Moving to Berlin, Maryland.... (Salisbury, Cumberland: to rent, schools, college)

[andrew_s]

Man watching that last video reminds me of my families accent. We range from western MD to southern Maryland. Pretty much defines the native Maryland accent a mix between Virginia southern and baltimore.

As for Berlin, I dont travel there often but I have been there and its nice. The eastern shore and western shore is one of our last rural areas. Sure we have alot in the west, but it seems DC and Baltimore are expanding west as opposed to south. Now to try and convince the wife to move south as opposed west...

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

Man watching that last video reminds me of my families accent. We range from western MD to southern Maryland. Pretty much defines the native Maryland accent a mix between Virginia southern and baltimore.

As for Berlin, I dont travel there often but I have been there and its nice. The eastern shore and western shore is one of our last rural areas. Sure we have alot in the west, but it seems DC and Baltimore are expanding west as opposed to south. Now to try and convince the wife to move south as opposed west...

Where in Western Maryland is your family from? Neither the narrator nor the natives on Smith Island remind me of my people.

[andrew_s]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Where in Western Maryland is your family from? Neither the narrator nor the natives on Smith Island remind me of my people.

Western Howard county to Fredneck/point of rocks and some in Laurel(not western but part of my western family). My other family is from southern Maryland (not delmarva).

[westsideboy]

Hehehe. Well, don't take it personally.....but to us out here in the mountains, Western Maryland is Allegany and Garrett Counties. Everything east of Sideling Hill is downstate.

More to the point, Bonnie Greatman in her dialect study of Maryland done in the 1970s separates Allegany and Garrett County into its own dialect region, separate from that of the Washington, Frederick, Carroll, and the more "PA Dutchy" dialects of central Maryland.

Our dialect sounds more like SW PA or the Northern part of West Virginia. Still a midland dialect, but with different regional terms, more twang in our inflexion, and many of our vowels being articulated much further back in the mouth than our eastern neighbors. My mom gets teased for her "back vowels" by her downstate friends all the time. Pot sounds almost like Pwot, Scott, like Squat, etc. We still have that Midland trademarked fronted "long O" like the folks from the rest of the state, just to a lesser degree.

[andrew_s]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Hehehe. Well, don't take it personally.....but to us out here in the mountains, Western Maryland is Allegany and Garrett Counties. Everything east of Sideling Hill is downstate.

More to the point, Bonnie Greatman in her dialect study of Maryland done in the 1970s separates Allegany and Garrett County into its own dialect region, separate from that of the Washington, Frederick, Carroll, and the more "PA Dutchy" dialects of central Maryland.

Our dialect sounds more like SW PA or the Northern part of West Virginia. Still a midland dialect, but with different regional terms, more twang in our inflexion, and many of our vowels being articulated much further back in the mouth than our eastern neighbors. My mom gets teased for her "back vowels" by her downstate friends all the time. Pot sounds almost like Pwot, Scott, like Squat, etc. We still have that Midland trademarked fronted "long O" like the folks from the rest of the state, just to a lesser degree.

Ahh see sounding those out would make me think yall are from the midwest. The long "O" is synonymous with most Maryland dialects and our trademark on a southern/midland dialects.

As for my dialect I would say its a cross between Virginian Piedmont, coastal southern and Baltimore all wrapped in one. Some examples are: oil = ol, our = R/are, hour = our. Not as thick as some deep south, but sure is Old south worthy.

[westsideboy]

Ok, so this guy is crazy, but gives a good example of the Cumberland dialect.

Presidental Candidate Frank Nethken - YouTube


The dialect in the Western part of the County is a little different. This guy is from Frostburg, go to 50 second mark to hear him deliver his speech. Both of my folks are from the Western part of the county, so this guy is closer to my dialect than the first clip.


Allegany County Liquor Board Meeting Opening Statement by Gerald Delaney - YouTube

Lastly, the candidate in this clip is from the George's Creek region of Allegany County. His speech is a decent example of this dialect, which even to us other Allegany County natives stands out as unique.

Elect Mike Llewellyn Video (3) - YouTube

[andrew_s]

All politicians! But yeah I get the jist of it. I hear the infamous O definitely. Might be that Appalachia I sense in there, but then again I dont get much experience with that here in Columbia. Most of the people in Columbia sound like they came straight from the urban north which is why I feel out of place here. I honestly think alot of this town are transplants who commute to NoVa, DC and Baltimore.

[North Beach Person]

The main question:

Will Hawaii1279 be able to understand her neighbors?

[andrew_s]

Im pretty sure she will. The drawl isnt terribly thick. Heck my wife makes a game out of how I talk and gets some really good laughs out of it too.

[andrew_s]

Not to mention we have a ton of transplants who talk "normal".