New York (Manhattan) Dialect
Qualities:
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Manhattan is typically characterized by fast talking-- this means that diction is key!
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Placement: more forward that Standard American
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Toward the front of the mouth, almost like a open-mouth pucker
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To strengthen the accent, additional nasality can be added
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It’s like you sucked on a lemon (pursed lips) and then someone said something that surprised you “oh!”
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CONSONANTS
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Non-rhotic (a tendency not to pronounce /r/)
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Vocalization of /l/
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The consonants /t/, /d/, /n/, and /l/ may be articulated with the tongue blade rather than the tip (dental)
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Intrusive g: while g at the end of -ing phrases are typically dropped, g’s before vowels tend to be linked and emphasized so Long Island sounds more like lawn Guyland
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d is often substituted for t
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Replace “th” at the beginning or end of words with a d or t (ex: that becomes dat)
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Reduction of hj to j (ex: human becomes youman)
VOWELS
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Substitute: Ah as in talk with an aw sound as in awful. These diphthongs in particular are elongated
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Split a: A natural extension of vowels on the a sound (as in apple) (ex: ca-AHB)
Images
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Trumpet: Your sound starts out tight in your mouth, and expands outward so that you can speak over the sounds of the city. Imagine your sound as carrying through a trumpet on words like: walk, talk, coffee.
Sentences:
Forget about it.
Do you have any little bottles of water?
The early bird gets the worm
New York (Noo Yohk/Yo-uhk))
Caught, bought, coffee, talk
Get out of here!
Alright, already!
Recordings:
http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hrA9-6o4tI
New York Borough distinction (Manhattan at around 2:05):