An Accent Of New Jersey!????

Tiffany   Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:28 am GMT
Me two.
Jay   Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:37 am GMT
According to a linguistic map, I live in an area where the Western NE, NYC, and Midland dialectal regions meet, so I have features from all those regions. I pronounce cot and caught differently, as well as Mary, marry, and merry.
Chad   Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:20 pm GMT
we say things in jersey like this


\"we dont get no sno down at da shore\"
\"i like da wooter rom dat crik\"
\"
Matt....   Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:17 am GMT
I live in Jurzey.... I don't have a huge accent but if there is ONE big difference its what we call water...... woo-der =D
JerseyDevil   Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:11 am GMT
Cee,

Apparently you have never been to New Jersey and only saw TV shows that depict an exaggerated version of the accent. If you knew this state then you would know we have a few regional accents. And noone in NJ says "New Joisy" .... if anything that's in the boroughs of NYC ... Only the area in NJ bordering NYC has a slight NY accent ... and it's funny how the rest of the U.S. thinks NJ is a dump and an ugly industrial waste ... apart from a small area on the NJ Turpike near Newark Airport this state is actually very beautiful, wooded and historical ... and we have some of the best beachs on the East Coast!!! On top of that the people here are stylish and hot !!!!!!!!!!
Anitasol   Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:57 pm GMT
All of you linguists maybe can help me. For a beginning Linguistics course I’m supposed to give the phonetic pronounciation of my name. I grew up in Morris County, New Jersey, before it was suburban, and the nearest I can come is [æynitɘ]. I draw my lips back for the initial ‘A’ and the sound is quite close to the long e sound as in beet. Is this common in New Jersey?
Josh Lalonde   Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:45 pm GMT
<<All of you linguists maybe can help me. For a beginning Linguistics course I’m supposed to give the phonetic pronounciation of my name. I grew up in Morris County, New Jersey, before it was suburban, and the nearest I can come is [æynitɘ]. I draw my lips back for the initial ‘A’ and the sound is quite close to the long e sound as in beet. Is this common in New Jersey?>>

I'm not a linguist, but I think I know what you're talking about. This is called æ-tensing (ae ligature if you can't see that first letter). Basically, the sound /{/ (as in 'hat') is raised in certain situations. I don't knos exactly what it is in New Jersey, but for me, this occurs to varying degrees before nasals and /g/. In New York, it occurs with a few more consonants than this, but only when they are in the same syllable as /{/.
As for your transcription, if you're using IPA, I think you've made a mistake. The symbol /y/ in IPA represents a front rounded vowel, sort of like half-way between 'ee' and 'oo'. If your æ-tensing is similar to mine, then your name is probably closer to [e@.ni.t@] or [eə.ni.tə]. However, the name 'Anita' is usually pronounced in English with the stress on the second syllable, which would give [@.'ni.t@] (I don't know exactly how you pronounce it, so I'm speculating here). Also, in American English, /t/ after a stressed vowel and before an unstressed one is generally a tap [4], rather than [t], so your name would probably be [@.'ni.4@]. If your name has stress on the first syllable, as you seem to have indicated in your transcription, then the /t/ would probably be pronounced [t]. Hope that helps, and doesn't confuse you.
Joyce   Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:46 am GMT
I live in union city,nj and when I moved to south jersey a couple yrs back people would make fun of the way I talked becuase I had the north "joisy" accent. I apperently didn't see it but they sayed I would say instead of talk= tawk and her=ha. I don't know I find the way I "tawk" right..
"Joisy" chick
AnitaSol   Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:31 pm GMT
Thanks, Josh.

There is a good article on ae-tensing in Wikipedia. It says ae-tensing is predictable before many consonants in Philadelphia and before even more consonants inNew York. I'm inclined to think this is more characteristic of New Jersey speech than any of the other phenomena frequently associated with New Jersey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_short_A.
James   Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:06 am GMT
I've spent my whole life in New Jersey and I've never met anyone that spoke this way in my life.



"Here is a ditty going back at least to the early 1900's which illustrates the New Jersey accent. This accent is being replaced by General American. Even by the 1960's, I had already met some New Jerseyites who didn't speak with it.

Toity little boids
sittin' on a coib'
a choipin' and a boipin'
and eatin' doity woims
along came a squoit (squirt) named Moyt (Myrt)
and a floit (flirt) named Boyt (Bert)
They saw the toity little boids
sittin' on a coib
and eatin' doity woims
and Moyt (Myrt) to Boyt
ain't it petoibin' (peturbing)?"
Megan   Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:16 pm GMT
Well, it depends on your neighborhood how your accents vary. My neighborhood in Bronx we had a little twist. We for example speak really fast, and mix Spanish and English like its nothing. Our accents are little hard at ear to most people but majority can understand when they visit.
Guest   Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:09 pm GMT
>> Well, it depends on your neighborhood how your accents vary. <<

Actually I read that it isn't so much which neighborhood, but rather which social class one is from.
Skye   Sat May 12, 2007 2:16 am GMT
I'm from South Jersey, I don't think I have that bad of an accent, just the wooder/water thing. And I don't do the double negative thing, either.(I-ther) And that o for aw is prouncatiation. We say "tawk", like you realky care about the "L"? "Tawlk" is how it's pronounced. Not talc....
Elliott (myspace.com/ellu   Sat May 19, 2007 2:28 am GMT
Yes, I'm 16, and i grew up all around the NJ/NYC Metro Area, I've lived in "Bwooklyn" , "Da Bronx" and "Noith bergehn" and i'm used to the all the accents but i have a medium NJ. It comes out, the "woo-der" thing. It makes me laugh. But what about the "coh-nah" (corner) and "dawg" (dog)?
curious   Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:44 pm GMT
This is so interesting! I've never been to New Jersey in my life, but I'm very curious about accents of all kinds (everyone speaks with an accent, after all). I wanted to know how to phonetically write out the New Jersey accent. I have to admit, to my west coast ears, the New York/New Jersey accents sound extremely similar, so obviously I need help. The suggestion at the start of this thread to watch "Clerks" sounds helpful, but I found that when people wrote out "cawfee" and "hahrrible" that was even more helpful. I'd love more of that, please. Thanks!

There's one thing I wanted to mention, though. I'm from Southern California (born and raised) and have lived on the west coast of the United States for most of my life. I've been told that I have a "west" or "general american" accent. But people here are saying that someone with a "general american" accent does not pronounce the "t" in "button", "winter", "center", or "internet". I've always pronounced the "t" in these words. I say "but-ton", pronouncing both ts. Occasionally I might say "buh-ton", but there is definitely a "t" there. Why would anyone not pronounce them? I've never heard anyone on the west coast drop the ts, or if I have, I haven't noticed it. T is a lovely letter (I definitely pronounce it in "letter" too, twice, in fact), it might get lonely if it's forgotten. I never knew I was weird for pronouncing the "t", or that anyone else around me was weird either. Can someone clear the "t" thing up?