Long Island accent (New York, Hicksville, Wilson: department store, company, cities)

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by kunk10

i had a kid in high school who said that about me. Is it some post-existentialist thing?

Yes it definitely has existential overtones.

[Pequaman]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Thanks for the link. I had bever heard the word. I know you are being snarky, about making friends, but what I wrote is true.
I was not being snarky, BTW , just objective. I've actually done some reading on this subject, the origins of LIs different accents. And some writing.

Do you disagree or are you just stirring the pot?

In your 45 years living here, were you under house arrest or something? You should have considered going outside and meeting more people on LI before writing essays on Lawn Guyland accent. South of 25A, most have the traditional LI accent (or a slight variance of it). Transplants from NYC moved allover LI.

Regarding the "LI Underclass" comment, I think that's way off. You won't find the LI Accent much in areas like Wyandanch, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Brentwood, North Bellport, etc. Unless you mean 'south shore and middle in town of Brookhaven underclass', like Shirley and Medford?

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by JonnyTrees

Not a fan of the LI accent, my opinion, don't really have one myself.
One of the worst examples IMO is the way some pronounce asked...as 'axed', where did that come from? and the incessant pluralization of everything.

that's hardly a Long Island or even a northeast region thing.

that's all over the country. It's more laziness than an "accent".

[rainroosty]

People from Locust Valley have no different accents than anyone from places outside of Locust Valley. I went to high school there.

[nei]

Originally Posted by sheena12

.That long southern state with palm trees that LIers are so fond of visiting? Karen called it "Flaahrida" I prounce it "Floor i da" And she referred to that round fruit that they grow down their as an "Ahh -renge."

Grew up in Long Island. When I was younger, thought the OR-ange pronunciation instead of "Ahh -renge" with an upstate pronunciation. I thought that "Ahh -renge" was the only native Long Island pronunciation, though I've heard a few exceptions.

1. Native Long Island. - People who did not migrate to LI from Brooklyn Queens and The Bronx, but moved directly here either for agricultural purposes or to work in industries associated with estates, or to open stores and restaurants or to work in the fishing and boating trades. There people arrived from the 1600s through the 1930s.

My mom's family falls under the "native" category; no NYC ancestry since at least 100 years on my mom's side. My grandma Florence pronounced her name "Fl-ahrence".

They are located along the North Shore in municipalities that pre-dated the suburban post war influx, and on the East End on both the north and south shores and Shelter Island.

On the North Shore, suburbanites just refereed to them as "Townies" and they refereed to us as "City people"

The accent sounds somewhat like a New England accent. It's fading, but it can still be heard.

Older members of my family use the phrase "city people". It bugs me when people assume Long Island = descended from New Yorkers.

The native accent seems to be a mix between southern New England with some amount of NYC. Not really stereotypically NYC but people from other parts of the country would think it's an accent. I saw a youtube clip of a native Long Island fisherman. Some similarities to a NYC accents and with r dropping.

I don't know if any other categories are real, just a mix of various NYC accents (difference mostly class-based, and especially earlier ethnicity based) some thicker than others.

For example North Shore suburbanites still practice the "caught" "cot" differentiation. ( as all Long Islanders do)
In other words "caught" in "caught" the "u" is pronounced. So "caught" sounds different from "cot". (in SAE Standard American English there is no difference)

That's true throughout much of the Northeast, at least near the coast, except for parts of New England. Also true in parts of the Northern Midwest. I thought the differentiation is standard not the merger, but who's to decide what's standard? In any case, anyone who has a merger has a noticeable accent in my ears and can be confusing to listen to.

"Marry" "Merry" and "Merry" are pronounced with varying degrees of difference - not exactly the same, but the difference is more slight.

In the US, I think that's a unique feature of the NYC accents. (British accents usually distinguish all 3). Some northeastern accents near NYC merge two of the words.

Another feature common to the NYC accent, native Long Island accent, and many mid-atlantic accents is having an extra short A vowel. Do you pronounce canthe verb and can the noun differently? Halve and have?

Although I now live in PA, I will NEVER, EVER pronounce "cot" the same as "caught" It's just plain wrong.

It's not only wrong; it's hahrrible!

Philly and nearby definitely differentiate. I know someone from Lancaster that doesn't merge but someone from 60 miles further inland that does merge.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by rainroosty

People from Locust Valley have no different accents than anyone from places outside of Locust Valley. I went to high school there.

Huh?

[LongIslandPerson]

Originally Posted by Pequaman

Regarding the "LI Underclass" comment, I think that's way off. You won't find the LI Accent much in areas like Wyandanch, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Brentwood, North Bellport, etc.

If you listen carefully, you can hear bits of the "LI accent" even in these populations. Many tend to speak with the LI accent mixed in with [a subtle version of] AA Vernacular English. I'm a 3rd generation black South Shore Long Islander and I notice a moderate LI accent when I speak:

Soft: I pronounce as "sawft".
Call: Cawl
Off: Awf
Mall: Mawl
Salt: Sawlt
New York: New Yawk
Long Island: Lawng Island
Water: Wawter
Alcohol: Olkahawl
North: Nawth

It's not as strong as many European-descented subgroups on LI where I hear many pronounce words like "Chawcolate", "Oh my gawd", "Droiveway", "Staw"[store], Goy[Guy], Loipa[LIPA], Pawkway, Soid[Side], Caw[Car] in such ways.

[ydsavaged]

Originally Posted by Pequaman

In your 45 years living here, were you under house arrest or something? You should have considered going outside and meeting more people on LI before writing essays on Lawn Guyland accent. South of 25A, most have the traditional LI accent (or a slight variance of it). Transplants from NYC moved allover LI.

Regarding the "LI Underclass" comment, I think that's way off. You won't find the LI Accent much in areas like Wyandanch, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Brentwood, North Bellport, etc. Unless you mean 'south shore and middle in town of Brookhaven underclass', like Shirley and Medford?

Real Medford is nice and defnitely not underclass.

You are probably thinking of Gordon Heights which has a Medford Zip code and is a very shady area. Also Brookhaven (even south of 25/middle country) has some really beautiful towns.

However I agree with everything else!

[nancy thereader]

Try this:

What American accent do you have?

Mine came out as a North Central (wherever that is) accent, but most people's are pretty close.

[Pequaman]

Originally Posted by LongIslandPerson

If you listen carefully, you can hear bits of the "LI accent" even in these populations. Many tend to speak with the LI accent mixed in with [a subtle version of] AA Vernacular English. I'm a 3rd generation black South Shore Long Islander and I notice a moderate LI accent when I speak:

Soft: I pronounce as "sawft".
Call: Cawl
Off: Awf
Mall: Mawl
Salt: Sawlt
New York: New Yawk
Long Island: Lawng Island
Water: Wawter
Alcohol: Olkahawl
North: Nawth

It's not as strong as many European-descented subgroups on LI where I hear many pronounce words like "Chawcolate", "Oh my gawd", "Droiveway", "Staw"[store], Goy[Guy], Loipa[LIPA], Pawkway, Soid[Side], Caw[Car] in such ways.

It's all over the Island, I agree. Definitely not the way sheena described it though (as a harder, more intense version in LI's underclass). I was referring to the real "underclass" of LI, or what most people consider to be ghettos--where many of the residents are like the ones in this video > Bangin in the Sixth Borough - YouTube and lots of 1st gen immigrants.

Originally Posted by ydsavaged

Real Medford is nice and defnitely not underclass.

You are probably thinking of Gordon Heights which has a Medford Zip code and is a very shady area. Also Brookhaven (even south of 25/middle country) has some really beautiful towns.

However I agree with everything else!

I know what you're saying. I'm trying to figure out what Sheena Palin considers to be the "South shore and middle LI Underclass".
Maybe Sayville, Smithtown, Levittown and Shirley? IDK.