posted
In the past month I've had two people peg me as a Marylander within five minutes of meeting me. This totally amazes me because I have never thought of Maryland as having an accent that was distinct from the neighboring states. In other words, I figured people could probably figure out I was from the PA-MD-VA-DC area, but I never expected they could pick the state, particularly since I've got a bit of southwest Virginia/Appalachia thrown in for good measure.
So for those of you who have ever noticed a Maryland accent, what is it? Because I have no idea and I'd love to know what others hear when I talk.
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posted
I haven't ever noticed a particular Maryland accent, although rCX is correct about the pronunciation of the state name. I can always peg midatlantic folks though when they say things like "Yous"- that one is a dead giveaway.
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Mid atlantic I know, Maryland not so much. But I know people in IN that say "crOWWen" for crayon.
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posted
I think what I find so surprising about people having recognized me as a Marylander is that I don't do the things that I consider most typical of the Maryland accent. None of the examples you've given apply to me. I pronounce the 'd' in Maryland - lightly, but it's there. I say 'cray-on' not 'crown,' I have never once in my life said 'yous' (and my 7 years in VA and TX have convinced me of the superiority of "y'all"). The two words that gave me away were apparently "call" and "vote." I had no idea there was more than one way to pronounce either.
And yes, I'm familiar with the concept of Bawlmerese - I can't speak it and I can't always understand it, but I know of it. I'm also quite familiar with the Southern Merlin accent where people use woder to warsh their hands.
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This project started in 1995, when people in Cincinnati asked me if I was from (*gasp*) Wisconsin! I had never thought I had an accent... in fact, children are often taught in Michigan schools that our "accent" is the closest to the standard most aspired to by American television and radio personalities throughout the country. This belief in being "accentless" had always been there for me. Until I left home, and then, criminy, the grief I got!
I now know that we do indeed have an accent, and that, while we may sound "Standard American", in certain parts of the state, our accent stands out so badly you could hang a hat on it! I'm just sayin'!
The Michigan Accent Pronunciation Guide started out as a one-sheet of terms that I found unique to Michigan. After putting it up on my original website, I started receiving numerous additions from folks all over the US, then a couple of radio interviews, news mentions, and, as we would say, "there ya havit!"
quote: Idiosyncrasies and Patterns
Let me tell ya, it is DAMNED cold in Michigan, so you have GOT to conserve energy. Consequently, the right way to speak "Michigin" is to
talk fast,
slur your words together, and
clip all your hard consonants, like "t". Someone smarter than me calls this a "glottal stop".
quote:Company names as possessives
In the early 1900's, the Ford Motor Company's sole factory was known by people all over Michigan as "Ford's Factory", since it was owned by Henry Ford. Like a virus, this wacky mispronunciation spread to any large shrine of industry or commerce.
"Where do you work?" "Oh, I work at Ford's." "I see, and evidently you were schooled in Ohio."
So "Meijer" became "Meijers", "Kroger" became "Krogers", and inexplicably, "K-Mart" became... "K-Marts"! For the record, folks... there is no family by the name of "K-Mart" that owns that chain.
[ November 07, 2005, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Telperion the Silver ]
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quote:Now, Michigan has no accent. We are the pure speaking Americans.
Hey here's an interesting artical. Apparently they took a poll and found that people in Michigan rated Michiganders as speaking the "most correct" form of English (Figure 1). Southerners felt that Marylanders spoke the "most correct" form of English. I guess they felt that "Maryland-speak" isn't to Northern or Southern (Figure 4).
quote:Although it is not the major focus here, it is also clear that the Michiganders doing these ratings think pretty well of themselves; they give their home state a ranking in the 8 range, the only area so rewarded.
quote:These eastern Southern respondents, however, also find parts of the South especially lacking in correct English, namely the Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas areas just to the west of them, which they put in the 4 range. Their own areas (rated in the 5 and 6 ranges) are neither fish nor fowl, and they reserve the best ratings (only one step up at 7) for Maryland and the national capital, Washington, DC, both areas within a more general southern speech region.
posted
I once had a theatre professor tell me that the local accent in and around Dayton, OH, is almost identical to the "proper" American stage accent. Having never been to Dayton or met any Daytonians, I can't independently confirm that.
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quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: (Just remember: you don't have an acccent; they do. )
That's like the first time someone said that Maryland is a "southern" state. I was somewhat surprised.
That's part of the problem, the people who told me I had an accent didn't have an accent. They could have grown up down the street from me, at least according to my apparently accent-impaired ears. Actually, one was even a Marylander.
As for Maryland being a Southern state. It is and it isn't. But I figure any place where you can regularly find grits in the grocery store has to be at least a bit Southern. But don't call me a Southerner. And don't call me a Yankee either...
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Some friends of mine have started to refer to Maryland as the red-headed step child state since the North thinks it's southern and the South thinks it's northern. It amuses me.
and rCX - I knew there was a reason why I liked Southerners!
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quote:Originally posted by Telperion the Silver: . . . in fact, children are often taught in Michigan schools that our "accent" is the closest to the standard most aspired to by American television and radio personalities throughout the country.
Wow. Talk about misinformation. The thing is, you can find TV news anchor accents just about everywhere, but that doesn't mean that everybody in a given area speaks "unaccented" American English.
Also, most people seem to think that their particular regional accent consists mostly of turning ts to glottal stops and slurring words together. Unfortunately, these features are pretty universal. They're not nearly as special as some people would like to think.
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posted
I grew up in DC, but had chronic ear infections during the time I was learning to speak. I learned to talk the way I heard, so since I heard things funny, I learned to talk funny (and did some speech therapy a bit later). People constantly think I'm from somewhere else. The most common guesses are Boston, England, and Australia. *shrug* I guess I have an accent all my own.
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quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: (Just remember: you don't have an acccent; they do. )
That's like the first time someone said that Maryland is a "southern" state. I was somewhat surprised.
--j_k
Maryland is a "Southern State". The northern border of the state is the Mason Dixon line, after all. The confusion probably comes because, while early Maryland held to Southern social customs, it fairly quickly became more Northern in its economy. This was in part because Baltimore is the western-most port on the East Coast, and in part because early tobacco farming quickly depleated much of the farmland. While the rest of the South was enjoying the tobacco and cotton booms, Maryland was developing industry and trade (such as it is).
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Maryland features I noticed when I was there:
1. "woosh" for wish 2. "woof" for wolf 3. "crick" for creek (though this one is pretty much a universal rural feature) 4. roof and hoof with the vowel in book, not the vowel in tool. (Again, not strictly Maryland, but I noticed it.) 5. "wooter" for waterPosts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Well, I think there's an 'l' when I say it because otherwise it would rhyme with hoof, and it doesn't.
quote:3. "crick" for creek (though this one is pretty much a universal rural feature)
I don't prononce creek like "crick" - however I do acknowledge the existance of cricks, which are smaller than creeks.
quote:4. roof and hoof with the vowel in book, not the vowel in tool. (Again, not strictly Maryland, but I noticed it.)
Hoof does have the vowel from book, roof does not, but it also doesn't have the vowel from tool. Tool seems to be more of an "ooh" sound and roof for me is more of an "ew" sound.
quote:5. "wooter" for water
I had friends growing up who said this, but I'm pretty sure I never did. I'm more of a "wahder" person.
I'm beginning to think some people are either lucky guessers or had inside information, since I don't seem to have any of the markers I know of or that you all have mentioned. :narrows eyes:
Oh and aspectre - sorry about that, I learned to type in Maryland so my fingers must have picked up the accent along the way. I'll try to tone it down in the future.
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: (Just remember: you don't have an acccent; they do. )
That's like the first time someone said that Maryland is a "southern" state. I was somewhat surprised.
--j_k
Maryland is a "Southern State". The northern border of the state is the Mason Dixon line, after all. The confusion probably comes because, while early Maryland held to Southern social customs, it fairly quickly became more Northern in its economy. This was in part because Baltimore is the western-most port on the East Coast, and in part because early tobacco farming quickly depleated much of the farmland. While the rest of the South was enjoying the tobacco and cotton booms, Maryland was developing industry and trade (such as it is).
Very interesting. Up until about eight grade or so, we all were taught that we were in the "North" because Maryland was a Union state during the Civil War (A friend of mine mentioned that this may be political as well-- MD votes as reliably democratic as its neigbors to the north, leading many to associate it with them). Honestly, I think it depends on where you travel in the state. St. Mary's City, Annapolis, Cumberland, OC, and Bethesda are all very different places.
In any case, I think that Mid-Atlantic is the best (most politically correct, heehehe) term.
quote:Originally posted by Brinestone: Maryland features I noticed when I was there:
1. "woosh" for wish 2. "woof" for wolf 3. "crick" for creek (though this one is pretty much a universal rural feature) 4. roof and hoof with the vowel in book, not the vowel in tool. (Again, not strictly Maryland, but I noticed it.) 5. "wooter" for water
Being from Maryland I felt I had to comment. I've been here for 29 years and I don't think I've ever heard woosh, crick, or roof (book) from anyone who is nativeley from Maryland. Of course I've heard wooter, but I don't think that it's distinctly a Maryland thing. I certainly don't pronounce it like that.
I'm not sure what goes into the general Maryland accent, but Baltimore's accent is fairly distinct. The telltale sign that you are from Baltimore is the baltimore "o". No matter how much unlearning a baltimorean goes through, the baltimore "o" is hard to shake. For most of us it's a very subtle difference from the correct pronunciation. It is usually heard in "ocean". Or any other words that begin with a long "o". It's sort of a cross between ewcean and ocean (pronounced correctly). Maybe oew-cean.
We also have a hard time pronouncing "on" correctly. The correct pronunciation is either "o" in pot or the "a" in paw. Baltimoreans say owun. Where the "o" is like in "for".
I speak for those who have a very subtle baltimore accent, not those who say zink instead of sink.
Patrick Brown
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Well, I was from northern Maryland (Frederick), so what I was hearing may have actually been a Pennsylvania accent. I was too young to know. But I'm positive the "woosh" and "woof" (for wolf) things were rampant where I lived.
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I grew up in Bawlmer but spoke with a very distinct southern accent when I was little. So much so that my parents were often asked about my accent. We moved from Bawlmer when I was in 8th grade to AZ where I have since lost my Bawlmer accent. I loved our trip east two years ago. Hearing it again was great.
Now, after watching Designing Women for a little while I can slip back into my southern accent quite easily.
I miss Baltimore.
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quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: Very interesting. Up until about eight grade or so, we all were taught that we were in the "North" because Maryland was a Union state during the Civil War (A friend of mine mentioned that this may be political as well-- MD votes as reliably democratic as its neigbors to the north, leading many to associate it with them). Honestly, I think it depends on where you travel in the state. St. Mary's City, Annapolis, Cumberland, OC, and Bethesda are all very different places.
In any case, I think that Mid-Atlantic is the best (most politically correct, heehehe) term.
--j_k
j_k - I've always thought Maryland engaged in a bit of revisionist history when it came to the Civil War. As Marylanders we like to think that the state was a truly Union state despite the amount of slaves and that's what I remember being taught in school. But it's not really true. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and imprisioned Southern sympathizers in order to prevent Maryland from seceding and leaving Washington surrounded by the Confederacy.
As to Maryland being a democratic state like the Northeast, it's important to remember that the Republican and Democratic party haven't always been the way they are today. Democrats started in the South with Jefferson and Southern Democrats were pro-slavery during the Civil War and anti-Civil Rights in the 1960s. And it's during that era that the Democratic party really came to be what it is now. After all, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms were both members of the Democratic Party until the 1960s.
So while I do think that Maryland does have an historically Southern Culture, I don't think that's nearly as true anymore. I agree that it probably fits in the Mid-Atlantic region better than it does the South.
Brinestone and closeyourmind -
I was born and raised in rural Frederick County and I've definitely heard creek pronounced "crick" and roof (book). I don't think I've ever heard "woosh," but it's also been a while since I've spent time there with people other than my family.
And my best friend in Frederick (whose parents were from Baltimore) warshed her hands in the zink, celebrated Christmas in Dezember, wore braceslips and always had lots of idears.
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quote:"In the past month I've had two people peg me as a Marylander within five minutes of meeting me. This totally amazes me because I have never thought of Maryland as having an accent that was distinct from the neighboring states. In other words, I figured people could probably figure out I was from the PA-MD-VA-DC area, but I never expected they could pick the state, particularly since I've got a bit of southwest Virginia/Appalachia thrown in for good measure."
I didn't think I had an accent either...but I found out I did when I moved to DC. I guess people can really tell I have a Chicago accent.
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I'm originally from Southern PA (Chambersburg area, not too far from Frederick) and all the examples you list, from warsh to woosh to idear to "roof with the vowel in book, not the vowel in tool" were things I noticed growing up, especially among older people.
Now I live in central New Jersey and EVERYBODY can tell I'm not from around here. For example, I say "kah-fee" instead of "kaw-fee."
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Most of those on the western shore of Maryland (especially Howard, Montgomery, PG, and Baltimore counties) identify more with the north. Head over to the eastern shore, or southern Maryland with tobacco farms still in existence and it is a different story.
People also forget Delaware was a slave state, and was exempt with Maryland from the emancipation proclamation.
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quote:St. Mary's City, Annapolis, Cumberland, OC, and Bethesda are all very different places.
Yes, but I'd venture to guess that they are all even more different from themselves 150 years ago than they are from each other today.
I'd also venture a guess that there is a bigger difference between urban and rural today than between North and South. I bet Atlanta is more like Philadelphia than either is like the small towns in their respective states.
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