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Old 09-20-2012, 10:59 AM
 
2,933 posts, read 4,090,856 times
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South Philly accent from an (in)famous South Fullufian.
"Next Exit, Main Street" - Joey Vento of Geno's Steaks in Philadelphia - YouTube

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTA88 View Post
I've always said "pair rents", even when we were too poor to have TV. Same with everyone at school. Seems like kids who watch too much TV just say "rents"
I don't know - i hear people say say it like that but not that often. I lived down south for 4 years, was in the Army for 5 years and got to hear a lot of different accents. Pretty much everyone from the south and midwest pronounces "parents" and "harry" so that it sounds like chair.

All of these people either say "parent" at some point or they say "apparently" and none of them say it your way.

IDEA - Dialects of Pennsylvania
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Old 09-20-2012, 11:14 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drive carephilly View Post
South Philly accent from an (in)famous South Fullufian.
"Next Exit, Main Street" - Joey Vento of Geno's Steaks in Philadelphia - YouTube



I don't know - i hear people say say it like that but not that often. I lived down south for 4 years, was in the Army for 5 years and got to hear a lot of different accents. Pretty much everyone from the south and midwest pronounces "parents" and "harry" so that it sounds like chair.

All of these people either say "parent" at some point or they say "apparently" and none of them say it your way.

IDEA - Dialects of Pennsylvania
What'a ya talkin about? The "Jewish female, 70's, third generation Russian, retired, lifelong Philadelphia resident." clearly says "pairents" repeatedly.
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Old 09-20-2012, 09:14 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BTA88 View Post
What'a ya talkin about? The "Jewish female, 70's, third generation Russian, retired, lifelong Philadelphia resident." clearly says "pairents" repeatedly.
ah, so she does. I didn't listen past the "rainbow" reading . . . and she doesn't pronounce "apparently" like that.

But like I said, I hear it occasionally but not enough to say that it's a marker of a Philadelphia accent.
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Old 09-21-2012, 01:47 AM
 
Location: SW Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BTA88 View Post
What'a ya talkin about? The "Jewish female, 70's, third generation Russian, retired, lifelong Philadelphia resident." clearly says "pairents" repeatedly.
In listening to her, the striking examples (besides pairents) are the way she says "token" (te-ow-ken) and "rainbow/Bainbridge", which seems to be very nasal and coming from the back of the throat.

The private-school guy doesn't have much of a Philly accent, as evidenced by his pronunciation of Sarah (Sah-rah rather than Sair-ah) and porridge (poor-idge, not pah-ridge).

I haven't listened to the others, but this is SO interesting! Thanks for the link, DrivecarePhilly! Perhaps THIS will help in my quest to lose my accent.
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Old 09-21-2012, 09:37 AM
 
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This girl is from Princeton - it's interesting in that she definitely has some Philly affectations but then there are a few NY ones too.
http://web.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica...newjersey4.mp3

going in the other direction here's a Baltimore accent (Baltimore suburbs maybe?)
Reminds me a lot of some people I know from South Jersey or DelCo but with a little twang to some words like "I" and "for".

Baltimore accents are hilarious - YouTube

Quote:
Originally Posted by Avalon08 View Post
The private-school guy doesn't have much of a Philly accent, as evidenced by his pronunciation of Sarah (Sah-rah rather than Sair-ah) and porridge (poor-idge, not pah-ridge).
This guy definitely has a Philly accent . . . it's just an educated one. Listen to the way he says "cloth", "hurry" , "goose" and listen carefully to the way he pronounces the letter "L" (gross).

The number 6 guy is from SP, he says "SAIR-uh" but then says "HAR-isson" right after it.
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Old 09-21-2012, 10:51 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drive carephilly View Post
This guy definitely has a Philly accent . . . it's just an educated one. Listen to the way he says "cloth", "hurry" , "goose" and listen carefully to the way he pronounces the letter "L" (gross).

The number 6 guy is from SP, he says "SAIR-uh" but then says "HAR-isson" right after it.
Interesting thread. You are absolutely correct about the private school guy. People associate the working-class (I can't come up with a better label) version of the Philadelphia accent as being true, or quintessential, when in fact the accent varies with a speaker's SES. In addition to the words you mentioned, his pronunciation of Sarah is actually common among his sub-group.

Last edited by BR Valentine; 09-21-2012 at 10:59 AM..
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Old 09-21-2012, 12:10 PM
 
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The hard A is common in a lot of words. Sair-uh, Hair-y, Hair-isson, Pair-ents, a-pair-ent, etc. I never knew that was a poor people of Philly thing.
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Old 09-21-2012, 01:12 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BTA88 View Post
The hard A is common in a lot of words. Sair-uh, Hair-y, Hair-isson, Pair-ents, a-pair-ent, etc. I never knew that was a poor people of Philly thing.
And that's what distinguishes private school guy. He uses (mostly) a soft a in Sarah and Mary. His pronunciation of Mary sounds more like marry.
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Old 09-21-2012, 01:16 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BR Valentine View Post
And that's what distinguishes private school guy. He uses (mostly) a soft a in Sarah and Mary. His pronunciation of Mary sounds more like marry.
I pronounce both the same, but with a hard a
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Old 09-21-2012, 05:00 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drive carephilly View Post
Reminds me a lot of some people I know from South Jersey or DelCo but with a little twang to some words like "I" and "for".
I've noticed that a lot of old-time Marylanders sound like us.
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