Editing Baltimore accent (section)

==Pronunciation==
{{IPA notice|section}}
The Baltimore accent that originated among [[White people|white]] [[blue-collar]] residents closely resembles blue-collar [[Philadelphia accent|Philadelphia-area English]] pronunciation in many ways. These two cities are the only major ports on the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern Seaboard]] never to have developed [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]] speech among European American speakers; they were greatly influenced in their early development by [[Hiberno-English]], [[Scottish English]], and [[West Country dialects|West Country English]]. Due to the significant similarity between the speeches of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Delaware and southern New Jersey, [[sociolinguist]]s refer to them collectively as the Mid-Atlantic regional dialect.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html|title=Phonological Atlas of North America|website=www.ling.upenn.edu|access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref> In Baltimore accents, sounds around {{IPA|/r/}} are often "smoothed" or [[elision|elided]]. For example, a word like ''bureau'' is commonly pronounced {{IPA|/ˈbiroʊ/}} (e.g., [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|Federal ''Beer-o'' of Investigation]]) and ''mirror'' is commonly pronounced {{IPA|/mir/}} ("mere"); the related [[mare–mayor merger]] also exists.

===Vowels===
*Several vowels undergo [[front vowel|fronting]]. {{IPAc-en|aʊ}} fronts to {{IPA|[ɛɔ]}} or {{IPA|[æɔ]}}. {{IPAc-en|uː}} fronts to {{IPA|[ʉu]}}.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://africanamericanenglish.com/2012/08/15/dew-as-you-dew-baltimore-accent-and-the-wire/|title=Dew as you dew: Baltimore Accent and The Wire|date=2012-08-15|work=Word. The Online Journal on African American English|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708100803/https://africanamericanenglish.com/2012/08/15/dew-as-you-dew-baltimore-accent-and-the-wire|archive-date=2013-07-08|language=en-US}}</ref> Similarly, {{IPAc-en|oʊ}} shifts to {{IPA|[əʊ]}} or even {{IPA|[eʊ]}}. When word-final and spelled as ''-ow'', it is pronounced like {{IPA|/ə/}}, resulting in colloquial or humorous spellings like ''pilla'' for ''pillow'' and ''winda'' for ''window''.
*No [[cot–caught merger]]: The words ''cot'' {{IPA|/ɑ/}} and ''caught'' {{IPA|/ɔ/}} do not rhyme, with the latter vowel maintaining a raised position. Likewise, the word ''on'' rhymes with ''dawn'' and not ''don''.
*As in Philadelphia, the word ''water'' is often pronounced as ''wooder'' {{IPA|[ˈwʊɾɚ]}} or, more uniquely, ''warter'' {{IPA|[ˈwɔɻɾɚ]}}.
*As in most Mid-Atlantic cities, [[/æ/ raising|short ''a'' is pronounced with a phonemic split]]: for example, the word ''sad'' {{IPA|/sæd/}} does not rhyme with the word ''mad'' {{IPA|/meəd/}}. Pronunciation is dependent upon a complex system of rules that differ from city to city.<ref>[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/Atlas_chapters/Ch17_2nd.rev.pdf New York City and the Mid-Atlantic States]</ref> Baltimore follows the Philadelphia pattern.<ref>Ash, Sharon. 2002. “The Distribution of a Phonemic Split in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Yet More on Short a.” In “Selected Papers from NWAV 30,” edited by Sudha Arunachalam, Elsi Kaiser, Daniel Ezra Johnson, Tara Sanchez, and Alexander Williams. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 8.3: 1–15. http:// repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol8/iss3/2.</ref> For more details on the Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore systems see ''[[:/æ/ raising]]''.

{{/æ/ raising in North American English}}

*The {{IPA|/ɑr/}} vowel in words like ''start'' is often raised and backed, resulting in a vowel close to {{IPA|/ɔ/}}. Likewise, {{IPA|/ɔr/}} as in ''bore''{{Dubious|date=March 2023}}<!-- shorthand for ɔ sound is "awe". That's not how the vowel in bore in pronounced by any Americans, including philly-baltimore speakers --> can shift as high as {{IPA|/ʊr/}} as in ''boor''. This pattern has also been noted to occur in Philadelphia and New York.<ref name=labov />
*[[Canadian raising]] occurs for {{IPAc-en|aɪ}} before voiceless consonants, as in Philadelphia; for instance, the word ''like'' [ɫʌɪk] begins with a higher nucleus than ''live'' [ɫaɪv].<ref name=labov>{{cite book|last1=Labov|first1=William|author-link=William Labov|last2=Ash|first2=Sharon|last3=Boberg|first3=Charles|year=2005|title=The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-020683-8}}</ref>
*On the other hand, {{IPAc-en|aɪ}} may undergo [[Monophthongization#Smoothing|smoothing]] before liquids, becoming {{IPA|[ɑ]}} before {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}; e.g., ''fire'' is pronounced as {{IPA|[fɑɻ]}}, in which a popular Baltimore Christmas joke: "Why were the Three Wise Men covered with soot?" "Because they came from afar."
*{{IPA|[ə]}} is often eliminated entirely from a word when before a consonant; e.g. Annapolis = Naplis, cigarette = cigrette, company = compny, Italy = Itly.

===Consonants===
*[[Th-stopping|''Th''–stopping]] occurs, where the dental fricatives {{IPA|/θ, ð/}} may be realized as stops ({{IPA|/t, d/}} respectively); for instance, ''this'' may sound more like ''diss''.
*[[L-vocalization|''L''–vocalization]] is common at the end of a word. The sound {{IPA|/l/}} is often replaced by the semivowel or glide {{IPA|[w]}} and/or {{IPA|[o]}} or {{IPA|[ʊ]}}. Pronunciation of words like ''middle'' and ''college'' become {{IPA|[ˈmɪdo]}} and {{IPA|[ˈkɑwɪdʒ]}} respectively.
*[[epenthesis|Epenthetic]] {{IPA|/r/}} often occurs; notably, ''wash'' is pronounced as {{IPA|[wɑɻʃ]}}, popularly written as ''warsh'', and ''Washington'' is pronounced as ''Warshington''.
*As is common in many US dialects, {{IPA|/t/}} is frequently elided after {{IPA|/n/}}, thus ''hunter'' is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈhʌnɚ]}}.