Animals Have Accents Too
Vocal variation within species reflects complex and fascinating social structures
Ever been the ‘new kid’ on the first day of a school term?
I have, multiple times. We moved around a lot when I was growing up. In some ways, I was lucky: yes, we moved a tonne, but it was all around northern England, so, wherever I went, I had some shared dialect and accent with my new peers. Still, surviving at school is about finding your place in a complex and ever-changing social hierarchy, and my hotch-potch accent didn’t do me any favours.
Still, it could have been worse: I had a friend that had moved all the way from the south — her accent was constantly mimicked, the sound of her elongated ‘voooooweeeeels’ a constant source of curiosity to her flatter-voweled northern classmates. Of course, a confident child can make the most of this, wear their ‘difference’ as a badge of honour, and even (if deemed high enough in the social pyramid) influence others to take on their ‘non-native accent’.
For example, I have witnessed a whole school friendship group take on an American accent, to try and imitate the new ‘cool’ kid: this was pretty hilarious.
