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Tag Archives: stigmatized accents
“You is Smart:” Dialect Gripes About “The Help”
The other day, a Twitter pal mentioned a certain discomfort while reading Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. Apropos of this blog, it seems there are a number of complaints about the author’s (arguably) shaky command of African American Vernacular English, a … Continue reading
Dialects and Registers
One afternoon some years ago, an overheard conversation on the subway piqued my interest. A few train stops before my apartment, a pair of young men got on the car and sat across from me. After exchanging a few friendly greetings … Continue reading
Do Southerners Speak Slowly?
One of the most commonly held assumptions about American accents is one with arguably negative connotations. That would be the pernicious rumor that Southern people speak ‘slower’ than Northerners. I put this assumption in quotation marks, of course, because it … Continue reading
Posted in American English Tagged American Southern Accents, phonetics, stigmatized accents 9 Comments
Is the glottal stop bad for you?
You may not know what a glottal stop is, but you’ve probably heard one. Already baffled? Let me explain. Ever talk to someone from London who pronounced butter something like “bu’uh?” With the t becoming a kind of “grunt?” The t … Continue reading
Posted in English Phonetics Tagged celebrity accents, class and accent, Cockney, phonetics, stigmatized accents 43 Comments
Pahk Yuh Cah: Non-Rhotic in New England
A few years back, I was sitting in a restaurant in my hometown of Willimantic, Connecticut*. A few booths over, a late-middle-aged man was talking to a young woman paying at the counter. Here is my paraphrasing of the conversation: … Continue reading
Cheryl Cole’s Accent: You Decide
I don’t want this to turn into a pop culture site, but it is hard to ignore the recent hubbub surrounding Cheryl Cole. As I mentioned a few days back, Ms. Cole is a pretty pop singer from the UK … Continue reading
Why There are Less New York Accents in Movies
I hate how the mainstream media discusses dialects and accents. Journalists routinely fudge basic linguistic terminology, misquote experts, and indulge in all kinds of classist and/or racist assumptions. Case in point is this article Academy Award filmmakers need to make … Continue reading
Americans: Intolerant of Regional Accents?
I often assume that the British are more accent-conscious than we Americans are. Let me put that more bluntly: I assume the British are more accent-intolerant than we are. There is a good bit of evidence to support this. Brits … Continue reading
Dialect Profile: The Cork Accent
(In this series, we discuss different dialects using actual video or audio samples. This page uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For information about this notation, please visit my page of IPA Resources.) In Ireland, Cork means something more than the … Continue reading
5 Reasons Why Some Dialects are Unpopular
I try to promote acceptance of diversity in dialects and accents. In the real world, however, things are not so fair. Numerous dialects of English are stigmatized: many people, even educated people, harbor the belief that some accents are “uneducated,” … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous Accents and Dialects Tagged Brummie, Cockney, New York Accent, stigmatized accents 1 Comment