Where Does the Boston Accent Come From?
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Boston is equally known for its cream pie, baseball team, iconic schools, and, most interestingly, its unique accent.
The accent is unlike any other and has two distinguishing traits. First, the accent eliminates r's in words such as "park," "car," and "yard." Secondly, Boston accents tend to elongate the "a" in words. Another highlight of the Boston accent is the way Bostonians stress certain vowels. For example, "forty" becomes "fawty."
While it's difficult to trace the various aspects of the accent, linguists think it's rooted in the south of England. British English was once rhotic (when "r" is pronounced before a consonant and at the end of words) until the 17th century when the "r" began to soften. Because Massachusetts was a British colony at the time, the change likely made its way to Boston.
Nowadays, you’ll find some Bostonians rolling the r’s in words instead of omitting them.
