Young people with the Boston accent (transplants, neighborhoods, private school)

[Trimac20]

How rare is it to hear a young person with a proper Boston accent? With the non-rhoticism and the 'pahk the cah' lol. Will it die out within a generation iyo? How healthy is it compared to the various New York accents?

[litlux]

There are several Boston accents, ranging from patrician (Beacon Hillish) to working class (Southie and Dah-chesta).

As with any accent they tend to signify either an isolated and provincial, or privileged private school upbringing. People who have accents tend to have quaint ideas, too. I enjoy their company.

[RemiJP]

Originally Posted by litlux

There are several Boston accents, ranging from patrician (Beacon Hillish) to working class (Southie and Dah-chesta).

As with any accent they tend to signify either an isolated and provincial, or privileged private school upbringing. People who have accents tend to have quaint ideas, too. I enjoy their company.

I certainly hope you're joking about this "quaint ideas" bit. I lost my accent when I went to college and most of my friends were from out of state. Most of my family members and high school friends (the very-well educated and/or well-traveled ones included) still have a strong South Shore accent though. An accent doesn't signal anything beyond membership of a dialectical community.

To answer the OPs question, I haven't seen any signs of the Boston accent dying out. I don't think the Beacon Hill accent is as strong in the neighborhood anymore. I was a nanny there for many years and none of the kids use it. But if you sit on the playground in other areas, you'll definitely hear other variations of the accent.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by RemiJP

I certainly hope you're joking about this "quaint ideas" bit. I lost my accent when I went to college and most of my friends were from out of state. Most of my family members and high school friends (the very-well educated and/or well-traveled ones included) still have a strong South Shore accent though. An accent doesn't signal anything beyond membership of a dialectical community.

To answer the OPs question, I haven't seen any signs of the Boston accent dying out. I don't think the Beacon Hill accent is as strong in the neighborhood anymore. I was a nanny there for many years and none of the kids use it. But if you sit on the playground in other areas, you'll definitely hear other variations of the accent.

One thing that happens is, kids who have parents with a strong accent pick up that accent, but once they go to school the accent is diluted or they even lose it altogether. The 'accent of the future' of an area is more accurately reflected in how the teenagers talk. I hope the accents aren't dying out as kids hit school.

[RemiJP]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

One thing that happens is, kids who have parents with a strong accent pick up that accent, but once they go to school the accent is diluted or they even lose it altogether. The 'accent of the future' of an area is more accurately reflected in how the teenagers talk. I hope the accents aren't dying out as kids hit school.

Most of my high school teachers also had Boston accents (I graduated in 2004). My friends who are new teachers this year also still have Boston accents!

[nate14ri]

yes they definately still have the accents.

[lrfox]

Yeah, I don't notice it fading much at all amongst my peers. My accent (which was never really strong to begin with as my parents weren't originally from New England) has all but disappeared during and since college. However, (not kidding here) if I start talking to someone with an accent after a few drinks, it comes out. My girlfriend who's not from the area always gives me a hard time about this.

Having gone to school in Maine, I can say that that's an accent that's slowly fading. I have met only a handful of kids up here who have even a slight Maine accent. It's mostly neutral with maybe a tiny twinge on certain words.

Massachusetts' accents are still going quite strong even in the younger generations.

[Jimrob1]

I think the accent will be there for some time, I still have mine at least some of it, and I have lived away from Mass longer than I lived there. I was raised there, my family has always lived there and they all have a strong accent from generation to generation.

[ogre]

Hi Trimac. I think I posted something similar to what I am about to write here, on a thread you started at General U.S. that asked about accents, though maybe not Boston accents specifically. I have noticed that in recent years I've seldom heard a classic Boston accent in middle class suburbs, or in the downtown and central neighborhoods in the city of Boston. Boston accents still seem to be going strong in areas with more of a blue-collar character to the population.

I have a theory that areas where there are a lot of people working in professional jobs--such as middle class suburbs and the central neighborhoods in Boston--have a lot more transplants than the more working class areas. People move for quite a few reasons, but in general you're more likely to seek work in a factory, for example, close to where you've grown up than to relocate to a distant place. People are more likely to move long distances for lucrative professional jobs. As a result, in more middle class and upscale areas you get a lot of transplants, who dilute the local accents. In many of the older outlying sections of Boston, as well as the blue-collar suburbs that are located close to the city, you still hear plenty of Bahstin accents.

By the way, there are quite a few Boston accents. Different neighborhoods and various older small cities in the area have their own variations, all of which share certain charactristics, but some of which have their own nuances.

[holden125]

I haven't gawt the slightest idear of what yah tahkin about. Everyone heah tahks nahmal standid English. I did meet this guy moved heah from Kansas ah somethin and he tahked wicked wee-yid.