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Does anybody know? Blacks in New York speak different from other blacks in the other regions of this country. You have to remember that blacks in the north migrated from the rural south during the Great Migration. The thing that is interesting is that many blacks in regions in the west and mid west still hold on to their southern twang that their grandparents brought with them. However, New York City is different. Blacks and Puerto Ricans have this distinct accent. Why is that?
I heard that the stereotypical, general NY accent is similar to an Italian accent because of all the italians who came here. But that's just what I heard, I don't know if it's true.
There is a long standing history of the nyc accent. Nyc accent is probably the 2nd most recgonizable english accent agter british english imo. The remenants of the dutch can still be heard in the nyc accent like for example the word stoop is dutch for steps. I'm not sure what impact the the germans and irish left on nyc english but I think the jews and the italians also some eastern europeans have the biggest impact on nyc accent. Many yiddish words are commnly heard in nyc like delicatessen and ******. I also. Have noticed that some puerto ricans that speak with a nyc accent simular to what italians speak. You guys should check out gangs of ny and hear the nyc accent of the mid 19th century.
The thing that is interesting is that many blacks in regions in the west and mid west still hold on to their southern twang that their grandparents brought with them.
I live in Georgia and I work with some Black women from Detroit. The funny thing to me was that had they never told me they were from Detroit I would have just assumed they were from the south. Their accents aren't as southern as mine but their accents aren't too different either. Yeah and southernesq accents are common with Blacks on the west coast. They pronounce alot of their words like we do in the south.
The Great Migration was in the 40's and 50's - just three generations ago or so. I suppose that's not enough for a fairly intraverted community to lose their accents, which is why Detroit and New York African-Americans speak in a Southern dialect.
Modern Black New York dialect is becoming quite different because modern Black New Yorkers are very heavily Caribbean, not Southern US.
And as people above said, as for the classic white New York accent, its origins are somewhat obscure. There's definitely influence of foreign accents (dental t's and d's, etc.), but this is an insufficient explanation.
I heard that the stereotypical, general NY accent is similar to an Italian accent because of all the italians who came here. But that's just what I heard, I don't know if it's true.
Some of the most noticeable NY accents come from my workers with Irish ancestry. I think you can hear a mix of both Irish and Italian emphasis in the accent.
According to Labow, there's no "Queens accent" or any borough accent for that matter. The differences are mainly along the lines of ethnicity (not always corresponding to one's own - Giuliani spoke with an Irish NYC accent), and, far more importantly, class (the thick working class NYC accent, quickly disappearing, the milder middle class accent, etc.)
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