One-word regional accents

[hotdogPi]

pronounce Leominster with the first syllable sounding like the astrological sign: it's LEMON-ster.

Why did you New Englanders put an extra syllable in what, in proper England, is Lem-ster? 

It's the only city/town name I know of where UK pronunciation, US pronunciation, and naïve phonetic pronunciation are all different.

For example, Worcester MA is pronounced like it is in the UK, while Warwick RI is phonetic.

[abefroman329]

pronounce Leominster with the first syllable sounding like the astrological sign: it's LEMON-ster.

Why did you New Englanders put an extra syllable in what, in proper England, is Lem-ster? 

It's the only city/town name I know of where UK pronunciation, US pronunciation, and naïve phonetic pronunciation are all different.

For example, Worcester MA is pronounced like it is in the UK, while Warwick RI is phonetic.

There's also Durham, NC and Birmingham, AL; the former is pronounced as it is in the UK and the latter is phonetic.

Then there's places like Hartford, CT, which is likely named for Hertford in England, but they spelled it "Hartford" to retain the UK pronunciation by Americans using the phonetic pronunciation.

[Brandon]

Then we have Charlotte, Michigan, pronounced "sure-LOT" .

[ET21]

Only one I can think of is Shabbona IL. Pronounced Shab-ba-na in the area, but Sha-bo-na to anyone outside of the county

[empirestate]

So...have we run out of examples of the original topic then?

[inkyatari]

Only one I can think of is Shabbona IL. Pronounced Shab-ba-na in the area, but Sha-bo-na to anyone outside of the county

In my town, we have the grave of Chief Shabbona, and our middle school is named after him, and we pronounce it the same way.

[empirestate]

I suppose on the subject of local pronunciation of place names, that could be an example of a one-word giveaway that someone is not from a particular area. For example, I might be hanging around south-central PA with a group of people, and then one of them will come out and pronounce it as "LAN-caster".

(And yes, I've actually heard it that way a number of times from people who claim to be from there!)

[tchafe1978]

I suppose on the subject of local pronunciation of place names, that could be an example of a one-word giveaway that someone is not from a particular area. For example, I might be hanging around south-central PA with a group of people, and then one of them will come out and pronounce it as "LAN-caster".

(And yes, I've actually heard it that way a number of times from people who claim to be from there!)

Maybe they're from Wisconsin? The small city in Wisconsin named Lancaster IS pronounced LAN-cas-ter.

[webny99]

So...have we run out of examples of the original topic then?

Everything else I can think of is not specific to a certain word, but rather certain vowel sounds in general.

For example, the "ahh" sound made by people from Western Canada when they say words such as "stand".

[webny99]

Does anyone else say "meeting" as "meed-een"?

Many, if not a majority of, people I know says their "ing's" this way. I think it sounds ugly and make a conscious effort to avoid doing so.

[1995hoo]

Does anyone else say "meeting" as "meed-een"?

Many, if not a majority of, people I know says their "ing's" this way. I think it sounds ugly and make a conscious effort to avoid doing so.

No; while I may drop the "g" on an "-ing," if I do it sounds like the word "in" (short "i" sound), not a long "e" sound as in "queen."

[jp the roadgeek]

Then there's places like Hartford, CT, which is likely named for Hertford in England, but they spelled it "Hartford" to retain the UK pronunciation by Americans using the phonetic pronunciation.

And then there's Harford County, MD  that drops the "T"

I suppose on the subject of local pronunciation of place names, that could be an example of a one-word giveaway that someone is not from a particular area. For example, I might be hanging around south-central PA with a group of people, and then one of them will come out and pronounce it as "LAN-caster".

(And yes, I've actually heard it that way a number of times from people who claim to be from there!)

'
Yeah, I always here it pronounced as LANEkster when I'm in the area. 

[empirestate]

Does anyone else say "meeting" as "meed-een"?

Many, if not a majority of, people I know says their "ing's" this way. I think it sounds ugly and make a conscious effort to avoid doing so.

I don't, but I've heard it often. Of course, we're from Rochester, where all the kids are named Eeandy and Eealex and Meeatt, and they play with rubber beeands, and their dads work at Kodeeak, and their dad's names are Bahb and Rahger and Dahn. Or maybe the work for Xeerahx, or Bausch & Lahmb, and they like to eat white hahts and drink pahp.

I suppose on the subject of local pronunciation of place names, that could be an example of a one-word giveaway that someone is not from a particular area. For example, I might be hanging around south-central PA with a group of people, and then one of them will come out and pronounce it as "LAN-caster".

(And yes, I've actually heard it that way a number of times from people who claim to be from there!)

'
Yeah, I always here it pronounced as LANEkster when I'm in the area. 

Right; should rhyme with "prankster", in other words.

[webny99]

Does anyone else say "meeting" as "meed-een"?

Many, if not a majority of, people I know says their "ing's" this way. I think it sounds ugly and make a conscious effort to avoid doing so.

I don't, but I've heard it often. Of course, we're from Rochester, where all the kids are named Eeandy and Eealex and Meeatt, and they play with rubber beeands, and their dads work at Kodeeak, and their dad's names are Bahb and Rahger and Dahn. Or maybe the work for Xeerahx, or Bausch & Lahmb, and they like to eat white hahts and drink pahp.

You're from Rah-chster? Thats awesome, not sure how I never knew that!

I personally think the accent, while definitely existent, is a bit overhyped. Many people I know have at least one parent born elsewhere, so perhaps that plays into in to an extent as well. I certainly don't think the accent is any stronger here than it is, say, in Buffalo.

But yeah, that little blurb made my evening 

[Brandon]

Does anyone else say "meeting" as "meed-een"?

Many, if not a majority of, people I know says their "ing's" this way. I think it sounds ugly and make a conscious effort to avoid doing so.

I don't, but I've heard it often. Of course, we're from Rochester, where all the kids are named Eeandy and Eealex and Meeatt, and they play with rubber beeands, and their dads work at Kodeeak, and their dad's names are Bahb and Rahger and Dahn. Or maybe the work for Xeerahx, or Bausch & Lahmb, and they like to eat white hahts and drink pahp.

You're from Rah-chster? Thats awesome, not sure how I never knew that!

I personally think the accent, while definitely existent, is a bit overhyped. Many people I know have at least one parent born elsewhere, so perhaps that plays into in to an extent as well. I certainly don't think the accent is any stronger here than it is, say, in Buffalo.

But yeah, that little blurb made my evening 

It's probably much stronger in The Mitten.  You also hear it in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
For a Michigan version, it's "I'm takin' the pahp bahttles to tha peearty store over on tha service drive for the depahsit."

http://www.michigannative.com/ma_home.shtml
The entire accent, from Rochester to Dubuque, is Inland North, just south and east of North Central.  So, you want a beg with thet?

[webny99]

Thats funny, because I notice the Michigan accent. I can pick up on it fairly quickly, and I actually kind of like it!

Obviously, I don't notice the accent much here in Rah-chester. But subjectivity aside, I tend to agree that it's stronger in Michigan than it is here.

"Pahp" is obviously a pretty common one that spans the whole region 

[empirestate]

You're from Rah-chster? Thats awesome, not sure how I never knew that!

I personally think the accent, while definitely existent, is a bit overhyped. Many people I know have at least one parent born elsewhere, so perhaps that plays into in to an extent as well. I certainly don't think the accent is any stronger here than it is, say, in Buffalo.

But yeah, that little blurb made my evening 

Oh yes...not born, but bred. And while the accent certainly isn't unique to the city, you hear it plenty from old-timers. (One reliable to way to hear any area's accent was weather radio–back when it still had human announcers.)