Boston accent phonology
Phonological Characteristics of Boston Accents
All
phonetic transcriptions in
X-SAMPA, for example:
- how are you? \\ho"wa:j@\\
Deletion of post-vocalic \\r`\\
- \\Ar`\\ fronted to \\a:\\, which may be centralized. Back Bay, Boston speakers may substitute \\{:\\ for \\Ar`\\.\n**park your car \\pak j1 ka:\\\n**carton \\ka:?=n\\\n*stressed \\3`\\ ("er") to \\Y\\, sometimes; \\3`\\ often retained, though\n**third \\T@\\d\\\n**certain \\sY?=n\\\n*unstressed \\@`\\ in medial position may become \\1\\ or \\@\\\\ (northern Medford, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, etc.)\n**weird \\wi1d}\n**Medford \\mEdf1d\\ (North shore: \\mEdf@\\)\n**numbers \\nVmb1z\\\n**rear-view \\ri1vju\\ or \\re@vju\\\n*final \\@`\\ is usually \\6\\ after consonant clusters or closed vowels, \\@\\ otherwise\n**capture \\kQpS6\\\n**New Hampshire \\nu h{~pS6\\\n**color \\kVl@\\ or \\kVl6\\\n**bubbler (water-fountain) \\bVbl@\\ or \\bVbl6\\
Liaison of \\r`\\ between words
- Linking of deleted r if the following word begins with a vowel; intrusive 'r' in words ending with central or open vowels, seldom at sentence-final position\n**Examples (McCarthy93, see Reference):\n***The spar is broken. \\D@ spar`Iz\\\n***The spa is broken. \\D@ spar`Iz\\\n***Wanda arrived. \\wOnd@`r`@r`aIvd\\\n***Homer arrived. \\hoUm@`r`@r`aIvd\\\n***You're older. \\j1r`old6\\\n***You're somewhat older. \\j1 sVmwV4old6\\\n**In McCarthy93, intrusive 'r' doesn't occur in "function words": Transcriptions slightly modified from McCarthy93\n***We're supposed to eat now. \\we@ s@poUst1 i? naU\\\n***I'm gonna ask Adrian. \\aIm gVnE {sk\\...
Diphthongs
- Gen.Am. \\i@`r`\\ (beer) becomes \\i@\\ or \\i@\\\n*Gen.Am. \\e@`r`\\ (bear) becomes \\e@\\ or sometimes \\E@\\\n*Gen.Am. \\o@`r`\\ (bore) becomes \\o@\\or \\O6\\\n*tonic \\tO@nIk\\
Vowels
- \\A\\, \\O\\ : cop, shot, job.\n*\\V\\ : current \\kVr`@nt\\, flourish\n*\\O\\ : saw, dawn, law\n*\\o\\ usually pure and not diphthongized\n*Mary \\m{r`i\\\n*merry \\mer`i\\ or \\mEr`i\\\n*marry \\m{:r`i\\ or \\m3:r`i\\
Shift from \\N\\ to \\n\\ in verb endings
- In lower-class speech, shift from \\IN\\ to \\3n\\
Lowering of \\{\\ in some words
- aunt \\a_"nt\\\n*bath \\ba_"T\\ or \\baT\\\n*ask \\a_"sk\\\n*Others: laugh, pass, rather, calf, half, can't
Insertion of \\v\\\\ before \\r`\\
- Some speakers from the north shore sometimes insert \\v\\\\ in such words as\n**really \\v\\r`e@li\\\n**remember \\v\\@mE~b@\\
\nAntepenultimate syllable
\nWords stressed on antepenultimate (third-from-the-end) syllable (principal, economical, certificate) may have voiced final consonant (marked in bold in the examples above)
- economical \\Ek@nOm@g@l\\
Other phenomena (to be confirmed)
- potatoes \\p@4e4@z\\\n*Somerville \\sVmO~vo5\\\n*Final \\s\\ may be voiced\n*mine (as in "It's mine!") \\maI@n\\\n*Final unstressed \\1d\\ may be voiceless ("wicked", etc)\n*Older phenomenon: outside \\aUntsaId\\ or \\aU~tsaId\\\n*Infrequent: \\h\\ inserted in vowel-initial position
\nReferences
See also
Distinguishing accents in English
Category:English language\nCategory:Boston
