Got an Accent?
This week we explore the various accents of Eastern Massachusetts. Do you have an accent? Tell us about it and your experience outside of your hometown. Send us a comment or email about what you hear on the streets of Boston and other towns.
Check out the International Dialect of English Archive’s compilation of Massachusetts dialects.
Listen to the full show:
Audio for http://www.bu.edu/wbur/storage/2008/02/radioboston_0215.mp3
Radio Boston: Got an Accent?
Airdate: February 15, 2008
Guests:
- John McCarthy, Professor of Linguistics at UMass Amherst
- Rebekah Maggor, Director of the program in speaking and learning at Harvard University, and associate editor for the International Dialects of English Archive
- Naomi Nagy, Professor of linguistics at the University of New Hampshire, and joined us in the Radio Boston web chat room
Comments
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I am an native Iowan living in Dorchester, famously a place with no accent, so it’s great to listen and try to imitate- my landlord is from Southie, and his accent is distinct (in a relative way) from the Dorchester accent- especially noticeable is the “s” at the end of you- you’s guys, what are you’s doin’ this weekend?..i don’t hear Dorchester folks using that- we are 1/2 a mile from H street!
I grew up with in a home in NH having a father with a boston accent and mother from NY. At this point I usually sound according like who ever I am talking to, or at least I’m told that, I never notice. also my wife has been tracking the use of the frase “down cellar” which is from north eastern mass but not from boston.