Noo Yawk Tawk!
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Many American speakers seem to easily recognize if someone is from the New York City Metro area. This includes the five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island), Long Island and parts of New Jersey.
Why is the New York accent so recognizable? Well, the traditional New York English has special features that make it different from other American dialects.
Consider these two examples. First, a very "New York" feature is the "aw" vowel. In many American dialects, the word "coffee" sounds [kɔfi]. In other American dialects, the same word sounds [kɑfi]. In the traditional New York English, the word sounds [koəfi], with a diphthong! This is why this vowel is also called the "cawfee" vowel. You can hear this vowel in words like "thought", "broad", "office", "bought", "talk", and a large etc. How do you pronounce these words?
Second, another recognizable feature of New York English is the absence of certain Rs, what we call "r" dropping. The "r" is not pronounced at the end of a syllable, so you will not hear the "r" in words like "sweater", "career", "cheerful", "November", etc. How do you pronounce these words? How do you pronounce "daughter" which has both the "aw" vowel and "r" dropping? How do you pronounce "New York"?
You can hear Bernie Sanders' Noo Yawk Tawk in this video. It also has some cool linguistic and historical info.
The New York accent is one of the most stigmatized dialects in the U.S. (right after African American English and Southern English). However, what we need to understand is that there is nothing in the linguistic features that make them better (or worse) than others. The value we assign to the different varieties of American English is associated with what we think about their speakers. And, of course, many many times, what we think about the speakers is simply based in prejudice and false generalizations. Be careful, Language Creature!
Super cool! What is the standard English accent (is there a "standard" English accent) and is there a specific accent that is bias'd as being better?
ReplyDeleteIt was been traditionally claimed that the Midwest accent was the standard American English, but not because it was better (no dialect/variety/language is better than other), but because it was the variety you could hear on TV. News anchors, for instance, used to be trained to sound as educated Midwestern people! The fact is that all the varieties of American English are in constant change and the "standard" variety is more an idealization than a concrete way English is spoken in the U.S.
DeleteI love how you break down the accent. I would love if you break down more American dialects (is that what I should call them?) in future posts - I'd vote for one on the Bostonian accent and maybe Minnesotan (I'm biased being a Minnesotan and all). Also it's interesting that you say the value we assign different varieties of American English is associated with how we think about the speakers - I totally get it but I want to know more about the details of this. Maybe it would be a fun post too discussing the research behind these prejudices.
ReplyDeleteThank you for yous suggestions! I have a lot of things to say about all the other varieties of English and will definitely explore the traditional Bostonian accent as well as the Minnesotan ways!
DeleteAs for the details regarding the value associated with the traditional New York English, history tells us that, when European immigrants arrived in New York at the beginning of the 20th century, they were not considered representative of the American life (some authors even say that these immigrants were not considered "white enough") and their customs and manners were characterized as neither soft or polite. This latter characterization is the one that persists to describe New Yorkers today, which tells us that the stories we create may survive through generations!