Boston accent: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Local accent of English spoken in Boston}}

{{IPA notice}}

The traditional Boston accent is widely known for being [[Rhoticity in English|non-rhotic]] (or "''r''-dropping"), particularly before the mid-20th century. Recent studies have shown that younger speakers use more of a rhotic (or ''r''-ful) accent than older speakers.<ref name="Irwin Nagy 2007">{{Cite journal|url = http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=pwpl|title = Bostonians /r/ Speaking: A Quantitative Look at (R) in Boston|last1 = Irwin|first1 = Patricia|year = 2007|journal = University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics|last2 = Nagy|first2 = Naomi | volume = 13| issue = 2}}</ref> This goes for black Bostonians as well.<ref>Browne, Charlene; Stanford, James (2018). "[https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2019&context=pwpl Boston Dialect Features in the Black/African American Community]." University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 24 : Iss. 2 , Article 4. p. 19.</ref> Non-rhoticity means that the [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/r/}} does not appear in [[syllable coda|coda position]] {{crossref|(for where in English [[phonotactics]] {{IPA|/r/}} precedes other consonants, see [[English phonology#Coda|English phonology §&nbsp;Coda]])}}, as in most dialects of [[English language in England|English in England]] and [[Australian English|Australia]]; ''card'' therefore becomes {{IPA|/kad/}} "cahd" and ''color'' {{IPA|/ˈkʌlə/}} "culluh". Words such as ''weird'' {{IPA|/wɪəd/}} and ''square'' {{IPA|/skwɛə/}} feature centering diphthongs, which correspond to the sequences of close and mid vowels + {{IPA|/r/}} in rhotic AmE. The phonemicity of the centering diphthongs {{IPA|/ɪə, ʊə, ɛə, oə/}} depends on a speaker's rhoticity. Also, the stressed sequence {{IPA|/ɜr/}} inside a closed syllable, as in {{sc2|NURSE}}, is most likely to take on a rhotic {{IPA|[ɝ]}} pronunciation among Bostonians.<ref name="Irwin Nagy 2007"/><ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Fish|first1=Jody|date=Spring 2018|title=Gende(r) in the Boston Accent: A linguistic analysis of Boston (r) from a gender perspective|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1483072&dswid=-1441|degree=BA|pages=4, 8|publisher=Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society|id={{URN|nbn|se:mau:diva-23112}}|access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

 

 

===Declining features===

Many characteristics of the Boston accent may be retreating, particularly among younger residents. In the most old-fashioned of Boston accents, there may be a lingering resistance to the [[horse–hoarse merger]], so that ''horse'' has the pure vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, while ''hoarse'' has the centering diphthong {{IPA|/oə/}}; this can potentially cause the {{sc2|NORTH}}–{{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} merger, so that ''tort'', ''tot'' and ''taught'' are phonemically all {{IPA|/tɒt/}}. The result is that, for an older Boston accent, the {{sc2|NORTH}}–{{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} vowel is distinct from the {{sc2|FORCE}} vowel. Another two example words that would traditionally be distinguished, thus, are ''for'' {{IPA|/fɒ/}} versus ''four'' {{IPA|/foə/}}. This distinction was rapidly fading out of currency in the second half of the 20th century with the words belonging to the {{sc2|NORTH}} class being transferred over to the {{sc2|FORCE}} class, undoing the merger of {{sc2|NORTH}} with {{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}}, as it is in almost all regions of North America that still make it. For non-rhotic speakers, the modern-day situation in Boston is that both ''horse'' and ''hoarse'', as well as both ''for'' and ''four'', take the centering diphthong {{IPA|/oə/}}.

 

 

==In popular culture==

<!--Please keep this list alphabetical and with citations!-->

<!--A source here listed for Bill Simmons literally stated that he does NOT have a Boston accent! The Wahlberg brothers, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck, though all capable of imitating the accent (to varying degrees, according to some critics), are certainly not primary or lifelong speakers of the accent. [[John F. Kennedy]]'s accent has been described as a "[[wikt:tony|tony]] [[Harvard]] accent,"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/314791/John-F-Kennedy/3868/Presidential-candidate-and-president|title=John F. Kennedy|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2009}}</ref> with an implication that it is more of an example of a cultivated, class-based New England accent rather than a clear example of the traditional and linguistically defined Boston accent; notably, he does not show a cot-caught merger, rounded LOT, or fronted START.-->

[[File:Rachel Carson (As Told By EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy).ogg|thumb|Gina McCarthy's voice]]

 

* [[William J. Bratton]]<ref name=mayor>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/nyregion/16accent.html|title=Mayor's Accent Deserts Boston for New York|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=Roberts, Sam|date=2006-01-16|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref> – "thick Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/07/local/me-bratton7|title=Police chief says he still has plenty to prove|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|author=Rubin, Joel|date=2008-12-07|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>

* [[Lenny Clarke]] – "a Cambridge-raised verbal machine gun with a raspy Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|title=Lenny Clarke Deftly Handles Nightschtick|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|author=Sullivan, Jim|date=2001-04-18}}</ref>

* [[Chick Corea]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15351|title=Chick Corea|author= Cumbie, Ty|magazine=[[All About Jazz]]|date=2004-10-30|access-date=2009-03-17}}</ref> – "his speech still carries more than a trace of a Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/02/29/a_banjo_a_piano_and_two_willing_masters/|title=A banjo, a piano, and two willing masters|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Mitter, Siddhartha|date=2008-02-29|access-date=2009-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003912/http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/02/29/a_banjo_a_piano_and_two_willing_masters/|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* [[Sue Costello]] – "Between her thick Boston accent and fearless, stand-up style, Sue Costello is a true embodiment of the city's comedy scene."<ref>Juul, Matt (2015). [https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2015/06/12/watch-dorchester-comic-riffs-on-boston-gronk-and-more "Watch: Dorchester comic riffs on Boston, Gronk, and more"]. ''Boston.com''. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.</ref>

* [[Nick Di Paolo]] – "thick Boston accent"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/n_10107/|title=Did You Hear The One About The @&%#! Comic?|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|author=Calhoun, Ada|date=2004-03-29|access-date=2009-03-17}}</ref>

* [[Annissa Essaibi George]] – "speaks with the accent of working-class Boston"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/us/annissa-essaibi-george.html|title=Candidate for 'Mayah' Proudly Leans Into Her Boston Sound|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Barry, Ellen|date=2021-10-09|access-date=2024-01-23}}</ref>

* [[Brian Moran|Brian]] and [[Jim Moran]] – "The Moran brothers share... an unmistakable Massachusetts accent"<ref name="family">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/10/ST2009021004032.html|title=A Time to Reevaluate Family Ties|newspaper=Washington Post|author=Gardner, Amy|date=2009-02-11|access-date=2009-02-27}}</ref>

* [[Alex Rocco]] – "grew up in blue-collar Cambridge"<ref name="Allis, Sam">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/01/25/its_tough_to_talk_like_a_true_bostonian/|title=It's tough to talk like a true Bostonian|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Allis, Sam|date=2004-01-25|access-date=2009-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230152/http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/01/25/its_tough_to_talk_like_a_true_bostonian/|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* [[Marty Walsh]] – "he demonstrates what many believe to be the strongest Boston dialect in the city's mayoral history."<ref name="Baker, Billy"/>

* [[Jermaine Wiggins]] – "skin as thick as his East Boston accent"<ref name="Jensen, Sean">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-125717347.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611052758/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-125717347.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-06-11|title=Despite his unlikely build, Vikings' Wiggins gets it done at tight end.|newspaper=[[Saint Paul Pioneer Press]]|author=Jensen, Sean|date=2004-12-03|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>

|editor4-first=Douglas

|title=Supplemental Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting on Phonology

|volume=3

|location=Washington, D.C.

|publisher=Linguistic Society of America

|doi=10.3765/amp.v3i0.3653

|chapter-format=PDF

}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->