I want to know everything about this accent, how to speak like people from NJ, what sounds do they use, evreything ... I'll be glad if you help me, guys!
An Accent Of New Jersey!????
Go watch a movie called "Clerks" and pay attention to how everyone says everything. That's the most authentic representation you're ever going to find without actually going to the state.
These links (from an archived antimoon thread) might help.
Here are two lengthy samples of New Jersey accents. (Each has a short introduction by another person.)
http://www.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica/usa/newjersey/newjersey.htm
There are different accents in NJ. They range from General American to just-like-NY, and accents in between. The first speaker is an 18-year old girl who has something in common with many young women in the US from various regions, and that is a vowel shift. For example, she pronounces “letter” and “stress” almost as if they were spelled “latter” and “strass.” But you can still hear the Jersey in her accent, such as the way she says “you.” The man also doesn’t have a very strong Jersey accent.
The singer in this parody of Gwen Stefani’s song “Rich Girl” has a Jersey accent.
http://www.z100.com/audio/050311_JerseyGirl.mp3
Here are two lengthy samples of New Jersey accents. (Each has a short introduction by another person.)
http://www.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica/usa/newjersey/newjersey.htm
There are different accents in NJ. They range from General American to just-like-NY, and accents in between. The first speaker is an 18-year old girl who has something in common with many young women in the US from various regions, and that is a vowel shift. For example, she pronounces “letter” and “stress” almost as if they were spelled “latter” and “strass.” But you can still hear the Jersey in her accent, such as the way she says “you.” The man also doesn’t have a very strong Jersey accent.
The singer in this parody of Gwen Stefani’s song “Rich Girl” has a Jersey accent.
http://www.z100.com/audio/050311_JerseyGirl.mp3
Here is a ditty going back at least to the early 1900's which illustrates the New Jersey accent. This accent is being replaced by General American. Even by the 1960's, I had already met some New Jerseyites who didn't speak with it.
Toity little boids
sittin' on a coib'
a choipin' and a boipin'
and eatin' doity woims
along came a squoit (squirt) named Moyt (Myrt)
and a floit (flirt) named Boyt (Bert)
They saw the toity little boids
sittin' on a coib
and eatin' doity woims
and Moyt (Myrt) to Boyt
ain't it petoibin' (peturbing)?
Toity little boids
sittin' on a coib'
a choipin' and a boipin'
and eatin' doity woims
along came a squoit (squirt) named Moyt (Myrt)
and a floit (flirt) named Boyt (Bert)
They saw the toity little boids
sittin' on a coib
and eatin' doity woims
and Moyt (Myrt) to Boyt
ain't it petoibin' (peturbing)?
Frank Sinatra was from Hoboken, NJ, which is right across the Hudson river from lower Manhattan. He has one of those NJ accents that sounds very much like a NY accent. Rent one of his movies and you'll have lots of exposure to a NJ accent.
The problem is, what people stereotypically associate with Jersey is really a New York accent. The only part of New Jersey that has it is the small part right across the river from NYC (Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken etc.). I've got plenty of relatives from various parts of the state, mostly from the north, so I've got a good idea of what the area sounds like. And then there's my cousins in Toms River (considered "south" although it's more central) who always use glottal stops in words like "button"...
This could get real complicated but really, just go watch that movie I recommended up there, "Clerks," because what you hear there are great examples of north Jersey away from New York. And as for Jon Bon Jovi I haven't heard very much of him actually speaking.
This could get real complicated but really, just go watch that movie I recommended up there, "Clerks," because what you hear there are great examples of north Jersey away from New York. And as for Jon Bon Jovi I haven't heard very much of him actually speaking.
<<who always use glottal stops in words like "button"...>>
I thought this was a common feature in all American English dialects.
I thought this was a common feature in all American English dialects.
I suppose it is but in that area they don't even bother pronouncing the t's. It's the same as in Cockney. I might add that when I was in Air Force Basic Training a few months ago, we had an MTI (Military Training Instructor - the Air Force equivalent of a drill sergeant) from Yorktown, Virginia, who also pronounced "button" this way: "make sure the back pocket is [b^?Ind]!" Some of us laughed about it when he wasn't around.
<<I suppose it is but in that area they don't even bother pronouncing the t's. It's the same as in Cockney. I might add that when I was in Air Force Basic Training a few months ago, we had an MTI (Military Training Instructor - the Air Force equivalent of a drill sergeant) from Yorktown, Virginia, who also pronounced "button" this way: "make sure the back pocket is [b^?Ind]!" Some of us laughed about it when he wasn't around.>>
But isn't that a common pronunciation of:
(stressed vowel + /tn=/ --> stressed vowel + [?n=])
in NAE?
For instance, I say ["bV?n=] ["k_hI?n=] ["bI?n=] ["mI?n=] for "button" "kitten" "bitten" and "mitten" because it's in the special environment of (stressed vowel + /tn=/). I don't have intervocalic /?/ in other cases. Compare my ["bV4@`] ["k_hI4i] ["bI4@`] ["mV4@`] for "butter" "kitty" "bitter" and "mutter."
But isn't that a common pronunciation of:
(stressed vowel + /tn=/ --> stressed vowel + [?n=])
in NAE?
For instance, I say ["bV?n=] ["k_hI?n=] ["bI?n=] ["mI?n=] for "button" "kitten" "bitten" and "mitten" because it's in the special environment of (stressed vowel + /tn=/). I don't have intervocalic /?/ in other cases. Compare my ["bV4@`] ["k_hI4i] ["bI4@`] ["mV4@`] for "butter" "kitty" "bitter" and "mutter."
<<"who always use glottal stops in words like "button"..."
I thought this was a common feature in all American English dialects.>>
Yeah, as explained on my previous post I also thought all North American dialects did that. In fact, I know one girl who doesn't do that and she sounds weird to my ears. She says ["gA4In] ["bV4In] for words like "gotten" and "button" and it always sounds "off" to my ears--she's the only (American) I've ever met who's done this, and I believe she grew up here in California so I don't know how she acquired that.
I thought this was a common feature in all American English dialects.>>
Yeah, as explained on my previous post I also thought all North American dialects did that. In fact, I know one girl who doesn't do that and she sounds weird to my ears. She says ["gA4In] ["bV4In] for words like "gotten" and "button" and it always sounds "off" to my ears--she's the only (American) I've ever met who's done this, and I believe she grew up here in California so I don't know how she acquired that.
The difference is in the T's. Sure, we all put a glottal stop in button but at the same time articulate a T with the tongue. I guess we could write it as [b^?t@n]. What these south NJ, Philly, and apparently coastal Virginia people are doing is leaving out the T entirely. This sort of thing used to drive my mom (born & raised in Ohio) crazy when my parents lived in Jersey.
<<The difference is in the T's. Sure, we all put a glottal stop in button but at the same time articulate a T with the tongue. I guess we could write it as [b^?t@n]. What these south NJ, Philly, and apparently coastal Virginia people are doing is leaving out the T entirely. This sort of thing used to drive my mom (born & raised in Ohio) crazy when my parents lived in Jersey.>>
Oh, I see what you're saying--yeah there's almost a coarticulation going on when I say it--at the time of the glottal stop my tongue reaches the alveolar ridge but doesn't release. It does sound quite different to to not have the alveolar coarticulation there.
Oh, I see what you're saying--yeah there's almost a coarticulation going on when I say it--at the time of the glottal stop my tongue reaches the alveolar ridge but doesn't release. It does sound quite different to to not have the alveolar coarticulation there.
Tom, do you know anything about the incidence of glottal stopping in North America? I've noticed that it occurs in a lot Northern Accents, but I can't quite say if it's a fixed dialect feature or not.
I don't notice any coarticulation of a t and a glottal stop, in "button," I guess because I'm from the Philly area (though I'm skeptical my pronunciation is different from the rest of the country's). I'd have to hear someone not from around here say that word so I can compare.