Maine accent

The Maine accent, or Down East accent, is the local traditional pronunciation of Eastern New England English in parts of Maine, especially along the "Down East" coast. It is characterized by a variety of features, including r-dropping (non-rhoticity), resistance to the horse–hoarse merger in older speakers,^[1] a deletion or doubling of certain syllables, and some unique vocabulary.

Phonology

Maine English often features phonetic change or phonological change of certain characteristics. One such characteristic is that, like in all traditional Eastern New England English, Maine English pronounces the "r" sound only when it comes before a vowel, but not before a consonant or in any final position. For example, "car" may sound to listeners like "cah" and "Mainer" like "Mainah."^[2]

Also, as in much New England English, the final "-ing" ending in multi-syllable words sounds more like "-in," for example, in stopping [ˈstɑpɪn] and starting [ˈstäːʔɪn].^[3]

The Maine accent follows the pronunciation of Eastern New England English, plus these additional features:

• /ɜːr/ before a consonant is [ə~ɜ~ɛ].
• Single-syllable words ending with R-colored vowels (such as /ɪr/, /ɛr/, and /ɔr/) sometimes become two syllables. The vowel loses its R-coloration. This includes /ɪr/ as in here [ˈhɪ.(j)ɜ], /ɛər/ as in there [ˈðeɪ.(j)ɜ], and (as mentioned above) /ɔər/ as in more [ˈmoʊ.(w)ɜ].^[4]
  • /ɔːr/ is [ɒə]; thus, for example, in horse ([hɒəs] "hoss"), war ([wɒə] "waw"), north ([nɒəθ] "nawth"), or porch ([pʰɒətʃ] "pawch").
  • /ɔər/ is [ˈoʊ(w)ə]; thus, for example, in hoarse ([ˈhoʊ(w)əs] "hoe-us"), wore ([ˈwoʊ(w)ə] "whoa-uh"), more ([ˈmoʊ(w)ə] "mow-uh"), or shore ([ˈʃoʊ(w)ə] "show-uh").
• Many speakers also produce a dipping tone when pronouncing the extended word, lowering their tone on the first syllable and rising it during the second. The phrase "You can't get there from here," coined in an episode of the mid-1900s humor stories collection Bert & I, is a quintessential example of the principle of syllable extension.

Lexicon

Traditional Maine speakers use some regional or even local vocabulary, including the following terms:

apiece[5] — an undetermined distance (as in "He lives down the road apiece") ayuh[6][7] /ˈeɪjə/~/ˈɛjə/ — yes; okay; sure; that's right beetah[8] — a (beaten up) motor vehicle with value so diminished by extensive road salt corrosion there is little concern about additional collision damage from driving on icy roads blinker (blinkah)[8] — motor vehicle turn signal bug[9] — lobster bureau[10] — a dresser or chest of drawers cellar (down sellah)[8] — a subterranean space under a house enclosed by concrete or masonry foundation walls extending below the winter frost line chout![11] — a warning to be alert (Watch out!) chupta?[11] — What are you doing? (What are you up to?) culch[12] — trash or rubbish cunning (kunnin)[13][14] — cute (as in "She's a cunnin' one, she is") cutter (kuttah) — an active child or younger person (from comparison to the harbor behavior of small, maneuverable cutters among larger ships) dinner pail (dinnah pail)[10] — lunch box dite — a tiny amount (as in "Just a dite") door yard (doah yahd)[8] — the yard or occupant's space outside a dwelling's exterior door -- sometimes decorated with ornamental plants, and often used for temporary storage of tools, toys, sleds, carts, or bicycles Down East[15] — loosely refers to the coastal regions of Hancock and Washington counties; because that boats traveled downwind from Boston to Maine (as in "I'm headin' Down East this weekend") dressing (dressin)[10] — application of manure to a garden dry-ki[16] — an accumulation of floating dead wood on the downwind shore of a lake elastic[10] — a rubber band fart (old faht)[10] — an inflexibly meticulous individual flatlander[17] — visitor from elsewhere, often from Massachusetts due to its flat topography four-wheeler[18] — all-terrain vehicle franks — hot dogs (from frankfurter) frap[8] — a milkshake with ice cream (from frappe) gawmy[19] — clumsy and awkward honkin[19] — extraordinarily large

hot top[10] — asphaltic pavement Italian sandwich[19] — submarine sandwich jimmies[10] — colored sugar dessert sprinkles johnny[10] — hospital gown kife[8] — to steal (usually a small, useful item of low cost) muggy[12] — still air with very high humidity nippy[8] — cold enough to stiffen one's nipples notional[10] — stubborn numb[20] — dumb; stupid (as in "Numb son you got there") old-timer (old-timah) — a senior citizen or very experienced person pahtridge — ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) (from partridge) pekid[11] — feeling unwell pisser (pissah) — something that is highly regarded; an intensifier (as in "She's a pissah, all right") porch (pawch) — a roofed, and sometimes enclosed, but unheated platform on the exterior side of a first floor doorway -- used for storage of a snow shovel and for removal, temporary storage, and donning of wet boots, coats and hats pot[21] — lobster trap prayer handle[22] — knee quahog[23] — thick-shelled clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) scrid[24] — a tiny piece; a little bit right out straight[19] — too busy to take a break rotary (roh'tree)[10] — a traffic circle or roundabout spleeny[10] — overly sensitive squaretail (squayhtail) — brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) steamers (steamahs)[25] — soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) stove in/stove up — nautical term meaning bashed in (as in "Stoved all ta hell") supper (suppah)[26] — the evening meal togue — lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) wail on — to hit (something) hard and repeatedly wicked[27][28] — very; to a high degree (as in "Wicked good there, bub") woodchuck — groundhog (Marmota monax)

In popular culture

• Maine humorist Marshall Dodge (1935-1982) based much of his humor from the Maine dialect, beginning first with his involvement with the series Bert & I, a "Down East" collection of humor stories created during the 1950s and 1960s .
• Well-known author, musician, and former television broadcaster Tim Sample is known nationwide for his use of Maine vernacular.

References

Notes

1. Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, pp. 226–7, ISBN 3-11-016746-8
2. Fowles (2015)
3. Fowles (2015)
4. Fowles (2015)
5. Fowles (2015)
6. Fowles (2015)
7. VisitMaine (2015)
8. Norman, Abby. "The Outta Statah's Guide to Maine Slang". BDN. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
9. Fowles (2015)
10. Reid, Lindsay Ann. "English in Maine: The Mythologization and Commodification of a Dialect". University of Toronto. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
11. Thieme, Emma. "The 25 Funniest Expressions in Maine". matador network. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
12. Erard, Michael. "What it Means to Talk Like a Mainer". Down East. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
13. Fowles (2015)
14. VisitMaine (2015)
15. VisitMaine (2015)
16. Burnham, Emily. "Dictionary includes words only a Mainer would use". BDN. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
17. VisitMaine (2015)
18. VisitMaine (2015)
19. Fowles, Debby. "Speak like a Mainer". about travel. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
20. Fowles (2015)
21. Fowles (2015)
22. Fowles (2015)
23. Fowles (2015)
24. Fowles (2015)
25. Fowles (2015)
26. Pols, Mary. "At bean 'suppahs,' processed food is out, local food is in". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
27. Fowles (2015)
28. VisitMaine (2015)

External links

• Fowles, Debby (2015). "Speak Like a Mainer". About Travel. About.com. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
• "Maine Slang, Local Humor, And Wicked Funny Words". VisitMaine.net. 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
• Szelog, Mike (2015). "Ayuh, the Northern New England Accent in a Nutshell.". The Heart of New England. Retrieved 20 May 2015.