Does Seattle have a hybrid accent? (Vancouver, Bellingham: living, shopping mall, license plates)

[Ira500]

My first thought was a guy in a long, black overcoat whipping out a 2 foor diameter red foam crab.....and shaking it at someone. Man, that's funny. Ok. Sorry for threadjack.

Is that crab in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

[springshades]

According to linguists, PNW doesn't have the Canadian raising of certain vowels. The main distinction is the removal of one of the vowel sounds used in standard American English, and I read someone was claiming there is a stronger than average "s" sound.

More significant would be vocabulary differences such as some Native American loan words specific to the region.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Expect some longing of short a's in/around Seattle or anywhere in western WA, for example:

Baig for bag
Gaig for gag
Saig for sag
Etc.

I don't think this is from people who are from there.

[Wanderlust07]

UW linguists call the NW regional dialect "creaky voice": Contrary to belief, local linguists say Northwest has distinctive dialect (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/225139_nwspeak20.html - broken link).

[Count David]

Originally Posted by wannabeaTexan

I don't think this is from people who are from there.

That's how all the kids spoke where I spent time growing up in South Everett (Silver Lake), Mukilteo, and North Seattle. In my experience, that's how people spoke there.

OTOH, I did know one girl here in Denver (that was born and raised in Denver) that spoke that way as well, and so far she has proven to me to be an anomaly--as in she's the only one I've heard speak that way here.

If not WA, I wonder where that extreme of a vowel shift naturally occurs.


Thanks to Wanderlust, that was an interesting article.

[everwinter]

I noticed some words in church this morning.

again - with gain rhyming with pain, rather than pan.

The pastor is from a local small town & pronounced again like I do, but status was pronounced stay-tus.

Just different than what I'm used to in the midwest, where I know we slaughter words.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

That's how all the kids spoke where I spent time growing up in South Everett (Silver Lake), Mukilteo, and North Seattle. In my experience, that's how people spoke there.

Well maybe that is a north thing. I never lived north of Seattle or even spent much time there.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by everwinter

I noticed some words in church this morning.

again - with gain rhyming with pain, rather than pan.

The pastor is from a local small town & pronounced again like I do, but status was pronounced stay-tus.

Just different than what I'm used to in the midwest, where I know we slaughter words.

That's unusual, but I think pastor's sometimes have their own pronunciations anyway, different from the rest of us.

[dpgtfc]

Originally Posted by Ira500

There does seem to be more of a distinct accent from eastern Washington, which sometimes is pronounced there as War shington.

Haha, a friend of mine has lived in Missouri all of his life (and whose family has been here several generations) says Warsh.

Him: "I warshed my car the other day".

Me: "You mean you washed it?"

Him: "That's what I said".

Me: "There is no 'r' in wash..."

Also, why do some British people add r's so often? There is a local DJ that when he reads off the advertisement for a local SPA, says Spa-r (with a slight R, not a heavy r).

[tudorjason]

The Pacific Northwest in general doesn't have an accent. I think it's one of a few areas in the world that don't have an accent, and I love it!