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45% Yankee 40% General American English 10% Dixie 5% Upper Midwestern 0% Midwestern
I've always lived in New England, so this mostly makes sense. I guess a tiny bit of Dixie and Upper Midwest somehow snuck in though.
Posts: 120 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Um... "gym shoes". I'm surprised they didn't have that.
60% General American English 20% Yankee 15% Upper Midwestern 5% Midwestern 0% Dixie
When I was younger, I'm told I used to have some southern-ness in my speech when I was sleepy. I'm guessing that it came from having lived on an Air Force Base in Louisiana when I was 2-3 years old.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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70% General American English 20% Yankee 5% Dixie 5% Upper Midwestern 0% Midwestern
Some of them I had to pick the best choice, though. Like I say ya'll a little bit...but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And I say Aunt both ways, depending on which aunt I'm talking about. Some names just go better with a specific pronunciation.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Your Linguistic Profile: 45% General American English 40% Dixie 5% Midwestern 5% Upper Midwestern 5% Yankee
Where those last 15% come from I have no idea. If you could hear me talk you'd agree. But I have noticed that after my 4 years in the Navy my drawl is not as pronounced as my parents' anymore. Now those folks are Country!
Edit to say: maybe I answered my own question. I did spend 4 years after all with midwesterners, yankees, and even folks from L.A.
Posts: 232 | Registered: Jan 2005
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55% General American English 45% Dixie 0% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern 0% Yankee
I think I have the highest "Dixie" rating so far. Don't know if that is good or bad. It probably makes y'all think I'm not that bright.
It seems like most of the time anyone on TV or in the movies has a southern accent, they are also portrayed as stupid. That goes hand in hand with how bad most actors do a southern accent. Believe or not there are more than two southern accents. We don't all sound like we were in Gone with the Wind, or are the biggest rednecks on the planet.
Posts: 555 | Registered: Jun 2005
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55% General American English 25% Yankee 10% Dixie 10% Upper Midwestern 0% Midwestern
Merry, marry, Mary . . . 3 totally different pronunciations. I grew up on Long Island and was amazed when I moved out West and people couldn't even HEAR the difference when I pronounced them.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Intelligence has nothing to do with accent. It is a sad stereotype that southerners are stupid because they "talk funny." I say this as a former northerner... turned into a southerner by time and marriage.
I have been here long enough that I do believe my accent is a blend of southern and northern. The result is that everyone thinks I have an accent. But as my results show, I'm still only %5 Dixie. That's kinda disappointing.
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A cruller is a fritter that has been frosted. But, I never use the word. I was surprised at the results given the forshortned test. But, In my case it seemed to be right on.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Katarain: I try SO hard to hear the difference in Merry, Mary, and Marry.
I just can't.
Well, you would only hear it if it's pronounced differently--what I learned was that most of America uses the same vowel sound for all three. Maybe someday we'll meet and I can say them for you! ;-)
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quote: I only lived in southern California my whole life, so I don't know how I got Yankee.
My Georgia born and raised grandfather (mother's dad) insists that Californians (my dad) are just another type of Yankee. Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Well, I've had other people say them. For instance, my husband swears that he can hear and say a difference in all three, but when he says them, they all sound the same to me.
Occassionally I can hear a difference involving the "air" and "eh" sounds.
Edit: In THOSE words. I can hear a difference in air and eh themselves just fine.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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35% General American English 35% Yankee 30% Dixie
Which is pretty interesting, since I'm not a native speaker (lol). But I was particularly pleased to see the word cruller: I found it in a John Irving's book some time ago and I thought I'd never have a chance to actually make any use of it Cool!
Posts: 218 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Makes sense; I never have much of any kind of accent, but I grew up in the South with Yankee parents. So I do say "Y'all" but I can also hear the difference between Marry, Mary, and Merry.
Y'know, in the South they can't hear or pronounce the difference between short E and short I. So they always have to explain when they use the word "Pin" whether they mean a pen you write with, or a pin you stick yourself with. And they always call me Jinna.
Posts: 1522 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Your Linguistic Profile: 65% General American English 20% Yankee 15% Dixie 0% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern
Jenna, or should I say Jinna, I've never noticed that before, but it's definately true.
Just out of curiousity, who pronounces Wash with an R? Warsh is how it would spell I guess. My aunt and grandma both do that and I just can't figure out where they get it from. There is no R!
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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45% Dixie 40% General American English 10% Upper Midwestern 5% Yankee 0% Midwestern
Pretty accurate, I suppose.
quote:Y'know, in the South they can't hear or pronounce the difference between short E and short I. So they always have to explain when they use the word "Pin" whether they mean a pen you write with, or a pin you stick yourself with. And they always call me Jinna.
Yep. When I first moved to NYC, people would give me weird looks when I asked for a pen. Or they would tell me that they didn't have one.
I find that the biggest indicator of how Southern you are is how you pronounce the word "greasy." Deep Southerners pronounce the "s" like a "z."
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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My brother has the same accent I do, except for some minor weirdnesses. Like he pronounces "milk" as though it's spelled "melk". Actually, I'm not sure he does anymore, but he did when we were growing up, and it drove me to distraction.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Mrs. M, I was just reading your blog and I have to admit that, having grown up on Long Island, "Happy Hanukah, ya'll" made me do a double take! ;-)
starLisa, I have a friend who pronounces pillow as "pellow." I don't think it's regional because I've never heard anyone else say that--I think it's the weirdest thing! The funny thing is, she's a "creative" speller and one time I saw her write the word, and she actually spelled it "pellow."
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Next thing you'll tell me is the university of Clemson isn't pronouced "Clemp-son". Just about everyone in this state adds the invisable "p".
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Your Linguistic Profile: 70% General American English 20% Upper Midwestern 5% Midwestern 5% Yankee
My grandmother says "warsh." She grew up on a farm in Iowa (which she says like "Ioway"). She also shops at Tarshay instead of Target.
Posts: 413 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Since we're at it... can anyone tell me what axtually IS a Dixie accent, please? I'd like to know what I've 30% of...
Posts: 218 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Merry rhymes with Berry Mary rhymes with Airy Marry rhymes with Barry
And if you think that Airy rhymes with Berry and that Berry is a homophone for Barry, well, you are beyond hope, my friend, and no Yankee.
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Was it just my neighborhood growing up, or did anyone else call the night before Halloween "Gate Night"?
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quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Marry and Mary are the same but merry is different.
Well, to quote the sage Tante Shvester, "Nuh-uh."
[edited to say, I didn't mean it to be THAT much of a quote -- I was referring to her earlier post but slow on the draw!!]
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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65% General American English 25% Dixie 5% Yankee
I left the "what do you call an easy class" one blank, since I've never heard one called any of those terms.
quote:Merry rhymes with Berry Mary rhymes with Airy Marry rhymes with Barry
Okay, I can see how you could possibly pronounce merry and berry differently from the others (although I don't myself), but how could airy and barry be pronounced differently from each other?
quote:Y'know, in the South they can't hear or pronounce the difference between short E and short I. So they always have to explain when they use the word "Pin" whether they mean a pen you write with, or a pin you stick yourself with. And they always call me Jinna.
I had a conversation about this with one of friends once when I was away at college in New York. He insisted the letter n and the word inn were pronounced differently. I insisted they weren't.
Posts: 1658 | Registered: Sep 2003
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65% General American English 15% Upper Midwestern 15% Yankee 5% Dixie 0% Midwestern
This was right on for me; I was raised in the Philadelphia area (Yankee) but my parents are from Michigan (Upper Midwest). Where Dixie came from, I'll never know.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: how could airy and barry be pronounced differently from each other?
'Cause Airy is pronounced 'Ay-ery' and barry is pronounced 'bahrry'. If you're me. Of course, according to my housemate, I also pronounce duck 'dak' instead of 'dook' and bath 'barth' instead of 'baaath', so what do I know?
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: Okay, I can see how you could possibly pronounce merry and berry differently from the others (although I don't myself), but how could airy and barry be pronounced differently from each other?
If you pronounce the a in Barry like the short a in cat, and not like the long a in care.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:If you pronounce the a in Barry like the short a in cat, and not like the long a in care.
Huh. I have no idea how you're managing to get the a in cat in front of an r, 'cause it's not working for me.
Posts: 1658 | Registered: Sep 2003
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