Dialect map quiz

[Galeongirl]

I missed that.

Sounds like crane to me.

[KhanadaRhodes]

ooh yeah we should come up with a list of words or something that everyone could read off of or something. sorry, i love this stuff

[bono_212]

I had everyone at my house say Crayon, tonight, and every person said it the same way I do.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

ooh yeah we should come up with a list of words or something that everyone could read off of or something. sorry, i love this stuff

"Crayon" and "poem" are the start of the list.

Something like "dance" or "chance" would also be good. I love to give shit to my fellow Kiwis in Australia who've lapsed into pronouncing those words the Aussie way (with a nasal "a" rather than "dahnsse" or "chahnsse"). Oh and then there's "known" and "grown"; I think the Kiwi two-syllable pronunciation of words with an -n suffix is distinctive; i.e. in my accent "grown" and "groan" sound totally different.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by Axver

Oh and then there's "known" and "grown"; I think the Kiwi two-syllable pronunciation of words with an -n suffix is distinctive; i.e. in my accent "grown" and "groan" sound totally different.

i know exactly what you mean, i guess i'd say it's like...know-in? i can hear it in my head. there's not a lot of emphasis on the -n, so for anyone thinking it's like know-IN (or knowing) it's not. bah.

i'd say kiwis say "oo" sounds differently too, like book, took, wood, etc. it's totally different from any other english-speaking accent i've ever heard, anyway.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

i know exactly what you mean, i guess i'd say it's like...know-in? i can hear it in my head. there's not a lot of emphasis on the -n, so for anyone thinking it's like know-IN (or knowing) it's not. bah.

i'd say kiwis say "oo" sounds differently too, like book, took, wood, etc. it's totally different from any other english-speaking accent i've ever heard, anyway.

I'd probably write it out as "know'n" myself but "know-in" is just as good, with emphasis on the first syllable as you say; it's as if we've dropped a vowel (like we do in so many other words). Oddly enough, I think I've actually come to unintentionally exaggerate the -n living in Australia around people who don't do it; I notice that my relatives back home pronounce the -n softer than I do.

Not sure I've noticed the distinctive "oo" that you mention. I wonder if I do it? My accent is a total mess. I did an interview on Kiwi radio yesterday and all my Kiwi relatives commented on how Aussie my accent sounds sometimes (perhaps didn't help that I began with "g'day"!), but everybody at work reckons that I sound the most Kiwi of the entire Kiwi contingent - despite the fact I've lived in Australia for at least a decade longer than the other Kiwis! I think it really depends on what I say and what local reference the listener has as to whether I sound Kiwi or Aussie to somebody. If I'm yelling at the footy, I know I sound Australian (after all, "barracking" for a team and telling them to "CAAAARN!" [come on] are of Melbourne origin), but if I'm holding forth on a Kiwi topic I can really lapse into the Kiwi side of my accent.

[cobl04]

when kiwis say six it sounds like sex ha

[Axver]

Originally Posted by cobl04

when Aussies say six it sounds like sex ha

Fixed.

[KhanadaRhodes]

when cobbler says it, it sounds like virgin 4 lyfe

oh snap

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by Axver

I think it really depends on what I say and what local reference the listener has as to whether I sound Kiwi or Aussie to somebody. If I'm yelling at the footy, I know I sound Australian (after all, "barracking" for a team and telling them to "CAAAARN!" [come on] are of Melbourne origin), but if I'm holding forth on a Kiwi topic I can really lapse into the Kiwi side of my accent.

that kind of reminds me how sometimes i can pick up little elements of someone else's accents if i talk to them. i mean, nothing major, i won't suddenly start speaking with a fake english accent or something, i'll just notice during a conversation i'll say a vowel the way they do or something. i've always called it accent velcro.

as for coming up with a list of words, in addition to crayon, poem, and dance/chance, one can just plagiate from the quiz:
caramel, been, lawyer, mayonnaise, coupon, route, pyjamas, pecan pie (the way i say it wasn't even on there), syrup, mary/merry/marry*, cot/caught*, herb, dew, aunt...there's a lot here: http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html (only about the first half is pronunciations while the second half is more grammar, but it's still a lot)


*i know of more mergers should anyone find that of any interest: father/bother, lot/cloth, foot/goose, pin/pen, toe/tow, line/loin, coil/curl, mare/mayor, taut/taught, trap/bath, wine/whine

[IWasBored]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

Springfield, MA.

that's amazing. very close to where i grew up.

Wait, you're from around here?

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

when cobbler says it, it sounds like virgin 4 lyfe

oh snap

[Axver]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

that kind of reminds me how sometimes i can pick up little elements of someone else's accents if i talk to them. i mean, nothing major, i won't suddenly start speaking with a fake english accent or something, i'll just notice during a conversation i'll say a vowel the way they do or something. i've always called it accent velcro.

Charlotte and a few other people I know say they do that too. Everyone I know who's worked in a shop on Auckland's North Shore has said that after a day of serving lots of people from the North Shore's large South African community they've come to pick up a South African accent. That sort of thing has never happened to me unless I've been visiting a place for a lengthy time, and even then only on the most obvious words - e.g. after a month in the States I started saying the American pronunciation of "garage" rather than "gariddge".

as for coming up with a list of words, in addition to crayon, poem, and dance/chance, one can just plagiate from the quiz:
caramel, been, lawyer, mayonnaise, coupon, route, pyjamas, pecan pie (the way i say it wasn't even on there), syrup, mary/merry/marry*, cot/caught*, herb, dew, aunt...there's a lot here: Dialect Survey Results (only about the first half is pronunciations while the second half is more grammar, but it's still a lot)


*i know of more mergers should anyone find that of any interest: father/bother, lot/cloth, foot/goose, pin/pen, toe/tow, line/loin, coil/curl, mare/mayor, taut/taught, trap/bath, wine/whine

I'm rather tempted to record this. Though I'm honestly not sure I've ever said "pecan pie" out loud.

Share/shear/sheer and beer/bear/bare are other good ones. I understand in a traditional Kiwi accent all three merge. I think I blur them sometimes and not others. My pronunciation of "beer" definitely changes from one time to another.

(Though other factors may be at play there. )

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by KhanadaRhodes

that kind of reminds me how sometimes i can pick up little elements of someone else's accents if i talk to them. i mean, nothing major, i won't suddenly start speaking with a fake english accent or something, i'll just notice during a conversation i'll say a vowel the way they do or something. i've always called it accent velcro.

as for coming up with a list of words, in addition to crayon, poem, and dance/chance, one can just plagiate from the quiz:
caramel, been, lawyer, mayonnaise, coupon, route, pyjamas, pecan pie (the way i say it wasn't even on there), syrup, mary/merry/marry*, cot/caught*, herb, dew, aunt...there's a lot here: Dialect Survey Results (only about the first half is pronunciations while the second half is more grammar, but it's still a lot)


*i know of more mergers should anyone find that of any interest: father/bother, lot/cloth, foot/goose, pin/pen, toe/tow, line/loin, coil/curl, mare/mayor, taut/taught, trap/bath, wine/whine

Ca(as in cat)-ra(as in Sun Ra)-mel
Been(as in Mr Bean)
Loy(as in toy)-er
May-yo-nayz (we just call it mayo)
Coo-pon
Root(as in toot)
P-jah-mehs
Pee-can pie
Sihhhh-rup(as in rupture)
Merr-ree, Meh-ree, Mah-ree
Cot, cort
Her-b(u)h
Jew (sometimes due(as in Dewey))
Same as 'Aren't'

[Galeongirl]

caramel - ca ra mel
been - bin
lawyer - loy er
mayonnaise - mayo nayz
coupon - coo pon
route - root e(though the e is nearly silent)
pyjamas - pee jam as
pecan pie - pee can pie (I know lots of people say pecahn)
Syrup - sy (as in psyduck) - rup
mehry, merry, mahrry
cot, coht
herb - herb, just that lol
dew - due
aunt - awnt

[LemonMelon]

Keh ruh mel
Ben
Loy err
Mayo nayz
Coo pon
Rowt
Puh jawm uhz
Pecawn pie
Sear up
Meh ry sounds the same across all three
Cot, cawt
Erb
Dew
Awnt, unless I'm tacking it on to the beginning of a proper name, in which case ant

[jeevey]

Pretty much right on the money, except like most people the map quiz doesn't know enough about the subject to distinguish Boston and Worcester from real Northern New Englanders. Around here a poem is usually pronouced pome, a crayon is cray-on, and most importantly a long sandwich is an italian. One thing this thing didn't touch on is letter drops: it's common to all of New England to drop Rs (fuhgut the keys to my cah) but here we also add them after an A sound (had a great idear about the pahty.) We also have some of those Aussie things like can't be bothered (or bohthid, really) and what a beaut. Maybe because of both being settled by the English?

[Axver]

Originally Posted by jeevey

... most importantly a long sandwich is an italian.

Oh yeah I forgot about this one - it didn't have what I called them: a filled roll. If I get it from Subway, then I'll call it a sub, but otherwise it's a filled roll, especially if it's cut open at the top rather than the side.

One thing this thing didn't touch on is letter drops: it's common to all of New England to drop Rs (fuhgut the keys to my cah)

I've always described the Aussie/Kiwi form of this as a soft 'r', but I can see how it sounds like simply dropping the 'r'. I drop vowels all the time, e.g. Queensland is Kweens-l'nd, Melbourne is Mel-b'n, Wellington is Well-ing-t'n, etc.

[IWasBored]

Originally Posted by jeevey

Pretty much right on the money, except like most people the map quiz doesn't know enough about the subject to distinguish Boston and Worcester from real Northern New Englanders. Around here a poem is usually pronouced pome, a crayon is cray-on, and most importantly a long sandwich is an italian.

And then people like you forget there is New England west of Worcester. Around here it's definitely a grinder.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Originally Posted by Axver

Charlotte and a few other people I know say they do that too. Everyone I know who's worked in a shop on Auckland's North Shore has said that after a day of serving lots of people from the North Shore's large South African community they've come to pick up a South African accent. That sort of thing has never happened to me unless I've been visiting a place for a lengthy time, and even then only on the most obvious words - e.g. after a month in the States I started saying the American pronunciation of "garage" rather than "gariddge".

ahh, right. though i should add that for me any changes only happen while i'm talking to that person. as soon as the conversation's over, i go back to talking normally. i guess i'm subconsciously trying to fit in or something.

Originally Posted by Axver

I'm rather tempted to record this. Though I'm honestly not sure I've ever said "pecan pie" out loud.

Share/shear/sheer and beer/bear/bare are other good ones. I understand in a traditional Kiwi accent all three merge. I think I blur them sometimes and not others. My pronunciation of "beer" definitely changes from one time to another.

(Though other factors may be at play there. )

i did, damnit. my voice isn't normally this husky because i'm sick, though: https://soundcloud.com/dizrythmia/my-voice-dialect-crap

even i don't say pecan pie (or pecan) very much, and it's super popular here. it's gross.