is someone who works on a ranch, and "sick" refers to poor health. I tend to rhyme "end" with "sinned" and pronounce the letter "N" as "in" as do most of my acquaintances--this may be a legacy of the Texans and Southerners who settled SoCal early in the last century. I also pronounce "Mary," "marry" and "merry" exactly the same. Some other uniquely SoCal terms are "Sigalert" (an announcement on radio or TV of a trafffic jam) and "Santa Ana wind," a strong east wind. Just over the hill to the west, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, these are called east winds. We also use definite articles for highway numbers ("take the 60 to the 57, hang a right, and proceed to the 91") I have never heard anyone refer to San Diego as "SD," but many refer to the upper Santa Ana River Valley as the "IE" (Inland Empire).
Both my best friend and i are from southern California (sd and la, respectively) and we both use hella. Neither of us have really interacted with northern Californians so maybe this word is just naturally finding its way down here.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I am a native Southern Californian and I can’t stand when people say “Cali”. It’s totally the way you can tell someone is a transplant or tourist. I’ve never heard a video address this, so thank you!
“Cali” bugs
@@Tanyalakergurl I'm from Cali and I say it all the time. So do most of the people I know. We also say San Berdoo. Because it upsets snobs.
@@Waiting4Him111 oh you’re such a rebel! 🙄
@@Tanyalakergurl anything to bug a grammar snob.🤣
@@Waiting4Him111 hating on the nickname “cali” has nothing to do with grammar snobbery.
Me, a California native, watching a video with tips on how to speak more Californian 🤭 I loved the video!
Glad you liked it!! 🫶🏼
I agree! Don’t say Cali!
Lol riiiiight??
@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher i love it when uk or american girls do that croaky voice. Its sencual and sexy. More please
Same
Or we hit you with the “yeah, no, for sure” or “yeah, no”or “no, yeah”. It comes out so naturally as well no hesitation.
Yes, people get confused with that. Basically it’s what ever it’s ending with. “Yeah, no”. Then it’s will be no. If you say “No, yeah”. Then it’s a yes.
Love this one 😂
My friend likes to change a conversation by saying, "No! Like" And I like to make fun of him and interpret him by saying, "Yes!". He laughs.
Very true! 👍👍😄
we talk like this by chicago too
Native Californian, Bay Area (old) girl here! Still totally speak 😉 with a California accent and use “like” way too much! Some of the words in this video weren’t even being used yet back in my day, but the accent was already there! When the song “Valley Girl” came out I was teased relentlessly and called Val🤣.
SF is just called The City in the Bay Area and beyond.
@@ItIsYourMom I'm Mexican, black hair, golden brown skin tone, and dark brown eyes and I was called a "white boy" in middle school when I told my peers I came from California to Chicago. I think they meant the surfer stereotype.
I like totally get what you are saying. You like bring back hella memories of the bay area, for me. 😉
I was 16 when Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out and I saw the movie in San Rafael! Then the Go-Gos came out with We got the Beat! Do you still live in the city?
I AM a Valley Girl!! I grew up in Granada Hills. the valley was my stomping grounds. I thought I invented that way of speaking. I'm 66 now
I’m from Sherman Oaks! “Hi” to another Val!! 😅 (I’m blonde but NOT ditzy!! Haha)
You did. Lol I'm a Valley girl from the north San Francisco, Fremont, Burlingain, Pleasanton all the malls Sacramento I'm 61 love to all the Socal Valley girls. Best times
I’m sure you did! 😄 -from a transplanted CA native.
Fur, suure! You like, totally did. (California native from just south of the valley and I’m 48)
I'm also a former Val!
Great presentation. I'm an 83 year old linguist, 3rd generation Californian. Very accurate summary of our styles of speech here. Thanks forvyour contribution.
3rd gen here as well, 65 tho. There is even a street in Bakersfield named after my dad.
I love this! My kids grew up in Northern CA and of course say "hella" all the time (my students do, too!), but one thing that I think is interesting is how people use hella in a variety of functions in the sentence. For example, just last night my son said "I"m gonna study hella," meaning "I'm gonna study a lot"!
Oh yes! I forgot about the “a lot” meaning- great point! 😄🫶🏼
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher I love how that word is an example of flexibility -- how speakers can play with the language! :)
West coast Canadian here. My friends and I say, "Hella," all the time.
"Hella" really sounds stupid to a lot of non-Californian Americans. It gives the listener the sense that the speaker can't really formulate their thoughts clearly and is just throwing out mindless, ambiguous words in a sort of word-salad of vague, poorly articulated, half formulated ideas.
@@MrTomherzog Regional differences exist all over the U.S. "Y'all" sounds weird to people outside the South, but that doesn't mean that Southerners shouldn't say it. Similarly, some people discriminate against others because of their accent, but that just shows a lack of understanding of linguistics and how language develops over time and space.
California has always been a hub for slang for many reasons, and honestly, people who grow up here and have "hella" as a part of their lexicon really don't care what other people think, nor should they.
I’m a Chicano dude from Southern California. This video had me laughing my ass off. When I was a kid I totally spoke in typical surfer talk.😂🥷
Hahaha I’m glad you loved it 😄 California forever! ✌️
Anudder native Chicaaaagoan here. Been in nor cal for like 20 years though. It's hella sick.
NorCal gal here. One thing I noticed is that me and my friends who I grew up with have a tendency to talk really fast. And I have been criticized for it, even a doctor said to me that something was wrong with me (my mental health) he can tell by how fast I was talking. But I have always talked fast, its cultural, at least I thought it was.
How the heck is talking fast associated with mental health 😭
One of my granddaughters, born and raised here on Maui speaks like a valley girl. That is her dialect. I guess she got it off TV and movies. I lived in NorCal for ten years, but never heard anyone call it that, but that was in the 80s. Anyway, I think my granddaughter’s accent is so cute.
Aww I love that your granddaughter has the Cali accent all the way in Maui! 🥰
yeah i could be wrong but i think calling northern california and southern california NorCal and SoCal is a very SoCal thing to do
Native Californian here, and never heard anyone who really speaks like the people in the SNL Californian sketches.
True- they really exaggerate it 😄
Native Southern Californian and sure, it's exaggerated, but you can still see the origins of it
It's extremely exaggerated and I was lost when I first heard it. There is a small kernel of truth to some of it though.
Orange Country and Santa Cruz is closer to this.
We did in the 70s
Lovely and informative video. As I expect you know, you are correct about women tending to use upspeak more than men and that it causes them to seems less assertive. I went to a women's college in the early '70s, then to a co-ed graduate school. I noticed that the women in my classes almost all used upspeak in answering professors' questions while the men made assertive (often bullshitty) pronouncements and were treated more respectfully. I changed my intonation and hey presto change-o, my answers started being more respectfully received. I have carried that little lesson with me ever since.
I think the vocal fry is a more recent trend. I’ve definitely been saying “hella”, “dude”, “awesome”, and “rad/radical” since I was a kid here in the bay. I don’t remember hearing “sick” until later, we used to call every good “tight”.
I think vocal fry is SoCal dialect. We are different in NorCal.
I first heard vocal fry in 1981 from someone in Long Beach and just assumed the poor girl had something wrong with her vocal chords. Thank heavens the ailment never made it to NorCal.
... "Dude" can be used to describe anything. My phone can be a dude, my car can be a dude, my dog can be a dude, my son is a dude... Lol
I'm from Southern California. I notice that I do vocal fry in a subtle way, but it's there. I also do up talk, but only when asked my name. Anyway, excellent video and probably the best I've seen that really describes the accent. Thank you mentioning "Cali." I dislike it SO much.
I wrote a letter to my brother in 1982 and told him that "The Roxy Music concert was totally awesome," and he told me that I sounded like a Valley Girl. He lived in Texas at the time.
Hahaha!
I wrote a letter to the MTV....I said what's going on?...why don't you care about me? Haha
I went to jr. high and high school in a suburb of Seattle in the late 90’s/early 2000’s and we all said hella. I never knew it was considered NorCal slang! I still say it all the time, though I notice younger generations don’t really use it as much. Something else I noticed watching this is that, even though I was born in socal and moved to Washington state when I was 10, I say the words totally, rad, awesome, dude, and like way more than my coworkers and friends. Like, hellllllla more.
How funny “hella” was used in Seattle! I’ve never heard that before 😄 thanks for your comment and have a totally awesome day 😎 😉
I heard hella a lot in NJ back in the late 90s/00s.
as a gen z person hella was used a lot around the mid 2010s, now it’s not used as much anymore. i’m from nevada and because of the internet it was probably used all over the country because of it
Also Seattle area, same age. I feel like "hella" was mostly used by skaters.
@@rm2kmidi haha you're so right. my older brother was a big time skater when he was younger and he would always talk like that. We're from LA btw
Yep, SoCal born and I recognize some speech traits on the list, upspeak, vocal fry and "dragging out words" when I'm off the clock and just vibing. When I'm on the clock I enunciate more.
Yes! Some of this can definitely be considered less formal ☺️
I had vocal fry this afternoon from a nap before work. I was aware of it and hated it. I was like, please god no!
I noticed that if you visit different cities or county from California, people have different California accent. Like the one from the video, that accent is more from the rich part of LA to the valley. There's the northern part of California from kern county, people tend to sound more ghetto and dumb slang that people watch from you tube videos.
Ever since I move to Socal when I was a little Kid I fell in love with the California accent I though that if you had a Valley Accent you were Speaking perfect English lol 😅, but not until I started Traveling to other states I found out I actually had a California Valley accent my self from Growing up In socal. lol.
So funny 😆 my students tend to love the CA accent so it’s fun to share
I moved to Chicago when I was 11 and immediately learned that Chicago is pronounced Sshicago. Hahaha.
Thanks for this, "Cali," it's like totally awesome! I'm speaking as an English dude who has been given the role of "Ziggy the Hippy" in my theatre group's Christmas pantomime production of The Snow Queen... and naturally my mind goes to the west of the US... or the south! So I'm kinda trying out a McConaughey-ish Texan or some kind of... well, Californian. What I don't want is to come across as an English dude doing some kind of stereotypical generic "American accent"! Anyway I'm going to try out some of your tips with my lines, and I will probably be coming back to this video frequently over the next few months... oh and can I say your self-awareness of your own accent is like totally adorable??? 🥰 ... Have an awesome day! 🤗
I love that you will play a hippie in your show! That’s totally awesome 😉😄 I hope my video continues to help you- let me know how it goes! 🎉
I'm not an actor but I love the Brit accent. I mimic what I hear on TV and practice but I will not speak it in public.
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher thanks, I will! I was just having a practice of my lines, actually. Now if only there was a video on “appropriate hippie gestures”… 🤔
I wanna add that Californians put like emphasis on words in a sentence after a pause. They say things like: "Dude, we went to the BEACH and we saw a lot of SHARKS on the coast, so we were like totally scared to SWIM" or "I'm sorry, I can't DO that right now, you know? I'm HELLA busy"
Totallllly 😉
Like Nick Cage. Lolol
Unspeak was used sort of in an approval way too. Using the example 'I'm going to the beach' was followed by a 'aww lucky' or 'oh that's such a good idea', it was an easy way to connect by saying it and giving you an easy response to my answer.
I don't know if that makes sense.
Also it was sometimes a humble brag but said very passively to keep things cool. "I drive a Porsche" sounds a little less pretentious when it's said like a question.
Something i didn't notice until college was the regional difference in how we say highway nanes. Northern Californians say, "101 south". Southern Californians say, "South on the 101."
Yes! That’s a big one. I am from SoCal but live in NorCal now and still say “the” 😆
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher We're you in Northern Cali?
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher Where are you Northern California?
@@CindySeifen ITS NOT CALI
And in the Bay Area they still use a lot of the formal names of the freeways: The James Lick, the MacArthur Maze, The Bayshore, the Eastshore, etc.
I almost never hear totally used here in the north state, but we do use hella.
Also when I lived in the bay we never said sf, it was the city. Outside of the bay but still in the north we use the whole name. We also call Sacramento 'Sac.'
I'm Nor Cal, Bay Area native and use Totally. Although at my age I try not to anymore. @@valasaur
You best teacher i never had!
Aw it’s an honor! Thank you 🙏🏼
This skit always made me laugh out loud. I hear this around the beach cities.
"The Californians" is one of my favorite SNL skits. Especially when they start talking about freeway directions.
Totally on point….. grew up in the valley in 70s…. Valley girls were real!
I'm Canadian, but can do this, like, SUPER easily! 🤔😁👍🏻
I TOTALLY LOVE the sea turtle in Nemo! Surfer dude turtle! 🥰🤗💖
I say "sick" alot!
✌️🇺🇸🇨🇦✌️
As a native Michigander this is very interesting and informative and now I can tell when someone is from California so thank you.
Thank you, Cali. That was a totally awesome English lesson
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😄
I love your California accent, gorgeous Cali girl. :)
No smoke but, this is no way complete in California accents, as a black man who grew up in California I know that you are over looking the African American, and Hispanic accents from north and southern California. Thank you for the introduction to California accents but there are so many more that are prominent.
Thank you! I came here to say the same thing.
Thank you! I came here to say the same thing.
Yup! Def white people centric lmao
Who cares how Latino cholos speak and most of the time black ppl can’t even put on a complete sentence.
@@ninja1g: That part. I said the same thing.
Fun fact about California English, "dude" and "bro" are gender neutral and can also be used for objects or as an interjection
Yes! 😄👏🏼
I'm from San Diego and can attest to this. When I moved to Portland O.R. whenever my girlfriend and I would hang out with Oregonians I would get off looks for calling her and other woman "dude" I never even thought it would have been considered odd to call a woman "dude"
@@demus89 I've called a faucet dude before
No. It’s mainly Gen Z that uses ‘bro’ and ‘dude’ gender neutrally.
@@demus89 It’s gen z that started with the gender neutrality concept. It has nothing to do with California.
i love the way you explained the accent as a fellow californian! and also the explanation on the 6th T sound is what i was looking for! by far, the most concise video on the cali accent. i like saying cali and frisco but frisco never caught on.
I’m so glad you appreciated it! Thank you for your comment ☺️🙏🏼
Totally love this video, it’s like, really gnarly. 😎🌴
Your comment is totally AWESOME! 😎
I've noticed these patters, but ti have them explained is so interesting! Brilliant!
Another location abbreviation used, especially in So cal, is "The IE" as I live in work in or have friends in the IE for Inland Empire. Also, southern Californians call local freeways by there number instead of their actual name. For example The 5, the 10, the 405 the 60 etc. And when some ask how far a location is, we usually don't say how many actual miles but instead state the approximate time it takes to get to the destination, usually because traffic can very fairly busy even to go a short distance, in So Cal.
Oh yes! I missed the IE! Great addition :)
I LOVE this video! I need a Californian accent for a role for a musical.
I am going to California soon so I want to learn the local dialect. This is very interesting. Thank you.
Awesome! Tomorrow, I am posting the pronunciation of popular cities- stay tuned!
Like You'll totally enjoy it!
@@halfmoon106 Just don't exaggerate. Dead giveaway.
I honestly feel called out and attacked. Haha I’m born and raised in SoCal and grew up going to the Grapevine (or Central Valley) where there’s more of a southern dialect, but I’ve don’t almost all the stuff you talked about and I don’t know if I like that. 😂😂 thanks for sharing!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! It was so funny making it and hearing myself doing all the things I was explaining 😆
Really?? Southern? Where? In like Bakersfield or Stockton??
Interesting! Born & living in Nor CA, I hadn't thought of how I say things. I guess I say 'maa-ann' for 'man' alot- "Awe maaann, really? Look at this traffic, just, why??" Kind of "I wasn't expecting there to be this much traffic right now." I tend to say, "noo way, for real?" If Iam suddenly hearing something surprising- perhaps if weather will be very hot or really cold etc.
I agree with 'The City' for SF, or simply, SF. I tend to say 'Iam from CAL' , never cali. or Iam more specific- 'NorCal'.
Nice vid, fun to watch! Since I have family in TX I tend to say y'all sometimes .... its amusing how people react to it here in CA- 'y'all enjoy the rest of this nice day!' 😉
I hadn't thought about California slang until people started telling me I have a surfer or valley girl.
I've spent most of my life in California, Northern and Southern (and never once heard anyone say "Cali" until I moved to New Mexico) but when I return to my birth state of Wisconsin I notice that they do the upspeak thing a lot more than folks in California do.
I'm a native of southern California. The 'beach cities, to be exact (Redondo. Torrance. Manhattan, Hermosa, Venice and Santa Monica) I've been told I have a 'California accent'. I either talk like a surfer or a valley girl.
@@davidrubio-lf5rc My family moved to Chicago from Palm Springs and EVERYONE, peers, always called me a "white boy" when I told them I'm from California. I'm Mexican, golden brown skin tone, black hair, dark brown eyes. Hilarious.
Actually quite informative--but you also have an underlying accent that perhaps may be from the upper Midwest. You say example as if it were "exampil", and you also have a bit of the "iya" sound, as in "Hi--I'm Kiyathee" (Cathy). Anyway, it's all fascinating--and thanks for sharing!
My favorite up-speak, “this one time at band camp”
😂😂😂
I think I’ve heard many words you pronounced in this video through the movie! and never know before that’s the Californians things😂
By the way I love your video so much!❤
It’s so nice to hear from you! ☺️ I’m glad you enjoyed my video!
Thank you teacher for the explanation about the californian accent.
14:52 not just an adverb e.g., Hella questions on the test were from the lectures!
Yes! Great point ☺️
16:13 For some reason, in the last 2 years, British adolescents are using LIKE in almost every sentence. I was like, why are all these folk suddenly speaking like me? What's next? Grody? Gnarly?
We’re like taking over the world 😋
That's like siiirrrrrr (so) tubular. @@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher
Sick. We say sick ALL the time in the UK!
The stereotypical Valley Girl Accent is gone. No one I know talks like that anymore. But echos of it have lasted forever. It was the accent was used by high school girls for a brief time and was immortalized in the 1982 Frank Zappa song. I think it owes a lot to the surfer accent of the time.
'm a So Cal native but older. I still say dude and use it for both genders. I've never in my life said SD for San Diego. I have said San Dog and have heard others say it.
I'm from the valley...if you grew up in the 70s, 80s here...there was a distinct accent with young people..some of the valley lingo eventually spread throughout the state...example...putting "like" at the beginning of sentences
Interesting video, I'm older now and wondered what makes California girls just sound so comfortable (to me). Obviously one video is not going to break down the accent completely but it's a start. I think the vocab might be a bit outdated. I don't hear younger Millennials using those words anymore, except hella and probably like. But if we're talking 90s and that time period, it seems pretty spot on and I'd also add "cool" and "sweet".
Yes! Some of those words aren’t as common now, but still show up in movies as stereotypes 😄
Which sort of dress do like to wear in the beach when the weather is really hot, Amy? 🤗
Usually a bathing suit with a dress over it! And I definitely need sunglasses! 😎
You toadally explained whyyyy the accent that Paris HilTon uses annoys the daylighs out of meeee, awesome! Thaaank youuuu !!
Loved this lesson! Thanks for inspiring us fellow English teachers 🧑🏫 ❤
So glad you loved it! I’m always happy to hear from fellow teachers ☺️🙏🏼
Hi Amy. Thank you so much for making this video. I learned vocab abbreviations as well. In Iran we have also different accents. Omid🙌🙌😁😁😁😁
I’m so glad you enjoyed the video Omid!
@@omidzakeri7393 Hi! I live in Palm Springs, CA and have met people from the East Coast of the USA and it is so fascinating that we all have a slightly way of pronouncing words. I know someone with a West Virginia accent and it is very distinct. And I'm trying to learn it.
We speak exactly the same way in Toronto, Ontario, even Toronto is pronounced /trana/. Our accent is very close to the California one.
Oh dear, you are totally sick and awesome in this video... Btw, those words like 😅 totally, awesome, sick, Hella, hecka, dude are my life savers and a mighty thanks to you for teaching me those words and moreover that I had survived last two years in my daily conversations largely due to those few words... 😂
Love those cute little turtles as well and they are as awesome as you are my dear.... 😍
I also liked how you pronounced "totally taco", in here and that accent was 😂 just intriguingly cool and interesting as well , wished that you could have had pronounced more like that in your Videos.. 😂🤩
So, have a good day my Cali, I called "cali" cause you liked calling "Cali" right and have a quiet and sweet good night my dear teacher...
Hugs.xoxoxo
Gams ❤️
Tooootally 🤣 I’m glad you liked the video Gams!! And I love those little turtles from Finding Nemo too- so funny 😁
Hello! You are great, love you. I am from Brazil. I need to improve my English. God bless you.
Aww thank you so much! Greetings from California 😄
I laughed the whole time because I'm from Socal... Palm Springs, CA, and I totally say most of the words mentioned. Hahaha!!! Usually I say "dude" when I'm very upset. And I learned a few months ago that we don't pronounce our Ts! Like, I would say, "mount'n" instead of mountain. Hilarious .
I don't even pronounce the T in my own name 😂 NaDalie not Natalie. From Colton
@@viperlux Omg, the woman that works next door to me is named Natalie and I'm laughing because, yeah, it's Nadalie. Hahaha!
In recent years I've noticed that most Americans, especially younger ones, men included, (sadly) began to speak like valley girls. This is a great video deconstructing the valley speak!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
Haha not in recent years. Almost everyone was already talking like that in US highschools by the early to mid80s. Well other than for fry and creaky voice which I think became a lot more emphasized perhaps not until 00s.
@@rtp5768 I mean it's me who noticed that in recent years because I don't live in the US and only learn about it from RUclips. But thank you for interesting information.
So what’s, like, the prob?
THANK YOU! Third generation Bakersfieldian here. I CRINGE every time I here Cali, or San Fran or worse Frisco. However, I'm not sure that I drop the T in Sacramento or any of the others you mentioned. But then, I'm not a Valley Girl.Speaking of which, have you seen the movie "Valley Girl?" That's where the accent became viral. The clips used here are from "Clueless" which takes place almost entirely in Beverly Hills. Thanks for an interesting and informative video.
Thanks for your comment! ☺️
ON POINT on all these
Yep, from the Bay Area. I hate the terms Frisco or Cali. Don't mind Sac. I grew up calling San Francisco "The City". No Valley Girls or upspeak here. I know that they are from SoCal when I hear that.
Hey what about the oildalians.
@VampcatVvvvV Thank you! Yeah I especially feel that way being BAY AREA BORN AND RAISED. Don't go calling it "Frisco" or even "San Fran" and "Cali" is something only people NOT from California say! Here in the Bay Area, when we talk about San Francisco, we ALWAYS HAVE referred to it as "The City" ("I'm going to The City later")it automatically indicates San Francisco❤️And yes, when I say Sacramento, it sounds like "Sacramenno," I drop the t.
May your holidays be full of warmth and cheer 🎄🎄🎁🎁
did i write correctly?
Northern California girl here Novato!!! Totally Valley Girl I'm 59
Great video especially the vocal fry lol, which maybe started out trying to sound kind of sleepy or whispery or super chill (primarily by females), but got in the language and stayed lol. The biggest part of valley speak to me is a stylized intonation pattern that can’t really be taught, you just have to hear it a lot. You were questioning yourself about up-speak (rising intonation), I think we all use it a lot in mid conversation to indicate a series or that we aren’t finished speaking etc, and questions also don’t necessarily have it- you know all this. Intonation patterns are pretty complex. If they asked your name at Starbucks and you stated your name without a bit of upspeak it would actually sound kind of robotic and weird. I think we tend to answer questions with a slightly elevated tone. Especially if it’s part of a series or list of questions. So much of language is in the tones and you just have to hear them and live them, right? We only do the straight statement sound in certain situations. But it’s true if you use rising intonation it in the wrong place it could sound questioning or unsure. Valley definitely has it as part of their stylized sound. Awesome and observant video! I was just talking to my fam about the vocal fry sound the other day watching the “Bling Ring” lol 😀 but I think I called it a growly or airy sound lol.
love how well researched this was, subbed:)
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for subscribing 🥰
As a writer, this is very helpful.
Thanks for the video, Cali ❤. It was like the sickest video accent I've watched. I enjoyed it hella a dude
I totally love this awesome video ❤ thanks a bunch !🙏
Hehehe thank you!! I’m so glad you found it SICK 😆
People have told me I gave an accent. So I googled CALIFORNIA ACCENT and I came here.
Heyyy, are you realky from Californis???? What part???? I love your Accent!! It is the Best!!!
Yes! Born and raised in CA 😄 it’s totally awesome here!
“Like” or “was all” are both exchanged for “said”
I was so lost the first time I saw that skit, aside from how we talk about directions and highways. I realized there's some truth to how we speak though. I always called it "lazy tongue" and sounds just come out how they come out. There's definitely a mush mouth sound too. Not "What are you doing here?" but more like "Wha aryu doing ere"
Bay Area and NorCal are slightly different. There is no highway talk like us, and much less vocal fry.
I’m a native San Franciscan, long since ripped away from there to the Midwest and central plains of the U.S., and one of my fellow students in college was from a rich suburb of SF (in Marin County, I believe). Her “a” vowels, as in “back,” were almost like “bock.” It fascinated me, and I wondered if I’d had that accent when we moved from there to Missouri when I was 8… 🤔
Amy is a Cali valley girl for sure. Hella awesome video.
NO CALI!
Thank you for your comments about “Cali”. If there is a single most effective way to demonstrate that you are an outsider, that one is it.
There is another term, however, that not only marks one as a newbie, but grates like sandpaper against a native’s ear: “Frisco”. Frisco refers to St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (which never came close to San Francisco) or a brand of jeans. San Francisco or “The City” are the only acceptable terms to a Northern Californian.
Ahh my dad says Frisco and I always cringe 🥲
Thanks Amy good to see you again😊
Hi!! Thanks for watching 👩🏼🏫☺️
The most distinguishing feature of the California accent is the vowel shift. For example, what makes your “best” sound particularly Californian is not the elongation of the vowel but the shifting of the vowel from the standard /ɛ/ to /æ/. There would be nothing Californian about simply pronouncing “best” with an elongated vowel like /ɛː/.
Only Californians from outside the Bay Area refer to San Francisco as SF and thank you for pointing out the Cali thing. Fingernails on a chalkboard every time someone says it.
Or “Frisco” 😬
@@YourFavoriteEnglishTeacher oh god I hate that one lol
Ive said san fran
NO! I AM AN NATIVE SAN FRANCISCAN way older than you and we abbreviate SF often just for making it easier to text/type. The one that is NOT ACCEPTABLE IS CALLING IT "frisco". THOSE ARE FKNG FIGHTING WORDS. Only people who never knew the REAL SF call it that. Frisco is in Texas. SF is a lot more acceptable than the dreaded stupid "frisco".
What I'm finding out with with white California's is that a lot of white Californians do not like the word Cali Frisco or even nicknames for certain cities in California which I find because a lot of these nicknames came out of the Black and Latino comunnity
❤ You’re awesome. I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much 🙏🏼
I'm a Californian girl and in the 90s, nobody in our schools or city said the word "sick" maybe it depends on the generation, recently I hear it all the time. We used to say "dude thats so dope", and "like", "awesome", "hella" 😂
I am wondering about the Spanish influence on California accents. Our “likes” seem to be comparative to the way a lot of Californian & New Mexican Latinos use “como.” I lived in both. But also, I think some of my vowel sounds are similar to Spanish.
There is influence but its subtle.
More in that some words used in Spanish often have been introduced into English vernacular.
In general I think, the influence has not been as strong, because for a long time, talking in Spanish in public was discouraged, even shamed, especially in the 90s.
And Spanish language instruction was also discouraged in classrooms unless absolutely necessary.
Its changed a bit.
But immigrant parents, often trying to immerse their children into the mainstream faster sometimes prohibited their own kids from talking or learning Spanish. As a result some never learned the language. There was that pressure to fit in and succeed.
Its really a shame some parents resorted to that because most kids who learned Spanish growing up, also learned English pretty well, attended college, and became part of mainstream culture as successfully as any other group.
@@danmur2797I was somewhat raised by a Guatemalan nanny who only spoke to me in Spanish. Her son lived with us too and we were besties. Also, my mom married a Spanish speaker and there were other marriages and such. People intermingle languages in private if not in public. I later moved to New Mexico and there are Albuquerque music stations in Spanglish and words or phrases like “es que” “como” and “like” are used interchangeably and often.
Loved it, thank you dear Amy. Gyan
You’re welcome Gyan ☺️ happy to share about my home state!
A friend of mine has a first name Dude. So whenever he walks into a room everyone goes “Dude” his Brother’s name is Pilgrim. So he gets “ how is Pilgrim?
Is this real? 🤣
Scot’s have a rhotic r too. By the way there’s no such thing as a generic ‘British’ accent just like there’s no generic ‘American’ accent. The UK is composed of different countries (Scotland, Wales and England) as well as the Province of Northern Ireland. They all have very different accents and regional differences within each country too just like in the US. There are different pronunciations for words, different phrases and slang in usage in the English language that are typical to the UK or to the US. Ditto SA, Ireland, NZ & Oz. It’s a language that enriches itself all the time and uses influences from other languages too. 🙂
Great points! Thanks for sharing ☺️
The “California accent” has changed over the years. We lived in Venice, CA in the early 60s when I was born and I grew up in Ocean Park and WLA. My parents and grandparents were recent transplants from NYC. And although I am African American, my family’s roots are in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and the Caribbean. I didn’t learn African-American Vernacular English and African-American English until later in life and all of it was foreign to me. When I was growing up, we talked like Wally Cleaver and the Brady Bunch kids (with the exception of Peter and Bobby who were not born in California).
For some reason, the entire country is adopting the Southern California accent, which, with the exception of certain slang expressions, was in my experience the same in the city, the beach areas, and the Valley.
The accents often differed by ethnicity, as most Black people or their parents were born in the South, primarily Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Arkansas, and the parents and grandparents of most Latinos spoke Spanish at home.
Southern California, particularly Los Angeles County, is a melting pot. So, the specific “California accent” described in this video is very WHITE, and not at all indicative of California or even Southern California as a whole.
Today’s “California accent” is very exaggerated and sounds more vapid than ever and is completely annoying. Why the entire nation is adopting it is beyond me.
So many great points! Thanks for sharing 😄
Not a native speaker, but it's fun to hear an expert's take on the vocal fry of US girls. Seems like it mainly affects women, am I right? Didn't know how to describe it in English, so I called it "froggy voice". Nice to know that I wasn't far off.
Don't know why it's such an off-putting mannerism, but it's something to do with "fake". For me it enhances the impression that many American women give off anyway. As if they're putting on an act.
Q: is the creaky voice thingy a movie/entertainment industry invention?
I am from the OxC born and raised! I grew up in Orange and Santana! I've now lived in Texas for 13 years! Back in the day my white surfer buddies used words only a Californian would know like Bra and I am not talking about the thing women wear! Or how about Gnarly as in those waves were Gnarly Bra! Or Bodacious! Those wVes were Bodacious! My dad was a Chicano from Santana and I heard other slang too! Like chingadera and ese!
Great examples 😁
Dude, totally, awesome, sick, like I’d say have been totally commonplace nationwide since the early 80s and are not any more common in CA than elsewhere since then. Perhaps the use of some of those lessened in some areas since then but I mean in NJ all four are still in like so totally beyond routine usage to this day, granted I think 80s talk and styles hit NJ and the general tristate region extra hard. NJ did have heavy mall culture too. Val/surfer talk and styles spread super fast nationwide, although some stuff like tubular, grody to the max and especially gag me with a spoon I don’t think spread nearly as universally and I don’t think were used a lot in many areas routinely.
You should listen to this video again. You use vocal fry a lot more than you might be aware of.
I’m aware 🙈
I’m 75, born in San Pedro, lived in Southern California all my life. I can’t believe that I talked, and still do, talk like that. 😅
born and raised and i fr did NOT even try when i was following along 🤣 i
"May this Christmas be merry and your home be filled with peace and bliss" 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎅🎅🎁🎁🎁
Please forgive me if there is a mistake in writing.😊
2:42 Yeah, you vocal fried when you said Paris Hilton's name at 2:14. 😄
I can’t stop 🤣
😍😍I am trying to drag my English to Socal accent, like totally. 😂😘
Duuuude! That's gnarly, brah!
When I visited Greece, the locals knew I am from California without me telling them. I was so surprised, how could they tell? 😅
Also my friend always told me, "You are such a valley girl" . I never understood why. 😅
Your video explains. Maybe because of how I speak. 😅
I love it 😁
Southern Californian dude here. Grew up all around Orange County and San Diego. I’m in my early 20s and totally speak like a Surfer Dude 😅😂.
In other states or even overseas people say if I’m a surfer or that I sound like an actor from Hollywood. Happens all the time. Can my fellow Californians relate? 😂
I’m a socal girl as well and people usually guess right away 😆 California forever!
I’m 53 and I totally talk like this.
I frequently hear another version of the glottal-stop T in words ending in "en", where the first part of the word stops, then is followed by a very distinct "EN". Instead of button being "bu-(d)un", it's more like "buh..enn". The T is completely erased, not even hinted at. It's kind of jolting when you hear it.
Merry Christmas to you.🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
You too! 🎄☺️
I'm a native Southern Californian, and I don't talk that way at all. I only apply "awesome" to something that generates wonderment, and "totally" is a synonym for "completely." A "dude" is someone who works on a ranch, and "sick" refers to poor health.
I tend to rhyme "end" with "sinned" and pronounce the letter "N" as "in" as do most of my acquaintances--this may be a legacy of the Texans and Southerners who settled SoCal early in the last century. I also pronounce "Mary," "marry" and "merry" exactly the same.
Some other uniquely SoCal terms are "Sigalert" (an announcement on radio or TV of a trafffic jam) and "Santa Ana wind," a strong east wind. Just over the hill to the west, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, these are called east winds. We also use definite articles for highway numbers ("take the 60 to the 57, hang a right, and proceed to the 91")
I have never heard anyone refer to San Diego as "SD," but many refer to the upper Santa Ana River Valley as the "IE" (Inland Empire).
"May your Christmas be merry" 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎅☃️☃️🍪
Both my best friend and i are from southern California (sd and la, respectively) and we both use hella. Neither of us have really interacted with northern Californians so maybe this word is just naturally finding its way down here.