Downeast New England and South Boston Dialects by Juraj Gašpar Geographical Location 800px-Map_of_USA_highlighting_OCA_New_England_Diocese.png Geographical Location new_england_map2b.gif The Downeast dialect - coastal Maine - southern New Hampshire - working-class Boston north-shore - eastern Rhode Island The South Boston dialect - Boston The Downeast New England Dialect •Signature sounds •1. In the lot and cloth lexical sets we hear [ɒ] or [ɑ]. [ɒ] is the older, more traditional vowel and is pronounced half-long [ɒˑ]. • rotten, lost jobs, college, swan, waffle, knowledge, off, cough, froth, cross, soft, often, Australia, long, Communist •2. In the bath set we most commonly hear long [aː] • bath, pass, card, chance, last, branch, demand, example, half-caste •3. In the nurse set we hear [ɜː], [ɝ] or [ɞ]. The non-rhotic versions are the older, more traditional sounds • bird, curly, furniture, pernicious, certain, earth, herd, rehearsal, work, worst, sermon, turncoat •4. In the face set we hear [eː]. The vowel tends to be a single-stage vowel, monophthong rather than diphthong, close and tense in the vicinity of [e] • tape, change, taper, april, gauge, weight, day, rain, great •5. In the thought set we hear a variety of sounds in the region, a not very lip-rounded [ɔ] and [ʌ], the best being [ɒə] with a slight offglide • taught, odd, applaud, atom, gob, jaw, chalk, all, bald, hold, alter, fault, awful, naughty, broad, small •6. In the goat set we hear [o], a fairly pure single-stage vowel in the vicinity of [u] • soap, road, hole, noble, bowl, soul, cult, role, sow, dough •7. In the price set we hear [ʌɪ], the prescriptive GenAm, and [eɪ] or [əɪ] – the most evocative of the traditional dialect • mind, timely, bright-eyed, childlike, bicycle, tight, either, height, fight •8. In the mouth set the diphthong’s starting point is a more central or back vowel than in GenAm. The sound is [ɐʊ], perhaps with lip rounding in most speakers • out, load, known, count, flower, crowd, dowry, bow, McLeod •9. In the near, square, cure and letter sets pronunciations are quite variable, the important feature is the lack of r-coloration (non-rhotic) • beer, here, peer, we’re, fear, care, air, bear, heir, pour, you’re, letter, father, perhaps •10. In the start set we hear [aː] (traditional, long, lacking rhoticity), [ᶏ] • far away, marksman, car park, Harward Yard, heart, sergeant, sparkling •11. In the north, force sets the significant feature is non-rhoticity, though variable. The vowel is more open and less round than in GenAm. Pronounced [ɒə] • for, war, distort, orb, form, purpose, orbit, normal, ore, bore, floor, four, deport The Downeast New England Dialect •Additional features •1. Final –ing often reduced -> [ɪn] • fightin’ •2. Intrusive r • Cuba is, China and Japan, idea of it • often heard even when the word is followed by silence • idear •3. Final unstressed -y and –ey endings are pronounced more laxly -> [ɪ]: party [ˈpʌːɾ ɪ], forty [ˈfoːɾɪ] •4. Vowel following medial [t] or [ʔ] is retained. Britain [ˈbrɪtn], certain [ˈsɝːtn] -> [ˈbrɪʔen], [ˈsɜːʔen] • The South Boston Dialect •Signature sounds •1. In the marry lexical subset of trap we hear [ᴂ] • marry, Paris, arrow, carriage, maritime, parapet •2. In the lot and cloth lexical set we hear a less rounded [ɒ] • stop, rob, Tom, profit, honest, swan, waffle, knowledge, off, cough, froth •3. In the bath lexical set we hear [a] (in Boston Brahmin) or [ᴂ] (more likely in Southie) • staff, path, brass, class, blast, ask, after, master, basket, fasten, laugh, dance •4. In the nurse lexical set we hear [ɝ] or [ɞ]. Here Boston brahmin speakers tend to be non-rhotic; in some Southie speakers r-colouration is sometimes replaced with lip rounding • usurp, burn, assert, verb, term, certain, rehearsal, work, early, bird, worm •5. In the palm lexical set we hear [a]. Southie speakers thus make homonyms of father and farther • calm, father, bra, spa, cantata, bravado, candelabra, gala, gunner •6. In the thought lexical set we hear a less rounded [ɒ] • naughty, applaud, autumn, jaw, chalk, bald, hold, altar, fault •7. In the mouth lexical set we hear [ɐʊ] starting with a more central vowel • load, known, flower, crowd, dowry, vow, McLeod, power, tower •8. South Boston is erratically non-rhotic in vowel+r sounds in near, square, cure and letter sets except for nurse set(#4) • square, beer, here, serious, very, canary, you’re, tourist, curious, harder •9. In the start lexical set we hear long [aː], a front vowel. May be one of the most conspicuous Southie and Boston signature sounds. • far, bizarre, farm, party, park, car, Harvard, yard, sorry, safari, area, Sahara, tiara •10. In the north/force lexical set we hear a less rounded [ɒə] • far, war, farm, purpose, normal, Laura, flaw, bore, afford, bomb, potent, cause, glorious The South Boston Dialect Audio and video samples •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbK4cL3QSc0 (Boston accent) •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtR68AvwrCw&feature=related (a relaxed-sounding Boston woman) •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaMmYnIfrXk&feature=related [Boston(Downeast NE) accent lessons] •http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WYefY4nn78Y (Southies talking) •http://www.paulmeier.com/TESTS/SouthBostonTestAnswers.mp3 (South Boston accent) •http://www.paulmeier.com/TESTS/DowneastTestAnswers.mp3 (Downeast New England accent) Sources •Meier, Paul. "The Downeast New England Dialect." Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen. 2007. CD-ROM. •Meier, Paul. "The South Boston Dialect." Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen. 2007. CD-ROM. • •Thank you for your attention