All Things the Boston Accent

[Idolater]

Ask me anything about our distinctive accent. Ask me to convert or translate, or post a vid and ask my impression of actors /speakers trying to simulate the accent.

I'm not a doctor of the Boston accent, as there is no such thing, but I am a native Bostonian, and was completely 'born and raised' to speak with the Boston accent, it is my "native tongue," and I promise that I can convert for you anything in English that you'd like to say in the Boston accent, into pronunciation that you can duplicate yourself.

One note, is the "schwa." It's an upside down lower case 'e.'

ə

The sound is basically just an "uh." So a W followed by a schwa for instance, sounds like something like "whuh," but will be written itt "wə."

For example, some Bostonians try to express in writing how to pronounce the city 'Worcester' as "woo-stah,"¹ but itt 'Worcester's' pronunciation is "wəstə."

(¹ - This looks more like the sound in "moose" or "caboose," and that's not the right sound, the right sound is the schwa; ə.)

The schwa might figure prominently itt, as a fair word of warning, so you might want to familiarize yourself with it if you're not already; see link below for a start.

A car is a "cah."

Harvard yard is "hahvəd yahd.'

I pahcked the cah in hahvəd yahd, is I parked the car in Harvard yard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ə

Ask me anything.

 

[Idolater]

Here's an interesting case, which I see on Wikipedia's entry for the Boston accent:
The words "tort" and "taught."

These words are not homophonic. "Taught" and "taut" are homophonic with "tot," but "tort" has a twist in there that's difficult to express, and takes a multiple step approach to convert what you might say, to the Boston accent.

To pronounce "tort" in Boston, retain the first syllable from "toward" (the "tow-"), but end it with a schwa and a T---'towət,' and make it only one syllable.

 

[Idolater]

Here's an interesting case, which I see on Wikipedia's entry for the Boston accent:
The words "tort" and "taught."

These words are not homophonic. "Taught" and "taut" are homophonic with "tot," but "tort" has a twist in there that's difficult to express, and takes a multiple step approach to convert what you might say, to the Boston accent.

To pronounce "tort" in Boston, retain the first syllable from "toward" (the "tow-"), but end it with a schwa and a T---'towət,' and make it only one syllable.

"Super."

It is not pronounced "soopah," like, "Ah! (Now I understand.)" But "soopə," again with the schwa.

'Same with "supper:" Suppə.

 

[Idolater]

Leave it to New Yorkers to get it wrong:

Bostonians’ Take on the Royals’ Whirlwind Visit? Whatevah.

As breathless online commentary tracked the royal couple’s every move during their visit, swaths of their host city remained unimpressed.

www.nytimes.com

It's "whatevə".