The "Miami Accent" ..., (Tallahassee, Davie: home, beach, to eat)

[Marlin331]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

The Miami accent is unique and is NOT the NYC or NE accent. People that have that NE accent are FROM the northeast and have moved to South Florida....but since there are so many ex northeasterners here, people mistakenly think it is the accent of the area.

You're right that the Miami accent is distinct from a NY or Boston accent; however, Northeastern accents have undoubtedly influenced the Miami accent in a way much more than the Midwestern or Southern accents.

Originally Posted by Chelito23

The true blue Miami accent is what you hear from people born here and who grew up here maybe 50 years or older. It is slightly and I mean ever so slightly southern mixed with northern, kind of what happens around Virginia when the north meets the south. It is distinct and not the same as other accents. You don't hear it often, but if you do, since it is so rare now, you will probably assume that person ISN'T from South Florida lol.

I know what you mean, but even that is the product of being raised among so many Northeastern and Southern accents. Nowadays, the Southern accents have really decreased in number, so the Southern influence isn't as strong.

Originally Posted by Chelito23

The common accent is the Latin one that has been alluded to and shown in the You Tube videos, you will find that one amongst native Whites and Latins nowadays in Miami.

You're gettin' sloppy, papi

Originally Posted by Chelito23

There are a lot of things we say differently in Miami...one that comes to mind is "anyways" with an s at the end. I didn't realize the rest of the country says anyway without an s....

I have lived my entire adult life outside of Miami and I have never heard anyone say that word without an "s". At least on the East Coast, "anyways" seems far more common.

Originally Posted by Chelito23

People here say on a car vs. in a car....kind of like how in NYC people wait on line vs. in line....

To get out of a car in Miami is to get off the car....that's another one, I still get those mixed up, which one is correct or not, lol.

I've never heard that one, I've heard to "get off of line" but never "get off of the car".

[duttygal86]

Originally Posted by HumboldtParkShiner

Yeah I was thinking about this exact same thing too the other day. It's like the white folks talk with a NJ/NY/northern-urban accent, the Latino's go with their native Latino accents, and the black's still talk with the dirty south southern accents. It makes sense since most whites are transplants from the northeast, most Latino's came from their native lands (while second generations continue to talk with their parent's accent), and the black folks have been there since day 1, back when Miami and South Florida were as southern as Alabama, thus retaining the southern dialect. It's funny cause I'll hear a thick New York dialect one second, and then I'll turn a corner and hear black folks say "Ya heerd me?", which is the exact same expression that is used over here in New Orleans.

Maybe one day they'll all mix to create some sorta weird New York/Cuban/Southern USA patois. God, what an accent that would be.

Lol....its allready happened, you should hear my eight year old. She goes to an almost all Puerto Rican school, her dads italian from new york, Im a florida craker whos halfblack and goes back and forth between the florida AA dialect and proper american english. I never know whos accent I am going to hear when she opens her mouth. Plus my step dad is Jamaican, so some words she says sounds like Patois.

But anyways this is a cute thread.

[Loggerhead Shrike]

I always hear:

"Get down from the car"

Also:

I will pass by your house (they will not just pass by, they are going to drop by)
"I dreamt with you last night" vs "I dreamt about you last night"
"He took the red light" vs "He ran the red light"
"What are they giving on TV tonight?" vs "What are they showing on Tv tonight?"
"What does that food bring?" vs "What does that plate/dish consist of?"

Also have noticed that the "L" sound is made with the tip of the tongue in a more rear position (palate) instead (like the Spanish "L")

[Shoegal1075]

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

I always hear:

"Get down from the car"

Also:

I will pass by your house (they will not just pass by, they are going to drop by)
"I dreamt with you last night" vs "I dreamt about you last night"
"He took the red light" vs "He ran the red light"
"What are they giving on TV tonight?" vs "What are they showing on Tv tonight?"
"What does that food bring?" vs "What does that plate/dish consist of?"

Also have noticed that the "L" sound is made with the tip of the tongue in a more rear position (palate) instead (like the Spanish "L")

A lot of these sayings are the same as NYC lol

[Thomas Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

A lot of these sayings are the same as NYC lol

That's what I said. The NY and the Miami accents share a lot of similarities, especially in the using of common phrases and words. However, in some areas of Broward County like, coincidently Davie, the southern accent is somehow perceivable across the whole population. Well, it’s the only place where I have seen Confederate flags in South Florida. And from time to time according to the news(1) the old KKK boys make their manifestations. Now, do you want to hear something amusing? I have a few white non-Hispanic friends born and raised in Miami that speak with a Cuban-Miami accent and they even speak Spanish with a Cuban lingo. Hilarious. Only in Miami. Yeah, I know, I couldn’t have believed it either.

Crisp and Leo, sorry Neng, man you should have stayed with your former nickname because this s&%uks! I recommend you a documental named “American Tongues” from, I think, PBS. It’s really funny and interesting for those who are not familiar with American English and its variations.

[flyers29]

Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson

That's what I said. The NY and the Miami accents share a lot of similarities, especially in the using of common phrases and words. However, in some areas of Broward County like, coincidently Davie, the southern accent is somehow perceivable across the whole population. Well, it’s the only place where I have seen Confederate flags in South Florida. And from time to time according to the news(1) the old KKK boys make their manifestations. Now, do you want to hear something amusing? I have a few white non-Hispanic friends born and raised in Miami that speak with a Cuban-Miami accent and they even speak Spanish with a Cuban lingo. Hilarious. Only in Miami. Yeah, I know, I couldn’t have believed it either.

Crisp and Leo, sorry Neng, man you should have stayed with your former nickname because this s&%uks! I recommend you a documental named “American Tongues” from, I think, PBS. It’s really funny and interesting for those who are not familiar with American English and its variations.

I'd say most white people born/raised in Miami in the last 40 years have a neutral accent. Myself included.

[Marlin331]

Originally Posted by flyers29

I'd say most white people born/raised in Miami in the last 40 years have a neutral accent. Myself included.

I used to say I had a "neutral" accent until I finally figured out that everyone has an accent. Midwesterners aren't "neutral" to my ears just as I am not "neutral" to their ears. What are some of the features of your speech when compared to the speech of Southerners, Northeasterners, Midtwesterners? I find that most Miami-born-and-raised white people lean towards a Northeastern accent, if any, and many - especially people who grow up with a lot of Spanish spoken around them or in the home - import some Spanish pronunciations on English sounds. Blacks are an entirely different ballgame, as the African-American accent is very heavily Southern-influenced.

[Marlin331]

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

I will pass by your house (they will not just pass by, they are going to drop by)

Certainly. I use all three: pass by, drop by, stop by.

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

"I dreamt with you last night" vs "I dreamt about you last night"

Incorrect translation from Spanish to English. Not part of the Miami dialect; anyone who says this didn't grow up speaking English.

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

"He took the red light" vs "He ran the red light"

I know this one, but would only say "took" with a green or yellow light; if it's red I would only say "ran".

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

"What are they giving on TV tonight?" vs "What are they showing on Tv tonight?"

Definitely- I know this one well. I tend to use "what's on" as opposed to "what's showing" but I imagine I've said the latter more than a few times.

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

"What does that food bring?" vs "What does that plate/dish consist of?"

Strange. I've never heard that and I can't think of an everyday Spanish phrase whose exact English translation is that.

Originally Posted by Loggerhead Shrike

Also have noticed that the "L" sound is made with the tip of the tongue in a more rear position (palate) instead (like the Spanish "L")

Excellent observation. To be honest with you, I do this at times.

[Neng.]

Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson

That's what I said. The NY and the Miami accents share a lot of similarities, especially in the using of common phrases and words. However, in some areas of Broward County like, coincidently Davie, the southern accent is somehow perceivable across the whole population. Well, it’s the only place where I have seen Confederate flags in South Florida. And from time to time according to the news(1) the old KKK boys make their manifestations. Now, do you want to hear something amusing? I have a few white non-Hispanic friends born and raised in Miami that speak with a Cuban-Miami accent and they even speak Spanish with a Cuban lingo. Hilarious. Only in Miami. Yeah, I know, I couldn’t have believed it either.

Crisp and Leo, sorry Neng, man you should have stayed with your former nickname because this s&%uks! I recommend you a documental named “American Tongues” from, I think, PBS. It’s really funny and interesting for those who are not familiar with American English and its variations.

Thomas

I quite remember that during the 70's, the accent among Cuban-Americans and many Americans was a mixture of Tony Manero's dialect and Cuban dialect. It was kind of a DISCO dialect. Then, you also had the redneck accent in Hialeah. Hialeah was a Redneck Town, you had Cuban rednecks from Pinar del rio and American Rednecks and they got along real fine.

In the SW, there were many American kids that spoke Cuban. I have relatives there that hosted kids from broken families and they had two American kids, it was kind of funny because they were very short and the two kids were like two vikings, far taller than them. I remember that around that graveyard in Gables they were always some crazy American kids with doctored mopeds, they spoke Cuban. Back then, both communities had reached a "entente", relations were not specially cordial but they got along. Miami was a very nice place back then, before Mariel, riots, rafters and massive arrival of non-white Hispanics. There were Americans living in Little Havana and the SW.

In South Miami, Yiddish was heard quite frequently among old people there, also German and Sephardic. There was a section in Collins where you could hear Cuban, they were Cuban Jews. Jews also have their accent.

Davie was a very dangerous place back then. I once went to a party there, gross error, and they all were kind of dangerous WT. The police stopped us when they saw that the car was from Dade County. That place was extracted from some movie like Porkie's.

[gymbuff]

interesting to read how the Miami accent has northern influences. I have lived here all my life, and people always ask me if I am from (Boston, New York, etc.) When I hear those accents I don't think mine even comes close, but apparently people hear something I cannot hear.
And no I do not pronounce my z's as an s or my short i as a long e.