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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smtchll
What is the Chicago accent to you? When I typically think of it, I think of the accent you'd hear all around the Great Lakes. Like the way Bonnie Hunt and Suze Orman talk. All the people I've met from Chicago have this type of accent. It's still an accent. It's not General American English.
I would say like the 'California' accent, particularly Southern Californian, it's a variant of GenAm verging on becoming an accent. I say that because the 'accent' seems to be based on a couple of vowel sounds. I certainly can pick it up, though, I guess accents like anything in linguistics and phonetics is a matter of classification.
What is the Chicago accent to you? When I typically think of it, I think of the accent you'd hear all around the Great Lakes. Like the way Bonnie Hunt and Suze Orman talk. All the people I've met from Chicago have this type of accent. It's still an accent. It's not General American English.
"Da'Bears" type accent. I grew up in the heart of General American English and I can't tell any difference between that and how a large majority of Chicagoans speak.
"Da'Bears" type accent. I grew up in the heart of General American English and I can't tell any difference between that and how a large majority of Chicagoans speak.
Ahh, I see what you mean. But Chicago does have the Northern Cities Vowel Shift. If you live there, you might not notice it because it sounds normal to you, but it is not the General American accent. I even hear the vowel shift in St. Louis. It's noticeable, but in Stl it hasnt affected as many vowels. Of course, not every single person in the NCVS cities are gonna pronounce their vowels like that, but at least half the population does.
People from Chicago do not have a distinctive accent they sound like General Americans. The only distinctive American accents are the Northeastern accents, southern accents and the upper Midwest accents.
People from Chicago do not have a distinctive accent they sound like General Americans. The only distinctive American accents are the Northeastern accents, southern accents and the upper Midwest accents.
The Northern Cities Chain Shift is a series of innovations in the vowels of the English spoken in the urban centres that surround the American side of the Great Lakes. First described by Labov, Yaeger, & Steiner (1973) and investigated further by Eckert (1989), its linguistic consequence is a new vowel system, characteristic of cities like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo.
The General American accent is found in places like Nebraska and Iowa. But a percentage of people in all major cities have a General American accent, but it's usually not the majority of people.
By that I mean not the standard American accent, as obviously that is an accent too.
Certain cities are known for accents, but in which cities are those accents that prevalent? I found the Boston accent more prevalent in that city than I expected (I expected to hear only working class/older people speak it). I only heard the classic New York accent a few times in Manhattan. I'm guessing cities like Chicago might actually have a high proportion if you consider the way they speak to be a distinct accent. What would be your estimates for each city? Say if Chicago was 70%, and New York maybe 40% (just to give an example)? Maybe Charleston or Virginia Beach more like 15-20%?
Baltimore. The Black population in Baltimore has a very distinct regional accent that is almost completely confined to the city limits. Blacks from the suburbs rarely have the accent or their accents are less strong. Black DC natives have a different accent entirely. For the Baltimore accent, words like "dog" are pronounced "dug". Words like "you" and "to" are pronounced "yew" and "tew". This "ew" sound is also very noticeable in words like "loose" and "soon".
What about Pittsburgh? It's not just pronunciation, but vocabulary and grammar. People say things such as "the car needs washed" (not "needs *to be* washed). They "red up" their houses when company is coming, and the sidewalks are "slippy" in the winter. The state to the west is Ahia.
The plural of "you" is "yinz."
Pittsburgh has a high percentage of people from the local area compared to many other cities with a noticeable accent as well as a relatively older population, and this makes a difference.
I am new to Chicago and I frequently hear a Midwest accent, I'm not sure if it's a Chicago accent per se, but I have heard it everywhere.
Minneapolis and Boston get my vote.
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