2

The speaker in this video is Italian but has a "nonstandard" accent. He is speaking English in the clip, but the features of this accent are still clear.

Is anybody able to identify which region of Italy this accent is from?

More details

I am not an expert at phonetics, but I believe I was able to identify some features of this accent:

  1. It seems that he pronounces the "r", especially at the end of syllables, as a trill with 2 contacts. Many Italian speakers pronounce the "r" as a trill with one contact, so his "r" sounds a bit heavier.
  2. His vowels seem to be more closed and are pronounced for a shorter duration compared to more standard accents.
  3. His intonation seems to feature a smaller range of pitch changes when compared to more standard accents.

Edit

Since more than one person in the comments has expressed doubt on whether the speaker is really Italian, I am including a screenshot from YouTube comments where he confirms it:

enter image description here

Improve this question
18
  • 4
    The accent in the video is certainly Southern. I am not sure I can be more precise than that (I am from the North and I find it hard to distinguish the various Southern accents). Your description is interesting because it does not feel Slavic at all to me.
    – Denis Nardin ♦
    Oct 29, 2020 at 23:41
  • 2
    It may be someone coming from Sardegna. Check this youtu.be/67NYVfIzP4g
    – anotherOne
    Oct 30, 2020 at 12:48
  • 3
    Sorry, why do you think the speaker is Italian? The accent is typical of native Indian speaking in English to me. The emphatic way they pronounce the “r” is typical of Indian speakers.
    – Hachi
    Oct 31, 2020 at 6:22
  • 2
    I’ve never heard the “r” pronounced that way in any Italian dialect. Maybe I’m missing something.
    – Hachi
    Nov 1, 2020 at 8:09
  • 3
    Just to add confusion to the matter, “GnorriTV” has a peculiar way (in particular the Rs) of pronouncing Italian words and nouns too, for instance in his reviews of Africa addio or La grande guerra.
    – DaG
    Nov 1, 2020 at 18:40

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

I reached out to the person from the video by posting a comment on one of his latest videos. I asked him what part of Italy he's from, and he was kind enough to reply:

GnorriTV reply

It's also worth noting that the accent sounds Southern to several Italians who I asked.

Improve this answer
1
  • 3
    I'm from Central Italy, and this is certainly no typical “Central Italian English”. I wonder what he means by “milder”... EDIT: I just asked him.
    – DaG
    Nov 1, 2020 at 18:32

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.