Read previewLiving on the edges of the planets comes with an unexpected perk: you may pick up an exotic accent that's spoken only in Antarctica.
The research provides a snapshot into how new accents are developed when communities grow in isolation, like when English speakers colonized new countries and developed new accents.
Researchers tracked the twang of 26 international researchers and support staff that spent six months in the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station in May 2018.
Advertisement"It was very subtle — you can't hear the changes," Jonathan Harrington, professor of phonetics and speech and an author of the study, told the BBC.
"For accents to develop to the point where they are noticeable, it really takes a generational change," Harrington told the BBC.
Persons:
—, Richard Gray, Jonathan Harrington, Harrington
Organizations:
Service, BBC, Business, Antarctic, of Phonetics, Ludwig, Maximilians, University of Munich, of America
Locations:
Antarctica