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I'm agreeing with on here. I'm not trying to imply anything but sometimes PA folks can sound slightly like some folks south of the Mason Dixon line. I forgot the poster who brought it out but both areas had a lot of Scotch-Irish people and that could be where the similarities come from; the Northern Appalachian use Yinz and the Southern Appalachia is home of Yunz (I cringe everytime I hear that word). I remember going to school with some folks from the Philly metro (blacks and whites) and they always sounded like they were saying y'all like the natives down here but they told me they were saying you all. To be honest, outside of the way some Philly folk say coffee (a "w" after the c), I really don't hear much of an accent from them (some do sound like NNJ natives though). I worked with a guy from Harrisburg, PA and I assumed he was from this area but he was only here for two years and his dialect just didn't jump out and that's where the confusion comes into play at.
That confuses me
But the Philly accent to me is becoming less prominent, Areas like Kennsignton, Mayfair, Frankford, or even the Far NE and the area below Washington in South Philly still retain more. Also South Jersey may have more of the original Philly accent with all the South Philly transplants but overall it is diminishing.
A few words, to your point coffee, but also water and daughter seem to still linger in the dialect, Also people think I say Detroit and donkey funny (I just think they say it wrong). On y'all, I never really here that, though will use it when i travel, never at home
I wonder if all accents are diminishing and if this is a result of the mass media etc.
Some of those counties in extreme northern Maine are French speaking areas like Quebec. He was correct to do that
And there are French speakers in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. I wonder how many SPEAK French on a daily basis and how many simply KNOW French?
Sometimes it still strikes me that we border on a French speaking territory like Quebec. Maybe Upstaters are more used to it. You see Canadians all over the Adirondacks but many of them are from Ontario.
And there are French speakers in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. I wonder how many SPEAK French on a daily basis and how many simply KNOW French?
Sometimes it still strikes me that we border on a French speaking territory like Quebec. Maybe Upstaters are more used to it. You see Canadians all over the Adirondacks but many of them are from Ontario.
I have always noticed a decent amount of French speaking canadians vacationing at the South Jersey shore
The French influence is quite strong in northern New England, esp in northern VT, and almost all of NH and ME; it's not felt much at all in southern VT;..
The accent map is fairly good; I should point out, though, that NW VT ( Burlington, etc) is really accent-free...
The accent map is fairly good; I should point out, though, that NW VT ( Burlington, etc) is really accent-free...
The same holds true in Northern Maine as well. Very neutral accent, and totally unlike the areas around the coast. Those who speak French in Aroostook County have a French accent generally, but for those who do NOT speak French as their primary language in the home, there are only a few words that sound as though they are from the Northeast.
But the Philly accent to me is becoming less prominent, Areas like Kennsignton, Mayfair, Frankford, or even the Far NE and the area below Washington in South Philly still retain more. Also South Jersey may have more of the original Philly accent with all the South Philly transplants but overall it is diminishing.
A few words, to your point coffee, but also water and daughter seem to still linger in the dialect, Also people think I say Detroit and donkey funny (I just think they say it wrong). On y'all, I never really here that, though will use it when i travel, never at home
I wonder if all accents are diminishing and if this is a result of the mass media etc.
That's unfortunate that your area's accent is starting to diminish. I actually thought about it a little and some of the PA folks from my middle school days said "ya" instead of "you" and they ran that "ya" in with "all" pretty fast and it sounded like y'all sometimes. I knew what they were saying though but it was still a little coincidental to me.
First, I agree that Rochester and Buffalo are Northeastern cities and should be included in this region. (Is Buffalo really that much less "Northeastern" than Quebec City and Montreal as your map would imply?) Second, if you are equating culture with linguistics, Erie should not be lumped together with Buffalo, Cleveland, and the rest of the Great Lakes cities because Erie is the notable exception to the "Northern vowel shift" speech pattern among the Great Lakes cities. The map someone else posted above shows this aberration.
That's unfortunate that your area's accent is starting to diminish. I actually thought about it a little and some of the PA folks from my middle school days said "ya" instead of "you" and they ran that "ya" in with "all" pretty fast and it sounded like y'all sometimes. I knew what they were saying though but it was still a little coincidental to me.
Doesn't mean that any part of Pennsylvania is "Southern," though.
Doesn't mean that any part of Pennsylvania is "Southern," though.
No, I'm not saying that or implying that all. I thought I made myself clear but I guess not. Those people in my middle school wasn't saying y'all but they ran there words together where it could have sounded like they were saying that, if you didn't know better. Again, I'm not saying PA is Southern, I'm not stupid.
Here's an example of what I'm getting at, A Southerner would say y'all with no pause in between. The classmates I had from PA said "Ya" as you and had a slight pause between those two words...That was just something I wanted to relate and I'm not implying anything at all, I'm not that type of person.
Last edited by David Alleyne; 07-31-2010 at 04:33 PM..
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