Accents in American Movies
Lucie Doležalová
Lenka Koudelková

General American
lThis refers to the spectrum of ‘standard’ English spoken by newscasters, TV actors, and a large
percentage of middle-class Americans.
lProminent Features:
lThe short-a (as in cat) is raised and diphthongized before nasal consonants.
lRhotic
lWords like lot and rod are pronounced with an unrounded vowel, as lɑt and ɹɑd.
lThe diphthong in words like boat and rode is pronounced relatively back: i.e. IPA boʊt and roʊd
l

Eastern New England English
lThis describes the classic “Boston Accent.” It also refers to related accents in Eastern
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Eastern New Hampshire and Eastern Connecticut. The most
important feature of this is non-rhoticity: unlike other American accents, New Englanders drop the
“r” at the end of syllables.  Hence the famous phrase “pahk yuh cahr in hahvuhd yahd” (Park your
car in Harvard Yard).
lProminent Features:
lNon-rhoticity
lUnlike most other American accents, the vowel in lot and rod is rounded as in most British
dialects, pronounced lɒt and ɹɒd.

Eastern New England English
lMovies:
lGood Will Hunting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc
lThe Town
lGone Baby Gone
lMystic River

New York City English
lProminent Features:
lNon-rhoticity
lThe long-a in words like father and cart is often pronounced back and sometimes rounded: i.e.
IPA fɒ:ðə and kɒ:t (“fawthuh” and “kawt”).
lThe vowel in words like thought, north and dog are pronounced is high and diphthongized,
pronounced IPA θʊət, nʊəθ, and dʊəg (“thaw-uht,” “naw-uht” and “daw-uhg”).
l

New York City English
lMovies:
lGoodfellas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQhBfRDd6GM
lManhattan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc
lMarty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIah4s6ePQo
lAnnie Hall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxlfvI17oY

Mid-Atlantic English
lDescribes the old-fashioned British-sounding accents you hear in movies from the 1930s.
lThe American accents spoken along the urban corridor from the Philadelphia area to Baltimore. It
sounds slightly similar to New York City, but with a few major differences.
lProminent Features:
lRhotic: unlike New York City, the r is pronounced at the end of car, mother, fur, etc.
lThe diphthong in words like right and kite is raised before voiceless consonants so that kite is
pronounced something like IPA kəit (that is, “kuh-eet”).
lThe diphthong in words like goat and road is pronounced fronter in the mouth than in General
American accents: hence coat becomes IPA kəʊt.
lThe “oo” sounds in words like goose and food is pronounced more forward in the mouth than in
General American: gʉs and fʉd.

Mid-Atlantic English
lMovies:
lCitizen Kane (Orson Welles + Joseph Cotten)
lhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXIr1P9Fm5A

Coastal Lowland/Southern English
lThis is the “classic southern” accent that you typically see in films about Civil War or
Plantation life. In contemporary times, the accent is arguably dying out.
lProminent Features:
lNon-rhotic, but often no linking r between a final r and a vowel sound. So, for example, “better
idea” would be pronounced “bettuh idea”
lVowel breaking -  vowels can turn into diphthongs (or even triphthongs). So cat can
become kæjət for example.
lThe diphthong in words like ride and lime tends to be pronounced as a monopthong: ɹa:d and la:m.
lAll vowels tend to be pronounced longer than in northern American accents.

Coastal Lowland/Southern English
lForrest Gump http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIEn0M8su0
lGone with the Wind
http://youtu.be/uYk-ggwMFMs
lThe Help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ajv_6pUnI
http://youtu.be/PeEEqUn0hfQ
lDriving Miss Daisy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR0oZ2pnhyg

Western American English/California
lProminent features:
lCot-cauth merger
lNot much distinguishable from Canadian English
lClueless:
l http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFR9TNsByLk
l

African American Vernacular English
lProminent features:
lNon-rhotic
lGlottalization
lDouble negatives; ain‘t
l3rd person singular
lThe Help:
lhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZimx1wHYcs
lhttp://youtu.be/jSORaZSfoqg
lClueless:
lhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW2JBJSaXUI
l
l
l

Foreign English Varieties in American Film
lItalian – The Godfather
l http://youtu.be/vMdVGS0O27o
lPolish – Sophie‘s Choice
l http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmrEOTm0rOc
lRussian – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
l http://youtu.be/pSBqwN-4wlc?t=5m42s
l

Sources
lhttp://dialectblog.com/northamerican-accents/
lhttp://youtube.com
lhttp://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/eng6365-botticella.htm
lhttp://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/2461/1/Understanding-Polish-English-Pronunciatio
n%3A-Tips-for-Interpreters-and-EFL-Teachers
l