The changing nature of language

[BertiWooster]

I'm parking this question here , given that there isn't a language section

Why do some people when they are speaking , state something , with an inflection in their voice ; which makes it sound as if they are asking a question , when what they say isn't a question .

For example , they might be explaining why a competitor did not do well in a motor race , and say something like -

'' the reason why he didn't do well in the race was because , he didn't have the right tyres .... (?) ''

Do you know what I mean - if so is it irrititating to you as well ?

[Quizmonster]

The use of a question tone at the end of sentences which are actually statements is technically known as the High Rising Terminal (HRT), High Rising Intonation (HRI) or Australian Questioning Intonation (AQI). Less technically, people call it �uptalk' or �upspeak'.
It is especially noticeable in some American English and Australian/New Zealand English accents, though some British dialects - such as Liverpool's - have a similar tendency.
The reason many British young people seem to have adopted this manner of speaking is often said to be the popularity of Australian soap operas such as Home and Away and Neighbours on British television in recent years. A case of �monkey see, monkey do' in their case, as it were!

[andy-hughes]

AsM states - the root of this trend appears to reside with the student population's interest in Australian soaps. If you listen to an Australian speaking face to face, as opposed to on TV, the inflection is there, but nowhere near as noticable as it is when TV actors use it.

The exageration comes in when British people do it, and it really does sound faintly ridiculous.

Comdeian Rory McGrath summed it up beautifully with his own adjective - the 'moronic interogative' - which really nails it!

[jno]

I can't say I find anything moronic about it; it's just a way of speaking. The 'question' isn't actually spoken but it's something along the lines of 'you know what I mean?' or 'do you agree? or (in British) 'innit?'

[JockSporran]

Regional accents have often included a question at the end asking if the listener understands the speaker, e.g.:

London - Know wot I mean?

Upper Class - What?

Glasgow - Y'know?

New York - Know what I'm sayin'?

Fife - Eh?

Jamaica - Yeah?

Australia and parts of the USA and Canada use a questioning tone instead. As the above answerers have mentioned, Brits have adopted it from TV and film influences. (Know wot I mean? Eh? What? Know what I'm sayin'? Yeah?)

[Ethel]

This drives me mad. The speaker is implying I am too dense to understand a simple sentence and it can be very distracting.

I was driving down the road? when I saw a child? eating an ice cream? in the rain?

That is an extreme but not uncommon speech pattern amongst those who use the Australian uptalk.

[jake-the-peg]

Or that the speaker is simply soliciting feedback that you're still listening or that you agree?

I think Prince Phillip seems quite fond of "Do you see?" at the end.

People can jumop to conclusions about other people implicantions - can't they? ( damn now I'm doing it! :c) )

[beso]

Accents and mannerisms in Australia are quite variable even among communities and it is ridiculous to refer this practice as Australian anything.

Moreover Australian accents by and large reflect their diverse British origins.

As others have pointed out the interrogative intonation replaces a question and like much of the Australian dialect we minimise everything. Why waste breath when the same meaning can be conveyed by inflection?

With hundreds of barely intelligible regional variants the British should be the last to criticise anything about the way English is spoken.

I find nothing more irritating in language than those who get precious about their version and refer to the "dumbing down" of English by other cultures.

In fact American spelling often reflects the way English was written when the colony was founded. The word color is an excellent example. Perhaps closer to the truth is the English actually tarted up the language by adding extra unnecessary letters so they could look down on the colony.

[Ethel]

Jake, adding a single phrase at the end of a few sentences is one thing but constantly injecting the raised inflection or 'you know' or similar meaningless utterance every few words is quite another.

[swedeheart]

American television series seem to use it as a way of indicating youth, for instance in flashbacks where the main characters are supposed to be twenty years younger than they are "now".

[andy-hughes]

Beso - if you re-read myh post, you will see that my criticism is not of the Australian origin of this speech pattern - which I personally find un-noticable, it's the UK youngsters who have adopted and seriously exagerated it with whom I have the problem.

The use of the term 'Australian' was simply generic, and if you are an Australian, I suggest you are being over-sensitive about the use of language in the context of this thread.

[BertiWooster]

Steve.5

Having the right tyres in Motor racing is critical - choosing the wrong tyre can mean the difference between success and failure ?

You'd be amazed by the amount spent on tyre technology ?

:-)

[spudqueen]

I know what you mean Berti - I saw a woman being interviewed on the telly last week and she said 'I didn't help my husband as much this time as I had a baby six weeks ago?'. It made it sound like she wasn't quite sure when she'd had the baby, or even if she'd had one!

[Booldawg]

Jimmy Carr once said 'I'm from the Home Counties. I don't have an accent; this is how English sounds when its pronounced properly'

[beso]

Andy:
And what I was saying is that including Australian in the term does not help in the description.

Not sensitivity, just clarification.

Like refering to someone as having an English accent. Depends a lot on which part of England.