I have a question about word pronunciations. This is from my friends constantly telling me I say things funny. Anyway, I am from Western PA; I grew up here and live here to this day. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. None of my family says certain words like me.
I'll say "wooder" never "water", "worsh" not "wash", "see-rup" not "sur-up", I call what many people refer to as "pop", I say "soda". "Caught" is "cawt" (I think that's how you type it), "cawfee" and (sometimes "tawk".
(I've heard some in the Philadelphia area say wooder, and people in my area do say worsh.)
I have never met, that I remember, someone that pronounces words like I do (well, most of them). My question is, 1. Why do I talk different from everyone else? 2. Does anyone else say words like that/do you know anyone who does?
Sorry for the long thread, and if it's in the wrong place.
Different word pronunciations?
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Re: Different word pronunciations?
It's possible that you're getting your pronunciations from television or some other form of media. When you mentioned "wooter" I thought immediately of a Saturday Night Live sketch ("Bronx Talk") featuring Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey in which Tina's character, who said "wooter," was from Philly. The other two said "wahdah."
"Warsh" and "see-rup" seem to be Midwestern, while "soda" instead of "pop" and "cawt" rather than "cot" for caught are definitely more common on the east coast. I'm a native downstate New Yorker and I say "wawter," "wahsh," "ser-up," "soda" and "cawt." I specify downstate New Yorker because I have friends who grew up within walking distance of Lake Ontario, and they pronounce those words as Midwesterners do.
Then again, there doesn't have to be an outstanding reason for your pronunciations. Maybe you just say things differently from those around you because you do.
"Warsh" and "see-rup" seem to be Midwestern, while "soda" instead of "pop" and "cawt" rather than "cot" for caught are definitely more common on the east coast. I'm a native downstate New Yorker and I say "wawter," "wahsh," "ser-up," "soda" and "cawt." I specify downstate New Yorker because I have friends who grew up within walking distance of Lake Ontario, and they pronounce those words as Midwesterners do.
Then again, there doesn't have to be an outstanding reason for your pronunciations. Maybe you just say things differently from those around you because you do.
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Re: Different word pronunciations?
Renee might have fun with the Rebel-Yankee Test.
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