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twang

Silver

Senior Member
Chinese,Cantonese,Sichuan dialect
Hi,

I wonder if I can say:

He speaks .
He when he speaks.

To mean that "He speaks with a strong nasal sound."

Thanks a lot
It's normally used as a noun when used in this way, Silvero.
I agree with natkretep that the noun usage is more normal. I didn't realize that you could even use "twang" as a verb, but I just saw it listed in a dictionary.

That said, I think I'd leave out "to speak", and just say: He has a twang.
That said, I think I'd leave out "to speak", and just say: He has a twang.

So I can also say "She had a slight Australian twang" if I want to describe someone who had a slight Australian accent?

Thanks a lot
It almost always refers to a accent, so you'd usually find a word like Australian, southern or Liverpool associated with it. Softer accents also have their noun, which is burr. E.g: He spoke with an Irish burr... I guessed by his burr that he came from Devon.
So I can also say "She had a slight Australian twang" if I want to describe someone who had a slight Australian accent?

Thanks a lot
Not really. I'd think that something of an oxymoron, the slight conflicting with the twang, which suggests a strong accent.

A twang can of itself indicate a sound, as of a plucked string. Here's a favourite example of this use, from John Aubrey, collecting stories about ghosts in Southern England:

Anno 1670, not far from Cirencester, was an apparition; being demanded whether a good spirit or a bad? returned no answer, but disappeared with a curious perfume and most melodious twang. Mr W. Lilly believes it was a fairy.
Miscellanies (1696) ‘Apparitions’
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