Linguistic Ponderings....

[Zany_in_CO]

I grew up in the Midwest, Illinois to be exact. I'm proud to say I speak un-accented American English. As a matter of fact, people who wanted to go into Broadcasting came to Chicago to go to school to learn to speak without an accent. Somehow we set the standard.

Although, I must say, I was an adult before I learned to say, "milk" instead of "melk" and wahsh instead of warsh.

 

[KiwiMoose]

We are more like the New Yorkers in that we don't pronounce the r at the end of words or before a consonant, so car is cah, butter is butta ( although I still say buddrr as a hangover from my Kentucky days), part is paaht, fart is faaht, and Bart Simpson is Baaht and the Simpson sounds the same. See how I got from fart to Bart?

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hotdish or casserole?

I say casserole but I love when people say hotdish.

We are more like the New Yorkers in that we don't pronounce the r at the end of words or before a consonant, so car is cah… fart is faaht

And my favorite video on SMF is still @KiwiMoose pronouncing faaht

How about bachelorette party & bachelor party or hen party and stag do?

 

[Zing]

I grew up in the Midwest, Illinois to be exact. I'm proud to say I speak un-accented American English. As a matter of fact, people who wanted to go into Broadcasting came to Chicago to go to school to learn to speak without an accent. Somehow we set the standard.

Although, I must say, I was an adult before I learned to say, "milk" instead of "melk" and wahsh instead of warsh.

LOL! Yeah, there're no accents in Cheeecaaago at all! No sibilant S's, no stretching your mouth horizontally to the max for every vowel. Didja watch Da Bearsss game? Come over by here. Oh, you wanna go over by dere? I shop at THE Jewel and Dominick's (without the THE).
Actually, I could listen to Bill Curtis all day, what a voice. And my longtime broadcaster crush is Jackie Bange. All y'all be drooling over a certain movie star (who looks like me.) I've got my Jackie.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

So one thing us Kiwis do that you Americans and Canadians don't, is to use the 'intrusive r'.

The intrusive r goes between a word that ends in a vowel and a word that starts in a vowel. If you'll excuse my talking about lingerie in my linguistics elucidation (just throwing in a bit of rhythm and alliteration there) my example is as follows:

I'm putting my bra on, becomes:
I'm putting my brar on, or:
I'm putting my bra ron, or:
I'm putting my braaron

Wait . . . Isn’t that the definition of a Boston accent? Folks add the intrusive R that they dropped from words the R belonged. I.e. Pa’k the ca’

 

[KiwiMoose]

Wait . . . Isn’t that the definition of a Boston accent? Folks add the intrusive R that they dropped from words the R belonged. I.e. Pa’k the ca’

YES! I say pahk the cah! When I lived in Kentucky i asked the guy in a liquor store/tobacconist if I could park my car in his designated space out the front (given they were about to close in 10 minutes anyway). He looked at me totally confused. Of course, being Kaintuckian he though I said "do you mind if I pike my kai out front" He didn't know 'pike' as a verb nor 'kai' as a noun and clearly wondered what the hell I was on about. So the sound of the letter ( or word) 'I' in southern is ah. That's why he heard "pike my kai". I had to rephrase to paRRRRk my caoRRRR. Then he nodded and said - surrrre no praaaablem.

 

[Kaybrantley]

For loads of fun, visit North Carolina. We have the Appalachian accent in the mountains, varieties of Southern accents in the middle of the state,and in the outer banks, we have the Hoi Toiders (high riders).

 

[Zany_in_CO]

See how I got from fart to Bart?

Not a far drive for sure.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I say casserole but I love when people say hotdish.


And my favorite video on SMF is still @KiwiMoose pronouncing faaht

How about bachelorette party & bachelor party or hen party and stag do?

I totally forgot about that! What on earth prompted me to do that?
Yes - we have hen party and stag night. In Aussie they have a buck's night.

 

[justjacqui]

In Australia we just shorten words often adding a "o" on the end of the word and make every sentence sound like a question!

For example "Robbo went to the footy this arvo" means Robert went to the football game this afternoon.

We also say "lollies" rather than "candy" and aluminium rather than aluminum.

 

[VikingChick]

do throw everyone off when I say pop for soda.

But it is POP! (Says the one with proud midwestern roots)

Hotdish or casserole?

When I first moved to the big city after a sheltered upbringing in South Dakota, a very heterogenous culture of Scandahoovian Lutherans, my coworker always said a certain word under her breath so I thought she was cursing. I won't tell you how long I thoiught "chicharrones" was a swear word.

We have family in Norfolk, Virginia. They tell me I mispronounce it when I say Nore-foLk (I pronounce the F, O, L, K.)

DYING at all of this! I’ve mentioned before that I’m Iowa-born and then lived in Minnehota for many years…..IT’S CASSEROLE! (Lol, typed with emphasis for the benefit of those who never lived in the upper Midwest and therefore may not appreciate the importance of this debate!) But my mom is from Chicago (that’s Chi-CAW-go FTR) so my heritage is not MN at all.

and….my husband was born in Norf—k. Excuse me, what??..

 

[KiwiMoose]

Never even heard of hotdish until now. But I do know what a casserole is.

@Zing - In the east end of London ( where I lived for almost 10 years) they would say wash your 'ands, or wash yourands. They don't pronouce the H, but an r sound is always pronouced ( as in NZ English ) if the word actually ends in the letter R and is followed by a vowel. Examples:
"Move the car forward" becomes "move the cah fohwood". No Rs are where they should be according to spelling.
"Move the car away" becomes "move the caaraway" (not pronounced as you would the seeds!). Now we DO pronounce the R because it is followed by a vowel. This is the same principle as the 'intrusive R' I talked about earlier. An R is always placed between a word ending in a vowel and a word starting in a vowel.

 

[Zing]

DYING at all of this! I’ve mentioned before that I’m Iowa-born and then lived in Minnehota for many years…..IT’S CASSEROLE! (Lol, typed with emphasis for the benefit of those who never lived in the upper Midwest and therefore may not appreciate the importance of this debate!) But my mom is from Chicago (that’s Chi-CAW-go FTR) so my heritage is not MN at all.

and….my husband was born in Norf—k. Excuse me, what??..

I'm also dying -- you have roots in Iowa AND Minnesota AND Norfolk AND ChiCAWgo!?

Never even heard of hotdish until now. But I do know what a casserole is.

@Zing - In the east end of London ( where I lived for almost 10 years) they would say wash your 'ands, or wash yourands. They don't pronouce the H, but an r sound is always pronouced ( as in NZ English ) if the word actually ends in the letter R and is followed by a vowel. Examples:
"Move the car forward" becomes "move the cah fohwood". No Rs are where they should be according to spelling.
"Move the car away" becomes "move the caaraway" (not pronounced as you would the seeds!). Now we DO pronounce the R because it is followed by a vowel. This is the same principle as the 'intrusive R' I talked about earlier. An R is always placed between a word ending in a vowel and a word starting in a vowel.

Okay, Ms. Masters in Linguistics: Explain why Rs get inserted where they shouldn't and ignored where they should? Poor Rs....

And for the record, Mrs. Zing thinks I'm a hot dish. Just sayin'

I am experiencing off the charts professional and personal stress and am so thankful to check in here. Thanks for keeping me sane!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Okay, Ms. Masters in Linguistics: Explain why Rs get inserted where they shouldn't and ignored where they should? Poor Rs....

It's a form of blending/linking, to make it easier for it to roll of the tongue ( that's for intrusive Rs). Whey you lot say ..bra on... it has a pause between the two words which is difficult to do. So by putting the r in there you can roll from one to other.
It's why we also say donchoo or doncha. The T sound blends wiht the Y to make the ch. It's also why we say 'jew' instead of due ( you say doo). The D sound links wiht the y sound of yoo to make djoo. The british would say dyoo. you lot say doo.

Frank Sinatra would say Doo be doo be doo...

 

[Shelley D]

@Zing the local pronunciation of Norfolk is Nor-f...ck.

Yep, I just wasn't sure how to type that!
And Staunton is Stanton, if I remember correctly

 

[CecileBC]

And when you're foreign, trying to learn and understand English - we learn British English in France - thinking you've mastered a good part of it, so deciding it's time to see the world, and landing in Ireland first, then America, then Australia and finally India....
I'll always remember my Irish friend "Shee-von" written Siobhan... (I read See O Ban...)
Australia was fun with all sentences ending with your voice raised as a question (I went to the beach yesterday..?)
America: we are told by teachers that we should speak as if having a hot potato in your mouth
And India with rolled "r"s just like some of us in France...
So much fun ! But definitely some very lonely times upon arrival !!!

 

[Shelley D]

This is very interesting. I'm from Alberta Canada. I've trained myself out of saying "eh" for the most part (though I slip sometimes). I do catch myself occasionally saying something with an Albertan accent or even a bit from the east which is heavily influenced by the gaelic people that moved there. I couldn't point out exactly where but I know it when I hear it.

Here's the thing, I've been living in Louisiana since 2008. so I've noticed that sometimes I say things the way they do down here. I've started saying y'all. My sister says I've picked up a bit of a southern accent.

It depends where in the south you are and who you are talking to. Some have lived here their whole lives and sound like they're from the north. Some speak in a long round about drawl that I find maddening because it takes them forever to say things . Things like "make some groceries" rather than "buy some groceries". Purrn-sill instead of pencil. Er-ange instead or Orange. That sort of thing. It's much more likely to hear that kind of speech from one of the ghettos than other area.
Then you also have the coon*** (don't worry, none that I've ever met that live out in the swamps care if you refer to them that way. They wear it as a badge of honor). They are extremely cajun and very difficult to understand (at least for me) with a very heavy acadian french accent that's been influenced by some local cherokee and a dash of british english. I find the words tend to be mumbled or drawn together in one long sentence without pauses. Most southern is influenced by drawn out words with a slight nasal sound.

Oh yes, those Cajuns are something else! My step-dad is from down around those parts and could understand some of it but he speaks lazy southern, soft & slow. I worked at a truck stop yeeeeaaaars ago and a traveling family of about 5 vehicles came through to gas up and when they came in to pay I just stared at them I had taken French class in high school and had lived south of the Mason-Dixon for about 6 years but I couldn't understand one word coming out of their mouths. My boss came out to help and afterwards said they speak Cajun, it's like French. I said that was not at all French! I could speak with Canadians but I could never understand Cajuns!

It's a form of blending/linking, to make it easier for it to roll of the tongue ( that's for intrusive Rs). Whey you lot say ..bra on... it has a pause between the two words which is difficult to do. So by putting the r in there you can roll from one to other.
It's why we also say donchoo or doncha. The T sound blends wiht the Y to make the ch. It's also why we say 'jew' instead of due ( you say doo). The D sound links wiht the y sound of yoo to make djoo. The british would say dyoo. you lot say doo.

Frank Sinatra would say Doo be doo be doo...

That's a perfect explanation! Funny thing is, my Romanian hubby learned English from watching TV and movies so he learned "actor English", which is kinda like speech therapy English, proper pauses and annunciation. He has been in the states for over 30 years and can still speak better English than most people ~ even picks on me for my "backwoods" accent

 

[KiwiMoose]

I know! My relatives correct me.
*clutches pearls

Y'all know you can write Norfuck on here and it doesn't change to kitten love right?

 

[NewlyCreative]

America: we are told by teachers that we should speak as if having a hot potato in your mouth

I’m trying to picture this and failing badly. Can you give an example, lol?

 

[Kiti Williams]

I hale from Pittsburgh, PA. Things we call by a different name or slur. Gumbands = Rubber bands, Dippy Eggs = Sunny Side Up Eggs, Spitit = Faucet, Dahn Tawn = Down Town, Jumbo = Ballony (sliced deli meat), Red Up = Clean or Tidy Up.