Accent map (neighborhood, maintenance, shop)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

To say that 'valley' is the prevalent accent in Southern California is a big exaggeration. Its accent is definitely Western.

Yep.

I think the problem with these maps (and the test on the other thread) is a poor understanding of what constitutes the set of real Western accents, combined with exaggeration of the ways of speech found in communities dominated by transplants (and the subsequent sets of "transplant mish mash" accents, one of which is the "surfer" / "valley girl" type of accent). Furthermore the area shown as "Western" needs to be subdivided, roughly, into NW, SW and northern Rockies / northern high plains.

There is a distinct "Southwestern" accent that is common in CA, NV, AZ, UT, some in NM, CO and even a bit into OR. Here are some test words:
- Chili
- Santa Maria
- Concrete
- Any word ending in -ing
- Orange
- Advertisement
- Envelope
- Apricot
- Either / Neither
- Any word with a double "l" in it

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by cpterp

B'more and Philly do have virtually the same accent. Nice map. Here's another more detailed one:

This one's better. I'd probably debate the subdivision of the South West, in reality what you've got are degrees of contamination by transplant accents, clearly much of CA is more strongly influenced than more recently developed parts of the SW.

One question - what on Earth is San Francisco Urban - some sort of FOB influenced accent (e.g. like the way some people at after market urban racing shows talk, our emerging pidgin? - LOL!)

[Spade]

If you ever spoke to someone from Dallas and then to someone from Houston. You wouldn't believe that the two cities are in the same state. Dallas (especially Black Dallasites) have a very similar speech to Memphis, Arkansas, and St. Louis. Houston's accent is unique to itself. They don't sound like Louisiana and they don't sound like the rest of Texas.

Now DC is interesting. It's kind of similar to St.Louis but not that similar. In DC, the r's are emphasized. I'm starting to pick up on that. Carry out=Curry out. Maryland=Murrland. Barry Farms=Burry Farms. You can hear the Northeast in DC as well.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Yep.

I think the problem with these maps (and the test on the other thread) is a poor understanding of what constitutes the set of real Western accents, combined with exaggeration of the ways of speech found in communities dominated by transplants (and the subsequent sets of "transplant mish mash" accents, one of which is the "surfer" / "valley girl" type of accent). Furthermore the area shown as "Western" needs to be subdivided, roughly, into NW, SW and northern Rockies / northern high plains.

There is a distinct "Southwestern" accent that is common in CA, NV, AZ, UT, some in NM, CO and even a bit into OR. Here are some test words:
- Chili
- Santa Maria
- Concrete
- Any word ending in -ing
- Orange
- Advertisement
- Envelope
- Apricot
- Either / Neither
- Any word with a double "l" in it

Can you expand on this? Like how are these words said in by someone with a distinctive "Southwestern" accent? And where is the geographic cutoff for this?

Just wondering because I'm NorCal born and raised by a fifth-generation Californian(my father's family came out west in the 1850s) and have relatives in towns throughout the Central Valley and Sierra foothills--and I can't think of anything that unique about any of our accents. My grandparent's generation had a slight country twang, but still not as strong as what I've heard in rural areas in the Rocky Mountain or desert Southwestern states.

[MrMcCoySays]

Originally Posted by Spade

If you ever spoke to someone from Dallas and then to someone from Houston. You wouldn't believe that the two cities are in the same state. Dallas (especially Black Dallasites) have a very similar speech to Memphis, Arkansas, and St. Louis. Houston's accent is unique to itself. They don't sound like Louisiana and they don't sound like the rest of Texas.

Now DC is interesting. It's kind of similar to St.Louis but not that similar. In DC, the r's are emphasized. I'm starting to pick up on that. Carry out=Curry out. Maryland=Murrland. Barry Farms=Burry Farms. You can hear the Northeast in DC as well.

I definitely agree with Dallas/memphis/arkansas...but St. Louis? Neh. I don't think you can really call accents similar just because they all say "urr".

[Spade]

Originally Posted by MrMcCoySays

I definitely agree with Dallas/memphis/arkansas...but St. Louis? Neh. I don't think you can really call accents similar just because they all say "urr".

Have you ever been to St. Louis? I'm telling you they sound exactly like people from Memphis and Arkansas and in turn sound like people from Dallas and Northern Louisiana.

[MrMcCoySays]

Originally Posted by Spade

Have you ever been to St. Louis? I'm telling you they sound exactly like people from Memphis and Arkansas and in turn sound like people from Dallas and Northern Louisiana.

Okay see, judging from the areas youre referencing it seems like youre basing it solely off of the "urr" pronunciation.

And while I admit that I've never been to Saint Louis or met anyone from there (not that I can remember), I do know someone from Kansas City. Though there were some similarities I knew she was not from the south.

[blkgiraffe]

I don't know, people from St Louis can sound extremely country. More so than cities in the south.

[MrMcCoySays]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

I don't know, people from St Louis can sound extremely country. More so than cities in the south.

But we have to reiterate what was stated in that thread months ago, and that is that "country" isn't necessarily the same thing as "southern".

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by MrMcCoySays

But we have to reiterate what was stated in that thread months ago, and that is that "country" isn't necessarily the same thing as "southern".

Well you get the point of what I'm saying. Country usually equals southern.