Dialects of the United States

Dialects of the United States

Dialect map of the United States Copyright Robert Delaney.

In all languages spoken throughout the world there are differences in dialect and accent. These two terms many times are confused since they are closely related. Dialect deals with words used, grammar, and spelling. Accents deals with how a certain word is said. Therefore, there may be differences in different countries or areas of a certain country dealing with different dialects or simply different accents. There are many examples of both different dialects and accents found in the United States. Some people refer to a group of people as “dey” while others would say y’all or all y’all. Some people pahk the cah while others call a jelly filled doughnut a bismarck. Some root for da Bears while others call all soft drinks coke even if it’s sprite or 7-Up.

In continuation we will look at many of the different dialects observed throughout the United States including different words used and influences that many of these areas have had to create these different dialects. Starting with the Northeastern part of the United States we start with the area of New England broke up into Eastern, Western, and Urban Boston. In New England people many times drop the r in words expect when a word ends in a vowel where they add the r, and these people pronounce a as ah. Example here is to “Pahk the cah in Hahvuhd yahd.” The Hudson Valley and the state of New York were originally a Dutch colony hence some of the influence in words used. They call a small porch a stoop, and they also call doughnuts crullers and olycooks. The English spoken in New York City is one of the most distinct and most disliked dialects of English spoken in the United States. People from New York City many times drop the r after a vowel, the oi sound is pronounced as ir, ir is pronounced as oi, and th is pronounced as a d as in “Dey sell tirlets on doity-doid street” Continuing to the Upper Midwest is a mix of various dialects from the North Eastern parts from the South and from Canada giving a particularity known as the “midwestern twang.” In these regions they call jelly filled doughnuts bismarks. A distinct variation is found in the Metropolis of Chicago where they call The Chicago Bears Da Bears and The Chicago Bulls Da Bulls. People in Chicago also call any sweet roll doughnuts. The Inland Northern section is a mix between New England and the Upper Midwest where to marry someone, to be merry, and the name Mary are all pronounced the same. Here they called doughnuts friedcakes. Much of these reached the city of San Francisco in the time of the gold rush where many people from New England and the Inland Northern sections traveled to California. Here there is a distinct dialect called the Mission dialect spoken by Irish Catholics which is very similar to what is spoken in New York City.

The Southern states speak a distinctive dialect of English which begins from the state of Virginia to parts of North Florida. This dialect has been influenced by cities such as Richmond, Charlotte, and Savannah. Speakers here tend to drops the r but do not add an r like Northerns do. Some common words include big daddy for grandfather, big mamma for grandmother, a cooter for a turtle, I’m fixin to for I’m going to, a mouth harp for a harmonica, and on an accord of for because. Two coastal dialects include Ocracoke and Gullah being on island of the Coasts of North Carolina and Georgia. Some common words used I Ocracoke are mommucked or to be bothered and quamished to feel nauseous. Gullah is a creole language spoken by some African Americans living on coastal islands off of Georgia and South Carolina. Some common words in Gullah are to bad mouth or to curse, gumbo for a native vegetable called okra, juju for magic, juke for wicked, samba meaning to dance, yam for a sweet potato. In Louisiana there is a heavy influence from the French language arriving from Canada when the British took over the area of Nova Scotia others are mix of French Creole making Cajun English which also borrows words from Spanish. Some words seen in this area are armoire for a wardrobe, a bayou or a small stream, a bisque or a thick soup, fritters or pancakes, a gallery or a porch, and a hydrant or faucet.

The Midland sections of the United States were influenced by people from Northern or Southern states as they began to move westward bring different influences into each region. The Northern Midland section is influenced greatly by the settlers that arrived there from Pennsylvania with German, Scotch-Irish, and English Quakers. These people call doughnuts belly sinkers, doorknobs, dunkers, and fatcakes. On the other hand, in the Southern Midland section is a mix between Pennsylvanian Dutch and Southern dialects both moving westward. Specific dialects here include the Ozarks made famous by the television series The Beverly Hillbillies this area is broken up into the Southern Appalachian area and the Smoky Mountain area. The Smoky Mountain area is a very small area between the South Carolina and Tennessee border. In this area "They" is used in the place of their, subject-verb agreement can differ, and plural nouns may not end with an s. An est can be placed at the end of a word instead of most. Irregular verbs may be treated as regular verbs and vice versa, or they may be treated as irregular in a different way from more general dialects (arrove, blowed, costed).

Western dialects include Rocky Mountain, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Southwest, and Hawaii. The Rock Mountain area was influenced by Northern sections creating words like to kick off or to die, cache or a hiding place, and to be bushed or tired. They also call jelly doughnuts bismarks. In the Pacific Northwest section influences are seen from Northern areas, Canada and Chinook dialect developed by Native Americans having works like a high muckamuck or an important person. In the Pacific Southwest area have had influences from many areas of the country but also creating suffer dialects in the 1970s and 1980s. The Southwestern area is highly influenced from Spanish from long ties with Mexico incorporating many Spanish words like caballero, cantina, frijoles, madre, mesa, nana, padre, plaza, and tortilla. The final area of Hawaii is highly influenced by the native Polynesian language as well as Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. There now is the Standard Hawaiian English and Nonstandard Hawaiian English. Common words in Hawaii are aloha, kahuna, lei, luau, hulu, mumuu, poi, and ukele.