Philly accent one of the world's most studied dialects

Did you know one of the world's most unique dialects is right here in the Delaware Valley?
It turns out the Philly accent is not only difficult to imitate, but it's also one of the most studied. MORE: 6abc.cm/2TSWpVo

[@kuvasz5252]

born and raised in Philadelphia but the first time I visited Georgia I was asked if I was from England

[@Michael-yz4mc]

Lol it does sound similar and I’m English

[@anthonystevens9863]

😂😂🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

[@Vitaluv]

Same.

[@blickluke]

In Inverness Scotland the t in water isn't pronounced as well, sounds very similar to philly way of saying wa'er. Same thing when we say bu'er (butter)

[@EGarza-mk2mk]

Idk why considering people in Philly don't drop their R

[@station4358]

I’m from philly and I’m like “what accent?”

[@bigfatartcat]

"woot eksen?"

[@thenaturallyinsane1]

I'm not and I'm like huh??? What accent? lol

[@naukumaija7056]

@@bigfatartcat LMAO

[@goonas2157]

Fr bro I’m outta SP, and I am lost to this topic😂

[@ramencurry6672]

In high school it’s hard to notice that it sounds different. But in later life when you go out and expose yourself to people from other states, it becomes obvious.

[@jetti7944]

bounced on my boys deeply studied accent to this

[@onetwocue]

I call it the Wawa gas station accent.

[@SpicyGelato98]

I-💀

[@angel.kiwi777]

you are correct.

[@kayflip2233]

Just say "wooder" instead of "water" and you have most of the Philly accent mastered.

[@raquelcampbell7635]

Sounds more like war-duh

[@Krd-vw3yl]

Shit im from philly and this sounds completely normal to me

[@cindyoteri1895]

Same here

[@Fancy_Shr1mp]

Same

[@Christrulesall2]

Me too. Thats because its all we've ever been around. I go down south and they tell me i have a strong accent. They should speak :)

[@johnorson6907]

Same

[@sunnydaze3131]

East coast populations have always exhibited remnants of British Isles dialects. As people continue to move away from the coastal regions, and others come in, there are still traces to be found of those accents, but they are fading.

[@EGarza-mk2mk]

Literally everyone in America speaks with remnants of British Isles dialects

[@ogreman-lll-957]

@@EGarza-mk2mk the northeast accents are more similar

[@thetooginator153]

I totally agree. When I was a kid in 1970(ish), my Philly relatives had HEAVY accents. Only my surviving aunts and uncles still have it, but my cousins have mostly lost the accent (not entirely though).

[@thetooginator153]

@@EGarza-mk2mk - Actually, most Americans have a mix of European accents that eventually became the regional accents we have today. The classic Southern accent is mostly British Isles (circa 1800). Appalachia probably has the closest to a mix of colonial-era Irish, Scottish and English accents, which have changed a LOT in the UK since colonial times.

[@kimberleysmith818]

I’m English and my family tree has a lot of people who went to Philadelphia

[@orestesvega2475]

Philly's accent has been studies by many sociolinguists such as William Labov, Gregory Guy, and many others.

[@user-do3ng3mn7o]

I’m a Philly girl and I love the way we talk.

[@mcityline8210]

There is no one Philly accent. I used to know what part of the city some people were from by the individual accents.

[@prushimush]

I noticed that River Wards - Port Richmond, old Fishtown, Bridesburg and Kensington people - say "sausage" like "sahsage", and South Philly people more often say "sauwsage". There's a lot of weird diphthong vowel variation in Philly, Delco and South Jersey. Even Claymont, Delaware has a variation of it.

[@christinec7892]

I live in SC now and I met someone who was from back home, I immediately asked her Rhawnhurst or Mayfair. It was Mayfair. 🤣🤣 there’s a west Philly accent, a CC accent, a NE Philly accent, a N Philly accent, a S Philly accent…all the neighborhoods have variations on the same accent.

[@svenstubes]

i cant help but get turned off every time i meet a cute girl then she says one sentence and I can tell she's a neaster

[@PinchHarmonic69]

i wonder if south philly has more of an NYC influence @@prushimush

[@johnklug3723]

When i was working on a leak, I used voice to text to get my wife to “bring me towels, theres water everywhere” and it came up “bring me tails there’s wood or everywhere” and then I realized I have been afflicted by the philly accent epidemic here in Washington township

[@saranwright7113]

LMAO!!!

[@can_you_guess_my_new_username]

im hollerin😆😅🤣😂😆😅🤣😂

[@littleghostfilms3012]

It produced unintentional nonsense poetry.😆

[@heavnnnsent]

The Philadelphia accent is my favorite accent in the USA.

[@mikewillett5076]

Philly has at least a couple of main accents, one of them is very similar to the greater Baltimore accent (South Jersey as well). "We wenta Hammerjacks an saw KIX. Den we headed downy eushin". Lol (down to the ocean)

[@litkyro9485]

@@mikewillett5076 damm bruh dafuq i didnt know we got a human book

[@kilroy2517]

@@mikewillett5076 There are two Philly accents/dialects. One is used by white people and the other by black people and they're pretty different. The white Philly accent is nothing like the white Baltimore accent. South Jersey is a Philly accent. Maybe over on the bay it's more like Baltimore, IDK, I don't go there.

[@kilroy2517]

You're kidding right?

[@mikewillett5076]

@@kilroy2517. I've heard several white people from Philly with definite separate accents, but if you live that way then you know better. I've played clips of South Jersey people talking and each person who heard it said they sounded like they're from Baltimore. It is a little different when you really listen, but some pronunciations are almost identical.

[@tomekpaluch8164]

Yep. Literally every major university across the world with linguistic faculty provides studies on this US dialect. Proud muricans, you made my day again. Thank you!

[@jenjaradat6882]

When I talk to patients at work all over the US they always say you’re from Philly or New Jersey I love your accent

[@dennisz494]

Thats funny because when i was don south and told people I was from NJ, they would co unter with, yeah, and I'm from new york. Meaning thy have no clue tht half the state has Philly dialect and half has NY dialect.

[@jackhaugh]

My wife is from Newark, DE; which is half way between Philly and Baltimore, and also happens to be of Jewish decent and has relatives from NYC and Florida and can slip into any one of these accents at the drop of a hat for purely comedic reasons. I happen to be from a suburb of Pittsburgh, and she can pull off the Yinzer accent better than I can at this point. I really think she should be a voice actor. She actually auditioned to be the new Afflack duck after they canned Gilbert Godfried.

[@paullayfield]

Where does Yinz come from ? Philly says yous like you plural & down south says y'all like you all but I don't understand Yinz

[@healmyroots]

@@paullayfield If she isn't from Philly she doesn't sound like Philly. she likely sounds like she's from outside of Philly or she does a ridiculous south Philly exaggeration.

[@paullayfield]

@@healmyroots the girl in the video worked for channel 6 so she's probably from outside Philly. I doubt any of the news people actually live in the city especially when they announce how many murders there are every single day

[@Clou8426]

Too soon

[@SpicyGelato98]

@@paullayfield Pittsburgh, I believe.

[@bigfatartcat]

Love that the philly news guy, even in his news speak accent, still says "pronceeation" instead of pronunciation.

[@sergioortiz8219]

he clearly says "pronunciation". Don't go hearing things that aren't there.

[@TJayMid]

i just wanna know how this happens. different languages are understandable, but it’s so interesting seeing a language be twisted and contorted in different areas, despite being 1 language

[@Leviajohnson]

You gotta get stoned and watch those accent videos. It’s so fascinating

[@06rtm]

Read Darwin

[@ladell5101]

Frfr homie, philly was the original capitol of America 😂😂. Our accent is the truest and purest “American” accent 😭😂😂😂

[@inconnu4961]

I imagine anywhere where there are masses of people whose mother tongue is NOT english, all trying to speak english, you get unique accents. Then all these interesting people coalesce and try to adapt to one another, likely the more prominent aspects will stick out.

[@TJayMid]

@@ladell5101 while Philadelphia was the capital from 1780-1790, the first US Capital was actually York, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was the capital while Washington D.C. was being built. i looked it up to make sure you weren’t spreading misinformation. unfortunately you are, please stop.

[@ericp8345]

Wooder is the only word I kept since a left as a kid and moved to Texas.. And maybe "jeet"

[@sgshumblecrumb6046]

I'm from the suburbs in Philly and this still sounds normal to me.

[@Blahblahblah769]

Delco ?

[@jforgotten2620]

If I hear one more person ask me to say water I swear...

[@inconnu4961]

Why youse talk funny?

[@Elle-5187]

I grew up in south jersey 10 min from Delaware memorial bridge & 10 min from Commodore Barry Bridge. When I moved to Philly is when I became aware that I had a certain accent but I can't hear it. Most of us in the Delaware valley don't know we have one lol except for those of us who say "wooder" lol

[@paullayfield]

You don't notice it because you're used to hearing in but when they interview people on the news you definitely hear it then.

[@butterscotch7788]

Well, it's about time!!! I'm a born and bred Philadelphian. This is the first time I've heard someone accurately report that Philly accents change depending on the generation and the neighborhood you're from. That's sooooooo true. There is not just one Philadelphia accent. It's the accents from Northeast Philly and South Philly that are most talked about, famed and mocked.

[@Section8Warrior]

bruh im from northeast Philadelphia but i speak more like someone from north or west philly. and most people that i know either have a neutral accent or a north philly one. it wasnt even until freshman year of high school that i realized that ugly ass south philly accent existed 💀. at first i thought i was weird, but now i can barely tolerate it when i go down to south philly

[@Section8Warrior]

at first i thought it was weird*

[@robynsegg]

As a Philadelphia, I can truly say that you tell no tales!

[@robynsegg]

I was in college when my acting teacher told me to get rid of my "Philadelphia Accent". I was like, "What accent?" 🤣 @@Section8Warrior

[@user-hu9im1of8c]

Bruh what???? Northeast tho??? South Philly and north Philly have unique lingos

[@bobswabbo440]

For many years, I simply assumed that Philadelphians would sound like New Yorkers and Pittsburghers like Chicagoans.

[@ripwednesdayadams]

how dare you 😂

[@blairenovick5300]

Pittsburgh sounds more like a slight Midwest twang...nuttin lioke Philly lol

[@TheVivvav]

Generation's right. I grew up in the burbs outside Philly and my Pop-Pop grew up in the city and he'd say days of the week with "dee" at the end and I always found that funny.

[@albertbatfinder5240]

Wish they’d attended to the audio quality for the critical segment. It was muddy and edited too snappily. I listened 3 times to try and hear what point I was supposed to be picking up.

[@bpd231martinko9]

I read one time that the accent is from a mix of Scottish and English accents getting mashed together. My maternal grandmother had such a thick Scottish accent that I could barley understand her my whole life. My whole family on my mothers side ( Scottish/ Irish) is from south West Philly and until I got older never really noticed it. Me and my three siblings, out of thirty eight cousins , are the only four that grew up outside of the city and none of us has the "Philly Twang".

[@robynsegg]

So you obviously never drank a glass of "wooder", or even went down to South Street to have a "wooder uhce" at Rita's? 🤣

[@bpd231martinko9]

PS: I didn't mean to denigrate anyone by this I think that the Philly twang is actually pretty neat. I also can immediately tell when I meet someone that that i never met before that they are from Philly and wheni ask them what part of Philly they grew up in they are usually surprised that I could tell what city they grew up in.

[@bpd231martinko9]

Yes I have Cuz...

[@Lmyers113]

Ask someone what comes after 99. "Hunnert".

[@inconnu4961]

LMAO! I forgot that one!

[@jakefeldman5462]

All imma say is one word this may be confusing for some of you but it needs to be said "Jawn" i rest my case

[@marks5336]

Only black people say jawn

[@jamesaddress8810]

Yes I’m from Philly go to school out of Philly and my friends make fun of me but I loved my Philly accent! They were talking normally to me

[@sterlingarcher74]

My dad’s from NE Philly and I always have to translate for him when he meets new people.

[@inconnu4961]

LMAO!

[@shocktrauma85]

Born and raised in Baltimore. We have a very similar accent.

[@zealkaz5137]

Baltimore and Philadelphia share similar language pattern

[@louisefeher2862]

The similarities are amazing ​@@zealkaz5137

[@sunfish7021]

I use ta live in Levitt taln, but now I live in Edge wooder, Flarda. 🙂

[@jenjaradat6882]

This is the truth Reading it I never thought that’s how I talked

[@jeffmorse645]

Sounds like some folks in Balamer too.

[@mattfoley6082]

street = shtreet construction = conshtruction down = deeown on = ooahn Certain Action News reporters pronounce "str" as "shtr" and it's like nails on a chalkboard. Walter Perez, Jeff Chirico, Bob Brooks are some who do this.

[@scbs7768]

Dude wtf I started the tiger woods hit da ball up inna air downair inta da wooder. Lol that literally came from my brain one day I say it all the time to describe the accent. Somebody must’ve overheard me saying it at a bar...

[@yogurtmilk1180]

I’m mad confused on that. I lived in SW philly all my life but I never heard anyone speak like this except from the whites that go to my school in upper Darby.

[@snickers8970]

Ok I was waiting for this comment. I feel like that’s a white south Philly northeast accent because nobody I know sounds like that lol.

[@user-mi4ik1xx8y]

where can get more details about Philly accent ?

[@ARJaymusic]

the way she said beautifl lmao what part of philly she from???? gotta be northest roxbough, fishtown maybe? cause I'm from the hood we dont say it like that lol

[@luislaplume8261]

Give me the good old fashioned New York City accent anytime as I may have a New Yorker accent. 😊

[@Cloudsurfer69]

Where is Erics comment 😂

[@Admiral_Bongo]

Just below. Switch to "newest first" sorting.

[@charleslindsay8811]

When dating the girls in Philly, I missed the accent. I was too busy admiring the view.l

[@panasonic_youth]

I actually didn't even know there was a Philadeplhia specific accent since I'm from BC (Canada). This is so interesting.

[@strength9621]

Honestly everything does, if you came here to Philly you’d have Canadian accent to us

[@inconnu4961]

@@strength9621 It depends on what part of Canaduh! Its a big country and the accents vary there as well!

[@philosopher1a]

The first time I went down south i was in a diner and asked for some " wooder" she later asked if i was from PA I was like , wow is she psychic? how did she know that? I was born in Philly lived in Delco all family Philly transplants had NO idea we spoke different

[@chaddsteinberg3758]

Even if I try an correctly say Water it comes out Waader or like you say wooder haha I can catch myself fallin into an accent at times

[@philosopher1a]

@@chaddsteinberg3758 Its funny

[@StarNightSkys]

I'm a native Philly and I thought I just had an average accent

[@gregoryjon4346]

It even comes through on the anchor.

[@smkndofcj8551]

Less get sum wourder ice at Rituh's next Tyoosdee. When I was little I thought that people developed a Philly accent from smoking too much, cause everyone in Philly smokes.

[@loger6995]

My dad moved to Connecticut and ordered a glass of woodur. The bartender said we don't serve that thinking it was a local beer or something and my dad is like what you mean you don't serve woodur!? Lol almost got into a fight over water

[@ravensmallwood4258]

last year one of my friends said that I have an accent, but I don't hear it (I'm from Philly)

[@Tacoman1967]

"Have a wudder and watch da igles on Sundee, but clean da windahs first, hun"

[@Cobalt3351]

all of my teachers from when I lived in Philly had that accent 😂

[@sfc334]

Speaking of things to study, Sharrie, wow 💞

[@georgerigberg4335]

Ac-ah-me Market...

[@johnfortune9190]

Huhuhuh. I use to work in one before lol

[@QueenRed2023]

The Baltimore accent needs to be examined! Please 😂

[@peterjeffery8495]

I remember David Brenner, a big name comic who started way back in the 70's always said he was from Fuwwadelphia.

[@shinenjob465]

Philly bit of pride when someone asks you for wutter instead of water.

[@mcityline8210]

Do you mean wooder?

[@dennisz494]

It's wooder, not wutter.

[@rope7778]

May I know the name of male anchor?

[@sarahmcnutt5466]

this video helped me overcome some serious phillyphobias

[@TheInkPitOx]

Wooter sounds like its acquired from NJ while crowns I have no idea

[@sergioortiz8219]

Is this really a thing? I grew up across the Delaware from Philly and I don't recall anybody ever saying "wudder" (though that was a long time ago and I wasn't really paying attention to these things back then).

[@philsmycrevice]

That's how we said Friday too & I grew up Rocky Mountains part of the US.

[@robertwernerog399]

Love the Phillyisms. Where all Ts are Ds dese, dem, dare, dose, and yes wooder and of course we all go to dashore.

[@jamesmummerfied3044]

down after go. and no go. ugh! usually "downdashore" . somewhat like d'jeet....did you eat. we do slow our accent down for non locals.

[@mattmines5947]

Wooder is not a philly we say it wader (wa-der) it’s kind of difficult explain but it’s much different in Philadelphia when you hear from north Philly than south.

[@scbs7768]

Nah I say wooder

[@poisonivy208]

I’m from northeast Philadelphia and we say wooder

[@reeno0]

naw bro we def say wooder

[@poisonivy208]

If your born and raised in philly then you will say wooder for water. It doesn’t matter what part of Philadelphia you are raised in either. We Philadelphians say wooder and it’s our accent only known to us Philadelphians . Just like towel is tale hahahah and water ice is wooder ice and lighting bugs are lite-nin bug. The best is when we say chocolate we say chock lit lol. I’m born and raised and unfortunately speak Philadelphian with accuracy lol.

[@maritamcnichol8849]

@@poisonivy208 Fox Chase, Philly born & raised. I say wooder. I refuse to ssy iggles. It's EAGLES. ACME not acame. But I do say jeeateyet. nojue. Skukill. Hoagie, not a sub. donashore. all classic. proud to be from philly....

[@shrimpscampin]

been obsessed with this dialect ever since I heard Matt McCusker say "wooder" on the cast 💀💀 I had no idea philly was sick like that

[@susanbeyler7057]

love the accent

[@travis-michaelcoleman1944]

Same accent as the eurocentric communities in Baltimore. Pretty cool!

[@MeltsLikeCaramel]

When your from philly and hear this, Me and my mom: I don't see anything unique about it-

[@robynryan7473]

Mines is so bad when I meet up with out of towner's I just say I'm from boston until I say water I can't mask that.

[@ChrisMartin-lh4to]

Philly check in💪🏼💪🏼

[@hjames78]

People make fun of the way I say "water " and "apple" outside of Philly lol

[@lolitis01]

Kinda sounds like their trying to do an australian accent

[@prushimush]

I have this accent, born in Port Richmond and raised in NJ: I've been mistaken as Australian a few times thanks to the weird "o" vowel and mary/marry/merry split, two features Philadelphia and Australian English share.

[@jamesfeldman4234]

Hey, Yo, I'm goin' down the shore for a cheesesteak wid-out.

[@DavidRosenfield]

The famous linguist is William Labov. I know the name might be meaningless to 99.5% of the audience, but that was a huge disrespect.

[@MB-xw1tu]

Yes and the reason it is the most studied is because he recorded people every year for several decades. So even people who don't care about the delaware valley specifically can use it to study patterns of language change over time. It's a world resource that one person decided to create. Long term data gathering projects like this are rare, largely due to the requirement of academics to be constantly publishing things. It takes commitment, foresight and the support of a university to allow it to develop.

[@ReidTheRulesGuy]

Ok so yeah, James MacAvoy nailed it

[@MadameWesker]

And we're losing it. My block is mostly out of towners now

[@killamaine13]

Once he said "water" 😂😂😂

[@Trev0r98]

In Philly, "crayons" are "crowns" ?

[@jamesmummerfied3044]

cool. we add and remove vowels. acme = ac-a-me.

[@BartholomewTolomeo4256]

Yes, we say crowns

[@babasovka]

So So odd, because my Alberta Dad always said "Fry-dee" and Ive just been watching a program ostensibly set in Philly, and the "donchas" and all just remind me of Alberta/Idaho

[@greggsmith8936]

Haha... Saskatchewan too... Years ago, sub sandwiches were called hoagies here. I never heard the word hoagie until I was in Philadelphia!

[@inconnu4961]

@@greggsmith8936 Southeastern Pa! I miss hearing the Sask accent! I was in Stoon for a week, and hearing the farm reports on the radio was a real hoot! LOL

[@yourgirlfriendlllll]

I was born and raised in Philly and I just moved to the suburbs and everyone at school makes fun of me for my accent lol they say I say my A’s weird and they also never heard anyone say wooder 😂

[@blairenovick5300]

Your accent is thicker than Philly suburbanites

[@dennisz494]

What suburbs> harrisburg> because I am from the suburbs in jersey and we say wooder, although some of the teachers here have the nerve to try and tell our children it is pronounced a different way. Just goes to show you how deep the left wing indoctrination has gone. If your white you need to be ashamed of yourself, and so on.

[@casanndrabetz2113]

HAHAH the “J’eat?” Was so accurate lmao btw for those who don’t know it’s Philadelphian for “did you eat?”

[@caroline2978]

I know someone who says "wooder" but he's from VA which always confused me

[@babasovka]

but it sounds a bit like Baltimore?

[@tgf2586]

I feel so weird about this, lol. I grew up in and around Philly for my entire life, but my accent doesn't resemble it at all. I talk more like I'm from New York, I don't even say wooder. Idk why, it freaks me out man.

[@BetterThanUnson]

I'm from Philly and my girl from socal says she hears me say words like this Jaeetyet? Taday Wooder

[@KennyJ702]

Sounds like regular city slicker talk to me 🤔

[@levilumsden8724]

That JAWN , youngboul

[@hanj31]

The funniest thing is, is that the Prime minister of Israel speaks English with a Philly accent because he partially grew up in Philly

[@JasmanianDemi]

Maybe I'ma slow one but I didn't understand both of them :/

[@caroline2978]

I feel like Europeans see the Philly and Pittsburgh accents the same way Americans see the euro-South African accent

[@festyguy7405]

Philly suburbanite here: I’ve been around the country, and every time people asked me “you talk funny, where are you from?”

[@inconnu4961]

Mars! im from Mars! Take me to your leader!

[@piggy310]

God that anchor guy is cute.

[@SbjsksmNx]

Wooder, exackly. Maynaise, myath, myad, syad. Seerup. Sew (instead of 'so'.) Go dyown the shore.

[@kilroy2517]

No, no. It's " Goin downa shore".

[@smkndofcj8551]

@@kilroy2517 Nex Saturdee.

[@kilroy2517]

@@smkndofcj8551 Well then I better open a winda an let some fresh air in.

[@BrianCScott-br2cu]

@@kilroy2517 I've heard Larry Fine say that on the Three Stooges!

[@georgerigberg4335]

@@kilroy2517 depends! S Philly or the NE?

[@SleepyJ98]

I assumed they were all going to sound like Mike .

[@joshbenson4453]

When a news station has nothing interesting to report Pretty much sums up the entire video 😂😂😂😂

[@macart5429]

Evrn though I was born in Florida, my mother is from the Eastern side of Philly. This sound completely normal to me.

[@EclecticDD]

The eastern side of Philly is the Delaware River.

[@macart5429]

@@EclecticDD I meant the eastern side in New Jersey

[@seancrowley1065]

Also if you hook em up wit a jawn

[@Vitaluv]

We are there best!

[@aerochicc]

J'eet?

[@boazjana]

You missed "djeet?" at 0:22 ;)

[@frankd.4528]

I’m from Philly and I say CRAY-ONS.

[@louisefeher2862]

I lost much of my accent when I moved out west Funny thing when i wrnt for a ratio announcers job , thry liked it. I sounded very NPR. After six months people thought I was from San Francisco. Most of my accent was gone.

[@oscarwinner2034]

News reader guy is a robot?