I am from Connecticut and places close to me like New York, Rhode Island and Massachusettes have accents. But I don't hear my own. I've lived in CT my whole life and mind you English is my first language...
2007-04-30 06:13:22 · 12 answers · asked by jassie9788 3 in Travel ➔ Travel (General) ➔ Other - Destinations
Absolutely!! I bet if I were to hear you talk I would hear your accent. I lived in RI for 16 years, moved and have been living in TN for 16 years. My accent can go either way really.
2007-04-30 06:18:01 · answer #1 · answered by SamCam 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Connecticut's a small state but there are several Connecticut accents -- probably because we're located between Boston and New York City. Katharine Hepburn was from Old Saybrook (on the eastern shore). William F. Buckley is from Fairfield County (in the southwest on the New York border). John Ratzenberger (Cliff Clavin on "Cheers") and Kevin Nealon ("SNL," "Weeds") grew up in Bridgeport. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is from Kent (which isn't anywhere near the Rhode Island border).
I grew up in south central Connecticut, and everyone I went to school with drops the "r" in the middle of "quarter" so that it rhymes with "water" and "daughter." Most of the Connecticut natives I know drop the "t" in the middle of words like "cotton" and "eating."
There was a pretty good article in the New York Times on September 5, 2004, by Gary Santaniello: "Accent? What Accent?" It's not free on the NYT site, but I found it reposted here: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0409b&L=ads-l&P=5962 and here as a PDF download: http://www.speechdr.com/SundayTimesSept2004.pdf
According to the article, that dropping of the "t" is called a glottal stop. But I have never heard it used when the "t" sound in the middle of a word is followed by an "l." The examples in the article are "CAH-uhl'' (cattle) and ''BAH-uhl' (bottle). That sounds like a Cockney accent to me!
2007-05-01 14:57:05 · answer #2 · answered by editorgrrl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've lived here my entire life too, and somehow people can tell I have an accent went I go to another state/country outside of the Northeast.
I have a Boston/NY thing going on. Not heavy, but it's there and you can tell by certain words. For instance, a lot of my "O's" come out "Aw's".
One parent from here, One from Europe.. (Though they don't have any influence on how I speak).
Though I've read elsewhere that Noah Webster is from CT.. (you know, the guy behind that famous webster dictionary). And that CT is neutral.. but I think CT has one, we just deal with each other every day just like someone in Texas deals with someone in Texas every day.
2007-05-01 00:08:16 · answer #3 · answered by cs 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everyone all over the world has some sort of accent, but most never notice it. When you grow up saying things a certain way as everyone around you does, you tend to tune it out. I'm from northwestern Pennsylvania, and we think that people from Pittsburgh have a different accent than we do (which they do!). It all really depends on where and how you were raised.
Around home, for being such a small town, we have a wide variety. The older generaion says such things as 'worshing the clothes' and 'redding up the room', but the younger group never picked up on things. And I'm considered odd because of being raised in a semi-Canadian household (yes, I have said the dreaded 'aboot' without knowing it!).
So yes, you probably do have an accent, but your ear is accustomed to it!
2007-04-30 13:24:19 · answer #4 · answered by kage_twin_blade 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You guys have accents. We all do, and the accent identifies us with which part of the country we come from. Yours is a very nice accent, mine is a drawl. I'm from Texas, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I lived in Arizona for a while and after moving to Oklahoma and working for Oklahoma O.U. President Cross, he could tell that I had lived in the area I had moved from.
2007-04-30 13:17:39 · answer #5 · answered by Sparkles 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm from Indiana and moved to CT for three years. There definetly is a difference in the way people talk. Then we moved to southern California, and people sound different there, too.
2007-04-30 13:17:55 · answer #6 · answered by GeminiVirgo1971 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some of us in NE have accents. Some people don't say the letter R when they should and they add it where it does not belong. Maine natives have an accent.
2007-04-30 13:17:17 · answer #7 · answered by Jim G 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only to people from South Texas.
Every region has its own special dialect that sounds different to people from other regions.
Sandy
2007-04-30 13:17:53 · answer #8 · answered by Sandy M 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think people from connecticut do. Maybe with certain words...but I can't think of any right now. (i live in colorado)
2007-04-30 13:21:31 · answer #9 · answered by Helen Scott 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I live in NY State and I don't have an accent!
2007-04-30 13:16:00 · answer #10 · answered by kja63 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋