How to Lose the Philadelphia/South Jersey Accent

As an admirer of regional accents, I don't advocate losing them forever. After all, how boring it would be if everyone spoke the same way everywhere! However, it is empowering to know the differences in they way you speak versus the way "others" speak. Also, being able to switch your dialect or accent on demand can be helpful in the business, entertainment, artistic, and academic worlds.

Losing an accent is complicated business, but here are a few tips to get you started if you have the Philadelphia/South Jersey twang.

Coffee, Dawn, and Hot
Believe it or not, Middle America pronounces these words with the same vowel sound as each other. I know, they are freaks. But if you want to fit in with the freaks of standard American English, you will have to start pronouncing words like "coffee," "dawn ," and "bought" like "c-ahhhh-fee," "don," and "bot." So you have to say "ahhh" like the "o" in "hot" instead of "aw" like the "a" in "law."

Home, Coast and Boat
The vowel sound that Philadelphians and South Jersey folks use to say the word "home" is probably the one thing that most identifies the accent. To people almost everywhere else, the way a Philadelphian says "home," sounds very strange. In this region, the vowel sound is fronted, so that the word sounds like "heh-ome," instead of the more standard "ho-me."

Mary, Marry, Merry
In the Philadelphia area, we have different pronunciations for these three words. The rest of the country pronounces each of these words exactly the same as each other. So if you are a Philadelphian trying to sound like a national broadcaster, you would pronounce all of these words just like the name "Mary." A "Ferry" boat would also rhyme with the name "Mary."

On
"Oh Skater Betty, you're so on it, you're so honest!" To the rest of America, "on it" and "honest" have the same "o" vowel sound. To the Philly-South Jersey folks, the "o" in "on" sounds totally different from the "o" in "honest." If you are a Philadelphian trying to hide that accent, you want to lose the "awn" and pick up the "ahhhh-n."