Colorado Accent (Denver, Montrose, Towaoc: live, bill, cities)

[jettsettr]

Originally Posted by Ticky909

When I get told I have a "Colorado accent" by people I think it's more the space between words that counts versus the actual pronunciation of the word itself, and various 'terms' are thrown in here and there.

I would have to agree, I am a native to Colorado and have done my fair share of traveling. For the most part, we do not have an accent unless we intend to mimick someone with one! I catch myself saying "Call-o-rad-in" to emphasis the less educated speech of the state.
When I travel, one thing I watch alot is the local news and I realized that Colorado dialect sounds alot like what newscasters use across the nations. I think it is funny when 20/20 or something big from New York comes on and the person doesn't have a easterner accent. It just goes to show that our dialect can't be all that bad!

[bco24]

I had a person from Texas tell me that it seemed like we had some sort of accent. But personally I have no idea if we sound different.

[UrbanRocks]

I hate it when I hear Colo-RAD-o. Sounds like a bad midwestern pronunciation. It is Colo-Rod-o...it's a Spanish pronunciation..always has been, and always will be.

[jaimelyn]

I'm from CO and I never noticed it until I moved to TX but Coloradans definately have an accent.But I do have to disagree about the southern part. Coloradans have our own unique accent. My husband and his friends like to make fun of me for my accent. One example......people from Colorado pronounce it CALL-A-RAD-O people I've met in Texas AND Arizona pronounce it
CALL-A-ROD-O. I know it's not undeniable evidence of a Coloradan accent or anything, just thought I'd share!!!

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by jaimelyn

I'm from CO and I never noticed it until I moved to TX but Coloradans definately have an accent.But I do have to disagree about the southern part. Coloradans have our own unique accent. My husband and his friends like to make fun of me for my accent. One example......people from Colorado pronounce it CALL-A-RAD-O people I've met in Texas AND Arizona pronounce it
CALL-A-ROD-O. I know it's not undeniable evidence of a Coloradan accent or anything, just thought I'd share!!!

That's wrong--I'm a Colorado native (half-century plus) and I've NEVER said "Colo-raado" in my life, and neither do the vast majority of other Colorado natives I know. The only Colorado natives that I know that say it "Colo-raado" had parents from someplace else--the Midwest commonly--that said it that way. The old-line natives just snicker at those folks. Oh, and by the way, if you really want to get under a Texan's skin, call him a "Tejano"--that'll usually set 'em off every time. (And I do have a few relatives in Texas.)

[goldie1996]

Originally Posted by jodyr

I think there is an accent here, although it's a subtle one that grows stronger in the rural communities. But maybe we should ask someone from Byoonie Vista.

I'm from Buena Vista, and I do not say Byoonie Vista. I pronounce it correctly. I am also hispanic. It is pretty annoying to here people say it that way and I am constantly asked how I say it, then corrected by outsiders saying "Oh, I thought it was Buunie, or Boona Vista." It is a really stupid debate, and I wish people would stop asking me where my accent is from. I speak proper english and spanish.

[eon-krate32]

Maybe a few regional dialects have formed but nothing like what the south have going on. I talk slightly southern (but then again i AM southern, with plenty of southern relatives to boot) but i personally don't think Colorado has a distinct dialect or accent that would define itself.

[CAVA1990]

Funny I always thought it was the East Coasters who pronounced it Colo-Rahdo, like they pronounce Oregon, Ore-gahn instead of Oregun. Every westerner I know pronounces it Colur-ado. Is that not how the locals do too?

Jazzlover - which is it?

[Bob from down south]

In Boulder & Pueblo, it's not so much an accent as it is a lithp.

[Gunluvver2]

Originally Posted by tfox

There definitely are some regionalisms in Colorado, although I wouldn't really call it southern. Metro Denver has so few natives that I think it corresponds pretty well to standard American English, but outside of Metro Denver, I do hear some regional accents. I'm not well traveled enough to really place it, but I wonder if some of this might be spillover from some of our plains neighbors to the east.

One thing I hear is the pronunciation of the word "drought." Since we're in the throes of one, it's a word that comes up often among rural Coloradans, and many of them pronounce it something like "drowth", with the "TH" on the end of the word sounding something like the TH in the word "THing". You'd never hear this in Metro Denver, however, nor in most of the rest of the country.

Also, I do often hear the short "e" sound converted into a short "i" when followed by a nasal, so "Denver" becomes "Dinver." Again, you'd never hear this in metro Denver, but you do hear it sometimes in rural parts of the state.

I'm sure Jazz will have some good examples for us on this subject.

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I grew up in Eastern ColoradUH. However I moved to Eastern Nebraska to go to college where I was informed by an English professor that the proper pronunciation was ColoradOH. Well excuuuuuse me.

GL2