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The New York/New England accent(s) sound not that different than the Southern accent. Okay, they do sound a little bit different, but not much at all. And I really hear no difference between the New York accent and the Boston accent.
On a similar subject, I once met a woman from Connecticut (yes, born, raised, and still living there) whose accent was so much like a Midwestern accent (yes a very thick one) and so unlike the traditional New England accent. Her grandparents were all Polish Catholic immigrants. Would such an accent be the norm for someone from the Polish community in CT? (I sincerely apologize for forgetting what city she was from)
Also, I once met a woman "from the suburbs of Boston" (yes natively) who had what I swore was a Southern accent, but not a very thick one. Why though would her accent have been very much rhotic even though Boston is perhaps the most non-rhotic city in the nation?
And one of my teachers in high school (which I went to in Texas) had an accent (and personality) that reminded me much of Judge Judy, but I was stunned to find out she was a New Orleans native and had nothing to do with the Northeastern states. Now what happened to her Southern accent? I would think she rightly would have had a deep drawl, but it made sense she had a clearly non-rhotic accent (the opposite of the traditional white Texas accent).
Your ears are confused. I'm from the Mountain West but I lived in WI for 12 years. I had no accent, but most midwesterners (especially area natives and decendants) have pseudo-Canadian accents. Boston and NY are distinct, you should be able to tell them apart. Southern accent is way different.
To MY Midwestern ears, Southern and Northeastern accents couldn't sound more different, although both are equally irritating.
I don't think any of us will disagree though that most New York/New England folks (and some coastal Southerners from Louisiana all the way up to Virginia) think of Midwesterners as REALLY overdoing their pronunciation of words ending in the letter R. Right?
And in turn, Californians (and many Southerners) think of Midwesterners overdoing the letter R, but also think of New York/New England folks (and yes, those coastal Southerners) neglecting the letter R.
There are like 10 different accents in New England. Half of Connecticut sounds almost like NYC. Hartford has its own thing going on. Boston has its own VERY distinct accent. Western Mass sounds totally different from Boston. Parts of Western New England are almost nasal. Rhode Island is unique, so is Maine.
The New York/New England accent(s) sound not that different than the Southern accent. Okay, they do sound a little bit different, but not much at all. And I really hear no difference between the New York accent and the Boston accent.
On a similar subject, I once met a woman from Connecticut (yes, born, raised, and still living there) whose accent was so much like a Midwestern accent (yes a very thick one) and so unlike the traditional New England accent. Her grandparents were all Polish Catholic immigrants. Would such an accent be the norm for someone from the Polish community in CT? (I sincerely apologize for forgetting what city she was from)
Also, I once met a woman "from the suburbs of Boston" (yes natively) who had what I swore was a Southern accent, but not a very thick one. Why though would her accent have been very much rhotic even though Boston is perhaps the most non-rhotic city in the nation?
And one of my teachers in high school (which I went to in Texas) had an accent (and personality) that reminded me much of Judge Judy, but I was stunned to find out she was a New Orleans native and had nothing to do with the Northeastern states. Now what happened to her Southern accent? I would think she rightly would have had a deep drawl, but it made sense she had a clearly non-rhotic accent (the opposite of the traditional white Texas accent).
Sounds like you need to do a tad bit of research/investigation.
As others have said, there is no such thing as a traditional New England accent. Nowhere in Connecticut will you hear people drop their Rs as they do in Boston or NYC, although the furthest southwestern portions of Connecticut are a bit NYC influenced regarding vowel sounds. In general Western New England (Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and Vermont) have among the mildest accents (e.g., closest to standard American) in the country - accents which are, indeed, very similar to portions of the Upper Midwest which haven't seen the Northern Cities Vowel Shift yet.
Your ears are confused. I'm from the Mountain West but I lived in WI for 12 years. I had no accent, but most midwesterners (especially area natives and decendants) have pseudo-Canadian accents. Boston and NY are distinct, you should be able to tell them apart. Southern accent is way different.
Everyone has an accent.
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