America has dialects too

[beloitpiper]

I was at a bar with a friend of mine from Alaska. Another friend of ours, from Ohio, commented on how our accents sound the same. Well, of course we disagreed, and then today my Alaskan friend sent me this link:

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/

It's a neat little website about region varieties of American English. There have been threads about British, Scottish, and Irish varieties, but I want to point out the linguistic flavors that we enjoy in the US. Unfortunately, they leave out a lot of big ones (Boston, Yupper, Upper New England, etc.) but it gives you a good overview.

Check out the site, and explore all of the links on the page. There's a lot of great stuff. The DARE section is a place to listen and compare the different accents. (I've been told mine is halfway between the Superior, WI and the Chicago, IL accent.)

[Bugbear]

It's true! There are all kinds of dialects here in the States. I remember something in the back of my mind from college about how there are dialects in a couple of southern areas that have closer dialects to the English spoken by those of Shakespeare's time, than modern British English. Can't recall the exact locations, but it may have been on islands off the East coast.

[O'Callaghan]

It's true! There are all kinds of dialects here in the States. I remember something in the back of my mind from college about how there are dialects in a couple of southern areas that have closer dialects to the English spoken by those of Shakespeare's time, than modern British English. Can't recall the exact locations, but it may have been on islands off the East coast.

As an Englishman living in Maryland, the Eastern Shore accent, and particularly as spoken on Smith Island and Tangier Island, does sound English in places. Mind you, I've never been to those islands, the nearest I've got was watching Maryland Public Television! Smith is in Maryland and Tangier just below it in Virginia ... or is it the other way around?

Baltimore accents are also different from anywhere else in the state, very distinctive. Perhaps it's the Irish influence, it's named after Baltimore, County Cork, after all. I can pick out several distinct accents within Maryland, even though I'm not a native. I've lived here a long while, though.

Back home in England, with luck I could tell you roughly what part of London someone came from by listening to them speak, North or South of the river and East or West. Accents vary over short distances in some places.

I have to be careful not to blend the cockney with the Southern Maryland accent, as the result is something that I don't think anyone can understand atall!

[Southern Breeze]

Don't forget the South!
Here's a little help for everyone that's not from here.
http://c4vct.com/kym/humor/soutspek.htm

[castledangerous]

Baltimore accents are also different from anywhere else in the state, very distinctive. Perhaps it's the Irish influence, it's named after Baltimore, County Cork, after all. I can pick out several distinct accents within Maryland, even though I'm not a native. I've lived here a long while, though.

From Wikipedia:

"The city is named after Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, the founding proprietor of the Maryland Colony. Baltimore himself took his title from a place in Bornacoola parish, County Leitrim and County Longford, Ireland.[11] Baltimore is an anglicized form of the Irish Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning "Town of the Big House",[12] not to be confused with Baltimore, County Cork."

[Bigkahuna]

It's true! There are all kinds of dialects here in the States. I remember something in the back of my mind from college about how there are dialects in a couple of southern areas that have closer dialects to the English spoken by those of Shakespeare's time, than modern British English. Can't recall the exact locations, but it may have been on islands off the East coast.

Ocracoke Island near Cape Hatteras has a very distinct accent that they kid about.. " Hoi toide on the soun soide" is even the name of a book about their speech.

[Standard]

Thanks for the link Beloit. Different dialects have always interested me. It's amazing how quickly some people can pick up a new dialect and accent when they are immersed in a new area. Children especially are quick to pick up new speech patterns.

[Spc. Scott]

For an excellent example of an American dialect may I direct you attention to Pittsburgh, PA. Yinz guys will love it.

Have a go at it!

[Spartan]

A few years ago I attended at meeting in San Francisco. I was engaged in a conversation with some local college men when one of them mentioned my being from Michigan. "Did I say I was from Michigan?" No, but you speak like my dad and all of my uncles who grew up there. I asked where they grew up. It turned out to be a town very near my home town in NE Michigan. Their school was in our athletic conference. I haven't lived in Michigan since I graduated from college (Michigan State University).

[Bugbear]

Out here in the Phoenix area we have so many people who have moved from out of state and even country that you can find all kinds of dialects from people living right next to each other. I'm not sure we have an Arizona, or Phoenix, dialect. I know for sure the different tribes out here have different dialects of English, though.