Boston accents

[snopes]

Comment: My friend insists that there was a piece in the Boston Globe in 2006
describing how the words "Career" and "Korea" appeared in a list of
homonyms in an official Boston Public Schools phonics textbook.

[WildaBeast]

I doubt a textbook publisher would publish a textbook specifically for one school district. However in college I have had things like study guides and lab manuals that were created by the instructor and printed and bound at the local Kinko's. If it exists at all I would think it would be something more like that than a real official hardcover textbook.

Growing up in the South I did have a teacher insist that "pin" and "pen" were homonyms, but it wasn't published anywhere.

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Growing up in the South I did have a teacher insist that "pin" and "pen" were homonyms, but it wasn't published anywhere.

Yep. My daughters have had teachers who put those words on the homophone list.

[Towknie]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I doubt a textbook publisher would publish a textbook specifically for one school district. [snip] If it exists at all I would think it would be something more like that than a real official hardcover textbook.

If the school district is big enough, and the price is right, we'll custom publish a hardcover textbook that states Jesus walked on the moon hunting for rabbits with Elmer Fudd.

Nothing quite that drastic, but we've had to make some significant changes in textbooks for the state of Texas. The one that made me chuckle was a map of the United States spread over two pages that cut Texas in half in the middle. Woe be upon the publisher who disgraces the sacred shape of Texas!

[putitinwriting]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Growing up in the South I did have a teacher insist that "pin" and "pen" were homonyms, but it wasn't published anywhere.

I once had a friend from Jersey try for the better part of an hour to get me to pronounce those words in a way different from each other. Since I couldn't hear the difference even when she said it, it was a failed attempt from the start. Down here, they are homonyms.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: My friend insists that there was a piece in the Boston Globe in 2006
describing how the words "Career" and "Korea" appeared in a list of
homonyms in an official Boston Public Schools phonics textbook.

Doubt it. I have lived my whole life in Boston and I would not call them homonyms. The diffence is in the stressed sylable.

Career - cah REE ah
Korea -- cah ree AH

As opposed to Caller and collar, which are both pronounces indistinguishably.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I doubt a textbook publisher would publish a textbook specifically for one school district.

It may hqave been a local publisher contracted by the state.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by putitinwriting

I once had a friend from Jersey try for the better part of an hour to get me to pronounce those words in a way different from each other. Since I couldn't hear the difference even when she said it, it was a failed attempt from the start. Down here, they are homonyms.

Purely out of curiosity and an interest in dialects, can you hear the difference in vowel sounds between "win" and "when"?

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Growing up in the South I did have a teacher insist that "pin" and "pen" were homonyms, but it wasn't published anywhere.

As a true Southe'nah, I assure you that they ARE homonymns. In fact, the pronunciation "pehn" makes my skin crawl.

Originally Posted by Lainie

Purely out of curiosity and an interest in dialects, can you hear the difference in vowel sounds between "win" and "when"?

Nope. 'Least not when I say it.

What drives my Northern friends crazy is that I say "sit" and "set" the same. I know the difference in the two words, and I'm not using them interchangably. I just pronounce them the same. And just so ya know, I say them both "set".

[putitinwriting]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Purely out of curiosity and an interest in dialects, can you hear the difference in vowel sounds between "win" and "when"?

Nope, it's exactly the same sound to me.

[Griffin2020]

Why 'ohn't y'all jist set a spell, and wheel see ifen we kin hash thissun out.

[putitinwriting]

Why 'ohn't y'all jist set a spell, and wheel see ifen we kin hash thissun out.

Here, it'd be more:

Now, why 'ohn'tchy'all jes' set down, an' will see we caint work this thin' owt.

[mela681]

OK, how are you supposed to say pen and pin and when and win where they sound differently

[NeeCD]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Purely out of curiosity and an interest in dialects, can you hear the difference in vowel sounds between "win" and "when"?

I'm not Southern (West Coast all my life), but I would generally pronounce pin/pen and win/when the same, although if I am stressing the word ("no, I said when"), I do give them a slight difference. Same for caught/cot and collar/caller.

ETA: mela681, the words when or pen could be said with more of an "eh" sound, like in the word met.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by mela681

OK, how are you supposed to say pen and pin and when and win where they sound differently

If you can't hear the difference in those words, I'm not sure how to explain it. "Pin" is a short i sound, as in "if," and "pen" is a short e sound, as in "end."

[NeeCD]

Originally Posted by Lainie

If you can't hear the difference in those words, I'm not sure how to explain it. "Pin" is a short i sound, as in "if," and "pen" is a short e sound, as in "end."

Maybe I did over-emphasize the "eh" sound, but to me, "in" "end" and "any," when said in everyday conversation, all have the same sound as the short i in "if." It's amazing we all understand each other at all!

[Four Kitties]

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: My friend insists that there was a piece in the Boston Globe in 2006
describing how the words "Career" and "Korea" appeared in a list of
homonyms in an official Boston Public Schools phonics textbook.

It's bull, of course.

To be certain, I search the Globe archives back to 1979. There were 972 hits on "career" and "Korea," most of which were either obituaries for vets or stories about Ted Williams.

I disagree with DWolf's pronunciation interpretation. I'd say, rather, that "career" is kuh-RAH, and "Korea" is kuh-REE-uh.

Foah Kitties

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Originally Posted by Four Kitties

I disagree with DWolf's pronunciation interpretation. I'd say, rather, that "career" is kuh-RAH, and "Korea" is kuh-REE-uh.

Foah Kitties

And just for fun, the way I would pronounce those words:

Career: kuh-rear
Korea: core-ee-uh

I'm form Western Washington, born and raised.

[Esprise Me]

Originally Posted by NeeCD

I'm not Southern (West Coast all my life), but I would generally pronounce pin/pen and win/when the same, although if I am stressing the word ("no, I said when"), I do give them a slight difference. Same for caught/cot and collar/caller.

I'm from California, and most of my childhood friends pronounced "pin" and "pen" the same. I agree that it's a West Coast thing as well--although I don't think Southerners pronounce "pin/pen" the same way West Coast people do!

I pronounce them quite differently. I also pronounce "Mary," "marry," and "merry" differently, and "hail" and "hell," which some Southerners conflate. I've taken a few of those what's-your-accent tests, and always come up as non-specific American. That's fine with me; I don't care to be associated with California (or anywhere else) every time I open my mouth.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by NeeCD

Maybe I did over-emphasize the "eh" sound, but to me, "in" "end" and "any," when said in everyday conversation, all have the same sound as the short i in "if." It's amazing we all understand each other at all!

The vowel sound in "any," in these parts, may sound like the vowel sound in either "end" or "in." But the vowel sound in "end" is definitely different.