New York Dialect: Short A

Video Transcript

"Okay now we're ready to talk about one of my favorite vowels the short "A", like that's in the word "grab". We would say "grab", "bag", it's an "a" sound. And in most cases, New Yorkers are going to turn the "a" into an "ea", so that "ea", it becomes an "ea" "greab". Do you hear the "e" and then the "a"? "Greab"; "greab", "beag", "ea", "ea". But there's a rule and I want you to write this down, I'm going to repeat it. So grab your piece of paper and write this down, because you're going to need to study it very carefully, and learn this. Get it memorized to heart, because if you don't get this rule right, you run the risk of sounding like Chicago or Detroit. And if you're specifically learning a New York dialect for a specific reason, you want to get it right. Alright, write this down. You use the "ea" sound for "a", when it is followed by, meaning that when that sound, after that sound comes the consonants, "D", "F", "G", the "DZ" sound like "dzz", "M", "N", "S", "SH", "TH", voiced less "TH", voiced and "Z". But if one of those consonants that I just read is followed by a vowel or an "L", then the change is canceled, alright. I'm going to repeat it, I want you to write it down. New Yorkers use the" "ea" sound for the "a" when it is followed by one of the following consonants: "D", "F", "G", "DZ" sound, "M", "N", "S", the "SH" sound, "TH" sound and "Z". But if one of these consonants itself is followed by a vowel or an "L" the change is canceled. So write that down, think it over and we're going to do some practice words in the next clip."