New Jersey English
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New Jersey is dialectally diverse, with many immigrants and transplants from other states, and two regions of the state overlapping with other dialect areas, New York City and Philadelphia.[citation needed] According to The Atlas of North American English, some European American residents of the areas closest to New York City are New York Dialect speakers; and some European Americans in southern New Jersey speak with an accent similar to that of Philadelphians, and other parts of the state show continuity with neighboring regions of Pennsylvania. [1][citation needed]
The so-called North Jersey accent heard in parts of the northeast quarter of northern New Jersey.[citation needed] This is the part of the state which is in New York City's metropolitan area, including Rutherford and Rahway, but it is not part of the New York Dialect area. For instance, it is rhotic and lacks a short a split. New York City shibboleths like hero are less used than the less regionally distinct sub or submarine (sandwich on baguette style bread). One example of this accent is the speech of the founder of variationist sociolinguistics William Labov.[citation needed]
Residents of the beachfront communities north of Atlantic City tend to have a New York influence and those to the south have a Philadelphia influence, perhaps because of the large number of residents from those areas who visit during the summers.[citation needed] Some residents of Ocean and Atlantic Counties speak with an accent that includes New York and Philadelphia influences.
Contrary to popular belief, rarely anybody in New Jersey refers to the state as [dʒɒɪzi], typically written as Joisey. That pronunciation of the middle vowel as [ɒɪ] instead of the standard American [ɝ] is only residual in the New York Dialect as described above. In some parts of the New York metropolitan area the term Jersey is used to refer to the state as a whole, or as an adjective as in Jersey Tomatoes.
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[edit] Notable speakers with a New Jersey accent
- Danny DeVito[2]
- James Gandolfini[3][4]
- Ed Harris[5]
- Artie Lange[6]
- Ray Liotta[7][8]
- Frank Sinatra[9]
- Bruce Springsteen[10]
- Steven Van Zandt[11]
- Frank Vincent[12]
- Bruce Willis[13]
[edit] New Jersey accents in movies and television
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This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (July 2008) |
The New Jersey accents in movies and television are usually inauthentic.[citation needed] In most cases, the actors use New York accents instead — for instance in The Karate Kid.[citation needed]
They often simply use actors from New York — usually Brooklyn, Queens, or Long Island — to play New Jerseyans, as was done in the long running HBO series The Sopranos. One exception is James Gandolfini, a native speaker who portrayed mobster Tony Soprano. After the first season they gave him a voice coach, who transformed his natural North Jersey accent into something more Brooklyn.[citation needed]
Even when filmmakers strive to capture authentic New Jersey accents, they often fail.[citation needed] Russell Crowe, for instance, speaks with a dialect belonging more to eastern Massachusetts than to Essex County, NJ, his character's setting in American Gangster.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Labov, William (1982) The social stratification of English in New York City Center for Applied Linguistics ISBN 0-87281-149-2
- Labov, William (1994) Principles of Linguistic Change: Volume 1: Internal Factors Blackwell ISBN 0-631-17914-3
- Labov, William, Ash, S. and Boberg, C. (2001) Atlas of North American English DeGruyter ISBN 3-11-016746-8
- Labov, William (2001) Principles of Linguistic Change: Volume 2: Social Factors Blackwell ISBN 0-631-17916-X
- Wolfram, Walt & Nancy Schilling Estes (2005) American English 2nd edition Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-1265-4
- Wolfram, Walt & Ward, Ben (2005) American Voices: How Dialects Differ from Coast to Coast Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-2109-2
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Labov, et al. 2001
- ^ Flint Marx, Rebecca. "Danny DeVito: Biography". allmovie. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Plotinsky, Benjamin A. (July/August 2007). "At Home with "The Sopranos"". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Rose, Lisa (November 2007). "Gandolfini sings". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Hunter, Stephen (2001-03-16). "'Enemy at the Gates': Mighty Scope, Bad Aim". The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
- ^ Gay, Jason (2001-12-02). "Stern und Lange: Comedian Gets Dream Job With Howard". The New York Observer. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Iley, Chrissy (2007-04-09). "'I'm in tune with my feelings'". The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Phillips, Andrew (2003-01-16). "INTERVIEW: Goodfellas Ray Liotta: and how I learned that you should never steal from a wise guy". GW Hatchet. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Tresniowski, Alex; Lacayo, Richard (1998-06-01). "A Swinger with Swagger". People. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (1992-08-09). "When the Boss Fell to Earth, He Hit Paradise". The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Armstrong, Denis (2003-06-26). "A Little classic rock". Jam!. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Savona, David (2006-06-07). "Killing Time with Frank Vincent". Cigar Aficionado. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Morris, Wesley (1999-08-06). "'Sixth' a chilling look at haunted 8-year-old". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
[edit] External links
- Varieties of English: New York City phonology from the University of Arizona's Language Samples Project
- William Labov's webpage There are links to many sites related to dialects, including references to his early work on New York dialect and the Atlas of North American English.
