XVI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2024

Geographical description of the New York accent

The accent is not spoken in the rest of New York State beyond the immediate New York City metropolitan area. Specifically, the upper Hudson Valley mixes New York City and Western New England accent features, while Central and Western New York belong to the same dialect region as Great Lakes cities such as Chicago and Detroit, a dialect region known as the Inland North.

New York City English is confined to a geographically small but densely populated area of New York State including all five boroughs of New York City as well as many parts of Long Island; the dialect region spans all of Nassau County and some of Suffolk County. Moreover, the English of the Hudson Valley forms a continuum of speakers who gather more features of New York City English the closer they are to the city itself; some of the dialect's features may be heard as far north as the state capital of Albany.

History of the emergence and development of the accent.

The New York accent, or rather, the many New York City accents, are a product of the city’s rich history and melting pot of cultures. From the early days of Dutch and European settlers to the waves of immigration from countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany, each group has left its mark on the way New Yorkers speak. The resulting blend of dialects and languages formed the basis of New York City English, a unique linguistic identity that continues to evolve.

One of the most distinctive features of the New York City accent is the way it handles the consonant “R.” Known as non-rhoticity, this pronunciation pattern omits the “R” sound when it comes before a consonant, a trait shared with some other American accents like the Boston accent. The New York accent’s nasality is another striking aspect, with some theories suggesting that the nasal quality developed as a way for speakers to be heard more clearly over the city’s background noise.

The music of the New York accent can vary greatly depending on the speaker’s background. For instance, an Italian New Yorker’s accent might be punchy, while a Jewish New Yorker could employ a lot of pitch changes. These variations in accent and speech patterns make the New York accent a fascinating and diverse linguistic phenomenon.

Distinctive accent features (vowels)

Cot-caught distinction: The /ɔ/ sound (as in words like talk, law, cross, and coffee) and the often similar /ɔr/ sound in words like core and more are emphasized and raised more compared to General American pronunciation. The distinction from the /ɑ/ sound in words like lot, dot, bot, and hot is maintained.

Father-bother variability: Speaker variable exists in retaining three different low back vowels: LOT [ɑ], PALM [ɒ (ə)], and THOUGHT [oə]. Consequently, words like father and bother do not rhyme as they do in many other American accents.

Short-a split system: New York City English employs a complex short-a split system, where words with the "short a" sound can be divided into two categories. Words like badge, class, lag, mad, and pan are pronounced differently from words like bat, clang, lack, map, and patch. The former seat raises and tenses the historical /æ/ vowel to an in gliding [ɛə~eə], oror even [ɪə], while the latter set retains the lax and low-front [æ] sound.

Conservative /oʊ/ and /u/: The vowels /oʊ/ and /u/ generally do not undergo fronting. /oʊ/ remains [oʊ] without significant fronting, while /u/ as in GOOSE is a back vowel [u] or [ʊu], with some potential fronting following a coronal consonant.

Backed /aɪ/ and fronted /aʊ/: The /aɪ/ diphthong typically has a back vowel [ɑ‌~ɑ] or [ɒ] nucleus, while the /aʊ/ diphthong has a front vowel [æ~a] nucleus. Fronted /aʊ/ and backed /aɪ/ are more common among younger speakers, women, and the working and lower middle classes.

Pre-/r/ distinctions: New York accents maintain distinctions in words like Mary, marry, and merry, where the vowels do not merge. Similar distinctions exist in furry, hurry, and words like orange, horrible, Florida, and forest. The stressed vowel is pronounced as /ɒ/ or /ɑ/, unlike in other American accents.

Distinctive features of accent (consonants)

Consonantal features of the New York City accent include:

Pronunciation of /r/: The /r/ sound is typically postalveolar [ɹ‌] and often strongly labialised [ɹ‌ʷ] when it appears as the first consonant in a syllable.

Rhoticity: The traditional New York City accent is non-rhotic, but modern variations often feature rhoticity to varying degrees, with linking and intrusive R sounds.

Laminal alveolar consonants: Consonants like /t/, /d/, /n/, and /l/ may be articulated with the tongue blade rather than the tip, and /t/ and /d/ are sometimes pronounced with the tongue touching the teeth instead of the alveolar ridge.

Usage of "dark L": The New York City accent typically uses the "dark L" [ɫ] sound, including in initial positions.

Distinctive accent features (super-segmental level)

The New York accent at the supersyllabic level has several distinctive features including:

1. Non-rhoticity: A New York accent is usually characterised by the absence of the pronunciation of "r" at the end of words or before consonants, which distinguishes it from, for example, a British accent.

2. Vowel merger: In some cases, vowel sounds may merge, making them sound similar to each other by ear, especially to speakers of other dialects.

3. Nasalisation (nasal pronunciation): Nasal pronunciation of vowel sounds is also a fairly common feature of the New York accent.

4. Low back vowels: New York accent speakers often have a distinctive pronunciation of low back vowels, which gives their speech a distinctive sound.

These features combine to make the New York accent different from other dialects in the English language.

Stereotypes of accent perception

New York accents are often associated with various stereotypes, both positive and negative. Some of these may include:

1. Harsh and rough pronunciation: New York accents are often associated with rough and straightforward pronunciation, which can give the impression of being unpleasant or even aggressive.

2. Energetic and lively: New York accent speakers may be perceived as energetic, lively and assertive, which is related to the lifestyle in this city.

3. Stereotypes about social affiliation: A New York accent can conjure up associations with certain social groups or neighbourhoods, which can lead to stereotyping of people.

4. Identification with different ethnic groups: There are many diverse ethnic groups in the country and this can be reflected in the dialect and pronunciation of people from New York.

5. Intellectual status: On the contrary, some people may associate the New York accent with intelligent and educated people, because the city is a cultural and economic centre.

Bibliography

1. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-New-York-accent David Friedman

2. https://www.voices.com/blog/new-york-accent/#where-does-the-new-yorker-accent-come-from Tara Parachuk

3. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/New_York_accent

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