The Boston Accent

The Boston accent is a distinctive way of speaking by people who live in and around the city, although you'll find it in certain other nearby areas and states. It has its roots in British English, but it has developed its own style and slang over the centuries since the pilgrims first arrived, becoming one of the most well-known Bostonian customs.

Origins of the Accent

Boston was settled by Puritans who founded the city on September 17, 1630. These English settlers brought their native accent from their homeland, and it persisted for centuries, albeit in a somewhat altered form. Bostonians no longer speak with a classic English accent, and they've developed their own vocabulary of slang, but the shadow of those old British pronunciations is still very apparent in the way they talk today. 

The Boston accent is not limited to the city. It's prevalent throughout much of eastern Massachusetts, and similar speech patterns are common in other areas settled by early British pilgrims, like Maine and New Hampshire. You can even hear something similar in certain parts of southwestern Nova Scotia in Canada.

England itself has different accents, associated with certain regions and social classes. For example, a Cockney accent differs from what we consider “the Queen's English.” This variance is also found in the Boston accent to a lesser extent. The Boston urban and suburban area is vast, and residents can quickly identify which neighborhood their fellow Bostonians hail from based on the way they talk and their slang. However, this is usually too subtle for visitors to the city to detect.

What does a Boston Accent Sound like?

One of the main features of the Boston accent is dropping the pronunciation of the letter “r” when it follows an “a.” For example, famous Bostonian Paul Revere's name becomes “Reveah” when pronounced by current day residents in his hometown, just as it likely was back in his own time. Instead of saying “of course,” in Boston the second word would come out rhyming with “horse.” “R” dropping can be a bit confusing with some word combinations. For example, if a Bostonian asks you to help them find their “kahkees,” they've simply misplaced their car keys. 

The letter “d” is not safe with Bostonian either. It is often dropped and replaced with a “t.” For example, “wicked” is a favorite Boston slang term, usually used for emphasis and meaning “very,” but natives typically pronounced it as “wicket.”

An “ah” sound in a word often comes out more like an “aw” in Boston. For example, a  word like “modern” would sound more like “mawdern” on a native Boston tongue. Bostonians refer to their “awnt” rather than “aunt” when referring to that particular relative.

Although many instances of “r” get dropped in Boston, natives make up for it by adding the letter to other words that normally end with an “uh.” For example, the word “idea” is pronounced “idee-ar,” with a non-existent “r.” 

The Boston accent often involves dropped entire syllables when referring to certain local places. For example, Worchester and Gloucester become “Gloster” and “Wuhster” in the local parlance, while Haverhill is commonly referred to as “Hayvrull.” Pronouncing the entire word is the distinct mark of an outsider.

The Boston Accent in Popular Culture 

Characters with Boston accents are common on television programs and on the silver screen, and their way of talking is instantly recognizable to most people from other parts of the country. For example, such popular flicks as “Good Will Hunting,” “Blow,” “Quiz Show,” “The Perfect Storm,” and “The Departed” have featured this speech pattern, although not always authentically or accurately.

You can hear the namesake accent in the television series “Boston Public” if you can catch reruns, and Mayor Quimby in “The Simpsons” speaks in a Kennedy-esque accent, even though the show is set in a mystery state and none of the other characters (other than his relatives) speaks in a similar way.

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