English is one of the most popular and wide-spoken languages, and it is sometimes referred to as the language of globalization. It has a 25.9% share of worldwide internet users. It is the official language in 67 countries. In addition, there are about 1.452 billion people who speak English in the world. 

The English language has got some variants: British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, etc. Also, American English has got many accents. 

Many non-native speakers of English cannot differentiate accents. Today, we will tell you the main peculiarities of the American accent. American accents are Californian, Southern Coast, New England, Midwestern, Texan, African American, and New York. Whereas New York has got some accents as well. For instance, the Bronx accent, the Long Island accent, the Brooklyn accent, and the North Jersey accent.

New York accent

“New Yorkese” is probably one of the most famous accents. Moreover, it is one of the most recognizable accents in the USA because it is popular and used on TV, in films, and radio.

The dialect varies geographically and probably is a result of class or ethnic variation — the accent coincides among the current younger generations of various ethnic backgrounds.

Some commonly used words:

• “Lit” means amazing.
• “Bodega” means a grocery store.
• “Mad” means very.

Bronx accent

When we talk about Bronx accent, there’s a lot of lip corner tension in your mouth. Your tongue goes high in the back of your mouth. In addition, sounds turn into diphthongs. Short vowel/o/becomes long /o:/. For example, law /lo:/, thought /θɔːt/, cost  /koːst/, etc.

The sound /θ/ (as in the word “that”) turns into a /d/ sound. The phrase “in the Bronx” and “the” will be pronounced as /da/. So the whole phrase will sound “in /da/ Bronx.” 

In the Bronx, you may also hear a Spanish accent. You may know some celebrities from the Bronx—for example, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez, and Kerry Washington.

Some commonly used words in the Bronx:

• “Bread” means not only actual bread but all bakery.
• “Bro” is used as a respectful referral to a friend, not only to a brother.
• “To cop” means to buy something.
• “To be Hollywood” means to be very busy socially.
• “Dumb” means very.

The Queens accent

Generation Z, who lives in Queen’s, have got a cot–caught merger more than in other boroughs, though this too is likely class- or ethnic-based rather than location-based. 

Let me tell you that there are many Queens accents. Notice where your tongue, jaw, and lips go when you pronounce the long /o:/ sound, as in the word “was.” Your jaw is not moving. In the Bronx, the /o:/ sound becomes the schwa sound. 

Now pay attention to how you pronounce the sounds /ju:/ and /o:/. They tend toward schwa, long /a:/. For example, the word “you” is pronounced as “ya.” 

Another sound that change is long /a:/ (as in words “jaw”,  and “law”). Long /a:/ is pronounced as short /a/. 

Some commonly used words in Queens:

• “Guap” means money. 
• “Wavy” is extremely cool.
• “Money” means to feel great about something.
• “Pop off” means a sudden outburst of anger or emotion.

Long Island accent

The main peculiarities of this accent are – the sound /r/ is not pronounced at the end of words. Moreover, the sound /t/ sounds almost like /s/. In particular, Long Island’s accent is nasal. 

Some famous people with Long Island accent are Fran Drescher, Billy Joel, and Ralph Macchio.

Some commonly used words in Long Island: 

• “A slice” means pizza. 
• “Grandma slice” means a square pizza on a thin crust.
• “Hero” means a sandwich on a long roll.

Brooklyn accent

One thing in common with the Long Island accent is that the sound /r/ is not pronounced at the end of words. At the same time, the long /a:/ sound in thought, dog, and law becomes a diphthong. Occasionally, the sound /θ/ (as in “think”) becomes strongly dentalized. Furthermore, the sound /t/ becomes strongly dentalized, too. Your tongue pushes up against your teeth. 

Some commonly used words in Brooklyn:

• “Bucktown” means Brooklyn.
• “Swerve” means to avoid someone or something. 
• “Dub” means a person or a thing you don’t want to have to deal with.

North Jersey accent

New Jersey is located near New York and Philadelphia. That’s why the location is very important when we talk about the accent. Today, let’s have a look at the north Jersey accent, which is more vivid. 

Speakers with a north Jersey accent tend to move back their lip corners move back and forth a lot.

There are some peculiarities with the vowel sounds. For example, the long sound /a:/ becomes “ouah”. And the /i:/ sound sometimes turns into the /a:/. While /a:/ turns into a diphthong. 

Texan accent

You may have heard Texan accent from movies such as True Blood, The Shape of Water, The Princess Academy, and others. But let’s have a closer look at the Texan accent. 

First, the pronoun “I” doesn’t sound as /ai/; it sounds like /a:/. “I’m” (/aim/) turns into /a:m/. Second, when we talk about the prefix -ing (as in singing), the vowel sound /i:/ changes into /a:/. Thus “singing” will be pronounced as “sang-in’.” In a Texan accent, the open vowel sound of long /i:/ and short /i/ the tongue goes to the back of the mouth. So,  the words “pen” and “pin” are supposed to be pronounced alike. Yet, they both are pronounced as“pin.”

Some commonly used phrases by Texans:

• “Coke” means any carbonated beverage, not only Coca-Cola.
• “Bless your heart” means “ “I’m sorry to hear that.”
• “Howdy” means hello.
• “Sweating like a hooker in church” means being nervous.
• “This ain’t my first rodeo” means to have experience in something.

Ebonics (African American English)

Ebonics (African American English) has some similarities with Creole English, which is spoken all over the world. It shares pronunciation, grammatical structures, and vocabulary with several West African languages.

There are dialects of English spoken in the southern United States that share many features of the Ebonics.

Most of them are regionalisms, which means that they are specific to the dialect spoken in a region and not to the ethnicity or color of the speaker. 

Other West African languages, such as Creole, have phonological features that are also found in dialects of English, which are without plausible influence from West African languages, such as Newfoundland English. Ebonics is different from other varieties of American English in the following ways:

• a unique vocabulary
• tenses and aspects
• double negative (negative agreement) is used.

Particular words:

• “Lettuce” means money. 
• “Stuffnstuffnstuff” is a long way of saying “stuff.” Basically, a really cool way.
• „Fuggly” means extremely ugly.

Californian accent

Some Californians usually raise their voice in affirmative sentences as if in the questions. That way, the intonation goes up at the end of a sentence so that the sentence sounds like a question. 

Another thing is the sound /r/. People in California tend to roll their /r/ a bit more than people usually do in the USA. 

Locals also shorten names if there are many syllables. For example, “Samo” for Santa Monica, “guac” for “guacamole”, and “troca” for a truck. “No bueno” is used almost by everyone. Even not Latino people use “no bueno.” This is because California was under Mexican rule from 1821.

Some slang words used by Californians:

• “Mob” means come quickly.
• “To swoop” means to take.
• “Dank” means something that is amazing.
• “To cruise” means to come or leave.

No worries!

Those are just a few American accents. Speaking and understanding all of them is, of course, not easy.

No worries! Verbal Bridges can help you learn American accents with fun.Remember that it is not about speaking perfectly; it is about making progress.

If you master just one of them, you can still contribute to the world in more ways than one!

SPEAK BUILD CONTRIBUTE

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