1. A computer-implemented method of training an acoustic model, the method comprising: classifying each of a plurality of words as being either a content word or a function word; utilizing a characteristic of at least one of the content words as a basis for identifying an accent characteristic of at least one of the function words; utilizing a computer processor that is a functional component of a computer to train the acoustic model with a collection of data so as to be indicative of the accent characteristic of the at least one of the function words, to be indicative of accented vowels of words that have been classified as being content words, and to be indicative of unaccented vowels of words that have been classified as being function words; and wherein accented vowels of words that have been labeled as function words are excluded from the collection of data utilized to train the acoustic model.