So where do they come from???

[SRUAlmn]

I was just watching a show with a person who had a really thick Boston accent, and it got me thinking. Where do regional accents and dialects even come from? I'm sure they probably get passed down to generations, but initially, where did they come from? It doesn't make sense to me that there can be such extreme differing accents that people have just because of where they live. They aren't European accents, which would explain them coming from ancestors. Am I having a Jessica Simpson moment here, or are other people perplexed by this too? I'm so interested to learn the answer.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Good Question! I have wondered the same thing.

 

[laurajetter]

I have asked my DH the exact same thing, but we haven't come up with a satisfactory answer... hopefully someone on the DIS will know!

 

[monarchsfan16]

That is a good question. All I know is that (thankfully) I have picked up the accents of my friends versus the accents of my family (so Boston vs haven't figured out what)
And why do we have different terms in different parts of the country, like the soda/pop debate, or the hot one in the dorm: tennis shoes vs sneakers?

 

[Marseeya]

I took an American language class several years ago and it was extremely interesting!

The dialects do originate from the ancestors' countries. For example, the Appalachian dialect stems from Scotland, as many Scots immigrated there.

There's an author named Bill Bryson who writes some great books on this.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I took an American language class several years ago and it was extremely interesting!

The dialects do originate from the ancestors' countries. For example, the Appalachian dialect stems from Scotland, as many Scots immigrated there.

There's an author named Bill Bryson who writes some great books on this.

Maybe I'll have to go check out Barnes and Noble. I would find that fascinating.

Monarchsfan: I always wondered that too! Soda/Pop, Tennis Shoes/Sneakers, Sofa/Couch, etc... It's so interesting!

 

[MinnieM3]

North/South thing here? My Yankee DH always said "Sweep the rug" or carpet and I looked at him like he had two heads! You sweep a floor and you vacuum a carpet. He still says sweep the floor to this day..... I must add, he also*does* it, so I don't care what he calls it! I'm grateful for the help!

MY BIL ffrom Illinois calls a washing machine a "wershing machine." Weird.

 

[Rowena]

I am pretty sure Boston accent comes from mostly an Irish accent, mixed with some others.

Same as Appalation is mostly from Scottish, as already noted.

 

[SRUAlmn]

North/South thing here? My Yankee DH always said "Sweep the rug" or carpet and I looked at him like he had two heads! You sweep a floor and you vacuum a carpet. He still says sweep the floor to this day..... I must add, he also*does* it, so I don't care what he calls it! I'm grateful for the help!

MY BIL ffrom Illinois calls a washing machine a "wershing machine." Weird.

Here is the funny thing with Sweep Vs. Vacuum. I grew up in Western PA and say Sweep, my Fiance grew up in Eastern PA and says Vacuum!

I actually wasn't even talking just North and South. Although those are the most obvious. I mean even little things. When I moved from PA to MD I even noticed some major differences, let alone the strong ones such as Boston, NY, or Minnesota for example.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I've often wondered this myself. I've been told that I have a pretty strong Boston accent, but I tend to disagree.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

I live in an area where some unbelievable accents are- coastal NC. We have some very interesting mixes of cockney English mixed with southern accents from British descendents who settled on local islands with no bridges. To get to town they had to use a boat. The accents are very difficult to understand if you aren't used to it.
Funny incident of 2 local fellows took a bus to NYC and got off with lard buckets for luggage, LOL!

 

[wendy1974]

It's interesting here in Louisiana too because depending on what region of the state you're in sw/se/central north...you will notice a difference in accents. In south west La. (cajun country) they have thick cajun accents that came from ancestors from Nova Scotia who migrated here. If you go to New Orleans you will here a very interesting mix of cajun french/creole/african/german/irish

 

[momof3disneyholics]

I was born and raised in the south, so I say things a little different from my northern born hubby. I always say that I am going to "carry" the kids to the store, instead of driving them. I also call a shopping cart a buggy. I got that from my grandmother and can't drop it and say cart to save my life!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. You would think that being in the same state, we'd share a common language, right? Wrong!

Nobody here knows how to "redd up" a room or "redd off" a table. Amazingly, their house remain neat.

You can't get pop anywhere. However, there is an abundance of soda.

"Youse" should be pronounced "yinz" but isn't.

The Ak-a-mee (ACME) is a supermarket and not the prefered brand of the coyote's favorite roadrunner traps.

"Liberry" (as opposed to Library) is a street in "Picks"burg.

My in-laws don't have a "livin'ruhm" in their house. They have a "pah-luhr". They don't have a celler either. But they do have a "base-mint".

There are no "strit cars" in Philly. They gots "trah-lees".

We always ate "sgetti" with our meatballs and sauce. They eat "macaronis" here and put "gravy" on it.

When I was pregnant with my first child, they threw a "shahr" for me back home. I was lucky to get a "shah-wah" here.

In Philly, the person who knows everyone else's business is "newsey" but in Pittsburgh, they're "nebby".

'Is an 'at in the 'burgh is dis and dat in Philly, when then the rest of the world says "this and that".

The stuff that comes out of the "spicket" is water. In Philly, they have "wooder" running out of the "faw-set".

I could go on and on about the differences that have caused serious communications problems between my DH and myself. The nice thing is that the kids are growing up in a bilingual household.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I read once that southern accents were derived from the accents of the british aristocracy that settled there. I have no accent unless you count the remants of a midwestern twang from childhood and the bit of southern accent I've picked up over the past 5 years. I moved to MS in 2000 and was mercilessly teased by my first and best friend there about my funny words: shopping cart not buggy, pop instead of coke, having my picture taken rather than my pitcher made. My very first job when I arrived in the deep south was working for an answering service. Some of the backwoods accents were so thick they were indecipherable. At least to woman from the pacific northwest who's education included perfect diction.

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

Since I am from Philly area and went to school in western PA ( SRU by the way ) I agree with all the ones from above. Lets not forget that in Philly we eat Bologna and cheese not Jumbo and cheese. We have lollipops while they eat their suckers. I was also told that I pronounced words like Home and phone wrong. Not quite sure how I say them any different but...

Also around here if I come up on a friend who is Painting his garage Instead of saying " Are you painting your garage?" we would just say Paintin?