I think SMG sounds normal to me because that nasal cavity sound is really prevelent in NYS, where I live.

Do you unAmericans think Buffy has a different accent than the rest of the cast (excluding English and faux-English characters)?

I'm intrested in the answers to this becuase accents is a personal intrest, but I don't notice that Buffy is harder to understand than the rest of the cast. She does use the nasal-cavity 'n' that sounds almost French at times, but my (ignorant-of-America-in-real-life) feeling is that she's as much Californian as the rest of them (Willow, Tara, Cordelia, etc). I find all the American accents grating at times, and I try to only really listen hard to Giles, but that's a personal thing.

The nasal thing reminds me of and sounds like people I know here who talk in a "loud so everyone can hear the sound of my voice" way.

SMG, when I've seen interviews and stuff, sounds very NY to me. As Buffy, her accent/inflections shift around slightly. In the early seasons, I thought she sounded very California, but those inflections don't seem as obvious now. (Well, they come and go. Sometimes that sort of sing-songy Valleyness is there, and sometimes it isn't.)

Sometimes that sort of sing-songy Valleyness is there, and sometimes it isn't.

A lot of val-speak is jargon or affectation rather that a true dialect. (That is I think people first learn in conciously and then it becomes a habit. or not.) So I think it makes sense that it would come and go.

I think the Vallyness was stronger during the first seasons when they were emphasizing her as the 90210-er turned fighter of the undead. But as they've moved away from that, she's let it drop a bit. IME, among un-Americans, the unintelligible one, or the one with the most annoying voice is usually Willow. I tried to hook one friend from London, but she kept yelling, "Just blow your goddamn nose already!" at the girl.

A real California accent rolls the "Rs" as in the Beach Boys "East coast gurrrrrls uhrrr hip..."

Isn't she from NY or NJ originally?

She grew up in Manhattan.

Those aren't rolled Rs. Rolled Rs are what you hear in Spanish, or from old-school British actors. "erre con erre cigarro. Erre con erre barril. Rapidos corren los carros cargados con azúcar del ferrocarril."

California Rs (now officially to be known as Marsters Rs) are just strongly emphasized.

California Rs (now officially to be known as Marsters Rs) are just strongly emphasized.

James MaRRRRSters

But it isn't rolled. Rolled comes with the little trill of the tongue against the roof of the mouth.