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Several dialects of American English are spoken in New England. These include Eastern New England dialect, most famously typified by the Boston accent, the Rhode Island accent and the Western New England accent, including Vermont English.
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Features
Eastern New England and Rhode Island are both historically non-rhotic accents, while Western New England is historically rhotic. Eastern New England possesses the so-called caught-cot merger; Rhode Island does not possess the merger; and Western New England exhibits a continuum from full merger in northern Vermont to full distinction in western Connecticut. The Western New England accent is closely related to the Inland North accent which prevails further west.
Regional variances
Within New England English exists a number of dialects particular to individual states and regions. These include the dialects of Eastern New England, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Boston and Rhode Island.
Maine English
The Maine accent (commonly referred to as the "Downeast accent") is the accent exhibited by Mainers (people who inhabit the state of Maine). Used by dialect comedians like Tim Sample and Bob Marley and considered directly linked to British English, the Maine accent has a varied, but distinctive sound.
Many variations of the Maine accent exist. Generally, the dropped 'r' pronunciations once became stronger the further north and east. Currently, as in many other areas, the local dialects are shifting to a more accent-neutral form, similar to the general U.S. broadcast language standard. Possibly because of its more remote setting, northern Maine's dialects are not changing as rapidly.
- Words that end in "er" are pronounced with "ah" at the end; i.e., Mainer = "Mainah," far = "fah," etc. (see also non-rhotic.)
- Words that end in "a" are often pronounced with "er" at the end; i.e., California becomes "Californier," idea becomes "idear," etc. (see also intrusive R.)
- The Maine accent drops the "g" in all words ending in "ing;" i.e., stopping and starting = "stoppin'" and "stahtin'," etc. (No "g" sound is actually dropped, as none is present in such words in General American. Rather the sound of the final consonant is changed from a velar nasal to an alveolar nasal, which is the normal sound for "n." See G-dropping.)
- All "a" and "e" sounds broaden; i.e., calf becomes "cahf," bath becomes "bahth," etc.
- Most one-syllable words drag out into two syllables; i.e., there becomes "they-uh," here becomes "hee-ah," etc.
- Words that end in "y" or "ie" are pronounced with "ay" at the end; i.e., Kathy="Kath-ay," quickly="quick-lay," etc. (E.B. White, "Maine Speech," One Man's Meat, 1944.)
Generally, the Maine accent exhibits non-rhoticity, but such is not the case for every occurrence of the letter 'R.' For example, "murdered" could be pronounced "murdihd," where the second "r" and the past tense are merged together; this is dependent on how thick the speaker's accent is. Another variation is "murdehd."
Non-rhoticity typically is not used if a "u" precedes the "r." For example, "further" can be pronounced as "furthah," while "farther" can be pronounced "fahthah," eliminating both instances of "r." This is not the case if the "-ur" occurs at the end of the spoken word. "Wilbur" would be pronounced "Wilbah" or "Wilber," with heavy emphasis on pronouncing the "-er" such as it were spelled "Wilbr."
Boston English
Vermont English
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The dialect of the English language spoken in the U.S. state of Vermont is often referred to as Vermont English. Although a New England state, the variety of English spoken in most parts of the state generally has more in common with the accent spoken in nearby New York State and parts of the Midwest. Features include:
- The [æ] in words like 'bad' and 'cat' is tensed in most environments to [eə], though rarely to the same extreme as the Inland North dialect.[1]
- As with Connecticut, Western Massachusetts and some Great Lakes English, glottal replacement of 't' is common.[2]
- As with Maine and New Hampshire, 'caught' and 'cot' are usually merged, in this case to [ɑ].[1]
- Words ending in the letter 'a' are pronounced as if the word ended in 'er', for instance the word area would be pronounced [eɪriɝ].[1]
See also
External links
References
- ^ a b c Walsh, Molly. "Vermont Accent: Endangered Species?". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ MacQuarrie, Brian. "Taking bah-k Vermont", The Boston Globe.
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