Boston Dialect Features in the Black/African American Community

Charlene Browne · James N. Stanford

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Linguistic Variation and Morphology Phonetics and Phonology Research Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies

Abstract

Although dialectologists have studied Eastern New England (ENE) for generations, the dialect features of the Black/African American community are still understudied (Nagy and Irwin 2010:250). In this study, we conducted field interviews with 28 African American/Caribbean American (AA/CA) residents of Greater Boston. We compared our results with prior ENE fieldwork in nearby South Boston, a predominantly White community traditionally known for its strong "Boston accent." Results suggest that some ENE regional features are shared by both communities (MARY/MARRY/MERRY distinction, NORTH/FORCE distinction, nasal split short-a). However, other features show significant differences: the AA/CA speakers had non-fronted START/PALM, unmerged lot/thought (for older speakers), and rapidly receding r-lessness. This suggests that traditional notions about what constitutes a "Boston accent" need to be reconsidered in a more inclusive and nuanced way, following the dynamic social and ethnic patterns of the Boston area.

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1991Language and ethnicity 1940Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England 1982Accents of English I: An Introduction 2011African American Vernacular English 2010Stability and Change Along a Dialect Boundary: The Low Vowels of Southeastern New England 2010Boston (r): Neighbo(r)s nea(r) and fa(r)1986ETHNICITY IN PHONOLOGICAL VARIATION AND CHANGE 2006AS OLD BECOMES NEW: GLOTTALIZATION IN VERMONT

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20241. Language Change at the Intersections of Movement, Economy, and Orientation 2020A Modern Update on New England Dialectology: Introducing the Dartmouth New England English Database (DNEED)

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