THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

NASAL VERSUS ENGLISH | 2004-09-21

When I was in high school, a lot of Dentsville School was made up of army brats. Watching TV, I always got the stereotype of the "Southern accent," which sounded like nothing I had ever heard in the South, while Yankees portrayed on TV spoke perfect English.

In "the Raid" -- a 1954 movie starring van Heflin about the Confederate raid on St. Albans, Vermont in 1864 -- very few of the Southern Union prison escapees who wanted to be in on the raid could speak correctly like the natives of New Hampshah did. In the movie, all the New Englanders spoke Midwestern, soft English.

Meanwhile, back here on earth, I used to hurt peoples' ears when I said, right through my nose, "A Yankee is somebody who tells me I've got a "southern eeeeeeeyaxkseeeeeent."

The Yankee army brats tended to say the word that means 'uncooked" as rooooah.

Does anybody else notice how many announcers on television seem to throw a lot of nasal "eee's" into what they say? The state of Meeeuhsachusetts gets mentioned a lot.

You have any examples that come to mind?

COMMENTS (2)

#1 Hurndo | 2004-09-21 18:33

Yankees say, "prawwwwwbably" We say "prolly."

Yankees say, "libraaaary" We say "liberry."

Another word I think is impossible to pronounce is "regularly." I usually sound like a dumb hick and just say "regular."

#2 Elizabeth | 2004-09-22 11:54

I don't know where that VERY odd pronunciation of "nuclear" comes from. The President uses it, and I figure he picked it up at prep school in Yankee-land. I use to hear it used on TV by a lot of people on the Sunday morning talk shows and the news.

I say "nu-kleer."