Western Massachusetts Accent (Boston, Springfield, Northampton: to live, area code, rated)
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Are you kidding? One of the first words I had to learn to use when I moved to EMass was Sub instead of grinder. We also call a package store a packie.
Then there's the whole thing about frappe (whatever that is) and milkshake and ice cream soda.
I can't distinguish my WMass "accent' from that of upper NY state (not NY CITY at all), southern Vermont, and maybe Ohio. But as soon as I start to get near Worcester, it all changes. I have trouble with some Boston accents and take me to New Hampshire and I can't understand a thing they say.
Well then maybe there is a Hampden county accent,because i feel as though the Spfld metro has a cross between the NYC and Boston accent. I don't here farther west than say Westfield but it definately sounds different the people in the Berkshires to me.
And yes we call a package store a packie also, and wicked is spoken as commonly as the word "the" out here also. My wifes father who grew up in Springfield sounds like he could have grown up in eastern mass,sounds like and has almost similar speech patterns as my uncles who grew up in somerville.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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It centers around Pittsfield (Amherst/Northampton are full of students from other places). It's unique enough, can't really be compared to other regions. When as a child I moved from Pittsfield to Utica NY, it was a similar accent but still they noticed a few differences ...... I recall "warm" giving me some grief there, and also later in college from the Long Island .... students.
Even within Western Mass, it differs by ethnic community ...... it used to be that the Irish, the WASPs, and the Italians had distinct communities with their own accents.
It centers around Pittsfield (Amherst/Northampton are full of students from other places). It's unique enough, can't really be compared to other regions. When as a child I moved from Pittsfield to Utica NY, it was a similar accent but still they noticed a few differences ...... I recall "warm" giving me some grief there, and also later in college from the Long Island .... students.
Even within Western Mass, it differs by ethnic community ...... it used to be that the Irish, the WASPs, and the Italians had distinct communities with their own accents.
When you say that the word "warm" gave you some grief in Utica, what do you mean? I'm somewhat confused by this statement. LOL. Do you drop the letter 'r' in the word "warm?" Most Rhode Islanders pronounce the word "warm" so it sounds like "wauwm." Most people from Eastern Mass. and Maine would pronounce that word so it sounds like "wahm" or "wom."
Are you kidding? One of the first words I had to learn to use when I moved to EMass was Sub instead of grinder. We also call a package store a packie.
Then there's the whole thing about frappe (whatever that is) and milkshake and ice cream soda.
Grinder is used all the time in EMASS but most often as an "Italian Grinder" (don't hear "steak and cheese" grinder said much, it's a "steak and cheese sub"). Package store/packie same thing, it's said both ways here and no one will look at you odd for saying either. The frappe thing I believe is all of New England?
Grinder is used all the time in EMASS but most often as an "Italian Grinder" (don't hear "steak and cheese" grinder said much, it's a "steak and cheese sub"). Package store/packie same thing, it's said both ways here and no one will look at you odd for saying either. The frappe thing I believe is all of New England?
No, the frappe thing is not all of NE. Until ten years ago when I moved out to EMASS I had never even heard the word and I still am not sure what it is. My EMass cousin and I went to lunch when I first moved out here and she ordered a frappe and was fine. I either ordered an ice cream soda or a milkshake and they didn't know what I was talking about. My cousin was no help because she didn't know what I was talking about either. She grew up in Scituate, if that makes any difference, and we were eating in Natick, I think.
Yes, Northampton and Amherst do not really count anymore as accents because there have been so many outsiders moving in. In Northampton you hear more New York City accents than local accents because they "Discovered" Northampton and bought property there for businesses, and second homes. Many have even moved there permanently. Gentrification. The locals were mostly forced out because the prices shot up.
I don't think there's a difference between a Hampden CTY accent and a Hampshire CTY accent. I grew up knowing lots of friends from Springfield, Longmeadow, and E Longmeadow and we all spoke the same. All of that area spoke the same way.
My mother's family had native Northampton accents and spoke exactly the same way as the people in Hampden CTY--no difference at all. (Northampton is Hampshire CTY). Later on, I had friends from Greenfield and again, no difference. That's Franklin CTY.
I could always notice a a little difference when it came to the more rural areas like Deerfield, Hatfield, or Hadley but I think they just spoke more slowly, I could never really discern that much of a difference though.
I don't know how they speak out in the Berkshires but I bet it isn't that much different. But you get to EMass and WOW--it hits you. There seem to be a lot of EMass accents--some more understandable than others. I do agree that ethnic accents used to be more prevalent everywhere. The Italian accent from the South end of Springfield, for instance. There were Irish accents in areas of Springfield too, like Hungry Hill.
I know you have remnants of ethnic accents in EMass too--I just don't know where because I am not that familiar with EMass.
Well to my ears Wmass has that mix of NYC and Boston accent,I drive up to Utica about once a month for work and they totally sound midwestern to me and completely different from the people of western mass,not even close. But i guess everyone has there own opinions and that is what makes this world great,we can all agree to disagree.
I'm in Brookline today and the accent doesn't seem to bad on the ears,but i grew up with it so i am used to it and most likely still have it.Even though i don't think i do.
West of the Connecticut River.The Western New England accent sounds NOTHING like a NYC accent. The original accent, was very different from the Eastern New England - "Boston Accent" - "Rs" are very pronounced, and "caught" and "cot" are pronounced alike. I would compare the accent to Central PA, and Ohio.
I say the "original accent", because all regional accents are disappearing, and there seems to be a shift to Standard American English in most regions, with the possible exception of the South. The Berkshire region has many NY NJ and Phillie area transplants and people with second homes, so I would not be surprised if traces of those accents can be heard today, but the indigenous accent bears no resemblance to the NY NJ accent. None.
I went to college with a girl from Chicopee MA, in the late 70s and she had, and still has, this accent, which was very different from the locals in Worcester (or "Wustah") and places east.
In_NewEngland, a frappe is what is generally called a milkshake in most of the U.S. It's one of those ice cream concoctions with the ice cream mixed in with flavored milk, resulting in a flavored liquid, but a liquid that is very thick and creamy, sometimes thick enough so a straw will stand upright in it.
Sheena12, it's interesting that you talk about original accents, as opposed to accents affected by transplants. When I talked earlier about the western Mass. accent that sounded to me to be Midwestern/Ohioish, I was thinking of accents I had heard from people whose families had lived in that area for generations, not those of students or others not originally from that area.
Of course there were also people from other areas, who had moved to Amherst or were there for college, who had other accents than that I heard from natives to the area. In a way it's good to have this interaction between people from different areas. It helps the exchange of ideas, and enhances a fresh outlook. Still, it's kind of a shame to see many regional accents fading.
West of the Connecticut River.The Western New England accent sounds NOTHING like a NYC accent. The original accent, was very different from the Eastern New England - "Boston Accent" - "Rs" are very pronounced, and "caught" and "cot" are pronounced alike. I would compare the accent to Central PA, and Ohio.
I say the "original accent", because all regional accents are disappearing, and there seems to be a shift to Standard American English in most regions, with the possible exception of the South. The Berkshire region has many NY NJ and Phillie area transplants and people with second homes, so I would not be surprised if traces of those accents can be heard today, but the indigenous accent bears no resemblance to the NY NJ accent. None.
I went to college with a girl from Chicopee MA, in the late 70s and she had, and still has, this accent, which was very different from the locals in Worcester (or "Wustah") and places east.
That's the way I see it too. The Ct River is more or less the dividing line--although the accent is on both sides of the river, up and down the river valley. It changes as the river goes down into CT, gets to be more New Yorky, just a little such as Cwoffee for coffee. In CT they made fun of me for asking for caafee. But even when you get to the lower end of the river around Saybrook Ct, the speech still doesn't differ THAT much from the upper parts of the river valley. But in CT you go East of the valley and you get a Boston sounding accent without Rs. If you go West of the valley, you start getting a strong NY City accent.
Ogre, thanks for the frappe definition. We also had big ones called Awful Awfuls.
Who says cot and caught differently? He was caught lying on the cot=both words sound exactly the same. No? Do they say the two words differently in EMass? Another one that kept coming up on these accent quizzes was Mary-Marry-Merry. All the same to me. Probably all the same in EMass too?
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We also had big ones called Awful Awfuls.
