Different talking of Jared Padelacki and Jenson Ackles

[Truth4vahid]

What is the difference between talking of Jared Padelacki and talking of Jenson Ackles (Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural) about? Is that for having different accent?

 

[tzfujimino]

https://youtu.be/f6_HFuRqYkE

 

[GoesStation]

Padelacki sounds like he may be from southern California. The other guy has a nondescript, general American accent. He could be from anywhere in the United States.

[EDIT] I purposely didn't Google the actors before writing the above. It turns out Padelacki is from San Antonio and Jenson Ackles is from Dallas, Texas. Like many white Americans from urban areas, neither has a recognizable regional accent.

 

[probus]

I concur. To me their accents are identical, standard mainstream American.

 

[jutfrank]

Padelacki sounds like he may be from southern California.

What clues would one look for to spot a Cali accent, generally? What was it about Padelacki's speech that aroused your suspicion?

 

[GoesStation]

What clues would one look for to spot a Cali accent, generally? What was it about Padelacki's speech that aroused your suspicion?

Shortened syllables and dropped consonants, I think. An intersyllabic /t/ tends to shift from the palatal stop that I'd use to a tongue flap and then to nothing, as when he says "It kine-uh made it sink in." I recently noticed that one of my southern Californian nephews says "impord-n'" where I say "impor'n'" for important. (I wish I could transcribe these words in IPA, sorry!)

Southern Californian Anglos really don't have a very distinctive accent; they tend to speak with one end of the general American accent. Unsurprisingly, Latinos often have a Mexican Spanish-influenced accent. Many Blacks have an accent influenced by African-American Vernacular English, with roots in the deep South (the geographical Southeast) where their ancestors lived if they don't live there themselves. That's far from universal in that community, though; if you've heard the newly-famous Amanda Gordon, you may have noticed that she doesn't have much of that accent. She attended my nephew's high school and recited a poem at their graduation, which I attended. Alas, it apparently didn't make a deep impression on me — I don't remember the recitation at all.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

What is the difference between talking of Jared Padelacki and talking of Jenson Ackles (Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural) about? Is that for having different accent?

It's interesting that you noticed, because they're so close. You have a good ear!

As Probus says, both have the standard/mainstream/middle/general American accent. The guy on the right has a very slight Appalachian inflection, which is probably why Goes thought of Southern California. A lot of Appalachians migrated to Texas and California in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

For me, it's impossible to tell where the guy on the left is from. He sounds like he's from Anywhere, USA.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

What clues would one look for to spot a Cali accent, generally? What was it about Padelacki's speech that aroused your suspicion?

There's not one California accent. The main streams of English on the Left Coast are New England and Appalachia, plus some Spanish and Deep South.

As I've said elsewhere, a great example of the stereotypical Southern California accent is Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys — which, again, is like the guy on the right in the video.

The strong R's, lazy I's, and slightly dragging pace stand out if you listen for them.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

PS —

Brian Wilson's is, of course, a white Anglo Saxon accent. Californians with Black, Mexican, and Japanese backgrounds sound different.

And now that I think about it, I had Bay Area (Northern Cali) friends who also spoke Brian Wilson English. My bet is that you can find it all the way up the coast.

Not an expert. Just trying to think it through.

 

[jutfrank]

Californians with Black, Mexican, and Japanese backgrounds sound different.

Sure. And then there's your surfer dude, and your valley girl, again with very different ways of speaking.

 

[emsr2d2]

What is the difference between [STRIKE]talking of[/STRIKE] the way that Jared Padelacki and [STRIKE]talking of[/STRIKE] Jenson Ackles (Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural) [STRIKE]about[/STRIKE] speak? Is it simply that [STRIKE]for having[/STRIKE] they have different accents?

emsrd2