If someone asked you what an Antarctic accent sounds like, you might scratch your head, laugh, or think of penguin noises. Antarctica doesn’t have any native or long-term human inhabitants, after all.
But researchers have discovered that scientists who stay in Antarctica for long periods experience slight changes to their pronunciation of certain words and sounds. These are very subtle, and may not be easily noticeable to the average person; still they’re clear enough to linguists that a group is now excitedly studying this new accent.
Read on to learn more about the Antarctic accent and how accents evolve in general.
McMurdo Station, where a number of scientists stay for months at a time in Antarctica.
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