How to speak English with a New York accent

New York is a special city for many reasons, and English is not spoken there like in the rest of the United States. The way New Yorkers speak differs markedly from the way the average American speak, in both accent and vocabulary. Edition WikiHow has compiled a list of tips to help you speak English like a New Yorker.

The New York accent is characterized by the fact that all sounds are pronounced in front of the mouth. Here's how it affects the pronunciation of a number of words:

Tomorrow becomes te-ma-ro (te is somewhere between a and o)

Sunday is sun-dA

Monday - Mun-dey

Tuesday - Twos-dey

Wednesday - Wehn-s-dey

Thursday - Therrs-dey (err becomes vibrant, type r)

Friday - Fry-dey

Saturday - Sater-dey

Learn to articulate consonants

In the New York accent, the “r” at the end of words is almost never pronounced. Sometimes this sound is pronounced as a quiet “r” vibrant. But what can I say, "r" is lost in the middle of a word, retaining only if it is followed by a vowel.

Park → "Pak."

Nanny → "Nuhse."

Water → "Watta"

Rivers → "Rivva"

Fear → "Feah"

At the same time, New Yorkers sometimes add “r” where it does not exist (“idea-r” or “law-r and order” - as older citizens often say).

The “g” sound at the end of “-ing” is also not pronounced. This is most evident in the example of “Long Island”, which is pronounced “Lawn Guyland”. In turn, “going” is pronounced as “goin '”, “here” as “hea”.

The solid “th” at the beginning and middle of words is pronounced as something in between “d” and “t” (and more like “d”).

The soft “th” (as in “both”) is pronounced with a “t” at the end, as if there were no “h”, so the same “both” sounds like “boat”, and the number 3 becomes “tree”, almost like the Irish pronounce it.

On the subject: Runglish: how a unique dialect of English formed in New York

Learn to pronounce vowels

First of all, you need to learn how to pronounce the word “new” correctly, as in “New York” or “New Jersey”. And pronounce it like “Noo”. There are not so many words pronounced in the same way - “due” & “stupid”, and in “few” and “cue” everything is pronounced as usual, with the sound “u”.

Many words that have the sound "o" (like coffee) are pronounced with the sound "aw", so dog, for example, sounds like "dawg" and "coffee" sounds like "cawfee".

The short “o” sound in this accent is rare. Words that have a long “i” (“liar”) in the middle are pronounced with the sound “aw”, so “liar” becomes “lawyer”.

Have the right attitude

Speaking with a New Yorker accent is not so much what you say as how you say it. New Yorkers are famous for speaking directly, confidently, categorically. They also talk a lot ... and loudly.

Use local phrases

Classic expressions that can be heard from “Noo Yawkez” are “Get outa hea”, “Fawget aboutit” and “Ahrite ahready”

Say “hey” instead of “hi” or “hello” and say it quickly.

On the subject: 5 English colloquial phrases that confuse a Russian-speaking person

The New York accent often uses the word "like" and word abbreviations instead of pronouncing the entire word or phrase. Use like in the middle of sentences.

Say kinda instead of kind of and ya knoaw instead of you know.