Anyone from the West?

A   Wed May 02, 2007 4:12 am GMT
Where is the dividing line between "tomOhrrow' and "tomahrrow"? According to Shatnerian, t--Oh-row has been almost completely subplanted by t--ah--row in southern Washington and Oregon, which I have also noticed. But where is the isogloss line? How about in Idaho? Do people in the Northern portion of the Idaho panhandle pronounce it the former way, and other people the latter? And how about Montana and Wyoming? I know it's the -ah- form exclusively in California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, but what about Utah and Colorado? I heard someone from Colorado use the -oh- form.
Jim   Wed May 02, 2007 4:33 am GMT
Yeah, I'm from the western half of the Pacific Rim.
Shatnerian   Wed May 02, 2007 7:09 am GMT
This is a very good question. I don't know anyone from the northern part of Idaho, but the people I have known from Boise, Twin Falls, etc. say "tomAHrrow".

Utah is pretty much without a doubt in the "tomAHrrow" category. It is not uncommon for some Utah natives to throw the "a" sound in words such as "born" and "Orem". It should also be noted that some switch the "a" in words such as "barn" to more of an "o" sound. Therefore, someone from a rural area in Southern Utah might say, "I was BARN in a BORN".

Colorado is random in a lot of different ways. I once knew a guy from Colorado Springs, and he would always say "tomAHrrow". Of course, he had an almost southern sound to his voice. Denver is sort of a mix, but based on my experiences, it seems that women from Denver have more of an "accent" than men. With that said, I have only heard "tomOHrrow" from Denver females that were obviously born before 1970. It could be that it was once the normal pronunciation and is now dying out.

Montana and Wyoming seem to have similar accents. I once knew a guy from Laramie, WY, and he would always say "tomOHrrow". Of course, he had been living in the NW for a few years, so it may have been something he picked up after moving. I have never been to Wyoming, but I have been through Montana, and at that time, I wasn't able to take note of their "tomorrow" pronunciation. Perhaps a Montana or Wyoming native could help us out here. With that said, someone needs to do an accent study in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc. It seems that the information available online is very limited.
Uriel   Fri May 04, 2007 3:29 am GMT
Like you said, i've never heard anything but "toMAHrrow" here in New Mexico.
Guest   Fri May 04, 2007 4:08 am GMT
I say "toMUHrrow".
Guest   Fri May 04, 2007 4:29 am GMT
Is New Mexico a country or American state?
Guest   Fri May 04, 2007 4:51 am GMT
>> Is New Mexico a country or American state? <<

An American state by Texas and Arizona.
Kess   Fri May 04, 2007 11:11 am GMT
why do you think there is an isogloss?
I've heard many Southerners pronouncing ON [Qn] instead of ON [An]
and vice versa...
Will Smith pronounces SORRY with [Q] (and not [A]).
He is from PA.
Furthermore, I've heard many Canadians using [A] in tomorrow, sorry.
See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqofcN41zU
A   Fri May 04, 2007 2:55 pm GMT
>> TomOhrrow is only Canadian pronunciation as far as I know. Most people in the United States and even England pronounce it "tomahrrow." <<

Brennus, I thought you lived in Washington?? Ask anyone that was born and raised in Washington and has never lived anywhere else how they pronounce tomorrow (but don't pronounce it for them first to influence how they say it.) I'm almost certain that at least 70% of them will pronounce it like "tomohrrow". (I've only met two people from Washington that pronounce it tomahrow. If someone does say "tomahrow", I always immediately ask them where they're from.)

>> Furthermore, I've heard many Canadians using [A] in tomorrow, sorry.
See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqofcN41zU <<

Yeah, when they are trying to put on what they think of is a General American accent, or when they go to Florida during the winter every year.

>> why do you think there is an isogloss? <<

Well an isogloss doesn't mean that everyone inside of the line pronounce it one way and everyone outside the line pronounces it the other way, but it does mean that the vast majority does. The reason that I believe there is an isogloss, is because I've *never* in my whole life heard someone that was born and raised (and lived all their life) in California, Arizona or New Mexico, say tomorrow with anything but with the "ah". And I've only met *two* people who were native Washingtonians (born, raised, and lived all their life) who say tomahrow. That tends to indicate an isogloss...
Travis   Fri May 04, 2007 3:08 pm GMT
>>There is a third pronunciation, however, "t'marruh" which is heard in the Maryland / Washington D.C. area. It's also found among some Irish speakers of English . However, this similarity between the Maryland and Irish pronunciations is probably due to a shared type of English sometime in the past, in the British Isles, not any Irish immigration in Maryland (which actually wasn't very much).<<

I not too infrequently use such a pronunciation, [tm=:"A:R7:] or ["tmA:R7:], due to the reduction or elision of the vowel in the first syllable (which is actually very common in North American English) combined with the tendency of very unstressed /o/ to sometimes unround in my dialect. Note that this pronunciation is likely unconnected with the Maryland or Irish pronunciations that you mention, aside from the reduction/elision of the first vowel likely being of common origin.