The rich variety of accents we use here in New England has always fascinated me. Neither of my folks were from Massachusetts, so I grew up speaking with a far more generic sounding accent than I would have otherwise, however there's enough Yankee-speak in me that most people from elsewhere can peg me as a Bostonian in moments. Eventually, in college at UC Berkeley I had my Boston accent almost entirely teased out of me. Children can be so cruel. Sniff sniff.
This week our friends at Bostion's WBUR's "Radio Boston" broadcast a superb episode about the whys and wherefores of the great varieties of accents in Eastern Massachusetts.
[Bonus #1: Name the park in which the photo at the top of this post was taken.]
[Bonus #2: Name the architect who designed the blue-glass building at the center of the photograph.]
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Oh, fun, it's my geographical trek in reverse. I just moved out to Boston from Berkeley, and I'm worried that in a year or so I'll start talking like I grew up a block over from Havahd Yahd. I guess I'm just going to have to learn how to embrace Beantown and its wicked local flavor.
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Public Garden. Frederick Law Olmsted.
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There was a video about a girl talking several accents. I can´t remember if it was published here.
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Forgot to mention: I'm from Texas. :) But I don't have much of an accent compared to other natives, unless I'm around friends from the northeast, then my "drawl" stands out.
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People who aren't from the South US seem to have trouble discerning between different Southern accents (a Texan does not sound like a Georgian, who doesn't sound like a South Carolinian). But I'll admit that I have trouble distinguishing northeastern accents one from another.
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