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Since when did blacks in nyc ever say yawl.lol. Look at a vid of a southern black speak and than look at a new yorker. This argument baffles me because the two couldnt sound anymore unalike
Where I grew up in the Bronx and Mt. Vernon, a LOT of Blacks said "y'all". In fact a lot of the Blacks in my neighborhood had family and grandparents in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Those that didn't had family in Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Bahamas.
Then again, most of these folks were living in neighborhoods that 20 years earlier were Irish, Italian, and German so they were obviously 1st/2nd generation New Yorkers in contrast with Blacks living in say, Harlem.
Where I grew up in the Bronx and Mt. Vernon, a LOT of Blacks said "y'all". In fact a lot of the Blacks in my neighborhood had family and grandparents in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Those that didn't had family in Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Bahamas.
Then again, most of these folks were living in neighborhoods that 20 years earlier were Irish, Italian, and German so they were obviously 1st/2nd generation New Yorkers in contrast with Blacks living in say, Harlem.
Exactly and you get this with the cities in Upstate NY too. Even I've said "y'all" at times.
Everyone has an accent. But you're right that the dialect in most of Connecticut is a bit closer to "General American English" (and the speech of most of the West). Also, some people in CT (like in the rest of New England) will pronounce words like "man" and "ham" almost like "mee-an" and "hee-am," which is very different from how they're pronounced in California or even neighboring New York. With a careful ear, you'll also hear a difference in the "ow" vowel in words like "down" and "about" compared to their common Californian pronunciation.
In regards to the man - ham pronunciation I noticed that too. Seems to be common among older people. I like to call this turning one syllable words into 2 syllable words. Other good examples are, oil, mine, four
I had a few teachers in school that pronounced four as fo - ur (2 syllables)
I can't remember any kids speaking like this & I don't speak like this.
I don't have any idea where this came from, but luckily it hasn't caught on with the younger people.
In regards to the man - ham pronunciation I noticed that too. Seems to be common among older people. I like to call this turning one syllable words into 2 syllable words. Other good examples are, oil, mine, four
I had a few teachers in school that pronounced four as fo - ur (2 syllables)
I can't remember any kids speaking like this & I don't speak like this.
I don't have any idea where this came from, but luckily it hasn't caught on with the younger people.
You're right about that lol, I was a lil confused when this was brought up cause I've never heard anyone talk like that before, and I sure don't.
The two-syllable pronunciation of words like "four" is most common among the older generations in eastern New England and has largely died out as r-dropping has declined.
Older r-less people, especially in eastern MA, NH, and ME, will often give us examples like:
four = fo-ah
floor = flo-ah
door = do-ah
there = they-ah
care = cay-ah
hair = hay-ah
sure = shoo-ah or sho-ah
My father and grandmother almost always pronounce "mine" like Mayan.
Where I grew up in the Bronx and Mt. Vernon, a LOT of Blacks said "y'all". In fact a lot of the Blacks in my neighborhood had family and grandparents in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Those that didn't had family in Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Bahamas.
Then again, most of these folks were living in neighborhoods that 20 years earlier were Irish, Italian, and German so they were obviously 1st/2nd generation New Yorkers in contrast with Blacks living in say, Harlem.
No Black people does not say y'all. they say ya going to do that but not ya'll.
In regards to the man - ham pronunciation I noticed that too. Seems to be common among older people. I like to call this turning one syllable words into 2 syllable words. Other good examples are, oil, mine, four
I had a few teachers in school that pronounced four as fo - ur (2 syllables)
I can't remember any kids speaking like this & I don't speak like this.
I don't have any idea where this came from, but luckily it hasn't caught on with the younger people.
Interesting this appears in CT. In Western NY where I am from, the local vernacular includes things like "blee-yuk" (for black), "ree-yut" (for rat) and "mee-yicks-i-mum" for maximum. (It's really not quite two syllables out of one, I have exaggerated to show how the vowel is pronounced.)
The two-syllable pronunciation of words like "four" is most common among the older generations in eastern New England and has largely died out as r-dropping has declined.
Older r-less people, especially in eastern MA, NH, and ME, will often give us examples like:
four = fo-ah
floor = flo-ah
door = do-ah
there = they-ah
care = cay-ah
hair = hay-ah
sure = shoo-ah or sho-ah
My father and grandmother almost always pronounce "mine" like Mayan.
I knew 2 unrelated New Englanders, one from RI and one from ME, who pronounced the word sure as "shewer" (rhymed with sewer).
Interesting this appears in CT. In Western NY where I am from, the local vernacular includes things like "blee-yuk" (for black), "ree-yut" (for rat) and "mee-yicks-i-mum" for maximum. (It's really not quite two syllables out of one, I have exaggerated to show how the vowel is pronounced.)
Same in CNY and actually into MI. People do put emphasis on vowels around here.
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But you're right that the dialect in most of Connecticut is a bit closer to "General American English" (and the speech of most of the West). Also, some people in CT (like in the rest of New England) will pronounce words like "man" and "ham" almost like "mee-an" and "hee-am," which is very different from how they're pronounced in California or even neighboring New York. With a careful ear, you'll also hear a difference in the "ow" vowel in words like "down" and "about" compared to their common Californian pronunciation.
