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I just found, read, and very much enjoyed this thread.
I was born in Lowell and have not lived in MA since 1973. However, I am told I still have that "Boston" accent.
The words tonic, bubbla, and frappe are all words I once used. I still say bubbla and will call it a frappe if the mood hits; tonic had to go because they wanted to sell me hair tonic in Phoenix, AZ!
To the poster who had troubles with "warm", I had troubles with "war". I took a poetry class when I was a jr in high school and had to read aloud some war poems that my grandfather had written. I'd only been in Phoenix for a little over a year and my accent was really thick. After I said "waaa" twice I was stopped and asked what I was saying. Once they realized I meant "war" then they enjoyed the poems with only a few snickers.
I honestly admit that is one word I did learn how to say correctly after that.
I still say quaata (quarter) to this day!
Regional accents are awesome!
I never said "wicked", but I sure do say "dude" a lot!
I have lived in EMass (grew up there), CT (born there and lived there again later), and in WMass (now for 30+ years). We all know there is an EMass ("Boston") accent, but, since I care a lot about these things, I find that the WMass "accent" is really the same as the CT one (except for the part of CT near NYC, where they are influenced by NYC). It's kind of a "non-accent" in that it sounds like what TV announcers aspire to. No majorly strange pronunciations. HOWEVER: "caught" is "cawt", "cot" is "cot", "court" is "cort." "Mary" is "mare-ee", "marry" is "mah-ree" and "merry" is "meh-ree," if that can be understood. That is, they are all different. It makes sense that WMass and CT are similar because the original WMass settlers were from CT. And yes, there are a lot of New Yorkers in Northampton and Amherst but there are still PLENTY of locals, not to mention folks who have move here from elsewhere (i.e., not NYC). Very diverse area.
I thought that one of the characteristics of the Western New England accent, at least the W. Mass. and VT accents, was the "Mary-marry-merry" merger?
Well, that's what I always thought, so that's why I found it strange when a poster on this thread said that wasn't the case!
I doubt that phonetic merger occurs among speakers in eastern and southwestern CT, as the accents of those two regions of the state are much more influenced by the neighboring RI and NYC accents respectively than the Western New England accent. However, I've met people from central, north-central, and northwestern CT who employ that phonetic merger when speaking, but I'm sure that merger will disappear from the speech patterns of residents of those aforementioned regions in the near future with all of the New Yorkers moving in...
However, I'm quite certain the Western New England accent and the "Mary-marry-merry" merger will continue to live on in W. Mass. and VT, seeing as how those places haven't been transformed by transplants to the degree which CT has in recent decades.
By the way, this is an old thread I started nearly two years ago and I'm so happy to see it "brought back to life!" LOL.
I lived in Amherst for eight years. I have a good ear for accents, and to me, a pronounced Western MA accent has a definite midwestern slant. As mentioned, in towns like Northampton and Amherst, it's not really noticeable, as these are college towns with a lot of people from other places. I'm originally from the NYC area, and heard plenty of NYC accents in those towns, due to the colleges and influx of transplants.
But the more working class and rural folks, especially people of Polish descent, of which there are a lot, definitely spoke with a midwesternish accent, pronouncing hard R's and long A's like a Chicagoan or Milwaukean would, although not as pronounced. There were other peculiarities as well. For instance, some people would pronounce "Holyoke" as "Hoyoke", dropping the L. Or, they would end a sentence with the word "hey" as in "That was a good polka, hey!"
They also pronounced "idea" as "idear" adding an R at the end. And they would say "hamburg" and "cheeseburg" without the ER at the end.
The most amazing thing to me though was how as soon as you crossed from Hampden county into Worcester county, people would immediately begin speaking with a "Woostah" accent. I've never seen such an abrupt accent shift anywhere else I've ever been!
Last edited by Emerald City Joe; 02-07-2014 at 09:18 PM..
I lived in Amherst for eight years. I have a good ear for accents, and to me, a pronounced Western MA accent has a definite midwestern slant. As mentioned, in towns like Northampton and Amherst, it's not really noticeable, as these are college towns with a lot of people from other places. I'm originally from the NYC area, and heard plenty of NYC accents in those towns, due to the colleges and influx of transplants.
But the more working class and rural folks, especially people of Polish descent, of which there are a lot, definitely spoke with a midwesternish accent, pronouncing hard R's and long A's like a Chicagoan or Milwaukean would, although not as pronounced. There were other peculiarities as well. For instance, some people would pronounce "Holyoke" as "Hoyoke", dropping the L. Or, they would end a sentence with the word "hey" as in "That was a good polka, hey!"
They also pronounced "idea" as "idear" adding an R at the end. And they would say "hamburg" and "cheeseburg" without the ER at the end.
The most amazing thing to me though was how as soon as you crossed from Hampden county into Worcester county, people would immediately begin speaking with a "Woostah" accent. I've never seen such an abrupt accent shift anywhere else I've ever been!
That's so true about the accent changing on the line with Worcester cty. I never realized it until I spent some time in Ware (Hampshire cty but on the Worcester cty line). To me a lot of them sounded as though they came from Boston.
My WMass accent always comes out as New York State or midwestern or standard American English on those little tests you take. We do relate to NY state much more than Boston and a lot of us never go to Boston at all.
Yeh, we say cheeseburg or hamburg--never thought of that. I HAVE heard Polish people end a sentence with "hey!"
Holyoke is really pronounced Hol-Yoke. as in Mt Holyoke College.
I sometimes worked at the county line in Ware, and when I crossed over into Warren or Hardwick in Worcester county, bam, there it was.
And yeah, a lot of people pronounced it Hol-yoke instead of Holy-oke. I guess some people said it so fast, it sounded like the L was dropped, making it sound like Ho-yoke.
Anyway, I was still astonished at the abrupt accent change at the Worcester county line, and also the fact that a lot of folks in the Pioneer Valley sounded more like they were from Wisconsin rather than New England. Interesting stuff.
One feature I've noticed that seems common to the way many people in the Connecticut River Valley (in both northern CT and western MA) speak is to drop "t" sounds in the middle of words. A juvenile cat is a "ki en", in the winter one wears "mi ens", etc.
If this were to somehow combine with the non-rhotic accents in nearby areas, we could be down to nothing but schwas in no time.
Yes adamz, dropping the T's in the middle of words is something I noticed as well. A lot of UK dialects do the same.
Yes adamz, dropping the T's in the middle of words is something I noticed as well. A lot of UK dialects do the same.
Oh, we do not. That sounds like baby talk. Mi ens? Ki ens? We say mittens the way we say Mitt Romney (for example). Like we say "it". Do you really say "iT" with that T sound? Mit-tens?
I have no idea what it is called but very few people actually pronounce that sharp T sound, do they?
A lot of people drop the T at the end of words. For example "I am going over to West Springfield" A lot of people would blend the West right into Springfield to make it sound like WesSpringfield. Or maybe that is just what I hear.
As far as people in the Pioneer Valley sounding like we are from Wisconsin , That is so far off it is almost funny. We definitely do not sound mid western in Western Mass.
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as in Mt Holyoke College.
That sounds like baby talk. Mi ens? Ki ens? We say mittens the way we say Mitt Romney (for example). Like we say "it". Do you really say "iT" with that T sound? Mit-tens?
