The Maine accent is the local traditional accent of Eastern New England English spoken in parts of Maine, especially along the "Down East" and "Mid Coast" seaside regions.[1] It is characterized by a variety of features, particularly among older speakers, including r-dropping (non-rhoticity), resistance to the horse–hoarse merger,[2] and a deletion or "breaking" of certain syllables. The traditional Maine accent is rapidly declining; a 2013 study of Portland speakers found the older horse–hoarse merger to be currently embraced by all ages; however, it also found the newer cot–caught merger to be resisted,[3] despite the latter being typical among other Eastern New England speakers, even well-reported in the 1990s in Portland itself.[2] The merger is also widely reported elsewhere in Maine as of 2018, particularly outside the urban areas.[4] In the northern region of Maine along the Quebec and the New-Brunswick border, Franco-Americans may show French-language influences in their English.[5] Certain vocabulary is also unique to Maine.
One phonological feature of the traditional Maine accent, like in Eastern New England English generally, is that the "r" sound is only pronounced when it comes before a vowel, but not before a consonant or in any final position. For example, "car" may sound to listeners like "cah" and "Mainer" like "Mainah."[6]
Also, as in much New England English, the final "-ing" ending in multi-syllable words sounds more like "-in," for example, in stopping [ˈstɒpɪn] and starting [ˈstaʔɪn].[6]
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lax | tense | lax | tense | lax | tense | |
Close | ɪ | i | ʊ | u | ||
Mid | ɛ | eɪ | ə | ɜ | ʌ | oʊ |
Open | æ | a | ɒ | |||
Diphthongs | aɪ ɔɪ aʊ |
Thus, Maine accent follows the pronunciation of Eastern New England English, like the Boston accent, but with the following additional features:
The traditional Maine dialect has a fairly rich vocabulary. Much of this vocabulary is shared with other New England dialects, however some of it is specific to Maine. This vocabulary includes, but is not limited to, the following terms: