Accented English
Hi there, I need help with a phrase from a novel, which I find little confusing:
"...he addresses his son in careful, accented English."
The quote is from Jhumpa Lahiri's novel called The Namesake and "he" refers to a first generation Bengali immigrant to the US. And my question is: does the phrase "accented English" imply that he pronounced it with strong Bengali accent or does that mean that he was paying extra attention to pronunciation so that he would sound like a native English speaker?
Thank you very much!
Top answer
The given sentence means that he speaks English with a heavy Bengali accent. He's speaking to his son, who has grown up in the US speaking English and speaks it like a native speaker, so he's sensitive about his lack of fluency in English and therefore speaks slowly and carefully so as not to make any embarrassing grammatical errors.
- The given sentence means that he speaks English with a heavy Bengali accent.
- He's speaking to his son, who has grown up in the US speaking English and speaks it like a native speaker, so he's sensitive about his lack of fluency in English and therefore speaks slowly and carefully so as not to make any embarrassing grammatical errors.
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The given sentence means that he speaks English with a heavy Bengali accent. He's speaking to his son, who has grown up in the US speaking English and speaks it like a native speaker, so he's sensitive about his lack of fluency in English and therefore speaks slowly and carefully so as not to make any embarrassing grammatical errors.
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