Let's talk accent (Philadelphia, Reading, York: transplants, school, garden)

[BTA88]

Yeah, that street names video kinda made me sad...

When I was growing up, we always pronounced "Pass-yunk", "Sea-gle", "Boo-vee-ay", etc.

[soug]

Originally Posted by Padugan

Not being able to correctly pronounce a word isn't an accent, it's a lack of education. Not being able to pronounce a word that describes the place you live (i.e. your street) is just sad.

I completely and wholeheartedly disagree with this. Just because you are not speaking Standard English does not make you uneducated. There are tons of historical and linguistic reasons why dialects develop the way they do. Now, if you speak a dialect in a scenario where you should be speaking standard, that is a different story. But that doesn't seem to be what this thread is about.

There is no national academy or legal organization overseeing the English language, and we should be proud to see that this language's dialect continuum spreads all the way from Jamaican Creole to the South African you hear in "Blood Diamond" to Philadelphian.

[mancat100]

Originally Posted by Padugan

Not being able to correctly pronounce a word isn't an accent, it's a lack of education. Not being able to pronounce a word that describes the place you live (i.e. your street) is just sad.

Who determines which pronunciation is correct?

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by soug

I completely and wholeheartedly disagree with this. Just because you are not speaking Standard English does not make you uneducated. There are tons of historical and linguistic reasons why dialects develop the way they do.

and one of the reasons is illiteracy (functional or otherwise) and/or isolation.

There is a dialectal difference between the way I pronounce "home" (i'm not from here) and the way most others around here pronounce it.

Dropping entire syllables or calling Dickinson St. "Dickerson" is not a dialect. It's a form of illiteracy.

[soug]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

and one of the reasons is illiteracy (functional or otherwise) and/or isolation.

There is a dialectal difference between the way I pronounce "home" (i'm not from here) and the way most others around here pronounce it.

Dropping entire syllables or calling Dickinson St. "Dickerson" is not a dialect. It's a form of illiteracy.

While I agree with you that illiteracy and especially isolation can be a major reason, I know plenty of well-educated or at least educated people who drop syllables and mispronounce names anyway, inside and outside this region. At some point it becomes habit, and even if they should "know better," that's the beginnings of dialect growth and language change. Now if people are say talking to a teacher or on the news, I agree they should talk "normally." But how people want to speak on their own time is completely up to them.

Languages are living things, we should let them evolve naturally.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by soug

While I agree with you that illiteracy and especially isolation can be a major reason, I know plenty of well-educated or at least educated people who drop syllables and mispronounce names anyway, inside and outside this region. At some point it becomes habit, and even if they should "know better," that's the beginnings of dialect growth and language change. Now if people are say talking to a teacher or on the news, I agree they should talk "normally." But how people want to speak on their own time is completely up to them.

Languages are living things, we should let them evolve naturally.

ts'coo bro. code switchin'. m'down with'at. do it awla time.

[Avalon08]

I didn't think the guy in the videos sounded like he was from Philly. I can spot a Philly accent a mile away. The things that grate on me (and believe me, I'm guilty of all of them) are "halse" for "house", "are" for "our", and the long "o" sound which makes "no" sound like "neow" or "home" sound like "heowm". I mean, besides "wooder" and the other obvious ones already mentioned. Words like "last" and "parents" are giveaways, too. How can one lose their regional accent without sounding pretentious to all the friends who know how they usually "tawk"? I would love to try. I cannot stand hearing my own voice on tape.

[Antdawg1]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

I didn't think the guy in the videos sounded like he was from Philly. I can spot a Philly accent a mile away. The things that grate on me (and believe me, I'm guilty of all of them) are "halse" for "house", "are" for "our", and the long "o" sound which makes "no" sound like "neow" or "home" sound like "heowm". I mean, besides "wooder" and the other obvious ones already mentioned. Words like "last" and "parents" are giveaways, too. How can one lose their regional accent without sounding pretentious to all the friends who know how they usually "tawk"? I would love to try. I cannot stand hearing my own voice on tape.

How does last and parents sound, I don't know those?

[soug]

Originally Posted by Antdawg1

How does last and parents sound, I don't know those?

Drag out the "a" a little.

[Clark Park]

My two favorite "Philly-isms":

Acka-mee .... a supermarket.

Iggles ... a football team.