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Posted

If you spend any time outside of CNY and WNY and then come back you definitely notice it. Seriously, Utica down to Binghamton and out to Buffalo the accent exists. It isn't exactly thick but we do have one!

Posted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Engl...nal_differences

 

Inland North

 

The Inland North dialect region was once considered the "standard Midwestern" speech that was the basis for General American in the mid-20th century. However, it has been recently modified by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, which is the main feature of this dialect region. Today the Inland North proper is regarded as the sub-region of the North where the NCVS predominates.

 

The Inland North is centered on the area south of the Great Lakes, and consists of two components: to the east, central and western New York State (including Syracuse, Binghamton, Rochester, and Buffalo); and to the west, much of Michigan's Lower Peninsula (Detroit, Grand Rapids), Toledo, Cleveland, Chicago, Gary, and Southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha).

Posted

When I was in high school in Long Island a girl in our class had just moved there from Chicago. The teacher put these three words on the blackboard & asked her to say them: Mary, merry, marry. When she said them, they all sounded the same. If you don't have that accent, they are three distinctively different sounding words. The class all laughed at her and then the teacher continued teaching the class in a New Yawk accent.

Posted

Anybody from Watertown, Albany, Plattsburgh or anywhere else wanna describe how they talk where you live? When I was in Albany this girl there pronounced the word ball as "bawl" and dog as "dawg". No idea what type of accent that is.

 

Utica definitely has the Inland North accent like the rest of CNY and WNY.

Posted

As a resident of Chicago with very close family in Buffalo, I can attest to their similarities. They're not the same though. Not to be a dick, but the Buffalo accent is slightly more effeminate, some how, some way.

Posted

I'm from the Falls but grew up on Long Island. I don't have an WNY accent but all my grade school teachers thought I was from the Mid-West due to the way they heard my 'R's' - I guess in contrast to native LIers (as depicted in Albany's story).

 

I wouldn't call the Buffalo area accent 'effeminate'; but having gone to college in Minneapolis with quite a few folks from Chi-town, the accents are discernibly different.

 

When spending summers in the Falls as a kid, I would tease my cousin when he would say the word 'bike' : 'boyk'.

Posted
Anybody from Watertown, Albany, Plattsburgh or anywhere else wanna describe how they talk where you live? When I was in Albany this girl there pronounced the word ball as "bawl" and dog as "dawg". No idea what type of accent that is.

 

Utica definitely has the Inland North accent like the rest of CNY and WNY.

In Albany there's no one accent. I would say it's close to none, but I've heard bits of different accents from some natives, but no common one among them . The one you heard was like a New York City one, but I hardly hear it here. When I go downstate I start to laugh because so many people tawk New Yawk down there. Me, I've got bits of everything from NYS. I was born in the Bronx, grew up in Nassau county Long Island, then went to Fredonia at 17 and at one time picked up a little WNY accent, then shuttled back & forth between Buffalo & LI, finally settling in Albany almost 22 years ago. I don't have any regional accent in my words, but my tone is more NYC than elsewhere.

Posted
As a resident of Chicago with very close family in Buffalo, I can attest to their similarities. They're not the same though. Not to be a dick, but the Buffalo accent is slightly more effeminate, some how, some way.

 

I've lived in Rochester and Buffalo. The Buffalo accent is less harsh than Rochester. Perhaps Buffalo is influenced by the Canadian accent somewhat.

Posted

I never thought I had an accent. When I moved to Minnesota, I had many people tell me that they could tell I wasn't from the area because of my accent. :( I still can't tell the difference between Minnesotans and WNYers, but hey...

 

And no, people don't say, "You betcha! For sure!" around here like they portrayed in Fargo... :(

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