| New England English | |
|---|---|
| Region | New England |
Early forms | |
| Dialects | Eastern New England English,Western New England English |
| Latin (English alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
New England English is, collectively, the various distinct dialects and varieties ofAmerican English originating in theNew England area.[1][2] Most of eastern and central New England once spoke the "Yankee dialect", some of whose accent features still remain in Eastern New England today, such as"R-dropping" (though this and other features are now receding among younger speakers).[3] Accordingly, one linguistic division of New England is intoEastern versusWestern New England English, as defined in the 1939Linguistic Atlas of New England[4] and the 2006Atlas of North American English (ANAE). The ANAE further argues for a division between Northern versus Southern New England English, especially on the basis of thecot–caught merger and/ɑr/fronting (applying twice, for example, in the phrasePark the car). The ANAE also categorizes the strongest differentiated New England accents into four combinations of the above dichotomies, simply defined as follows:
New England English is not a single American dialect, but a collective term for a number of dialects and varieties that are close geographic neighbors within New England, but which differ on a spectrum that broadly divides New England English into a unique north versus south (specifically, a northern merger of theLOT andTHOUGHT vowels, versus a southern merger of theLOT andPALM vowels), as well as a unique east versus west (specifically, an easternpronunciation of the "r" sound only before vowels, versus a western pronunciation of all "r" sounds). Regarding the former feature, all of northern New England (most famously including Boston, but going as far southeast asCape Cod and as far north as central Maine) historically merges theopen andopen-mid back rounded vowels (so that, for instance,pond andpawned are pronounced the same, which is commonly called thecot–caught merger), while southern coastal New England (includingRhode Island) historically maintains a noticeable distinction between these two vowels. Regarding the second feature, all of Eastern New England is historically non-rhotic (famously pronouncing "car" like "kah"), while all of Western New England is historically rhotic (or "r-ful"). Therefore, four combinations of these two features are possible, and coincidentally all four exist among New England English speakers, largely correlated with the exact geographic quadrant in New England in which a speaker was raised.
All of New Englandraises the tongue in the first element of thediphthong/aɪ/ beforevoiceless consonants, sowriter has araised vowel, with this often being its only distinguishing feature versusrider. Eastern New England, specifically, also raises the first element of/aʊ/ before voiceless consonants (commonly known asCanadian raising).[8]
The local dialects of New England are also known for commonly pronouncing theunstressed sequences/tɪŋ/ and/tən/ (for example, found in "sitting"/ˈsɪtɪŋ/ or "Britain"/ˈbrɪtən/) with aglottal[ʔn̩]. While this form oft-glottalization (especially the/tən/ form) is found throughout the country (typical U.S. pronunciation of "mountain" as [ˈmaʊnʔn̩]ⓘ), a realization with a fullschwa vowel[ʔən] is also a variant sometimes observed particularly among New Englanders, with reportings for instance in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.[9] It may, however, be a younger pronunciation variant nationwide (also reported in places as diverse as Utah, California, and New Jersey).[10]
The extent that speakers raise the tongue in the "shorta" vowel, orTRAP vowel, varies in New England; however, across the board, New Englanders demonstrate a definite "nasal" short-a system, in which the vowel is always raised the absolute strongest whenever occurring before the nasal consonants/m/ and/n/ (so that,pan, for example, nearly approaches the sound of the wordpaeanⓘ).[11] In all of New England except Rhode Island, the shorta may also be somewhat raised in many other environments, similar to theGreat Lakes region.[12]
The lack of theweak vowel merger is a feature of more traditional New England English, makingLenin/ˈlɛnɪn/ distinct fromLennon/ˈlɛnən/, andrabbit/ˈræbɪt/ fail to rhyme withabbott/ˈæbət/. Contrarily, inGeneral American English, the first two words are homophonous as[ˈlɛnɨn], whereas the latter two words are perfect rhymes:[ˈɹæbɨt,ˈæbɨt].[13]
Certain words have a tendency to use distinctphonemes when compared against the rest of the country: for example,aunt as/ɑːnt/, the nounroute as/ruːt/, andsyrup as/ˈsiːrəp/.
The following terms originate from and are used commonly and nearly exclusively throughout New England:
As in the rest of the Northeast,sneakers is the primary term forathletic shoes,tractor trailer forsemi-trailer truck,cellar is a common alternative forbasement,brook is common forstream, andsoda is any sweet and bubbly non-alcoholic drink, though there are still some remnants of the older "tonic". Many Boston-originating local terms have dispersed throughout Eastern New England and, prominently, all the rest of Massachusetts.
Eastern New England English encompassesBoston andMaine accents, and, according to some definitions, the distinct Rhode Island accent. All Eastern New England English is famous for non-rhoticity, meaning it drops ther sound everywhere except before a vowel: thus, in words likecar,card,fear, andchowder (listenⓘ). The phrasePark the car in Harvard Yard—dialectally transcribed[pʰakðəˈkʰaɹ‿ɪnˈhavədˈjad]—is commonly used as ashibboleth, or speech indicator, for the non-rhotic Eastern New England dialect running from Boston north to Maine, and as far west asWorcester, which contrasts with the rhotic dialects in Western New England and the vast remainder of North America.[17] In all of Eastern New England except Rhode Island, words likecaught andcot are pronounced identically (both are often rounded, thus:[kʰɒt]ⓘ), because those two vowel sounds have fully merged.[18] A phenomenon calledCanadian raising occurs throughout Eastern New England, causingwriter to have a different stressed vowel sound thanrider, and, particularly unique, for the verbhouse to have a different vowel sound than the nounhouse. The vowels/aʊ/ and/u/ have relatively back starting positions. Thehorse–hoarse distinction is still present to some extent in some areas, as well as theMary–marry–merry distinction.[19]
Western New England English encompasses the accents of Vermont, western Massachusetts, and Connecticut. They are largely perceived asGeneral American accents in the following five ways. They are fully rhotic, meaning allr sounds are pronounced,/aʊ/ and/u/ have slightly fronted starting positions, and the Mary–marry–merry merger and horse–hoarse merger are fully complete. Western New England English exhibits the entire continuum of possibilities regarding thecot–caught merger: a full merger is heard in its northern reaches (namely, Vermont), a full distinction at its southern reaches (namely, coastal Connecticut), and a transitional area in the middle.[20] Western New England English is closely related to and possibly influential on, but more conservative (i.e. preserving more historical features) than, theInland North dialect which prevails farther west along the Great Lakes,[21] and which has altered away from Western New England English due to an entirelynew chain shift of the vowels since the 20th century. Some Western New England English speakers do have some of this shift's features, though it is not yet fully understood if and how New England directly influenced the Inland North dialect region.[22]
Age: 34, Providence, Rhode Island male Caucasian
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