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Philadelphia English is the variety or dialect of American English spoken in Philadelphia and extending into Philadelphia's suburbs in the Delaware Valley as well as South Jersey and many parts of Central Jersey. It is one of the best-studied accents of American English, as Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania is the home institution of William Labov, one of the most productive American sociolinguists. Philadelphia English is very similar to Baltimore English; however, Philadelphia English differs in that it shares some distinct features with New York City English and to a lesser extent other regions of the United States, although it is its own unique dialect region. The Philadelphia Dialect includes the dialects of nearby Reading, Pennsylvania and the Wilmington, Delaware / northern Delaware area, areas which are generally considered within the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. The Philadelphia Dialect also includes the dialect spoken in South Jersey and South Jersey cities such as Atlantic City. Philadelphia Dialect is related to the dialect spoken in Baltimore, Maryland, together with which it constitutes what Labov describes as the "Mid-Atlantic dialect".〔Labov, William (2007) "Transmission and Diffusion", Language June 2007 p. 64〕 The Philadelphia accent is commonly heard amongst the Irish American and Italian American working-class neighborhoods and its surrounding cities and suburbs. Conversely, Philadelphia speakers further up the SES scale show a somewhat stronger tendency to lose distinctive dialect features (or attenuate them in the direction of General American) than is true in the neighboring dialect areas of Baltimore and New York. According to Barbara Johnstone, a professor of English and linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, migration patterns and geography create the origin of the dialect. The Philadelphia area dialect was influenced by immigrants from Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. ==Scope== Due to the fact that the accent is often considered to be the toughest to emulate,〔http://matadornetwork.com/life/12-things-didnt-know-philadelphia/〕 actual Philadelphia dialects are seldom heard nationally. Movies and television depictions often substitute a New York or a General American accent. Natives who work in media and entertainment often assimilate to the General American broadcast standard. Speakers with a noticeable local accent include Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC's ''Mad Money'', singer Joe Bonsall, political commentator Chris Matthews, Bam Margera,〔 and several others in the MTV ''Jackass'' crew. In addition, the Philadelphia accent can be heard prominently in many of the songs of the Philadelphia area bands The Dead Milkmen, Bloodhound Gang, and G. Love & Special Sauce. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent much of his youth in the Philadelphia area, and his English is influenced by a Philadelphia accent. Venezuelan American actress Sonya Smith, who was born in Philadelphia, speaks with a Philadelphia accent in both English and Venezuelan Spanish. Movies and television shows set in the Philadelphia region generally make the mistake of giving the characters a working class New York dialect (specifically heard in films set in Philadelphia such as the ''Rocky'' series, ''Invincible'', and ''A History of Violence''). A contrary example is the character of Lynn Sear (played by Toni Collette) in ''The Sixth Sense'', who speaks with an accurate Philadelphia dialect. In the film ''Sleepers'', Kevin Bacon, a Philadelphia native, uses an exaggerated Philadelphia accent for the character of Sean Nokes. The use of geographically inaccurate dialects is also true in movies and television programs set in Atlantic City or any other region of South Jersey; the characters often use a supposed "Joisey" dialect, when in reality that New York-influenced dialect for New Jersey natives is almost always exclusive to the extreme northeastern region of the state nearest New York City. An important factor here is that in the real world, "local" TV, political, and sports personalities in South Jersey and part of Central Jersey are culturally associated with Philadelphia, not New York City. The accent is generally spoken in Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Northern Delaware, but it is not uncommon to hear the accent being spoken as far north as Pottsville, PA and as far south as Lewes, DE. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philadelphia English」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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