Audiobook narrator Matt Haynes shares five highlights from his start on the Rhode Island accent, then uses his favorite practice technique of applying the accent to song lyrics. This week: "Voyage To Atlantis" by The Isley Brothers
I'm a Rhode Islander, and I wanted to let you know that your RI dialect is on the thicker side. Most of the people that I grew up with/know do not talk that exaggerated. The key word is most. I find that the areas around Pawtucket tend to have the dialect the thickest (also would like to note this is not the rule). Nice job over all.
I've heard a lot of subtly different Rhode Island accents. Its a state situated around a bay and though small I think there's a fair bit of separation between east and west, and Providence and Newport. In addition its a state with lots of immigrants. Whether their families were Portuguese, Italian, French, Polish, British or maybe Irish, can I think also be an influence. I came on here to hear what my relatives sound like as half my family are from Rhode Island and the accent reminds me of childhood memories. They sometimes have very heavy accents depending on the occasion and whether they're around lots of people from other states they don't know that well (in which case they might tone it down, or not care at all and flaunt it depending). This isn't quite what they sound like but the al- in 'always' did remind me.
I live in Narragansett (which is almost all Irish and Itallian with some native americans) and the only accent you really hear here is that Rs in the middle of words get dropped and random Rs will get added in on the end of words (Idear)
It was hilarious hearing you try the Rhode Island accent bc i am from Rhode Island. Some things sounded off, but other wise it was fine. It also depends on what part of RI you're from with the dialect of the accent.
I have lived in Rhode Island now for nearly 9 years, and this is it!! Two things I would add: idea is nearly universally pronounced idear, and drawer is draw, while draw is drawr. Friends and fellow humans, please do not take offense when people notice a regional dialect that you don't hear because you are used to it. I'm sure you hear things in my western American speech that I can't hear. Be proud of your local speech patterns. They're part of what makes life diverse and interesting!
very accurate, an interesting fact about Rhode Island accents is that some people (generally families and very small communities) tend to pick and choose different words to become accented, especially as you get closer to Mass
@@narratormatt the hard "R" to "ah" change is seen more in and around Providence and northern RI, Newport has a more New York "Kennedy" style accent, and I've noticed it's even different by age too, older Aquidneck Islanders actually add a hard "R" to words that don't have one like "idea" becoming "idear"
There's a great book by Mark Patinkin called the Rhode Island Dictionary. If you can get ahold of it you'll get a pretty good insight into our accents. Yours was close but you focused on it too much. A lotta ah ackzent cahmes frahm ah nah thinkin' abou' ah woodz. It's like a lazy New Yorker accent by way of Cambridge.
Matt there’s something else you might want to know about RI they have words here that no one has in any other part of the country (another commenter mention a few of these) but you should definitely add them to your tutorial. Two examples of these words are bubblah, (bubbler which is a water fountain) and cabinet which is a milkshake.
General rule is if a word ends with an "r", drop it (with specific exceptions where a "v" or "w" sound is substituted, such as "chowdew" instead of "chowder", unlike Boston which to my knowledge always drops no "matta" what), and add an "r" to words ending in "a" such as "pizzer" or "idear". In older generations of the accent (say, my parents' generation and older, but not necessarily anyone my age), "r" is also sometimes substituted in the middle of words for "w" or "v", such as the name "Chevyl" (Cheryl) or "tewn" (turn). Very important w the RI accent is also different words not used elsewhere, even Boston. Fun fact: due to the amount of words used only in RI and not other places, RI is the only American accent to be technically considered a dialect of English rather than just an accent of it. These include bubbler ("bubblah") instead of drinking fountain, bunking ("bunkin'") school instead of skipping school, and cabinet ("caeb'neh'") instead of a frappe or milkshake. This along with the adverb "wicked" and the plural "yous" (pronounced "yiz") makes the RI dialect a unique animal indeed. Unfortunately, this dialect is seen as lower class or less educated in some parts of RI, so many deny it or say it sounds "fake". I assure you it's real and, after living in NYC for the last 7 years and pretty wicked pissah of an accent, I get made fun of constantly for it. Anyways, this was a good first try!
born here, and had no idea that we're the ones who say bunking school. The heavy accent really is more prevalent in the cities where older (not elderly, but including the elderly) people live. I live more or less across the bay from Newport, and while my father from Providence sounds like Joe Pesci, I have more of a common accent. Although I have been made fun of when I traveled to the great lakes area of Ohio. lol
Matt, I have lived in RI for 12 1/2 years but originally from Brooklyn NY. I thought you got some stuff correct but RI’ers all have different sounds based on which area they’re from. You’ll have to listen to the different nuances of RI’ers. Newporters sound different than someone from South County and people from Cranston and Federal Hill which is in providence sound different and then you get the real thick old timey accents from the swamp Yankees who live in the more rural parts of the state like Coventry, Exeter, and Hope Valley. Then there’s folks from the east bay (Aquidneck island) that aren’t from Newport but live “on the island” also sound different. There are some similarities though amongst most RI’ers which you did cover in your tutorial but you didn’t mention adding and dropping of the letter R like in the word idea people here say idear 🤷🏻♀️ but also the r in the word nurse is very prevalent here and it drives me crazy. I’m wondering if the reason they do that is due to mostly an English background? Because that is the only other accent I can liken that to. It’s really bizarre. They say it as an H instead of R like nuhse. I’d like to check out some of your other tutorials. I have been to around 46 states in the US and love listening to and trying to mimic various accents. You have a cool job btw
Lived there for seven years, its spot on but it's always slightly different depending on the person, some people don't even have the accent and they're native there so it depends more on who you're around when you're growing up I'd say.
I lived in the city of Rhode Island and that's how I talk most of my life. My teachers made me talk that, they said that's the correct way to speak at least where's I stayed at.
I know someone from RI. He always says "idear", "tooken" (instead of taken), "wooder" (instead of water), "galf" (instead of golf), he says "guy" instead "dude" or "bro" (like "what's up guy") sometimes switches out r for w (explorer would be pronounced "explowah") 😂 I love that dude's accent
I only lived in RI for a little over a year when I was around five, but I still maintain bits and pieces of the RI accent. God, I miss ordering the Boston Cremes at Dunkin' Donuts.
@@narratormatt Not sure. I haven't been to a DD's in a long time. Judging from the menu, the Bostons have been replaced by the Bavarians. Not sure if they're the same or not, or if it's just a West Coast thing. I'll have to try one , one of these days.
@@narratormatt I double checked. Apparently, They're still serving Boston Kremes. That's a relief. I was about to go on a state-wide murder spree. Lol. I'll have to get one, one of these days. I miss those delicious creamy bastards somethin' fierce.
I am a Rhode Islander. I have lived in Northern Florida for 15 years...accent has not diminished. I add that caught and court are the same. Instead of no sir- no sa. Stahp instead of stop. Park- pahk
Native Rhode Islander here with a semi-strong accent. I would say "O+consonants" is more like the annoying AEM sound of "AM". Like a New Yorker. As in "Put the dishes AH-N T-AH-P of the table." Where as Boston and Maine would be more like "AWN TAWP". More examples, I say the word "GOLF" like "GAHLF". Saying FLAHRIDA vs FLORIDA is to me the biggest give away that you're from RI. I've never heard it anywhere else like that. Words that are plural and end in ERS change to IZ, As in "sawsage and PEPPIZ" and "make sure you take ya "WORKIZ CAHMP!" (Worker's Comp). AR sounds in the middle of words are all AH but I feel like AR at the end of a word gets pronounced. Think of the word "COT", the bed you sleep on. Say it that exact way for the Rhode Island "CART". Same as "DOCK", and RI "DARK!" For words ending in AR there is no consistency! For example I'd say CEDAR "see-der" and MOLAR "mo-ler" but FAMILIAR as in "he doesn't look familiah to me". Hope this helps! You've got a good "stAHt!" 😂😜
callawaysam I’m from NY but have lived in RI 12 1/2 years. I think the A sound in put the dishes AntAp sounds more like a Chicago Accent. Like Fiona in shameless. But everything else you said about the RI accent is spot on
I was born, raised and still live in little Rhodey. I love it. Coffee milk is a nectar from the gods, and nothing is over a 45 minutes drive. But we don't sound like Family Guy xD there's a lot of people who speak like that, but most of us just speak normally lol.
I want to travel and live elsewhere, but I can't do it. 20 minutes from like 3 beaches, 25 min from the city, and I live in a town with trees and lawns and parks (read: suburb, if you're from anywhere else in the country lol)
If you're still taking requests for accents, how about Norwegian? I've recently found a really talented musician here on RU-vid who goes by PelleK, mainly specialising in metal music, who hails from Norway, and his accent is really neat and foreign to me. I've got a couple things down about the accent, like how a W always turns at least halfway, if not fully, into a V, and the Rs are a bit more pronounced than in English (I think...?), but I want to be able to better learn this accent. I feel like there's a recent revival of Norse culture happening, too, like TV shows about Vikings and such, so the accent might help you, too, in reading audiobooks, if that's the case. Thanks for the awesome tutorials! If nothing else, they're a fantastic place to start, and always really helpful.
All of the RI’s I know drop the Rs completely. RI’s also talk fast and blend words together. A tricky one: produce is praaduce. Since I moved away I worked hard to drop the awful accent!
Its pretty good. We speak much faster. We say our Rs as almost vs and we add Rs to the ends of words that dont have them, like idea (idear). but not bad
I cannot, CANNOT stand when people add r's. Lina = Leener, Hannah = Hanner, idear, pizzer, and the list goes on. It's more of a city accent though, very Providence.
If you want to hear the stereotypical family guy type accent you have to come to East Providence/Pawtucket, or just the Providence metro area. It’s honestly hilarious, I’m born and raised in Pawtucket (3/23/1998) and you will hear the thick accent from people that are older and it’s so funny.
We just add and drop letters where ever we want especially 'r' lol we give no fucks. Not all of RI has the same accent though, Cranston and Johnston are pretty strong
I'm from Rhode island. Have family from Houston. I remember not thinking they sounded all that weird. But my cousins were BLOWN away by my RI accent lol. " Y'all don't pronounce your Rs" lol
You're quite off on the prevalence of that "ooaw" sound for a short o followed by a consonant. Professional linguists note that there is no cot / caught merger in RI; in other words, cot is pronounced "kaht" and caught is pronounced "kooawt" (and so is the word court). Plus I've seen RU-vid accent tag videos where RI speakers pronounce the word probably with the short o.
Not bad Matt, you made some good observations. Check out RU-vid videos of Arlene Violet, former RI Attorney General and longtime Providence radio host. She has a classic RI accent.
Dude, wish you had practiced some RI lingo, like grindehs. Cabinits. Takin yoah shirhts to the cleansers. "Salid bah an assoahted dessehrts" (That was from the Menu Line at Brown back in the day, bless you Mrs. Glass) I loved Prov and RI in college, and that accent is totally in my head. Cheeehs with my cawfee milk hah!
Ok, so you've got the Warwick accent *almost * down, now try other cities in Rhode Island. Try Craaaanstin, now, or WOONsacket. Newport, where we, like, dude, say the R's aaaaannnd stuff? East Bay RI... Foah when Long Island ain't loud or fast enough. Just stick to Federal Hill, Provdinse, alla da mobstahs ah deyah. Like Disney Wold, tellin ya. The Cranston Whine and Woonsocket Grammer deserve their own episodes. Also do New Bedford. Richest fishing port in the world, poorest city in Massachusetts.
Honestly all of these quirks are dying. Most of the cities are actually full of people who speak english as a second language(at least the youth). The last people with this heavy an accent were my grandparents. My parents only occasionally drop r. I have to say the only unique part left is when we add a random r to the end of a word, like idea becomes idear.
Sorry Matt, ALL of this is WRONG! You did not get any of the dialect correct!I I am from Cranston and you would be viewed as a tourist, talking like this.
People think we sound like Peter Griffin lol. With that said, we do weird shit to words. Idear, Pizzer, you'z (lots of people do this one, its awful lol), etc.
In Rhode Island the city that every holds up as having the most accented speach is Cranston (super nasal ponunciation Craaanst'n). In Cranston, when there is an "R" in the middle of a word, where you can't really turn it into an "AH" sound, (typically this would be in a case where a sylable other than the first starts with an "R" sound) it oven get replaced by a swallowed "V" sound. Almost a combination of "V" and "R" simlar to the "RLD" thing that happens with Japanese pronunciations Flavida is the shining example of this. Say Florida as nasal-y as you can but replace the "R" with a "V" and you'll be pretty close. This is the quintessential Rhode Island acceent: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fZqXIzs6pxs.html When she says "sincerity" at 0:21 in the video she almost make it into a "v". I looked around the internet quite a bit and couldn't find a great example of it because it occurs in only a limited number of words. In any case, here are a few examples of some of the most RI accents: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SQ55_XV_HPU.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZiqJmnLkZWY.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mKcU3LrMo24.html
This is so offensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am from Rhode Island, and nobody sounds like that unless they're doing it for comedic relief. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I was born and lived in RI for 36 years and he absolutely nails it. You've got a bias because you hear people around you talking like you and just don't think about how weird our accent sounds.
+Isabelle Sharp Alright, I've lived in RI all my life, born here, the whole deal. Have you noticed that while we new englanders drop r's, Rhode Islanders will sometimes add an r? Pizza == Pizzer, Lina == Leener, Hannah == Hanner, Idea == Idear, etc. It's real, real bad.
As small as Rhode Island (Ruh Dyland) is, the accents vary around the state. There's no one RI accent. There's lots of ethnic influence in the accent from the state's history of manufacturing in the 1900's. What's strange is the state is still 2/3rds rural with 420+ miles of coastline.
I think your problem here was you were mixing two separate accents in Rhode Island and you came off as sound like a Kennedy. Believe it or not even though we're a little state, people in Northern RI (Woonsocket, Cumberland, Lincoln) talk differently than people in Cranston.
I'm from RI and this is too nasally. You are mixing it up with NY. Here are some RI words - Tawk vs talk, staw vs store, cah vs car, pok vs park, thare vs there.
Jenny Morel you forgot Wahwick instead of Warwick and Cahventry instead of Coventry. We also say bubbler instead of water fountain, jimmies instead of sprinkles (I forgot some other things). There is also sometimes a er or a ah at the end of a name like Petah instead of Peter and Kayler instead of Kayla.
I’m not sure if this is just a professional decision for you, as a narrator, but you’re putting too much emphasis on the (t). Without you - withouchue - Withou( ) you. We would typically drop the (t) there.
he is definitely trying to do Rhode Island, but All i hear is an attempt at the stereotypical Cranston. i give you 6/10 clam cakes cause i think you got the "Always" pretty decent
Yeah, it was more a cranston/johnston accent. The real challenge is to do the swamp yankee one from the rural areas. Now THATS an accent. Sounds completely different from the cities. Its amazing considering how small a state we are.
