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What North American accent does the Western Massachusetts accent most closely approximate? What does the Western Mass. accent sound like? Where in Massachusetts does it begin? I've heard non-rhotic Eastern New England accents in both Sturbridge and Southbridge before.
Usually it's said that the WMass accent begins west of the Connecticut River. We pronounce our Rs and it just doesn't sound like the EMass accent. But even people from EMass who pronounce Rs and don't seem to have much of an accent still sound different to me.
When I have taken those online quizzes of what accent do you have, it usually says Ohio, New York State, standard American. To me it also sounds exactly like a Vermont accent or non-accent.
We have some different words too like grinder for sub and soda for tonic.
Usually it's said that the WMass accent begins west of the Connecticut River. We pronounce our Rs and it just doesn't sound like the EMass accent. But even people from EMass who pronounce Rs and don't seem to have much of an accent still sound different to me.
When I have taken those online quizzes of what accent do you have, it usually says Ohio, New York State, standard American. To me it also sounds exactly like a Vermont accent or non-accent.
We have some different words too like grinder for sub and soda for tonic.
I grew up in Worcester, Central MA, and we ate "grinders" but we drank "tonic"
When I lived in Amherst, the accent of local people from around Amherst, Northampton, and vicinity sounded Midwestern to me. Not the highly nasal accent of Minnesota, Wisconsin, or maybe parts of Michigan, but more like northern Ohio, maybe Chicago. Maybe not exactly like either of those accents, but similar. When living in that area, I did know a woman from Chicopee whose accent had a bit more of a nasal quality to it than the accent farther up the Valley, but was similar otherwise.
I think it begins east of the Conn River. Maybe around the Worc County/Hampden County border. Western Mass people have a kind of "flat A" sound that you also hear in upstate New Yorkers and Chicagoans. Seems more pronounced in NY State than in Mass but a similar sound.
IDK about sounding like upstate New York or the Ohio valley at all. To me the area around Springfield has a mixture of NYC and Boston going on. Plenty of dropped r's and non rhotic speech patterns to be heard. It is not as pronounced as EMass but still present,the farther west you head towards the berkshires it tends to more general american.
But we do have some interesting vocabulary we use here
package store=liquor store
ding dong cart=ice cream truck
grinder=a sub
wicked=well it's a massachusetts staple and can mean anything
and so many more i am sure others can fill in.
I just took this quiz and it says I have a plain old American accent, no particular region. I would have expected WMass since I've lived there all my life except for the last few years of living in EMass and the EMass accent still sounds weird to me.
Do you pronounce Mary, merry and marry the same=yes
Cot and caught-yes
don and dawn-yes
and so on. Some place I also saw that the WMass/Ohio/NY state accent is the accent desired by the media. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Oh, and we say drinking fountain instead of bubblah.
This time I did the same quiz but without thinking so much.
C. Someone from northern New England who doesn't have a New England accent..........
Well, I DO have a New England accent--it's WMASS. (You might want to try this quiz for the fun of it.)
Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it.
And if you're not from the West, you are probably one of the following:
(a) A Pittsburgher - the quiz can't tell the difference;
(b) Someone from Canada (probably southern Ontario) who doesn't have a Canadian accent;
(c) Someone from northern New England who doesn't have a New England accent; or
(d) Someone from Texas or the Heartland who was born after 1980.
You are definitely not from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, the Deep South, etc.</font>
But we do have some interesting vocabulary we use here
package store=liquor store
grinder=a sub
wicked=well it's a massachusetts staple and can mean anything
and so many more i am sure others can fill in.
Those terms are used all over the state, except for "ding dong cart" (Or at least I've never heard that).
IDK about sounding like upstate New York or the Ohio valley at all. To me the area around Springfield has a mixture of NYC and Boston going on. Plenty of dropped r's and non rhotic speech patterns to be heard. It is not as pronounced as EMass but still present,the farther west you head towards the berkshires it tends to more general american.
But we do have some interesting vocabulary we use here
package store=liquor store
ding dong cart=ice cream truck
grinder=a sub
wicked=well it's a massachusetts staple and can mean anything
and so many more i am sure others can fill in.
I didn't know that terms such as "package store," "grinder," and "wicked" were used in Western Massachusetts. I thought those terms were only used in Eastern New England. I'm glad to have learned something new.
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