Bill Roper's Journal

I'm glad to see here in this map what we knew when we were growing up: the SouthCoast (TM) of Massachusetts is a different dialect than the stereotypical "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" of Boston.

My mother tried to raise my sisters and me to have clear and distinct Midwestern pronunciation instead of the "muddy" Massachusetts ones that we grew up immersed in. I think that she succeeded for the most part with me, but sometimes, I think, the other slips in when my guard is down.

And yes, Emeril Lagassi (the single vocal specimen from Fall River MA) is probably a (very) distant cousin of mine; why do you ask? [g]