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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,054,732 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by football45013
I live in Ohio, but there's a world of difference between the accent of Northern Ohioans and Southern Ohioans. The accent of those Northern Ohioans just drive me nuts, lol. Especially people from around the Cleveland area. As you can tell, I'm a Southern Ohioan. Southwest Ohio, in particular. Of course, the Northern Ohioans would probably say that we Southern Ohioans have a "twangy" accent, lol. It has always amazed me how the accent of people in the same state can be so different from one area to the next. I've always wondered why this is. Any linguists in the house, lol?
Ohio has the NCVS along the lakeshore, the 'Midland' accent over most of it, with the far Southeast (Ohio river valley) having a sort of Upland/Inland Southern dialect. It goes from Dixie to Yankee to Canada in a few hundred miles.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,054,732 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by mustangman66
ja1myn...lol, I grew up pronouncing it as awnt. I grew up in NH but was born in CT as well. If someone said ant, Id say how do you say the word "taunt"? When they said "tawnt", I would say ok now say it without the t. Thats one of those words that doesnt really bother me anymore though. Thats funny you mentioned that though.
I remember when I first heard Dorothy/Judy Garland calling out, 'Annie Em, Annie Em!' it sounded weird to my Australian ears. Here aunt rhymes with 'can't', which is said 'cahnt'.
Either way, i'm sure my aunt would not like to be compared to a tiny insect lol.
For example: Now is pronounced "Nay-ow", instead of "Nah-oo".
Down is pronounced "Day-oun" instead of "Dah-oon".
Sounds ****ing southern to me.
"Nay-ow"? In what part of NJ would someone say that? We say "NOW". One short, sharp word, one vowel sound. As a matter of fact, it's the same as "VOW" in "vowel". And where, pray tell, does ANYONE say "Nah-oo". for NOW?
They say "youse" in Upstate NY cities like Utica and Syracuse. Big deal. Its common in heavily Italian areas.
NA-OO.... sounding identical to "OW" basically
NY/NJ, theres more of an AAA sound at the beginning. Like how I used the name Nancy.
"Naaii-ow"
But I'm tellin' ya, I LIVE IN NEW JERSEY. Have all my life. 54 years. If anyone actually pronounces it that way, they are in the minority. It is NOW. Short. Clipped. One vowel sound. The same as if someone hits their hand with a hammer and yells, "OW!", but with an "n" in the beginning.
Except for a few cities in Hudson County and maybe some of Essex near Newark, there is no "NY/NJ" accent. New Yorkers speak differently from people in New Jersey.
I keep telling people that. I guess you'd have to actually visit NJ and travel a little further than Jersey City or Bayonne to discover this.
I grew up in Southwest Virginia (defined by the VA tourism board as the "heart of appalachia) so the accent that i've always been saddled with is the Appalachian one. As mentioned in one of the earlier posts it is heavily rhotic and thick as all hell. We've also got a slew of words that you don't find anywhere else...buggy for shopping carts, cat head bisquits, gaum'n up a room, si-gogglin, and out'chender, haha. I've always loved my accent because it is very unique...maybe a little bothersome to some but it works for me. Now to the OP. IMO the most annoying accent is the accent you encounter in Minnesota. The whole don'cha know, Minnesoooota, you'bethca, hormel eatin' lakers up there just run all over me! They say that early intrepid minnesotans upon noticing that they had a lot of lakes started counting them just for the hell of it...saw quite a few and forgot what came after 20, so they just skipped to the highest number any of them had ever heard...10,000! I'll take my hollers and warshing my hair all day over that.
Um, I have. Went to Kean, lived in Somerset and Elizabeth, etc.
NY/NJ both do the same thing with this particular word im using.
Im not suggesting they have entirely same accents.
I can see Elizabeth, since that's urban and close to the city. Somerset, I don't know much about.
But no one I know who lived in Jersey all their life/is a native of Jersey pronounces "Now" or "Down" the way you claim. I guess we'll just have to disagree.
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"Nay-ow"? In what part of NJ would someone say that? We say "NOW". One short, sharp word, one vowel sound. As a matter of fact, it's the same as "VOW" in "vowel". And where, pray tell, does ANYONE say "Nah-oo". for NOW? 
