Editing Boston accent (section)

==Phonological characteristics==
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowels of the traditional Boston accent
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ}}
| {{IPA link|i}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ʊ}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|e|eɪ}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
| {{IPA link|ʌ}}
| {{IPA link|o̞|oʊ}}
|
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|æ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ä|a}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɒ}}
|-
! [[Diphthong]]s
| colspan="6" | {{IPA|aɪ &nbsp; ɔɪ &nbsp; aʊ &nbsp; (ɪə &nbsp; ʊə &nbsp; ɛə &nbsp; oə)}}
|}

Boston accents typically have the [[cot-caught merger]] but not the [[Father bother merger|father-bother merger]]. This means that instead of merging the historical "short ''o''" sound (as in [[lexical set|{{Sc2|LOT}}]]) with the "broad ''a''" (as in {{sc2|PALM}}) like most other [[American English|American accents]], the Boston accent merges it with the "aw" vowel (as in {{sc2|THOUGHT}}). Thus, ''lot'', ''paw'', ''caught'', ''cot'', ''law'', ''wand'', ''rock'', ''talk'', ''doll'', ''wall'', etc. all are pronounced with the same open back (often) rounded vowel {{IPAblink|ɒ|audio=yes}}, while keeping the broad ''a'' sound distinct: {{IPAblink|a|audio=yes}}, as in ''father'', ''spa'', and ''dark''. So, even though the word ''dark'' has no {{IPA|/r/}} in many Boston accents, it remains pronounced differently from ''dock'' because it belongs to Boston's {{sc2|START}}–{{sc2|PALM}} [[lexical set|class of words]] versus the {{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} one: ''dark'' {{IPA|/dak/}} versus ''dock'' {{IPA|/dɒk/}}.<ref>Labov et al. 2006 The Atlas of North American English Berlin: DeGruyter</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2018}} Thus, while [[New York accent]]s have {{IPA|/ɔ/}} for ''paw'' and {{IPA|/ɑ/}} for ''lot'', and [[Received Pronunciation|Standard British accent]]s have a similar distinction ({{IPA|/ɔː/}} versus {{IPA|/ɒ/}}), Boston accents only have one merged [[phoneme]] for both: {{IPA|/ɒ/}}.

In general, Eastern New England accents have a "short ''a''" vowel {{IPA|/æ/}}, as in {{sc2|TRAP}}, that is extremely tensed towards {{IPA|[eə]}} when it precedes a [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]]; thus, ''man'' is {{IPA|[meən]}} and ''planet'' is {{IPA|[ˈpʰleənɪʔ]}}. Boston shares this system with some of the American Midwest and most of the West, though the raising in Boston tends to be more extreme. This type of modern [[General American]] [[Æ-tensing|{{IPA|/æ/|cat=no}}-raising system]] is simpler than the systems of British or New York City accents. However, elements of a more complex pattern exist for some Boston speakers; in addition to raising before nasals, Bostonians (unlike nearby New Hampshirites, for example) may also "raise" or "break" the "short ''a''" sound before other types of consonants too: primarily the most strongly before [[voiceless fricative]]s, followed by [[voiced stop]]s, laterals, voiceless stops, and voiced fricatives, so that words like ''half'', ''bath'', and ''glass'' become {{IPA|[hɛəf]}}, {{IPA|[bɛəθ]}} and {{IPA|[ɡlɛəs]}}, respectively.<ref>Wood, Jim. (2010). "[https://jimwood8.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/wood-2011-short-a-in-northern-new-england.pdf Short-a in Northern New England]". ''Journal of English Linguistics'' 20:1–31. pp. 146, 149.</ref> This trend began around the early-mid to mid-twentieth century, replacing the older Boston accent's London-like "broad ''a''" system, in which those same words are transferred over to the {{sc2|PALM}} class {{IPA|/a/}} {{see below|{{section link||Declining features}}, below}}.<ref name="Wood, 2010, p. 139">Wood, 2010, p. 139.</ref> The raised {{IPA|[ɛə]}} may overlap with the non-rhotic realization of {{sc2|SQUARE}} as {{IPA|[ɛə]}}.

Boston accents make a greater variety of distinctions between [[English-language vowel changes before historic r|short and long vowels before medial {{IPA|/r/|cat=no}}]] than many other modern American accents do: ''hurry'' {{IPA|/ˈhʌri/}} and ''furry'' {{IPA|/ˈfəri/}}; and ''mirror'' {{IPA|/ˈmɪrə/}} and ''nearer'' {{IPA|/ˈnɪərə/}}, though some of these distinctions are somewhat endangered as people under 40{{clarification|reason=A year here would be more stable than an age category, which is always changing|date=April 2021}} in neighboring New Hampshire and Maine have lost them. In this case, Boston shares these distinctions with both New York and British accents, whereas other American accents, like in the Midwest, have lost them entirely.

The nuclei of the diphthongs {{IPA|/aɪ/}} and {{IPA|/aʊ/}} ({{Sc2|PRICE}} and {{Sc2|MOUTH}}. respectively) may be raised to something like {{IPA|[ɐ]}} before [[voiceless consonant]]s: thus ''write'' has a higher vowel than ''ride'' and ''lout'' has a higher vowel than ''loud''. This phenomenon, more famously associated with [[Canadian English|Canadian accents]], is known by linguists as [[Canadian raising]].

The nuclei of {{IPA|/oʊ/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} (in {{sc2|GOAT}} and {{sc2|GOOSE}}) are significantly less fronted than in many other American accents. The latter may be diphthongized to {{IPA|[ʊu]}} or {{IPA|[ɵu]}}.

The [[weak vowel merger]] is traditionally absent. This makes ''Lenin'' {{IPA|/ˈlɛnɪn/}} distinct from ''Lennon'' {{IPA|/ˈlɛnən/}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=520}}

Speakers of the more deeply urban varieties of the Boston accent may realize the English [[dental fricative]]s {{IPA|/θ, ð/}} as the [[dental stop]]s {{IPA|[t̪, d̪]}}, giving rise to a phonemic distinction between dental and alveolar stops; thus, ''those'' may sound closer to ''doze''.

===Non-rhoticity===
The traditional Boston accent is widely known for being [[Rhoticity in English|non-rhotic]] (or "''r''-dropping"), particularly before the mid-20th century. Recent studies have shown that younger speakers use more of a rhotic (or ''r''-ful) accent than older speakers.<ref name="Irwin Nagy 2007">{{Cite journal|url = http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=pwpl|title = Bostonians /r/ Speaking: A Quantitative Look at (R) in Boston|last1 = Irwin|first1 = Patricia|year = 2007|journal = University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics|last2 = Nagy|first2 = Naomi | volume = 13| issue = 2}}</ref> This goes for black Bostonians as well.<ref>Browne, Charlene; Stanford, James (2018). "[https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2019&context=pwpl Boston Dialect Features in the Black/African American Community]." University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 24 : Iss. 2 , Article 4. p. 19.</ref> Non-rhoticity means that the [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/r/}} does not appear in [[syllable coda|coda position]] {{crossref|(for where in English [[phonotactics]] {{IPA|/r/}} precedes other consonants, see [[English phonology#Coda|English phonology §&nbsp;Coda]])}}, as in most dialects of [[English language in England|English in England]] and [[Australian English|Australia]]; ''card'' therefore becomes {{IPA|/kad/}} "cahd" and ''color'' {{IPA|/ˈkʌlə/}} "culluh". Words such as ''weird'' {{IPA|/wɪəd/}} and ''square'' {{IPA|/skwɛə/}} feature centering diphthongs, which correspond to the sequences of close and mid vowels + {{IPA|/r/}} in rhotic AmE. The phonemicity of the centering diphthongs {{IPA|/ɪə, ʊə, ɛə, oə/}} depends on a speaker's rhoticity. Also, the stressed sequence {{IPA|/ɜr/}} inside a closed syllable, as in {{sc2|NURSE}}, is most likely to take on a rhotic {{IPA|[ɝ]}} pronunciation among Bostonians.<ref name="Irwin Nagy 2007"/><ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Fish|first1=Jody|date=Spring 2018|title=Gende(r) in the Boston Accent: A linguistic analysis of Boston (r) from a gender perspective|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1483072&dswid=-1441|degree=BA|pages=4, 8|publisher=Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society|id={{URN|nbn|se:mau:diva-23112}}|access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

A famous example of non-rhoticity (plus a fronted {{sc|START}} vowel) is "Park your car in [[Harvard Yard]]", pronounced {{IPA|[pʰak jə ˈkʰaɹ‿ɪn ˌhavəd ˈjad]}}, or as if spelled "pahk yah cah(r) in Hahvud Yahd".<ref>{{cite book|last=Vorhees|first=Mara|title=Boston. Con Pianta. Ediz. Inglese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a0sQ5UzkiQUC&pg=PA52|year=2009|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74179-178-5|page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/08/25/blame-harvard-for-this-annoying-boston-accent-test/rvyip8zcAnwNmj1qpHtZqM/story.html|title=Blame Harvard for this annoying Boston accent test|author=Randall, Eric|date=August 25, 2015|work=The Boston Globe}}</ref> The ''r'' in ''car'' would usually be pronounced in this case, because the Boston accent possesses both [[linking R|linking R and intrusive R]]: an {{IPA|/r/}} will not be lost at the end of a word if the next word begins with a vowel, and an {{IPA|/r/}} will be inserted after a word ending with a central or low vowel if the next word begins with a vowel: ''the tuner is'' and ''the tuna is'' are both {{IPA|/ðə ˈtunər‿ɪz/}}. This example has been used since at least 1946, to the point where some locals find requests to say the phrase annoying.<ref name="Wickedpedia">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/wickedpedia/2024/01/02/could-you-ever-actually-park-your-car-in-harvard-yard/ |title=Wickedpedia: Could you ever actually 'pahk yah cah in Hahvahd Yahd'? |author=Abby Patkin |date=January 2, 2024 |publisher=[[Boston.com]]}}</ref> Actual parking in Harvard Yard is prohibited, except by permission in rare cases for loading and unloading, contractors, or people needing accessible transport directly to [[Harvard Memorial Church]].<ref name="Wickedpedia" />

===Declining features===
Many characteristics of the Boston accent may be retreating, particularly among younger residents. In the most old-fashioned of Boston accents, there may be a lingering resistance to the [[horse–hoarse merger]], so that ''horse'' has the pure vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, while ''hoarse'' has the centering diphthong {{IPA|/oə/}}; this can potentially cause the {{sc2|NORTH}}–{{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} merger, so that ''tort'', ''tot'' and ''taught'' are phonemically all {{IPA|/tɒt/}}. The result is that, for an older Boston accent, the {{sc2|NORTH}}–{{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} vowel is distinct from the {{sc2|FORCE}} vowel. Another two example words that would traditionally be distinguished, thus, are ''for'' {{IPA|/fɒ/}} versus ''four'' {{IPA|/foə/}}. This distinction was rapidly fading out of currency in the second half of the 20th century with the words belonging to the {{sc2|NORTH}} class being transferred over to the {{sc2|FORCE}} class, undoing the merger of {{sc2|NORTH}} with {{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}}, as it is in almost all regions of North America that still make it. For non-rhotic speakers, the modern-day situation in Boston is that both ''horse'' and ''hoarse'', as well as both ''for'' and ''four'', take the centering diphthong {{IPA|/oə/}}.

A feature that Boston speakers once shared with Britain's [[Received Pronunciation]], though now uncommon in Boston, is the [[Broad A|"broad ''a''"]] of the {{Sc|BATH}} [[lexical set]] of words, making a distinction from the {{sc|TRAP}} set ({{crossref|see [[Trap–bath split]]}}). In particular words that in other American accents have the "short ''a''" pronounced as {{IPA|/æ/}}, that vowel was replaced in the nineteenth century (if not earlier and often sporadically by speakers as far back as the late eighteenth century)<ref>Wood, 2010, p. 138.</ref> with {{IPA|/a/}}: thus, ''half'' as {{IPA|/haf/}} and ''bath'' as {{IPA|/baθ/}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=523}} Fewer words have the broad ''a'' in Boston English than in the London accents, and fewer and fewer Boston speakers maintain the broad ''a'' system as time goes on, with its transition into a decline first occurring in speakers born from about 1930 to 1950 (and first documented as a decline in 1977).<ref name="Wood, 2010, p. 139"/> Boston speakers born before about 1930 used this broad ''a'' in ''after'', ''ask'', ''aunt'', ''bath'', ''calf'', ''can't'', ''glass'', ''half'', ''laugh'', ''pasture'', ''path'', and other words, while those born from about 1930 to 1950 normally use it only in ''aunt'', ''calf'', ''half'', ''laugh'', and ''pass''. Speakers born since 1950 typically have no broad ''a'' whatsoever and, instead, slight [[æ-tensing|/æ/ raising]] (i.e. {{IPA|[ɛə]}} in ''craft'', ''bad'', ''math'', etc.){{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=523}} with this same set of words and, variably, other instances of short ''a'' too.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=523}} Only ''aunt'' maintains the broad ''a'' sound in even the youngest speakers, though this one word is a common exception throughout all of the Northeastern U.S.  Broad ''a'' in ''aunt'' is also heard by occasional speakers throughout Anglophone North America; it is quite commonly heard in African American speech as well.