Is New York City's iconic accent going extinct? What a new survey reveals
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- This may make some of you say "fuhgeddaboudit," but a nationwide survey has revealed the iconic New York City accent is slowly disappearing from daily use.
So, what's this talk about New Yorkers sounding less like New Yorkers these days?
A survey recently released by Word Finder, an online resource for word game enthusiasts, ranks New York City No. 12 among U.S. cities that are hearing less of its iconic accent in everyday conversations.
"I think accents will always do that only because you got folks transplants, you got folks moving, people are leaving," said Upper West Side resident Jeremy Reese.
"I was born in Brooklyn. I live in Staten Island right now, and I do think I have a New York accent," said Staten Island resident Hael Duran. "I've been down south and I was told that I talk with long o's. It's not supposed to be 'tolk,' it's supposed to be 'talk.'"
Dr. Gail August is the chair for the Department of Language and Cognition at CUNY's Hostos Community College.
"For the people who face stigmatization are stigmatized by their accent, in a sense they want the opportunities that come with standard speaking," Dr. August said.
That's what Eyewitness News found back in 2005. Students at LIU Brooklyn enrolled in a speech class to sound less New York.
However, some New Yorkers say, "when you got the accent... you got it."
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