Linguists share their take on Asian American speech patterns as the existence of an “Asian American” accent sparks a debate.
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May 2, 2024, 9:00 AM EDT
By Soo Youn
Is there such a thing as an Asian American accent? Nobody can quite nail it down — or agree whether it exists — but apparently you know it when you hear it.
The existence of an Asian American accent has been debated on social media, sparking conversations on TikTok and many a Reddit thread, including one devoted to celebrities who purportedly have it — Ali Wong, Randall Park and Lucy Liu.
Adam Aleksic, 23, a Serbian American linguistics content creator who is based in Barcelona, Spain, created the TikTok video that many users are riffing from to give examples of the accent. Aleksic cites studies that suggest Asian Americans speak with a higher pitch, or breathier articulation, but raises questions about which of the many Asian identities this accent could cover.
Everyone seems to agree that, if it exists, the Asian American accent is hard to define. It’s not that of first-generation immigrants; rather, it’s something in the speech of those who speak perfect English, but with a flavor that lets you know the speaker is of Asian descent.
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