If you take a road trip across the United States, you'll notice a striking diversity in values, climate, culture, and cuisine. But perhaps the most striking contrast would be in the variations of the American English accent present within the country.
In an interview with CNN , linguists posit that there could be up to 25 distinct American accents in the country. Therefore, if you're accustomed to the classic New York accent, Chicago English may sound unfamiliar. Head down to Texas and the southern twang will likely catch your ear. By the time you reach Arizona or California, you'll encounter yet another variation.
Let's explore the nuances of the most common regional American accents scattered across the country. These accents are unique, filled with culture, and rooted in history.
1. Southern Accent The Southern American accent is common in all U.S. southern states but prevalent in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. One feature peculiar to this accent is the “southern drawl,” characterized by elongated vowels that are often diphthongized .
This means a single vowel sound may be split into two syllables. For example, words like “here” (/hɪr/) may be pronounced as “hee-yur,” and “red” (/rɛd/) might sound like “ray-ehd.”
Another of its distinct features is the /ɑɪ/ sound, which southerners tend to simply pronounce as “ah.” You’ll most likely hear them pronounce “my” (/maɪ/) as “mah” and “hi” (/haɪ/) as “hah.”
Southerners may also use glottal stops in words where the "t" sound is present. Here, words like "mountain" would be pronounced "moun'n."
It should be noted that while you'll often hear people refer to the "southern accent" to describe English accents from the southern U.S. states, there exist many sub-accents event within this grouping, each with their own unique subtleties and nuances.
Take a look at American comedian Fred Armisen demonstrating a variety of southern U.S. accents:
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2. New York Accent This accent is particularly associated with New York and its surrounding cities. The accent has a sharp, nasal quality noticeable in certain words with a tendency to blend or shorten sounds, making speech fast and direct.
Take, for example, this famous scene from the film Midnight Cowboy . Notice how the character pronounces the words "I'm walking here":
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This accent also adopts non-rhoticity, where the /r/ sound at the end of words or before a consonant is dropped. You might have heard New Yorkers pronounce the word “car” (/kɑːr/) as “cah," for instance.
Similarly, vowel sounds in the New York accent are a tad distinct, sometimes elongated or rounded. Due to this difference, words like “coffee” (/ˈkɑfi/) would sound more like “caw-fee."
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3. Boston/New England Accent Historically, the Boston accent can be traced back to the early British settlers of the 17th century, who brought a foreign dialect that has since been assimilated. This accent soon became widespread, especially among older generations and working-class neighborhoods.
Like the New York accent, the Boston accent is non-rhotic. However, Boston speakers sometimes insert an “r” sound where it wouldn’t normally be in the General American accent . In words like “park” and “Harvard,” the /r/ sound is completely omitted.
In contrast, the "r" sound is added as a linking sound between two words if the first word ends with a vowel sound and the second word starts with a vowel.
Watch this clip of U.S. actor Matt Damon explaining this unique element of the Boston accent:
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Additionally, the Boston accent has a unique way of pronouncing the "short a" sound, like in the word "cat," particularly before nasal consonants like m, n, and ng . In these cases, the vowel sound /æ/ is pronounced with more tension and sometimes a nasal quality.
4. Cajun English Cajuns make up a significant cultural and demographic group in Louisiana. Historically, the Cajuns are those who originated in France, settled in Acadie (Eastern Canada), and eventually moved to Louisiana.
The Cajun accent is a combination of influences from Cajun French, Creole, and English. In this accent, it is common for the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds to be replaced by /t/ and /d/, as seen below:
“Bath” (/bɑːθ/) may sound like “bat” (/bæt/) “They”( /ðeɪ/) becomes “day”(/deɪ/)
Similarly, people with the Cajun accent frequently reverse the /sk/ sound to /ks/ and drop the /h/ sound at the beginning of words. This /h/ dropping is typical of French speakers , which makes sense given the history of the Cajun accent. For example,
"Ask" (/æsk/) may sound like "aks" “Hair” (/hɛr/) would sound like “air”
Other features of this accent include the omission of /l/ before consonants, so “jewelry” might sound like “jewry,” and “all right” may be pronounced more like “aight.”
Take a look of this clip featuring various speakers in Louisiana demonstrating their New Orleans accent:
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5. Philadelphia What makes the Philadelphia or "Philly" accent distinct is its unique vowel and consonant modifications. For example, in many American accents, the word "water" is typically pronounced with an /ɑ/ vowel, whereas the Philadelphia accent shifts pronunciation to instead use a /ʊ/ vowel. Instead of "water," it sounds like "wooder."
This video does an excellent job of outlining the distinctive Philly accent. Notice that in contrast to some of the other accents on this list, speakers from Philadelphia often sound quite similar to the General American accent , with the exception of a few key, noticeable pronunciation differences.
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Some letters in the Philly accent may be entirely dropped, giving the impression that they are not present in the word. For instance, “mustard” is pronounced as "mus'ard", while “soft” becomes "sawf".
A notable feature of the Philadelphia accent is how speakers tend to clearly differentiate between the words “Mary,” “marry,” and “merry.” Unlike in some other U.S. regional accents, where all three words might sound identical, Philadelphians maintain distinct pronunciations for each.
6. California English Californians often adjust their tongue positioning when articulating specific vowels, resulting in pronunciations where “hut” becomes “het,” “back” sounds like “bock,” and “fit” is pronounced as “fet.” Because California English features unique vowel shifts, Californians would pronounce the words “Mary,” “marry,” and “merry” identically.
However, today, the California accent is particularly prevalent among younger generations, and certain local slang terms have gained widespread popularity. For example, “hella” is commonly used to mean “really” or “very.”
This accent is commonly associated as a "valley girl" accent or a "surfer dude" accent. Saturday Night Live has a recurring sketch titled "The Californians," in which the characters exhibit an extremely exaggerated and characterized version of the California accent. While this is a more outrageous version of the accent than you'll encounter in real life, it does demonstrate some of its key features:
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7. Appalachian You’ll mostly hear the Appalachian accent in the Appalachian mountains, particularly in states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. This accent is known for vowel lengthening and diphthong reduction, where:
“House” might sound like “hahs.” “Set” is pronounced like “say-ut.”
Here, it is also common that the “a-” prefix is added to verbs, as in “a-going,” “a-walking,” and “a-working.” You might hear a person say, “They’ve been a-working hard all day. ”
Ironically, while vowel sounds are lengthened, consonant clusters may be simplified. Therefore, words like “test” would sound like “tes."
8. Maine The Maine accent has a sort of melodic element to it, like a sing-along. The accent is strongly associated with the state’s rural, coastal, and small-town communities but has been popularized by local personalities like author Stephen King.
Listen to this interview with the famous author for an example of the Maine accent:
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This is another of multiple American accents that have historical connections with the French and is largely influenced by the French-speaking populations. Therefore, there may be subtle differences in intonation and even the occasional insertion of French vocabulary into English sentences. For example,
The "a" in "cat" (/kæt/) may be pronounced as "ah," sounding more like "caht" (/kɑːt/). Vowel sounds can be lengthened, where "boat" (/boʊt/) might be pronounced more like "boe-ut" (/boʊət/). The short "i" in words like "sit" (/sɪt/) can sometimes sound more like "seet" (/siːt/).
9. Hawaiian Pidgin English Hawaiian Pidgin English is a particularly distinctive American accent. It is a non-rhotic accent, where the "r" sound is often or always dropped, and the "th" sound as in /θ/ (think) and /ð/ (this) is absent in Hawaiian, causing speakers to substitute it with /d/ or /t/.
Therefore, "this" /ðɪs/ might become /dɪs/, and "think" /θɪŋk/ may be pronounced /tɪŋk/.
Another feature is the alteration of consonant clusters, where sounds like “str” are softened. It is common to hear Haiiwaiians pronounce "street" (/striːt/) as “treat” (/tɹiːt/). These changes, along with the overall melodic rhythm of speech, give the Hawaiian accent its unique character.
Listen to this speaker of Hawaiian Pidgin English and pay attention to his unique way of speaking:
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10. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Unlike the other different accents on this list, AAVE is not based on region but rather on subculture. Spoken by Black Americans across the country, African American Vernacular English follows a similar set of rules , regardless of the location within the U.S.
For example, those who speak with AAVE will often utilize double negation, saying "I don't want none of that" rather than the more standard "I don't want any of that." You'll also notice that certain vowel sounds are merged in this way of speaking, for instance, with the words "beg" and "bag" sounding the same, whereas normally they would be minimal pairs in the General American accent.
Since AAVE is based in culture and race rather than geography, there are subtle differenced within AAVE across the country, but the general rules and pronunciations tend to be more or less the same. AAVE is an important part of America's linguistic diversity and like all accents, it is deeply connected with the history and culture of those who speak it.
In certain regions where the Pacific Northwest accent is prevalent, the short "e" sound (/ɛ/) may be suppressed. Some speakers do not even recognize this sound at all, leading to unique variations in pronunciation.
The Pacific Northwest accent is largely affiliated with Oregon and Washington, as well as parts of Idaho and northern California.
This accent also shares many features with the universal General American English , which we’ll be addressing shortly. The subtle differences which do exist generally affect vowel pronunciation.
For example:
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12. General American Accent In all of these variants, the General American accent (GenAm) is the unifying "neutral" accent often considered to be the standard in the United States. While most American accents are strongly tied to specific regions, this one accent is non-regional and unmarked.
People who speak with the GenAm accent may be perceived as educated, confident, and competent professionals .
Beyond perception, this accent is extremely valuable when it comes to speaking clearly and comprehensibly. Since it doesn't feature marked characteristics it is the most easily widely-understood accent in the country, making it a popular accent among newscasters, celebrities, and politicians.
For non-native and native speakers alike, learning the GenAm accent can help bridge communication gaps and boost confidence in speaking. Fortunately, you can use tools like BoldVoice to as your accent training resource, helping you to adopt those General American pronunciations and communicate clearly and confidently.
BoldVoice is an accent training app that combines advanced AI technology and lessons from real-life Hollywood accent coaches to supercharge your communication.
The app runs a quick speech analysis and curates lesson plans tailored to your specific needs. On BoldVoice, you also have access to interactive exercises that can help you practice perfect stress patterns and intonation, simulating real-life everyday conversations.
Plus, BoldVoice provides regular feedback that can help you critically examine your speech on your own and keep track of your learning progress over time.
For those looking to master the General American accent and enhance their spoken communication in the U.S., BoldVoice is the way to go. Get started today with a free 7-day trial!
