The Maine accent is the local traditional pronunciation of Eastern New England English in parts of Maine, especially along the coast, including the "Down East" region. It is characterized by a variety of features, including r-dropping (non-rhoticity), resistance to the horse-hoarse merger in older speakers, a deletion or "breaking" of certain syllables, and some unique vocabulary. The traditional Maine accent is rapidly declining; a 2013 study of Portland found the horse-hoarse merger to be currently embraced by speakers of all ages and the cot-caught merger to be resisted, despite being typical among other Eastern New England speakers.
Video Maine accent
Phonology
Maine English often features phonetic change or phonological change of certain characteristics. One such characteristic is that, like in all traditional Eastern New England English, Maine English pronounces the "r" sound only when it comes before a vowel, but not before a consonant or in any final position. For example, "car" may sound to listeners like "cah" and "Mainer" like "Mainah."
Also, as in much New England English, the final "-ing" ending in multi-syllable words sounds more like "-in," for example, in stopping ['st?p?n] and starting ['stä:??n].
The Maine accent follows the pronunciation of Eastern New England English, with the following additional features:
- before a consonant is [?~?~?].
- Single-syllable words ending with R-colored vowels (such as ) sometimes become two syllables. The vowel loses its R-coloration. That includes as in here ['h?.(j)?] ( listen), as in there ['ðe?.(j)?] ( listen), and (as mentioned above) as in more ['mo?.(w)?] ( listen).
- is [??] in words like horse ([h??s] "hoss"), war ([w??] "waw"), north ([n???] "nawth"), or porch ([p???t?] "pawch").
- is ['o?(w)?] in words like hoarse (['ho?(w)?s] "hoe-us"), wore (['wo?(w)?] "whoa-uh"), more (['mo?(w)?] "mow-uh"), or shore (['?o?(w)?] "show-uh").
- Many speakers also produce a dipping tone when they pronounce the extended word; they lower their tone for the first syllable and raise it for the second syllable. The phrase "You can't get there from here," coined in an episode of the mid-1900s humor stories collection Bert & I, is a quintessential example of the principle of syllable extension.
Maps Maine accent
Lexicon
The traditional Maine dialect has a fairly rich vocabulary. Some of this vocabulary is shared with other New England dialects, however much of it is specific to Maine. This vocabulary includes, but is not limited to, the following terms:
In popular culture
- Maine humorist Marshall Dodge (1935-1982) based much of his humor from the Maine dialect, beginning first with his involvement with the series Bert & I, a "Down East" collection of humor stories created during the 1950s and 1960s .
- Well-known author, musician, and former television broadcaster Tim Sample is known nationwide for his use of Maine vernacular.
References
- Notes
External links
- Fowles, Debby (2015). "Speak Like a Mainer". About Travel. About.com. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- "Maine Slang, Local Humor, And Wicked Funny Words". VisitMaine.net. 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- Szelog, Mike (2015). "Ayuh, the Northern New England Accent in a Nutshell". The Heart of New England. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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