Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.

13 Apr 13 - 05:42 PM (#3502915)
Subject: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Desert Dancer

I'm not spotting another thread that quite fits this, though certainly the topic has come up.

Here is a site some folks will have lots of fun with:

North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns

(I associate "dialect" more with vocabulary than pronunciation, though that's certainly a component; but I'm no linguist, so maybe I'm wrong about that.)

There's a detailed map, lots of other info and links, and perhaps most fun, if you scroll down there's a *long* list of links to examples found on YouTube.

Have at it, folks. :-)

~ Becky in Long Beach
who grew up without the accent typical of her north-central New Jersey home.

---

13 Apr 13 - 10:25 PM (#3503006)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Bert

Blimey!

---

13 Apr 13 - 10:52 PM (#3503013)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: GUEST,Gerry

You can go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have to take a little quiz to find out what American accent you have (provided, of course, that you have one). It got me right.

---

14 Apr 13 - 12:45 AM (#3503038)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Desert Dancer

Cute. Worked for me, too.

~ Becky in Long Beach
I don't sound like deep Jersey, but definitely "North Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island"

---

14 Apr 13 - 12:52 AM (#3503040)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Sandra in Sydney

Gerry, What American accent do you have?

It just sounds like American-Australian to me.

sandra

---

14 Apr 13 - 01:51 AM (#3503049)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: GUEST,Gerry

Sandra, I was born and raised in New York City, and the quiz says I sound like it. Not every Noo Yawkuh sounds like Brooklyn or Da Bronx.

---

14 Apr 13 - 02:47 AM (#3503062)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Manitas_at_home

Apparently there's an 87% chance of me being from Phildelphia! Where in London is that?

---

14 Apr 13 - 03:45 AM (#3503076)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Gibb Sahib

Those 'quizzes' are usually based on very broad stereotypes of regional features for *American* accents. If you pronounce 'cot' like 'caught', they immediately place you in "The West" (perhaps, disregarding a dialect like Boston which may also have that feature). Then, they break down the eastern areas: If you pronounce 'pin' like 'pen', you're in The South. Then, if you're in The North(east), they find if you pronounce 'r' after vowels. If not, you're in New York, Boston, etc. Further process of elimination narrows it down more.

In other words, it is not meant to assess your accent, but rather to place you on the basis of just a few features.

---

14 Apr 13 - 09:47 AM (#3503181)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Lighter

Complicated, ain't it?

---

14 Apr 13 - 01:11 PM (#3503271)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Inaccuracies- Lacks:
Ukrainian in central Alberta
French also at Jean Cote, Legal, Alberta

Spanish in SW U. S. and south Texas

---

14 Apr 13 - 02:43 PM (#3503319)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Lighter

Very odd, but I don't see the stereotypical NYC pronun. of "bird."

And as a New Yorker, I've always rhymed "father" with "bother."

But not "dog" with "log." I don't see that mentioned either.

---

14 Apr 13 - 03:09 PM (#3503330)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: MGM·Lion

Lighter ~~ Is there only one NY pronunciation of "bird"? Judging from my only source of info on this particular word, that great old film Anchors Aweigh [Kelly & Sinatra! - oh those were the days], they say 'boyd' in Brooklyn [which is how the Sinatra character recognises an expatriate waitress who tells him he sings 'like a boyd' as being a fellow Brooklyner], but something more like "bur-r-r-d" in Manhattan.

But I'm just over here where we say b·ə·d [I think it is in phonetics], without the 'r' figuring at all [unless we are from the West &c].

So what do I know?

~M~

---

14 Apr 13 - 06:35 PM (#3503421)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Isn't "father" always rhymed with "bother"? (I'm from the west).

One I have always wondered about is, says- "sez" vs. "sais." I often hear the latter in Canada, but only occasionally in the States.

---

14 Apr 13 - 08:00 PM (#3503461)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

One southwestern influence in areas with a large Spanish population is the pronunciation of "u", which often is heard as "oo" even among those who have English as the first language.

---

14 Apr 13 - 08:14 PM (#3503466)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Stilly River Sage

There are pockets of Tarheels (originally from North Carolina) in the Pacific Northwest. In particular, Darrington, Washington and Coos Bay, Oregon. In Darrington the third generation families still had the southern accent because they were so isolated in the mountains. I suspect all of that has changed. The Washington interviews or samples don't seem to be particularly relevant - Bill Gates didn't grow up in Seattle, and as far as I know, Judy Collins didn't either.

SRS

---

14 Apr 13 - 09:24 PM (#3503483)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Lighter

As the article observes, the idea that there is a "Brooklyn" accent and a "Manhattan" accent, etc., is a misconception. In fact, there are various "subdialects" of NYC English that are noticeable mainly to specialists, though Hispanic, African-American, and Asian varieties are frequent too.

I suspect that the difference you have in mind is that between an older, white working-class variety (the "Brooklyn accent") and a somewhat less distinctive, more middle- and upper-class variety ("Manhattan"). In fact, these are distributed throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, which includes northeastern New Jersey and western Long Island.

In any case, the "bird"/"third" vowel/diphthong I have in mind is usually appears in fiction as "oi," which, except for a tiny percentage of people (in my experience)is very misleading. Mostly it's like a German "o-umlaut" with the following "r" more or less enunciated. Or with an "I" between the "o-umlaut" and the "r." There is a special IPA symbol for the vowel concerned: it looks like a "3." "Bird" would be [b3rd] or [b3Id] or even [b3Ird]. (I suppose [b3d] is also possible, but it sounds almost English to me.)

The sound was still common in the '50s, but it seems to be on the way out now. It also occurs in words like "choice" and "oil," which results in spellings like "cherce" and "erl."

The best old-time white, working-class NYC accents I've ever heard on TV were on "All in the Family."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da0eaiZ0CKw

---

14 Apr 13 - 09:39 PM (#3503486)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: Gibb Sahib

Being from Connecticut, and having a passing interest in accents, Ive long asserted that there are distinct "Connecticut accents" (plural). However, understandably, these surveys rarely seem to acknowledge the idiosyncrasies of the area. Accents of that state are often grouped as part of some other larger area...which again seems fair for survey purposes, but which goes against what I feel like I have experienced. This map, at least, includes Connecticut within at least three different dialect areas. Still, the samples don't really highlight what I think could be called distinct features from surrounding areas'.

As specific and descriptive as it hopes to be, I guess it still needs to be really broad.

Generational differences in accent can potentially be great. This seems to lead to confusion about what are the "typical" features of the regional accents. How else, besides vocal timbre, would really know (and we do generally know, I think) the rough age of speakers? Even as a relative young person (late 30s), I can sense a difference between my accent and the accent of younger speakers from the same area.

I'm not sure how they deal with social class.

My understanding is that the surveys are also usually—in deliberately—based on the speech of "White" speakers, though it is not clear (to me) what sort of White speaker they are looking for. I think one could make a case, for example, that people from Italian families (generations back) in Connecticut speak differently. This is not even to touch the issue of how, for example, working class people in the city of Hartford talk. My work mates of Puerto Rican background, for instance, had a very noticeable way of turning final consonants—other than T—into glottal stops. And Black peers I grew up with would same my name "Gi'".

---

14 Apr 13 - 11:30 PM (#3503511)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: GUEST,leeneia

oconomowoc

Good sports in Texas try to pronounce Wisconsin place names. I believe this shows that Americans develop a feeling for the long-lost Native American languages of their home state.

What I mean is, the Texans can't handle Wisconsin names. I can't handle Texas names like Natchitoches, etc.

---

15 Apr 13 - 01:43 AM (#3503538)
Subject: RE: Folklore: American English dialect/accent map etc.
From: MGM·Lion

Lighter ~ Thanks for that very clear exposition: really one for the b3ds boyds burrrds ☤☤☤....

---