An Accent Of New Jersey!????

P.E.I.   Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:09 pm GMT
Florida, orange, forest, horrible, moral, coral [o(r)]
caught / cot [A]


not at all [nAt aet Al]
Guest   Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:07 am GMT
>> Florida, orange, forest, horrible, moral, coral [o(r)]
caught / cot [A]


not at all [nAt aet Al]<<

@P.E.I. How do you say sorry?
P.E.I.   Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:52 am GMT
sorry ['sori]
Nomad   Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:05 pm GMT
I am trying to find out where my glottal stop comes from. I too seem to drop vowels between Ts and Ns. Kittn. Buttn. Importnt.

I don't know where I cultivated this habit because I've moved around quite a bit. I can say I was born in Southern California and moved to Northern California when I was 3, stayed till I was 7/8 years old, at which point I moved to Florida for two years. Then off to Pennsylvania (about 45 minutes east of Philly) for 8 years. Then on to Rhode Island for four years, and now I'm in the Central Valley in California, where a friend of mine here pointed out my glottal stop. He thinks it's funny, but I'm just interested in where it originated.

Anyone have a clue?
Nomad   Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:15 pm GMT
I also add an A to the end of words for no rhyme or reason. No-a! Hey-a! And I twist the O in Mom so that I believe it sounds like I'm saying Maawm. Anyone know where I picked this up?
User   Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:04 pm GMT
>> I am trying to find out where my glottal stop comes from. I too seem to drop vowels between Ts and Ns. Kittn. Buttn. Importnt.

I don't know where I cultivated this habit because I've moved around quite a bit. I can say I was born in Southern California and moved to Northern California when I was 3, stayed till I was 7/8 years old, at which point I moved to Florida for two years. Then off to Pennsylvania (about 45 minutes east of Philly) for 8 years. Then on to Rhode Island for four years, and now I'm in the Central Valley in California, where a friend of mine here pointed out my glottal stop. He thinks it's funny, but I'm just interested in where it originated.

Anyone have a clue? <<

Um. That's exactly how I say those words too. How else would they be said? North American English doesn't permit a "t" in that environment, so the only alternative would be a flap. Budden, kidden? No, way, that doesn't sound right.
User   Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:06 pm GMT
>> And I twist the O in Mom so that I believe it sounds like I'm saying Maawm. Anyone know where I picked this up? <<

I don't know about the adding the a's at the end of words, but the "mom" thing sounds like a California or Canadian vowel shift...But then again if you had the shift you would also be cot-caught (e.g. mom/mawm) merged, so "mawm" wouldn't sound unusual at all.
panjmike   Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:00 pm GMT
There is no regional dialect that has it's center in New Jersey other than that of the Pinelands in the Southeastern part of the state. Because poulation of this area is so sparse, very few people actually speak this dialect. It's kind of hard to describe what this accent sounds like, but for the most part, it's similar to any rural dialect in the Mid-Atlantic states (NJ/Eastern PA/DE/MD). The accent also varies between different regions in the Pinelands.

There are, however, 4 regional dialects centered in neighboring states that spread into NJ and geatly shape the New Jersey accent. These regional dialects are (1) The Delaware Valley- centered in Philadelphia, PA (2) The Lehigh Valley- centered in Allentown/Bethlehem, PA (3) The Hudson Valley- Centered in Newburgh/Poughkeepsie, NY and (4) New York City- centered in Brooklyn/Lower Manahattan, NY. These 4 diaclects sort of fuse together in or around New Brunswick, Middlesex County, NJ. Parts of Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth and Northern Ocean Counties make up the Central NJ heartland and this is where the purest NJ accents can be found (imo).

This accent (Central NJ) for the most part sounds like Philadelphia, only without the fronted "O" or like NYC without the dropped "r", however, natives to the Trenton area will front the long "o" like Philly. In addition, because of the heavy migration of Staten Islanders to the Jersey Shore, you're likely to hear a lot of dropped "r's" in Monmouth and Ocean counties, but not as much by the natives. The Jersey Shore is a great place to hear the various accents common to New Jersey.

It's also interesting to note that one can detect a bit of southern/rural type of twang in extreme parts of South Jersey, in the farming areas beyond the Philly suburbs near the Delaware Bay shore. It's a deep Mid-Atlantic type accent almost like Baltimore or the Delmarva Penninsula, but in many cases, not as strong. I have to say it sounds very different to the "Joisey" accent of Bayonne/Jersey City in the Northeastern part of the state.
Aisha   Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:00 pm GMT
hi, I'm Libyan and I study English . I want to about where the English language start .please I want answer from all of you
dougie   Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:58 am GMT
What a stimulating forum this is! Before heading off to tonight's series of festivities, I wanted to ask you all about the origins of that wonderful expression "yo". Renewed curiosity about "yo" started over a week ago, when the SF Chronicle ran an article about the new Rocky movie under the title "O, Adrian" [sic!]. Being a transplant originally from central NJ (having grown up in both Somerset & Middlesex counties), I was a tad miffed that they didn't quite catch that it's really "Yo..."

(As I recall, it's "O, Archie!" and "Yo, Adrian!")

Which led to a discussion about how "yo" might have emerged into today's American slang. A common theory is that it's an ebonic mutation of "you". However, one intriguing statement is that it came from the Italian community of Philadelphia (NYC as well?), as a distortion of the word "io" (I, me) - so that "yo" originated as a reflexive interjection ("I'm here"). Any informed explanations would be greatly appreciated!
Lazar   Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:21 am GMT
Merriam Webster says that it comes from the Middle English interjection "io" or "yo". Etymonline.com says that "yo" was first used as a greeting in 1859, but that the word has been used among sailors and hunters since 1420.

Etymonline.com goes on to say that the word's modern popularity comes from the time of World War 2, when supposedly it was a common response at roll calls, most common in Philadelphia. I don't know whether the the Italian word "io" or corruptions of "you" had any influence on the word.
andre in philly   Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:46 am GMT
People say "yo" all the time here, no doubt. But isn't it fairly common in other parts of the country?
Real Florida Girl   Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:12 pm GMT
I was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida (gains-ville, Floored-dah). Real Floridians would never say "Flahhhh-rid-ah" like the northerners do. It's Floored-dah. But you are forgiven.

>^;^<
Gabrielle   Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:59 am GMT
Different areas in Jersey have different accents. For instance, north jersey has more of a new york accent mixed in with the jersey. Central Jersey, near the coast, has a surfer and jersey accent. i dnt know much about south jersey
Lazar   Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:26 am GMT
I just got a New Jersey. It's better than my old Jersey.