Maine accent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Maine accent is the accent used by Mainers (people who inhabit the state of Maine). Used by comedians like Tim Sample and Bob Marley to represent stereotypical Maine life, the Maine accent has a unique sound all its own. There are three dialects: those belonging to the inhabitants of Northern, Southern, and Coastal Maine. Northerners are known for having a very thick accent, the Southern being much lighter and the Coastal very diluted and subtle. The Coastal accent in particular is related to the Canadian accent.
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[edit] Pronunciation
- Words that end in "er" are pronounced with "ah" at the end; i.e. Mainer = Mainah, far = fah, etc. (see non-rhotic)
- Words that end in "a" are often pronounced with "er" at the end; i.e. California becomes Californier, idea becomes idear, etc. (see intrusive R)
- Drop the "g" in all words ending in "ing." stopping and starting = stoppin' and stahtin', etc. (No g sound is actually dropped, as none is present in such words in General American. Rather the sound of the final consonant is changed from a velar nasal to an alveolar nasal, which is the normal sound for n. See G-dropping.)
- Broaden all "a" and "e" sounds; i.e. calf becomes cahf, bath becomes bahth, etc.
- Drag out most one-syllable words into two syllables; i.e. there becomes they-uh, here becomes hee-ah, etc.
[edit] Examples
- "I began my korea in Career."
- "The Sheer rebellion is shia madness."
[edit] Drop-R
Generally, the the Maine accent exhibits drop-R phonetics, but is not the case for every occurrence of the letter 'R.' For example, 'murdered' could be pronounced 'murdihd,' where the second 'r' and the past tense are merged together. This is dependent on how thick the speaker's accent is. Another variation is 'murdehd.'
Drop-R typically is not used if a 'u' preceeds the 'r.' For example, 'further' can be pronounced as 'furthah,' while 'farther' can be pronounced 'fahthah,' eliminating both instances of 'r.' This is not the case if the '-ur' occurs at the end of the spoken word. 'Wilbur' would be pronounced 'Wilbah' or 'Wilber,' with heavy emphasis on pronouncing the '-er' such as it were spelled 'Wilbr.'
[edit] Some common words and phrases
[edit] Northern
- Apiece: Some distance.
- Bug: Lobster.
- Finest kind: The very best around.
- Cah: A four wheel vehicle (not a truck).
- Dite: A small amount.
- Flatlandah: Someone "from away" (or from the "flatlands", specifically referring to nearby Southern New England and urbanized states like Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.)
- Gahwd: God.
- Gawmy: Awkward or clumsy.
- Irregardless: Regardless, with a Maine twist
- Numbin' 'round / dubbin' aroun': Hanging out, not doing anything important
- Prayer Handle: Knee. (rare)
- Scrid: A tiny piece of something.
[edit] Southern
- Steamers (Steamahs): Clams.
[edit] Both
- Aiyuh: Yup. (This word is often spoken while breathing in. See pulmonic ingressive.)
- Chowdah: Chowder.
- Crittah (North)/Critter (South): Any small furry animal. (Also used for Lobster.) The term is also used for cattle: "beef crittah."
- Cunnin': Cute or slick in appearance or methodology. Most often said as, "Ain't that cunnin'!" (rare in South)
- Dooryard: A driveway
- From Away/Outta-statah: Not from Maine.
- Idear: Idea
- I'm tellin' you: I tell you what. Used to emphasize what is said.
- Nosah: Nope.
- Numb: Stupid.
- Pot: Lobster trap.
- Reddaway: Any roadway, derived from quickly saying the phrase "right of way."
- Wicked: Very. To a high degree; i.e. wicked good, wicked bad, etc.
- Yessah: Yes or yes sir. Rarely used is the variant 'yessahree.'
