Where do you think Standard American English is spoken?

General American   Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:58 am GMT
In which state/area General American is spoken?

And of the major cities in the United states, where do you think Standard American English is spoken?

<Major cities: NYC, LA, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Dallas and San Diego>
Guessed   Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:01 am GMT
Pretty much all of them?
Kaeops   Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:00 am GMT
NYC: no, (only by some New Yorkers with Cali-influence: Lady Gaga, Brooke Shields)
LA: yes (except for Valley Girls, but SF Valley is not really a part of the city of LA)
Chicago: no way
Washington DC: no way
Boston: no (only by some Bostonians who merge cot/caught to the unrounded /A/ and are rhotic)
Philadelphia: no
Atlanta: no
San Francisco: yes (expect for people born before 1920ies who are not cot/caught merged and sound like people from Back East)
Seattle: yes
Houston/Dallas: no (but some people, especially young: yes)
San Diego: yes


But, the most standard English is still in the
West: Denver, Phoenix, Vegas, Tucson, Salt Lake City, Sacramento...
Vinlander   Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:33 pm GMT
Canada
mati:   Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:14 pm GMT
canada. they obviously mastered english better eh?

kaeops, most of the SF valley *is* the city of LA. The only non part of LA in the valley are the cities of Burbank and San Fernando, which are on the outer fringe of the valley anyways.

i think standard american is mostly confined to the news now. if it was places where it was spoken by the majority, i wouldn't consider any of those major cities, denver/vegas/salt lake city perhaps
Grape   Sat Feb 13, 2010 8:06 pm GMT
I think denver
Uriel   Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:19 pm GMT
In most of the country, except for the South, NY/NJ, and New England. (And you will even find many speakers there as well, or people who come close.)
Jayjay   Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:22 pm GMT
South Central LA dawg
Kess   Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:13 pm GMT
dv   Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:57 pm GMT
So if I was from Denver, and moved to Columbus, Ohio, would people say: you sound just like a native Colombian? Or how about if I moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Or would they say: you sound a little different than people from here?
kevin   Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:20 pm GMT
Ohio:

Cleveland, Toledo: Norther Cities Vowel Shift
Columbus: Cot / Caught Merger in process
Cincinnati: Southern accent