The "Miami Accent" ..., (lawyer, toddlers, Cuban)

[Hammocks Bum]

Nothing in Miami that can or could label people from Miami... like from Texas, Brooklyn or Mass....no slang or even an accent, and I have lived in Fla since 1973, Miami since 1988.

[valicky]

There's definitely a Miami accent. My son moved out of the area years ago and he can always recognize if someone is from Miami before they tell him. Not talking about if someone has a Spanish accent. This is specifically a Miami accent. Over accentuated vowel sounds and something with the L sound. bale002 said it's second/third generation Cubans but I've heard Americans who have no Hispanic backgrounds with this accent.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by Hammocks Bum

Nothing in Miami that can or could label people from Miami... like from Texas, Brooklyn or Mass....no slang or even an accent, and I have lived in Fla since 1973, Miami since 1988.

You are local and are used to it and don't hear it. I posted a video showing the women talking in that accent and they are white Americans. while it's not over, it's like the Canadian accent. Sounds mostly American but you hear a few words pronounced differently. With the Miami accent it's subtle and has to do with the cadence.

[LifeIsGood01]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_accent

Features of the Miami accent from a report on the Miami accent from WLRN Radio:

First, vowel pronunciation. In Spanish, there are five vowel sounds. In English, there are eleven. Thus, you have words like “hand,” with the long, nasal "A" sound, pronounced more like hahnd because the long "A" does not exist in Spanish.

While most consonants sound the same in Spanish and English, the Spanish "L" is heavier, with the tongue sticking to the roof of the mouth more so than in English. This Spanish "L" pronunciation is present in Miami English.

The rhythms of the two languages are also different. In Spanish, each syllable is the same length, but in English, the syllables fluctuate in length. This is a difference in milliseconds, but they cause the rhythm of Miami English to sound a bit like the rhythm of Spanish.

Finally, “calques” are phrases directly translated from one language to another where the translation isn’t exactly idiomatic in the other language. For example, instead of saying, “let’s get out of the car,” someone from Miami might say, "let’s get down from the car" because of the Spanish phrase "bajar del coche".[7]

[Corrie22]

I'm amazed at the amount of people I know, and run into, that have been in Miami for over 50 years....that do not speak one word of English........I honestly do not even know how that is possible.....some of then had to have been kids 50 years ago...had to go to school...and no schools taught in Spanish back then

[boxus]

Never even heard of such a thing until this thread. I do not think there is any accent, maybe an exaggeration of a few differences that have not even been quantified as being specific to Miami, but that is not even close to an accent. My family has been here since the 1940's.


Maybe it is a Spanish language thing? Sure as hell not in English.

[valicky]

If there was no such thing as a Miami accent, people wouldn't be able to place where a parson from Miami is from when they're in another part of the country. It used to be only people who Spanish is their first language but I've heard it first hand in people who only speak English. Young people.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

I'm amazed at the amount of people I know, and run into, that have been in Miami for over 50 years....that do not speak one word of English........I honestly do not even know how that is possible.....some of then had to have been kids 50 years ago...had to go to school...and no schools taught in Spanish back then

That's what you imagine. Anyone who came to this country as a kid knows how to speak English if they were raised here unless they were kept in a cave and were only exposed to a different language. If they came here as kids they would most likely not have much of an accent of their native tongue even if it's also spoken in the home. Normally the time they say that people keep their accent when they learn a new language is if they started speaking it after puberty.

[Corrie22]

LIG...I did not say I imagined anything......I know these people

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

LIG...I did not say I imagined anything......I know these people

There are people who came as adults in their 40s and have been here 40 plus years, no they don't speak English because it's hard to learn a new language after a certain age, and they didn't need to learn it since they could have other's translate when needed. But kids who grew up here who don't speak English, never happened.

Even this Cuban actress speaks English better than a lot of people do in Miami

Cued up

https://youtu.be/Le4wqgWNVKc?t=899