Stereotypes:
Lower class. Those with stronger dialects are often considered sheltered, uneducated.
Dialect qualities:
CONSONANTS
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Non-rhotic (a tendency not to pronounce /r/). That said, a very lightly pronounced “r” is heard.
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Consonants b, d, p, and t are well articulated and tend to be the harder versions in final positions as well as in initial positions
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Dropped g’s at the end of -ing words
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VOWELS
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Nasal short-a system (a short a like the one in cat becomes a mid-high front diphthong when it precedes a nasal consonant.)
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Broad A: [æ], as [aː]. For example words like half and bath, will come to be pronounced as [haːf] and [baːθ], like the “a” in father
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The -ow sound at the end of a word often becomes an -uh (as in cut)
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Shwa: Sometimes in less educated Boston speech a shwa is insterted after “e” and before an “R” in words like caring and daring: keeRing, deeRing. In unstressed syllables in educated Boston speech, the schwa is used somewhat as it is in British RP, so business becomes biz’nes
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Short “o” as in Standard British
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As in New York, oo does not often have the semi-vowel “y” inserted between a consonant and itself in lower-class Boston speech, so news and duke are pronounced “nooz” and “dook.” In upper class Boston these become “nyooz” and “dyook”
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Practice sentences
This pig went to market, this pig went home.
I never saw a Sox lover surrender.
You gotta do what you think is best.
Did you see her hair today? She got it done here.
My conquest called my costume cute.
I do everything for everyone but I can't find anyone to thank me for it.
This is a terrible horrible no good, bad day.
Can I park the car at Harvard Yard?
The law is very formal and strict in that regard
The weather has cleared up nicely, so we can go out doors again, and the ice on the Charles River is starting to melt.
Well, you can go up there if you want to, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Recordings:
Young girl, slight accent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDW5Gu6_T1k
Natural North-End Italian American Bostonian Speaker, Male (1985):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omVFxtbZoyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmum-eT4hzM
IDEA Boston, Male (aged 70):
http://www.dialectsarchive.com/massachusetts-6
IDEA Boston (Dorchester), Male (aged 65):
http://www.dialectsarchive.com/massachusetts-8
IDEA South Boston, Female (aged 21):
http://www.dialectsarchive.com/massachusetts-9
Just for kicks and giggles:
"Sh** Boston Girls Say" (Note: not appropriate for children):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEm0t5Wcz11U