Am I the only one who can recognize a Somali on the phone?

[Qeelbax]

I’m not talking about ones who speak broken english or the ones who have a somali-born english speaker accent. I’m talking about even the ones born and raised in the west that ONLY speak English. I can recognize the person over the phone is Somali. Kinda like a dialect? It’s as if somalis have their own English dialect. The other day my dad was speaking to a real estate agent over the phone and he had her on speaker and I knew they were somali, I ask him her name after the call, and she has a somali name.
It’s bizarre, do y’all think this too?

 

[@@@@]

I’m not talking about ones who speak broken english or the ones who have a somali-born english speaker accent. I’m talking about even the ones born and raised in the west that ONLY speak English. I can recognize the person over the phone is Somali. Kinda like a dialect? It’s as if somalis have their own English dialect. The other day my dad was speaking to a real estate agent over the phone and he had her on speaker and I knew they were somali, I ask him her name after the call, and she has a somali name.
It’s bizarre, do y’all think this too?

I agree I’ve noticed it many times too. I think it’s something to do with the slightly nasally tone I’m not sure how to explain it.

 

[Niin]

I agree I’ve noticed it many times too. I think it’s something to do with the slightly nasally tone I’m not sure how to explain it.

Your actually right!!!! Btw I have a nasaly voice myself

 

[Niin]

I’m not talking about ones who speak broken english or the ones who have a somali-born english speaker accent. I’m talking about even the ones born and raised in the west that ONLY speak English. I can recognize the person over the phone is Somali. Kinda like a dialect? It’s as if somalis have their own English dialect. The other day my dad was speaking to a real estate agent over the phone and he had her on speaker and I knew they were somali, I ask him her name after the call, and she has a somali name.
It’s bizarre, do y’all think this too?

It’s not bizarre! I actually agree!

 

[empressjamila]

I know exactly what you’re talking about. People think if you’re born and raised here you’ll have no accent/a neutral accent but it’s not true. The language your parents speak will influence the way you speak. It’s not very noticeable usually but it’s there. People with Indian parents have their own accent, people with Jamaican parents have their own accent and yes people with Somali parents also have their own accent. I have noticed a slight accent in Canadian born Somali kids and I can tell if someone is ethnically Somali over the phone even if they don’t speak Somali at all

 

[Febbie]

It's an ethnic twang. It's difficult to erase and it's part of your upbringing and social surroundings.

I worked in customer service for a year in the past and I can usually tell pretty quickly if the person is non-white even when their account details says British born.