Editing Boston accent

{{short description|Local accent of English spoken in Boston}}
{{about|the manner of pronunciation|the album|Matt Nathanson#Boston Accent}}{{redirect|Boston English|the school|The English High School}}
{{IPA notice}}
A '''Boston accent''' is a [[regional accent|local accent]] of [[Eastern New England English]], native specifically to the city of [[Boston]] and its suburbs. '''Northeastern New England English''' is classified as traditionally including [[New Hampshire]], [[Maine]], and all of [[Greater Boston|eastern Massachusetts]], while some uniquely local vocabulary appears only around Boston.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Schneider | first = Edgar |author2=Bernd Kortmann | title = A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multi-Media Reference Tool | publisher = Mouton de Gruyter | year = 2005 | page = 270 | isbn = 978-3-11-017532-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Millward | first = C.M. | title = A Biography of the English Language | publisher = Wadsworth Publishing | year = 1996 | page = 353 | isbn = 978-0-15-501645-3}}</ref> A [[Atlas of North American English|2006 study]] co-authored by [[William Labov]] claims that the accent remains relatively stable,<ref name="Labov 2010">Labov, William (2010). ''[http://www.cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2011-2012/Labov/POLC%20Chapters%201-3.pdf The Politics of Language Change: Dialect Divergence in America]''. The University of Virginia Press. Pre-publication draft. p. 53.</ref> though a 2018 study suggests the accent's traditional features may be retreating, particularly among the city's younger residents, and becoming increasingly confined to the historically [[Irish-American]] neighborhood of [[South Boston]].<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>

==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.

==In popular culture==
Although not all Boston-area speakers are non-rhotic, [[Rhoticity in English|non-rhoticity]] remains the feature most widely associated with the region. As a result, it is frequently the subject of humor about Boston, as in comedian [[Jon Stewart]] joking in his book ''[[America (The Book)|America]]'' that, although [[John Adams]] drafted the 1780 [[Massachusetts Constitution]], "delegates from his state refused to ratify the letter 'R'".<ref>Stewart, John et al. (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=eSycAAAAQBAJ&dq=onepage&q=%22refused%20to%20ratify%22 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher's Edition: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction]''. Grand Central Publishing.</ref>

Being conspicuous and easily identifiable as regional, Boston accents are routinely featured by actors in films set in Boston, particularly for working-class white characters, such as in ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', ''[[Mystic River (film)|Mystic River]]'', ''[[The Departed]]'', ''[[Manchester by the Sea (film)|Manchester by the Sea]]'', ''[[The Town (2010 film)|The Town]]'', ''[[Ted (film)|Ted]]'', ''[[The Fighter]]'', and ''[[Black Mass (film)|Black Mass]]''.<ref name="Gottlieb">Gottlieb, Jeremy (February 3, 2017). ''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/02/03/hollywood-has-a-boston-problem/?noredirect=on Hollywood has a Boston problem]". ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>Mostue, Anne. "[https://www.npr.org/2014/08/27/343419500/setting-your-movie-in-boston-bettah-get-the-accent-right Setting Your Movie in Boston? Bettah Get the Accent Right]". ''[[NPR]]''. August 27, 2014.</ref> Television series based within a Boston setting such as ''[[Boston Public]]'' and ''[[Cheers]]'' have featured the accent. ''[[The Simpsons|Simpsons]]'' character [[Joe Quimby|Mayor Quimby]] talks with an exaggerated Boston accent as a reference to the former US Senator [[Ted Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite news | first = John Robbie | last = Brown | title = Kennedy backs city's 'Simpsons Movie' campaign | date = 2 July 2007 | publisher = NY Times Co. | work = Boston.com }}</ref> Television [[comedy sketch]]es have featured the accent, including "[[The Boston Teens]]" and "Dunkin Donuts" on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', as well as "Boston Accent Trailer" on ''[[Late Night with Seth Meyers]]''.<ref name="Gottlieb"/>

In ''[[The Heat (film)|The Heat]]'', the family members of Shannon Mullins all speak with the Boston accent, and confusion arises from the pronunciation of the word ''narc'' as ''nahk'' {{IPA|/nak/}}. In the video game ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', the character Scout, who is a Boston native himself, talks with a distinct Boston accent, although it sometimes lapses into a Brooklyn accent.

==Notable lifelong native speakers==
<!--Please keep this list alphabetical and with citations!-->
<!--A source here listed for Bill Simmons literally stated that he does NOT have a Boston accent! The Wahlberg brothers, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck, though all capable of imitating the accent (to varying degrees, according to some critics), are certainly not primary or lifelong speakers of the accent. [[John F. Kennedy]]'s accent has been described as a "[[wikt:tony|tony]] [[Harvard]] accent,"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/314791/John-F-Kennedy/3868/Presidential-candidate-and-president|title=John F. Kennedy|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2009}}</ref> with an implication that it is more of an example of a cultivated, class-based New England accent rather than a clear example of the traditional and linguistically defined Boston accent; notably, he does not show a cot-caught merger, rounded LOT, or fronted START.-->

[[File:Joseph Curtatone at October 11 2019 Somerville mayoral candidate forum.flac|thumb|Joseph Curtatone's voice]]
[[File:Rachel Carson (As Told By EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy).ogg|thumb|Gina McCarthy's voice]]
[[File:Sec. Walsh on Construction Jobs in Infrastructure Bill v2.flac|thumb|Marty Walsh's voice]]

<!--Again, PLEASE keep this list ALPHABETICAL!-->
* [[Ray Bolger]] – "that Boston accent is so present; he never tried to hide it"<ref>{{cite news|last=Tuttle|first=Kate|date=March 13, 2019|title=How a high schooler's obsession became a biography|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2019/03/13/how-high-schooler-obsession-became-biography/K5pndff9Quyycbqpw5rxSK/story.html|url-access=limited|newspaper=The Boston Globe|publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners|access-date=May 21, 2025}}</ref>
* [[William J. Bratton]]<ref name=mayor>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/nyregion/16accent.html|title=Mayor's Accent Deserts Boston for New York|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=Roberts, Sam|date=2006-01-16|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref> – "thick Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-07-me-bratton7-story.html|title=Police chief says he still has plenty to prove|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|author=Rubin, Joel|date=2008-12-07|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>
* [[Bill Burr]] – "the comic's wicked Boston accent"<ref>Miller, Gregory E. (11-1-2018) "[https://nypost.com/2018/11/01/bill-burr-vows-to-never-become-an-old-cornball/ Bill Burr vows to never become an 'old cornball']". ''New York Post''. NYP Holdings, Inc.</ref>
* [[Mike Capuano]] – "It didn't matter that Capuano had the stronger Boston accent"<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Beinart|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Beinart|date=September 5, 2018|title=Ayanna Pressley's Victory and the End of Local Politics|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/politics-isnt-local-anymore/569347/|url-access=limited|magazine=The Atlantic|publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group|access-date=May 21, 2025}}</ref>
* [[Lenny Clarke]] – "a [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]]-raised verbal machine gun with a raspy Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|title=Lenny Clarke Deftly Handles Nightschtick|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|author=Sullivan, Jim|date=2001-04-18}}</ref>
* [[Chick Corea]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15351|title=Chick Corea|author= Cumbie, Ty|magazine=[[All About Jazz]]|date=2004-10-30|access-date=2009-03-17}}</ref> – "his speech still carries more than a trace of a Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/02/29/a_banjo_a_piano_and_two_willing_masters/|title=A banjo, a piano, and two willing masters|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Mitter, Siddhartha|date=2008-02-29|access-date=2009-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003912/http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/02/29/a_banjo_a_piano_and_two_willing_masters/|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Sue Costello]] – "Between her thick Boston accent and fearless, stand-up style, Sue Costello is a true embodiment of the city's comedy scene."<ref>Juul, Matt (2015). [https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2015/06/12/watch-dorchester-comic-riffs-on-boston-gronk-and-more "Watch: Dorchester comic riffs on Boston, Gronk, and more"]. ''Boston.com''. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.</ref>
* [[Joseph Curtatone]] – "speaks in a rapid-fire '[[Somerville, Massachusetts|Summahville]]' accent"<ref>{{cite news|last=Moskowitz|first=Eric|date=2016-02-25|title=Somerville's Curtatone doesn't shy away from a fight|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/25/curtatone-doesn-shy-from-fight-spotlight/fs7UjYIC0YD3t3L7gTyFDO/story.html|url-access=limited|newspaper=The Boston Globe|publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners|access-date=2025-05-21}}</ref>
* [[Nick Di Paolo]] – "thick Boston accent"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/n_10107/|title=Did You Hear The One About The @&%#! Comic?|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|author=Calhoun, Ada|date=2004-03-29|access-date=2009-03-17}}</ref>
* [[Annissa Essaibi George]] – "speaks with the accent of working-class Boston"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/us/annissa-essaibi-george.html|title=Candidate for 'Mayah' Proudly Leans Into Her Boston Sound|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Barry, Ellen|date=2021-10-09|access-date=2024-01-23}}</ref>
* [[Jack Haley]] – "from Boston (as anyone who heard the [[Tin Woodman|Tin Man]]'s accent would know)"<ref>{{cite book|title=New England: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures|editor=Sletcher, Michael|page=186|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2004|isbn=0-313-32753-X}}</ref>
* [[Don Kent (meteorologist)|Don Kent]] – "With his inimitable Boston accent"<ref>Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame, 'Don Kent,' ca. 2010 https://www.massbroadcastershof.org/hall-of-fame/hall-of-fame-2007/don-kent/</ref>
* [[Mel King]] – "he has the soft R's of a deep Boston accent"<ref>{{cite news|title=Mel's Vision|last=Concannon|first=Jim|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=May 12, 2009|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/05/12/mels_vision/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923220029/https://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/05/12/mels_vision/|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Lyndon LaRouche]] – "a cultivated New England accent"<ref>{{Cite book | last = King | first = Dennis | title = Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism | publisher = Doubleday | year = 1989 | location = New York | page = 306 | url = https://archive.org/stream/LyndonLaroucheAndTheNewAmericanFascism/LLNAF#page/n305/}}</ref>
* [[Tom Magliozzi|Tom]] and [[Ray Magliozzi]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://onlineathens.com/stories/070608/marquee_20080706005.shtml|title=Radio's 'Car Talk' guys reluctantly tackle TV|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=2008-07-01|author=Littlefield, Kinney|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref> – "like drunk raccoons with Boston accents"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/03/AR2005050301694.html|title=Oh, Brother: 'Car Talk' Guy Puts Mouth in Gear|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=2005-05-04|author=Leibovich, Mark|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>
* [[Rocky Marciano]] – "He spoke with distinct traces of a Boston accent"<ref>Roberts, Randy (2005). ''The Rock, the Curse, and the Hub: A Random History of Boston Sports''. Harvard University Press. p. 222</ref>
* [[Gina McCarthy]] – "Obama's nominee to head the EPA has that spectacular [[South Boston]] accent"<ref>NewSoundbites (YouTube user; uploaded 2013) "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNy1IBNvT2Q Boston accent goes national with President Obama's pick for EPA]." ''YouTube''. Excerpted from [[MSNBC]]'s ''[[The Rachel Maddow Show]]''.</ref>
* [[Joey McIntyre]] – "his authentic Boston accent"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-mccarthys-joey-mcintyre-on-the-show-and-new-kids-on-the-block/|title=Joey McIntyre on appeal of "The McCarthys," future of NKOTB|work=[[CBS]] News|author=Moraski, Lauren|date=2014-10-30}}</ref>
* [[Thomas Menino]] – "strong traces of the Boston dialect"<ref name="Baker, Billy">{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/17/boston-accent-strong-mayor-elect-walsh/AFouySIXDXFVE58IMsJGwI/story.html|title=In Walsh, students of Bostonese have found their avatah|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Baker, Billy|date=2013-11-17|access-date=2015-06-15}}</ref> 
* [[Christy Mihos]] – "speaks unpretentiously in a variation of a Boston accent, and drops the 'g' in words like talking or running."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/19/the_nonpolitician_who_would_be_governor/|title=The nonpolitician who would be governor|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Mooney, Brian C.|date=2006-02-19|access-date=2009-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924144830/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/19/the_nonpolitician_who_would_be_governor/|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Brian Moran|Brian]] and [[Jim Moran]] – "The Moran brothers share... an unmistakable Massachusetts accent"<ref name="family">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/10/ST2009021004032.html|title=A Time to Reevaluate Family Ties|newspaper=Washington Post|author=Gardner, Amy|date=2009-02-11|access-date=2009-02-27}}</ref>
* [[Joe Morgan (baseball manager)]] – "the pride of [[Walpole, Massachusetts|Walpole, Mass.]], with a tremendous Boston accent"<ref>{{cite web|last=Browne|first=Ian M.|date=June 15, 2020|title=Red Sox's Top 5 managers: Browne's take|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-all-time-best-managers|website=MLB.com|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|access-date=May 21, 2025}}</ref>
* [[Alex Rocco]] – "grew up in blue-collar Cambridge"<ref name="Allis, Sam">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/01/25/its_tough_to_talk_like_a_true_bostonian/|title=It's tough to talk like a true Bostonian|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Allis, Sam|date=2004-01-25|access-date=2009-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230152/http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/01/25/its_tough_to_talk_like_a_true_bostonian/|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Tom Silva]] – "New England accent"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.sacmag.com/Sacramento-Magazine/February-2007/Mr-Fix-It/|title=Mr. Fix-It|magazine=[[Sacramento Magazine]]|author=Bizjak, Marybeth|date=February 2007|access-date=2009-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319174607/http://www.sacmag.com/Sacramento-Magazine/February-2007/Mr-Fix-It/|archive-date=2016-03-19|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Marty Walsh]] – "he demonstrates what many believe to be the strongest Boston dialect in the city's mayoral history."<ref name="Baker, Billy"/>
* [[Jermaine Wiggins]] – "skin as thick as his [[East Boston]] accent"<ref name="Jensen, Sean">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-125717347.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611052758/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-125717347.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-06-11|title=Despite his unlikely build, Vikings' Wiggins gets it done at tight end.|newspaper=[[Saint Paul Pioneer Press]]|author=Jensen, Sean|date=2004-12-03|access-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[wikt:Appendix:Glossary_of_Boston_slang|Boston slang]]
* [[Eastern New England English]]
* [[New England English]]
* [[North American English regional phonology]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Baker
|first1=Adam
|last2=Mielke
|first2=Jeff
|last3=Archangeli
|first3=Diana
|year=2008
|chapter=More velar than /g/: Consonant Coarticulation as a Cause of Diphthongization
|editor1-last=Chang
|editor1-first=Charles B.
|editor2-last=Haynie
|editor2-first=Hannah J.
|title=Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics
|pages=60–68
|location=Somerville, Massachusetts
|publisher=Cascadilla Proceedings Project
|isbn=978-1-57473-423-2
|chapter-url=http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wccfl/26/paper1656.pdf
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
* {{cite journal
|last=Boberg
|first=Charles
|year=2008
|title=Regional phonetic differentiation in Standard Canadian English
|journal=Journal of English Linguistics
|volume=36
|issue=2
|pages=129–154
|doi=10.1177/0075424208316648
|s2cid=146478485
|url=https://www.academia.edu/7683591
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
* {{cite book
|last=Duncan
|first=Daniel
|year=2016
|chapter='Tense' /æ/ is still lax: A phonotactics study
|editor1-last=Hansson
|editor1-first=Gunnar Ólafur
|editor2-last=Farris-Trimble
|editor2-first=Ashley
|editor3-last=McMullin
|editor3-first=Kevin
|editor4-last=Pulleyblank
|editor4-first=Douglas
|title=Supplemental Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting on Phonology
|volume=3
|location=Washington, D.C.
|publisher=Linguistic Society of America
|doi=10.3765/amp.v3i0.3653
|chapter-url=https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/amphonology/article/view/3653
|chapter-format=PDF
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
* {{cite journal
|last=Labov
|first=William
|year=2007
|title=Transmission and Diffusion
|journal=Language
|volume=83
|issue=2
|pages=344–387
|doi=10.1353/lan.2007.0082
|jstor=40070845
|s2cid=6255506
|url=https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/Papers/TD.pdf
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
* {{cite book
|last1=Labov
|first1=William
|last2=Ash
|first2=Sharon
|last3=Boberg
|first3=Charles
|year=2006
|title=[[The Atlas of North American English]]
|location=Berlin
|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter
|isbn=978-3-11-016746-7
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
*{{Accents of English|hide1=y|hide2=y}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|url=http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jjmccart/ |author=McCarthy, John|date=1993|title=John McCarthy}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/epub/how_we_talk.shtml |title=How We Talk: American Regional English Today|author=Metcalf, Allan|publisher= Houghton Mifflin|location= Boston}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|park the car in Harvard Yard}}
* [http://www.universalhub.com/glossary/index.html Guide to Boston English]
* [http://www.universalhub.com/glossary/a-b Glossary of Boston English]<!-- necessary because hard to find on link above -->
* [http://www.universalhub.com/glossary/pronunciation.html Article on Boston accent]
* [http://www.universalhub.com/glossary/so_dont_i.html "So don't I" - a unique grammatical construct]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071208141311/http://bostonslang.terrisnook.com/index.html Boston Slang Dictionary]

;Recordings of the Boston accent
* [http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=79 37-year-old female]
* [http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=139 18-year-old female]
* [http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php?function=detail&speakerid=142 73-year-old male]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbK4cL3QSc0 Medford City Councilor]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090923112303/http://www.soundcomparisons.com/Eng/Direct/Englishes/SglLgBostonTrad.htm 'Hover & Hear' a Boston accent], and compare with other accents from the US and around the World.

{{BostonMA}}
{{Languages of Massachusetts}}
{{Languages of the United States}}
{{English dialects by continent}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Accent}}
[[Category:American English]]
[[Category:Culture of Boston|Accent]]
[[Category:Languages of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:City colloquials]]