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primroseburrowsI know I'm procrastinating when I'm actually surfing Wikipedia. But y'know, find things. Like the page on the Boston accent.
"The Boston accent is the English dialect not only of the city of Boston, Massachusetts itself but also much of eastern Massachusetts." Check.
"It and closely related accents can be heard commonly in an area stretching throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine." Check.
"These regions are frequently grouped together with Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut by sociolinguists under the cover term Eastern New England accent." SO, SO WRONG.
Rhode Islanders sound very different from Boston/Mass/Maine folken. Say a couple of people from, oh, I dunno, Cveeeeanstin (That's a common RI pronounciation, honest!) are sitting around with their friends from Boston wondering when Donna and Bobby are going to come back with the Chinese take-out. The RI people in the group will say "Daahner and Baahby". The Bostonians will say "Dawnah and "Bawby". The RI accent is more like New York than Boston, which may help explain the sad but true fact that many Rhode Islanders are fans of the Evil Empire. Also, Vo D'eyelandiz are, like Bostonians, are all about the non-rhoticity (how cool is that for a term?). The difference is that RI speakers put the R back. They say pahk and cah and sistah, sure, but they also say Linder and Hanner and idear and grammer (meaning "gramma").
Here is a typical example of the Boston accent. This guy lives in Dorchester, near Southie.
I tried to find a recording of a RI accent, but no, there isn't one. :/
Of course, none of this applies when you're talking about Woonsocket (pronounced "Woone sock két" or even "Woone sock ay" by the locals). The town was settled by immigrants from Québec who came to work in the mills. There probably aren't that many people under fifty with French accents, but they still use the grammar (sort of like how some Irish people still use the Gaelic grammar)If a guy from Woonsocket wants you to toss his jacket down to him, he's likely to say "t'row me down the stairs, my coat". He "pahks his cahs side by each", and, I kid you not, "lives on top of his mother". Well, if his mother lives in the flat downstairs, that is. :) If you go to Woonsocket, you'll want to drive slow your car.
Believe it or not, I've never been to Woonsocket. I might have gone through there to get from point A to point B, but I don't remember ever stopping there. This is not good, because Woonsocket has the Museum of Work and Culture. Really, I should lose my geek license for not ever going there.
If you're really interested in the Rhode Island accent, or are a giantgiant dork like me (and you are, if you're really interested in the Rhode Island accent), you might want to take a look at this little RI dictionary. fascinating.
And hmm. I wonder why, after twenty-eight years of living in RI, I don't consider myself a Rhode Islander? *waves "I'm From Massachusetts" banner*
This pointless post took forever to write (I'm cleaning at the same time, honest!). I really ought to get therapy. :/
"The Boston accent is the English dialect not only of the city of Boston, Massachusetts itself but also much of eastern Massachusetts." Check.
"It and closely related accents can be heard commonly in an area stretching throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine." Check.
"These regions are frequently grouped together with Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut by sociolinguists under the cover term Eastern New England accent." SO, SO WRONG.
Rhode Islanders sound very different from Boston/Mass/Maine folken. Say a couple of people from, oh, I dunno, Cveeeeanstin (That's a common RI pronounciation, honest!) are sitting around with their friends from Boston wondering when Donna and Bobby are going to come back with the Chinese take-out. The RI people in the group will say "Daahner and Baahby". The Bostonians will say "Dawnah and "Bawby". The RI accent is more like New York than Boston, which may help explain the sad but true fact that many Rhode Islanders are fans of the Evil Empire. Also, Vo D'eyelandiz are, like Bostonians, are all about the non-rhoticity (how cool is that for a term?). The difference is that RI speakers put the R back. They say pahk and cah and sistah, sure, but they also say Linder and Hanner and idear and grammer (meaning "gramma").
Here is a typical example of the Boston accent. This guy lives in Dorchester, near Southie.
I tried to find a recording of a RI accent, but no, there isn't one. :/
Of course, none of this applies when you're talking about Woonsocket (pronounced "Woone sock két" or even "Woone sock ay" by the locals). The town was settled by immigrants from Québec who came to work in the mills. There probably aren't that many people under fifty with French accents, but they still use the grammar (sort of like how some Irish people still use the Gaelic grammar)If a guy from Woonsocket wants you to toss his jacket down to him, he's likely to say "t'row me down the stairs, my coat". He "pahks his cahs side by each", and, I kid you not, "lives on top of his mother". Well, if his mother lives in the flat downstairs, that is. :) If you go to Woonsocket, you'll want to drive slow your car.
Believe it or not, I've never been to Woonsocket. I might have gone through there to get from point A to point B, but I don't remember ever stopping there. This is not good, because Woonsocket has the Museum of Work and Culture. Really, I should lose my geek license for not ever going there.
If you're really interested in the Rhode Island accent, or are a giantgiant dork like me (and you are, if you're really interested in the Rhode Island accent), you might want to take a look at this little RI dictionary. fascinating.
And hmm. I wonder why, after twenty-eight years of living in RI, I don't consider myself a Rhode Islander? *waves "I'm From Massachusetts" banner*
This pointless post took forever to write (I'm cleaning at the same time, honest!). I really ought to get therapy. :/
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Comment, Part 2
Date: 2007-02-08 06:52 am (UTC)Sadly, accents aren't as big a thing as they were 50 or 100 years ago. Sure, lots of people have a distinct accent, but it's no longer uncommon to hear a person from some place like Mississippi with no trace of a Southern drawl. Due to cities growing larger, and things like the Internet and the telephone linking folks together, and also the mobility that people have now-a-days to pick up and move, accents are becoming more and more dilute. Hence in that archive I just mentioned, there are folks from places like New York and Boston who simply don't have the classic accent. Mrs. Karl, the pottery teacher at HMS, is 85--and she has the classic inland-NH accent. I guess accents are more prevalent amongst older folks. Ike's lived his entire life in RI, and he has no trace of the accent you described in your post.
Technically speaking, EVERYONE has an accent. To us, the Brits have a British accent and we sound normal. To them, they sound normal and we have an American accent. I wonder how that must get confusing for Hugh Laurie when he plays Dr. House. Anyhow, speaking strictly in terms of American accents, most linguists tare the scale using CT. CT has a very mild accent, and it is usually termed "general American". So, many linguists will say that CT has no accent, and then they base everything else off of that. It's odd...they're right. When's the last time you heard someone and said "wow, he/she has such a flamingly strong Connecticut accent"? But what's odd is, CT is in one of the most diverse parts of the country, speaking in terms of accents. RI, MA, NH, ME, NJ, NY, PA...all of those states have a classic accent, many of them more than one.
I don't know whether you watch Family Guy. Seth MacFarlane, the creator, does the voices of Peter and Quagmire and Stewie, amongst others. He also does Brian, but Brian's speech is how Seth actually speaks in day-to-day life. It was interesting, he did the graduation speech at Harvard a year or two ago...the videos are on YouTube. Anyhow, according to Wikipedia, Peter Griffin has a blending of an eastern Mass and Rhode Island accent. Seth grew up in CT, btw.
BTW, I'm moving back to Mass in a few months. I love Mass. It's my home now. It should be renamed from the Bay State to the Unitarian State. They have more UU churches in that one state than we have in my entire district (which encompasses several of the Southern states). According to a letter-to-the-editor written by the owner of the local gun shop last week, MA is the "queer-marrying, butt-pounding, tree-hugging, America-hating, liberal radical" state. W00t!! I always knew there was a reason why the UUA has its headquarters there.
Anyhow, I'm sorry for writing this volumes-long reply to your post. I just obsess a lil' bit about accents :-).
P.S. This gal from Brooklyn...this one ROCKS: http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=121
Re: Comment, Part 2
Date: 2007-02-08 08:17 am (UTC)Ike's lived his entire life in RI, and he has no trace of the accent you described in your post.
None of my kids do. I've never understood that. But then, his father is from CT, and I don't have a highly discernible accent. Still, they grew up in the RI milieu, so wtf?
But what's odd is, CT is in one of the most diverse parts of the country
Which brings me to my conclusion: What the heck is CT doing in New England? *ships it to the Midwest*
I love The Family Guy. I don't watch broadcast TV, but I catch it on downloads and videos. I'm impressed with the accents, actually. They're very close.
MA is the "queer-marrying, butt-pounding, tree-hugging, America-hating, liberal radical" state. W00t!!
*g* I don't hate America, but I love MA.
Speaking of America, have you ever heard Leonard Cohen's "Democracy"? It reflects exactly how I feel about America: "I love the country but I can't stand the scene". It's fitting that the song I find to be most patriotic was written by someone who is not a US native. Just like Irving Berlin, right?
Leonard Cohen - Democracy