British, um, accents? I'm re-asking an old post, hopefully in a better way

[Roger House]

Whenever I, or maybe I should say, my ears, hear a British person say a word that ends with an A, the last part of the word doesn't sound the same as it does when a, shall we say, born and raised in the U.S.A., "W.A.S.P."-y person says the same word. Also, it's like this every time I hear it, no matter what the word is, as long as it's one that ends with the letter A, and it's a British person saying it. I'll give you an example. As I would guess most people know, when it's properly pronounced, the word banana sounds like, (although I don't know/remember where the accent goes), Buh - na - nuh; with the NA part sounding like it does in the word NANNY. Using my example, whenever I hear a British person, let's say Elton John, for example, say the word banana, it sounds to MY ears like Buh - na - ner; with the ER part sounding like it does in the word HER. If you understand WHAT I'm asking based on how I'm asking it, and my ears are not deceiving me, why is that?

[Bob]

Whenever I, or maybe I should say, my ears, hear a British person say a word that ends with an A, the last part of the word doesn't sound the same as it does when a, shall we say, born and raised in the U.S.A., "W.A.S.P."-y person says the same word. Also, it's like this every time I hear it, no matter what the word is, as long as it's one that ends with the letter A, and it's a British person saying it. I'll give you an example. As I would guess most people know, when it's properly pronounced, the word banana sounds like, (although I don't know/remember where the accent goes), Buh - na - nuh; with the NA part sounding like it does in the word NANNY. Using my example, whenever I hear a British person, let's say Elton John, for example, say the word banana, it sounds to MY ears like Buh - na - ner; with the ER part sounding like it does in the word HER. If you understand WHAT I'm asking based on how I'm asking it, and my ears are not deceiving me, why is that?

I never thought of "bananer" (or "p'tater") as a Britishism. I associate it more with northeastern USA. It sounds especially UNBritish to me.

[Snidely]

Post by Bob

Post by Roger House
Whenever I, or maybe I should say, my ears, hear a British person say a word
that ends with an A, the last part of the word doesn't sound the same as it
does when a, shall we say, born and raised in the U.S.A., "W.A.S.P."-y
person says the same word. Also, it's like this every time I hear it, no
matter what the word is, as long as it's one that ends with the letter A,
and it's a British person saying it. I'll give you an example. As I would
guess most people know, when it's properly pronounced, the word banana
sounds like, (although I don't know/remember where the accent goes), Buh -
na - nuh; with the NA part sounding like it does in the word NANNY. Using my
example, whenever I hear a British person, let's say Elton John, for
example, say the word banana, it sounds to MY ears like Buh - na - ner; with
the ER part sounding like it does in the word HER. If you understand WHAT
I'm asking based on how I'm asking it, and my ears are not deceiving me, why
is that?

I never thought of "bananer" (or "p'tater") as a Britishism. I associate it
more with northeastern USA. It sounds especially UNBritish to me.

No, it happens with some Brit accents, too. (Where do you think the
Northeastern accent originated?) But the Brits are better known for
turning "er" into "uh", especially at the end of words. For example,
"remembuh" instead of "remember". This is known as being
"non-rhotic"", but it happened after most of the Brit emigration to the
American colonies, so it isn't heard much in the US or Canada.

/dps

[occam]

Post by Roger House
Whenever I, or maybe I should say, my ears, hear a British person say a word that ends with an A, the last part of the word doesn't sound the same as it does when a, shall we say, born and raised in the U.S.A., "W.A.S.P."-y person says the same word. Also, it's like this every time I hear it, no matter what the word is, as long as it's one that ends with the letter A, and it's a British person saying it. I'll give you an example. As I would guess most people know, when it's properly pronounced, the word banana sounds like, (although I don't know/remember where the accent goes), Buh - na - nuh; with the NA part sounding like it does in the word NANNY. Using my example, whenever I hear a British person, let's say Elton John, for example, say the word banana, it sounds to MY ears like Buh - na - ner; with the ER part sounding like it does in the word HER. If you understand WHAT I'm asking based on how I'm asking it, and my ears are not deceiving me, why is that?

You should listen more to BBC News, rather than Elton John. You would
have a much better appreciation of the British accent as-she-should-be
spoken. 'Ba-na-ner' is anything but typical English pronunciation.