Why do native Philadelphians (Caucasian) have an Australian accent? (Pittsburgh: live, legally)

[rdflk]

I'm from Philly and sorry but I have to say I think this is the dumbest conversation.
The "Philly accent" that people constantly throw out as a stereotype, is nothing like an Australian accent, period.

And I don't think there's a "Philly"accent. Any accent might be because of, dare I say, a person neighborhood or original ethic group. Just like any other place a person might be from. My south Philly friends may not sound like someone from Mt Airy or the Northeast. So, to me, talking about a "Phiily" accent at all is just general ignorance (not as is stupid as in unaware) of the entire issue.

Every once in a while over the years someone would say to me, "you don't sound like you're from Philly.' I knew right away the person was just going off of what they THOUGHT a Philly accent was. And had no real idea of what they were talking about.

[Emlees]

I grew up in Philly with family still living there. Philly accent sure is unique but I don't think it sounds Australian at all. Doesn't sound like a NY accent either, it's its own unique accent.

I've been away from Philly so long that when I go back it sounds so weird to hear may family say things like wooder for water and youse. And I'm an Italian so it's still quite often at family gatherings that the old discussion will break out whether the correct word is 'sauce or 'gravy', lol.

When I hear different commercials I can always pick out right away if someone is from Philly/Delaware/Jersey etc.

My husband is a New Yorker and when I frst met his family many moons ago they all liked to comment on my Philly accent, I would say what accent I don't have an accent, lol.

We've lived all over the country and I think the only place we've lived that didn't have such unique accent was California.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

I lived in Oz for two years and non-australians who heard my daughter talk over there would say "oh, she's picking up a bit of the Aussie accent, eh?" To which I would usually say, "nope. that's philly all the way."

There are a lot of phonemes in the Philly accent that sound Australian to non-australians. When I was in north London (about 8 years ago) these guys at a pub were chatting up a lady friend of mine (with a thick South Jersey accent from Camden Co.) and 2 of them asked her if she was Australian. After hearing her say "no" twice the 3rd guys guess was Irish.

People pick up the strongest phonetic differences right away and will quickly associate it with another accent that they're familiar with that has similar phonemes. It's why you get actors playing a Philly native always wind up sounding like New Yorkers. It's easy to identify similarities and play up on those, especially if the accent is different from your own, but much harder to pin down the differences and idiosyncrasies.

Very interesting about your daughter and your friend!

The title of this thread immediately made me think of a time when a few friends of my wife were visiting from the Boston area, and we had gone out to a restaurant in Philly. We had a waitress with a typical Philly accent. After the meal, one of her friends noted that the waitress had a very unique way of pronouncing words, and it "sounded Australian!"

I think it really is a matter of how each person processes these things based on what they're familiar with.

[Emlees]

Originally Posted by rdflk

I'm from Philly and sorry but I have to say I think this is the dumbest conversation.
The "Philly accent" that people constantly throw out as a stereotype, is nothing like an Australian accent, period.

And I don't think there's a "Philly"accent. Any accent might be because of, dare I say, a person neighborhood or original ethic group. Just like any other place a person might be from. My south Philly friends may not sound like someone from Mt Airy or the Northeast. So, to me, talking about a "Phiily" accent at all is just general ignorance (not as is stupid as in unaware) of the entire issue.

Every once in a while over the years someone would say to me, "you don't sound like you're from Philly.' I knew right away the person was just going off of what they THOUGHT a Philly accent was. And had no real idea of what they were talking about.

No one in Philly thinks they have an accent. But be away from Philly for any length of time and the accent is clear.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by prolific

No one in Philly thinks they have an accent. But be away from Philly for any length of time and the accent is clear.

Absolutely. The University of Pennsylvania has actually done extensive research on the accent:

Penn: The Philly Accent is Steadily Changing

[2e1m5a]

Relevant to the thread, an Australian actress attempting a Philly accent:

I was trying to find a better scene though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqVQcZxpqA

[Mimidae]

I would think, if there are certain similarities, it's because the East coast accents (Baltimore through NJ) have British cockney as their ancestor, as does the Australian accent. These different accents have morphed over the centuries, but have their basis in "non-posh" British accents.

[rdflk]

No one in Philly thinks they have an accent. But be away from Philly for any length of time and the accent is clear.

I don't think I said or even implied that there weren't accents in Philly, or accents that a person might not associate with Philly. My point is that there's no ONE Philly accent., which is clear...if someone from South Philly doesn't sound like someone from the northeast, or West Oak Lane.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by prolific

No one in Philly thinks they have an accent. But be away from Philly for any length of time and the accent is clear.

The same goes everywhere else. But even if you know you have an accent (and most educated people do these days), certain linguistic differences can still come as a shock. When I went to school in Pittsburgh, my upstate NY roommates marveled over how I said Dorothy (Dahrathy, as opposed to Dorthy). I had no idea most Americans pronounced it differently.

Originally Posted by rdflk

I don't think I said or even implied that there weren't accents in Philly, or accents that a person might not associate with Philly. My point is that there's no ONE Philly accent., which is clear...if someone from South Philly doesn't sound like someone from the northeast, or West Oak Lane.

There are definitely some sub-accents, but most aren't readily visible to outsiders. Those accents also seem to be dying off in general. Once you correct for socioeconomic class (and in some cases ethnicity), the accent is pretty similar across the region.

[Avalon08]

Yes, the generic Philly accent is very identifiable across the entire area, out towards Harrisburg, up towards the Lehigh Valley, down to Baltimore. I am now in Florida and can spot it right away -- for example, the sheriff of Pasco County who's always on the news -- I knew he was a Philly guy as soon as I heard him say "HALSE" for "house". Met a lady at our pool, heard the accent right away -- she's from Sellersville. I love hearing the familiar accent of home. Or should I say, he-ome.

The Australian actress who played Bradley Cooper's mother in "Silver Linings Playbook" tried to pull it off but there were definitely some things she got wrong.