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Boston accent

A Boston accent is a 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 eastern Massachusetts, while some uniquely local vocabulary appears only around Boston.[1][2] A 2006 study co-authored by William Labov claims that the accent remains relatively stable,[3] 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.[4]

This article is about the manner of pronunciation. For the album, see Matt Nathanson § Boston Accent.

In popular culture[edit]

Although not all Boston-area speakers are non-rhotic, 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 that, although John Adams drafted the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, "delegates from his state refused to ratify the letter 'R'".[17]


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, The Departed, Manchester by the Sea, The Town, Ted, The Fighter, and Black Mass.[18][19] Television series based within a Boston setting such as Boston Public and Cheers have featured the accent. Simpsons character Mayor Quimby talks with an exaggerated Boston accent as a reference to the former US Senator Ted Kennedy.[20] Television comedy sketches 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.[18]


In 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 /nak/. In the video game Team Fortress 2, the character Scout, who is himself a Boston native, talks with a distinct Boston accent, although it sometimes lapses into a Brooklyn accent.

[21] – "thick Boston accent"[22]

William J. Bratton

– "the comic's wicked Boston accent"[23]

Bill Burr

– "a Cambridge-raised verbal machine gun with a raspy Boston accent"[24]

Lenny Clarke

[25] – "his speech still carries more than a trace of a Boston accent"[26]

Chick Corea

– "Between her thick Boston accent and fearless, stand-up style, Sue Costello is a true embodiment of the city's comedy scene."[27]

Sue Costello

– "whose own accent leaves no room for doubt that he's from Massachusetts"[28]

Joseph Curtatone

– "thick Boston accent"[29]

Nick Di Paolo

– "speaks with the accent of working-class Boston"[30]

Annissa Essaibi George

– "from Boston (as anyone who heard the Tin Man's accent would know)"[31]

Jack Haley

– "With his inimitable Boston accent"[32]

Don Kent

– "he has the soft R's of a deep Boston accent"[33]

Mel King

– "a cultivated New England accent"[34]

Lyndon LaRouche

and Ray Magliozzi[35] – "like drunk raccoons with Boston accents"[36]

Tom

– "He spoke with distinct traces of a Boston accent"[37]

Rocky Marciano

– "Obama's nominee to head the EPA has that spectacular South Boston accent"[38]

Gina McCarthy

– "his authentic Boston accent"[39]

Joey McIntyre

– "strong traces of the Boston dialect"[40]

Thomas Menino

– "speaks unpretentiously in a variation of a Boston accent, and drops the 'g' in words like talking or running."[41]

Christy Mihos

and Jim Moran – "The Moran brothers share... an unmistakable Massachusetts accent"[42]

Brian

– "grew up in blue-collar Cambridge"[43]

Alex Rocco

– "New England accent"[44]

Tom Silva

– "he demonstrates what many believe to be the strongest Boston dialect in the city's mayoral history."[40]

Marty Walsh

– "skin as thick as his East Boston accent"[45]

Jermaine Wiggins

Boston slang

Eastern New England English

New England English

North American English regional phonology

McCarthy, John (1993). .

"John McCarthy"

Metcalf, Allan. . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

How We Talk: American Regional English Today

Guide to Boston English

Glossary of Boston English

Article on Boston accent

"So don't I" - a unique grammatical construct

Boston Slang Dictionary