Heeyah and Theyah

For the record, having and using a Boston accent outside of Boston is a secret pleasure, particularly if you are meeting people for the first time. Sometimes you get a feeling that you are representing your hometown, and I am happy to represent Boston...every part of it. I also think I can do a much better job of it than, say, Ben Affleck or Rob Mariano.

You don't really notice how much of an accent you have until you travel, and sometimes being in other places subconsciously (and maybe even sometimes consciously) amplifies the phoenetics unique to your accent. At one point in a conversation tonight the perennial "I love your accent" comment was had. I of course loved the acknowledgment and smiled, but as soon as I was conscious of my "pahked cahs in Hahvid Yahd" I noticed them becoming even more pronounced, almost uncontrolably...I was in a rut for a few. This smacks of language cognition, and is worth more study....I'll put it on the list of shit to do.

It got me thinking about the Boston accent. I believe there to be various "dialects" specific maybe to region. North of Boston, south of Boston, even the classic Ted Kennedy / Mayor Quimby Beacon Hill "Brahmin" accent. What are the key differences? What do you look out for? How do you gather information? Why is it interesting to me at all?