Head injury leaves Australian with French accent
Source: AFP |
June 18, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN Australian woman who now speaks with a French-sounding accent after a head injury eight years ago has revealed the experience has left her feeling frustrated and reclusive.
Leanne Rowe, born and raised on the southern Australian island of Tasmania, was in a serious car crash which left her with a broken back and jaw.
"Slowly, as my jaw started to heal, they said that I was slurring my words because I was on very powerful tablets," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation late Sunday.
As she regained her health, Rowe found that she had what sounded like a strong French accent. "It makes me so angry because I am Australian," she said. "I am not French (though) I do not have anything against the French people."
The condition has had a deep impact on Rowe's life, and her daughter usually speaks for her in public.
Rowe has not had a definitive diagnosis but her family doctor Robert Newton believes she is Australia's second ever case of the rare condition Foreign Accent Syndrome.
"She had a normal, if you like, Australian accent for the whole time I knew her before that," he told the ABC. "She'd done French at school but she'd never been to France, didn't have any French friends at all."
Only a few dozen people worldwide have been officially documented as suffering from the syndrome since it was first recorded in 1907. It is linked to damage to the part of the brain that controls speech.
In 2010 a New Zealand woman with multiple sclerosis found her Kiwi tones turning into a mix of Welsh, Scottish and North London accents and a subsequent scan revealed two lesions on her brain.
Other known cases include an English woman speaking with a French accent after having a stroke.
Three years ago a woman in England reportedly began speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering a migraine.
Leanne Rowe, born and raised on the southern Australian island of Tasmania, was in a serious car crash which left her with a broken back and jaw.
"Slowly, as my jaw started to heal, they said that I was slurring my words because I was on very powerful tablets," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation late Sunday.
As she regained her health, Rowe found that she had what sounded like a strong French accent. "It makes me so angry because I am Australian," she said. "I am not French (though) I do not have anything against the French people."
The condition has had a deep impact on Rowe's life, and her daughter usually speaks for her in public.
Rowe has not had a definitive diagnosis but her family doctor Robert Newton believes she is Australia's second ever case of the rare condition Foreign Accent Syndrome.
"She had a normal, if you like, Australian accent for the whole time I knew her before that," he told the ABC. "She'd done French at school but she'd never been to France, didn't have any French friends at all."
Only a few dozen people worldwide have been officially documented as suffering from the syndrome since it was first recorded in 1907. It is linked to damage to the part of the brain that controls speech.
In 2010 a New Zealand woman with multiple sclerosis found her Kiwi tones turning into a mix of Welsh, Scottish and North London accents and a subsequent scan revealed two lesions on her brain.
Other known cases include an English woman speaking with a French accent after having a stroke.
Three years ago a woman in England reportedly began speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering a migraine.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
