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I live about 30 miles north of the boundary in SE Missouri. And I was born after 1989.
Maybe the same thing is true for the "Warsh" thing. Are there any speech characteristics in French, German or Irish that would make someone want to put an R in there? The Warsh thing seems to be pretty specific to a hundred mile radius or so of St. Louis, maybe more. I hear in in Cape County sometimes and the only person off of the top of my head that I can remember saying it was of German heritage.
I dont think it's specific to that area at all. My relatives from Oklahoma say it. Really country people here in TN say it. My friend from Maryland tells me that country people up there say it too. It's also part of the Pittsburghese dialect.
I dont think it's specific to that area at all. My relatives from Oklahoma say it. Really country people here in TN say it. My friend from Maryland tells me that country people up there say it too. It's also part of the Pittsburghese dialect.
I think it's more of a rural thing than anything.
Interesting thing is, I have relatives in STL are that are from there, never moved, the family has been in STL for 150 years, and they say "warsh".
Nothing rural about that branch of the family, bu they ARE of German descent.
I guess so. Like for example, the map says that Providence speaks the same accent as NYC. That's not true at all
They don't; but someone with a NYC accent and a Providence accent would give the same response to all the quiz questions; they're in the same northeastern group (as am I).
I've no idea why I came out as a Northeastern accent to be honest - as far as R's are concerned I'd definitely pronounce them in words like 'bar'/'car' etc. Mary/merry/marry I'd pronounce all differently (most British accents would) but I would rhyme 'bad' and 'had' with a short 'a' (how would you pronounce them if not with the same 'a'?).
Huh. I thought most British people drop their "r's". A New Yorker with a full on accent would drop the r's in "fourth floor". Or in "water" becomes "wardah"; an r get subtracted, an get removed. Would a British speaker keep or drop their r's there? I remember in college, some people were surprised (and annoyed) that it was full of Long Islanders. A couple people were puzzled I was missing the accent and asked me to say "drawers" as a test. I passed, dropping the second r.
Accent exist among people born after 89 (but not all), but it's nowhere as strong as their parent's.
Can't explain how "had" and "bad" have a different a; similar, but in one my tongue is raised up more; had has a flat "ah" sound", bad is more nasal (not sure if that's the right word).
Why are people so surprised by NYers that dont have accents?
Its extremely possible these days.
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