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French accent proving a major headache
Source: Agencies |
September 16, 2010, Thursday
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A GRANDMOTHER from a village in southwestern England says that a severe migraine attack left her speaking with what sounds like a French accent - a striking example of a rare syndrome that neuroscientists say can leave lifelong locals sounding like they come from thousands of miles away.
Kay Russell appeared on the BBC earlier this week, speaking in a hesitant, husky voice, drawing out her vowels with an accent which sounded roughly French, or occasionally Eastern European. The broadcaster also showed a video of Russell before the change, in which she speaks to the camera in chirpy southern English accent.
Russell shook her head and smiled sadly as the video played.
"When I see that, I see the person I used to be," the 49-year-old said.
"It's not my voice I miss. I would love to have my own voice back, but it goes way, way, way beyond my voice."
It wasn't exactly clear what happened to Russell in January when the migraine attack struck, but the BBC said her condition seems to correspond to Foreign Accent Syndrome, known only in a few dozen cases across the world.
Previous cases have included people whose newly found accents sounded German, Spanish, Welsh, Italian or Irish.
In 2009, British media carried reports of an Englishman who woke up from brain surgery speaking with what one newspaper described as a perfect Irish lilt.
In 2006 a woman from the northern England city of Newcastle reportedly swapped her Geordie accent for a Jamaican one following a stroke.
The BBC suggested that Russell had yet to make her peace with her new way of speaking, noting that she had lost her job and her confidence.
Russell jokingly told the broadcaster she was considering placing an ad in the paper's lost-and-found section.
"Maybe at the end of the day someone could find me," she said.
Kay Russell appeared on the BBC earlier this week, speaking in a hesitant, husky voice, drawing out her vowels with an accent which sounded roughly French, or occasionally Eastern European. The broadcaster also showed a video of Russell before the change, in which she speaks to the camera in chirpy southern English accent.
Russell shook her head and smiled sadly as the video played.
"When I see that, I see the person I used to be," the 49-year-old said.
"It's not my voice I miss. I would love to have my own voice back, but it goes way, way, way beyond my voice."
It wasn't exactly clear what happened to Russell in January when the migraine attack struck, but the BBC said her condition seems to correspond to Foreign Accent Syndrome, known only in a few dozen cases across the world.
Previous cases have included people whose newly found accents sounded German, Spanish, Welsh, Italian or Irish.
In 2009, British media carried reports of an Englishman who woke up from brain surgery speaking with what one newspaper described as a perfect Irish lilt.
In 2006 a woman from the northern England city of Newcastle reportedly swapped her Geordie accent for a Jamaican one following a stroke.
The BBC suggested that Russell had yet to make her peace with her new way of speaking, noting that she had lost her job and her confidence.
Russell jokingly told the broadcaster she was considering placing an ad in the paper's lost-and-found section.
"Maybe at the end of the day someone could find me," she said.
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