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I really have no discernible accent. There used to be a teeny bit of Pennsylvania Dutch (uplift on the last syllable) but I managed to dumpp that during college. I've been the last 40 years in Manhattan and Jersey City and never picked up any of those accents which can be quite weid: adults tend not to pick up new accents.)
Nobody can tell where I'm from by my speech.
A language teacher I had said that most area accents can be detected by saying the three words: merry, Mary and marry. He said VERY few people say all three distinctively different.
I did, but only because of a SLIGHT accidental cheat. The year before a friend detected that I was saying he words fairy and ferry the same (only becasue I needed a ferry to get out of Chester PA) so I stamped out the bad habit. And of course that extended to merry and Mary. My teacher though I was faking becasue I was the only one in Eastern PA who prounced the two differently.
A couple of students actually pronounced the three words IDENTICALLY and could not recognize they were doing it. I had a freshman roommate from Northern new Jersey who pronounced LORE and LAW exaclty the same. and he denied it saying over and over: "One is pronounced lore and the other is pronounced lore." I think I made him do it 500 times, I got such a kick out of it.
Last edited by Kefir King; 11-08-2012 at 05:21 PM..
People I know from Manhattan usually don't have much of an accent. The people I know that are from the boroughs usually do have a pretty noticeable accent. I like to have fun with New Yorkers that have a heavy accent by having them say the phrase "there's a flaw in the floor". They usually get it backwards.
People I know from Manhattan usually don't have much of an accent. The people I know that are from the boroughs usually do have a pretty noticeable accent. I like to have fun with New Yorkers that have a heavy accent by having them say the phrase "there's a flaw in the floor". They usually get it backwards.
They might say you have it backwards. British "Received Pronounciation" (the way British newscasters speak) is a non-rhotic dialect with intrusive R, which means they'd pronounce an "r" after "flaw" and not pronounce an "r" in "floor". The classic New York accent shares these features. Though nowadays even local NY newscasters speak mostly "General American".
I grew up in New York, but don't think I have a strong accent. The common thing I get called out for when I'm with someone not native is when I say I'm standing "on line" instead of in line. In line just sounds really wrong to me... I say tag sale instead of yard sale, and other regional things like that that I'm just too used to saying to ever change.
In terms of accent, I guess there are some words (I say sure like shore and not sher - not sure whether that's a regional thing as well) as well as things like dog, coffee, etc, but I don't think I say it much differently than most. I can definitely enhance/hide an accent if I'm cognitive of it.
My parents accents are much thicker (they grew up in the Bronx).
I just never understood what an accent is, because to be an accent there has to be some widely recognized version of "normal" speech--something that the accent is a variant on. But what is that "normal" in the U.S.? Has hanyone ever codified it or made it official in any way, like the BBC broadcasters mentioned above?
If not, you can listen to Elliot Spitzer, Rosie Perez, Charlie Rangel, and Joe Torre, and who's to say that one is "correct" English (New York or otherwise) and one is speaking with an accent?
I just never understood what an accent is, because to be an accent there has to be some widely recognized version of "normal" speech--something that the accent is a variant on. But what is that "normal" in the U.S.? Has hanyone ever codified it or made it official in any way, like the BBC broadcasters mentioned above?
If not, you can listen to Elliot Spitzer, Rosie Perez, Charlie Rangel, and Joe Torre, and who's to say that one is "correct" English (New York or otherwise) and one is speaking with an accent?
This.
My husband is not originally from the US though he has lived in NYC for over 20 years.
At times, he'll get asked where his accent is from. His typical response is one of "shock" where he goes "I have an accent???"
have you ever met any native New Yorkers that dont really have the NYC accent?
just a neutral accent like California or west coast?
have u ?
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