Maryland 6

Listen to Maryland 6, a 17-year-old girl from Elkridge, Maryland. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 17

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 28/03/2005

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lima, Peru (but raised in Elkridge, Maryland)

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Peruvian-American/Latina

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: senior in high school

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject was born in Lima, Peru, and resided there for the first two years of her life.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

She grew up in a Spanish-speaking household and can understand the language, but she lost fluency and is at a conversational level at best from early assimilation into Maryland culture. She says that she is interested in studying voice and speech, has watched videos about dialects, and is currently taking choir classes.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: subject

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/09/2022

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Lima, Peru. Not exactly sure how old I was when we moved, but it was definitely when I was really young, um, definitely like over two, I hope, at least. That would make me a Generation 1.75, which makes me less special than immigrants like .5, who moved when they were, um, like, five or like in elementary or middle school before their teens. Um, yeah. Technically, I am a first-generation immigrant, but that feels extremely wrong to say. 1.75.

Um, my mom and dad met at work. And my dad won the Visa lottery, um, shortly after I was born. And, so, yeah. Here in Elkridge Maryland; um, yeah, I’ve been living here, like, for as long as I can remember pretty much. Um, used to, like, move from apartment to apartment, like, every year. Like, during elementary school. Um, they were, like, one floor, and, yeah. But then we moved to my aunt’s and uncle’s bigger house when I was like, ten? Nine? And it was pretty cool for a year, and then we actually got our own home. Mom, dad, and my little sister, Emily. That’s where we’ve been living for, um, seven years? Can’t believe it’s been that long. Um, two-story floor; this is a really cute, tiny, little neighborhood.

Um, I didn’t notice I have an accent until recently. Um, I’ve been wanting to, like, be a voice actress, kinda, like, there was a phase there, uh, during ninth grade. And I still kinda wanna be one. Um, but I would notice that a lot of them would speak very precisely with all their Ts, and no glottal stop at the Ts, like in m-I us; I usually say moun-ain. Or mountain. I’m, I’m, like, putting in effort to say mountain. Uh, not sure that’s a Maryland thing. I heard that’s more of a Western thing. But whatever.

But I’m noticing that my accent has been getting a little more urban, I guess? Or like Southern, um, after I worked at Golden Corral for two summers, ’cause my manager had like a Pennsylvania accent, I think. I don’t know, very Southern. And I’ve been, like, noticing that I’ve been gaining a little bit of that, I feel like. Um, you decide, though. I’ve always that Maryland was North, until that realization.

But, yeah, we’re underrated. Because, yes, we have Baltimore and D.C., I guess, but those are, like, the only, like, the only two aspects of Maryland I feel like get talked about usually. Um, like as a whole, our state, like, lacks an identity besides, like, crabs! And Old Bay! Which I haven’t even eaten that many crabs in my life. And I don’t know if I’ve ever had Old Bay! I do love seafood, though, because not only am I a Marylander, I am Peruvian, from Lima. And seafood is so popular there.

It’s one in the morning, by the way, as I record this. So I could — so my mind is a little foggy, not delivering anything coherent right now.

I just looked up the “accent tag” words. Um, this is a very popular challenge. I kinda wanna; I kinda wanna try it: aunt, roof, route, wash, oil, theater, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure. Ooh, for a while I’ve been saying “sure.” Like, “shore.” As in water shore, instead of sure, like at some point while I was working at Golden Corral. But my “sure” has gotten back to normal. Data, ruin, crayon, New Orleans. I say New Or-LEANS and not OR-luhns; I should probably fix that? Oh, I also like to say “prolly” instead of “probably” because I’m lazy.

Both, again, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught, naturally, aluminum, envelope.

“Route” is the hardest one there. Route. I — there’s like a glottal stop when I say it for some reason. Roue. It’s just so easy. So, yeah.

Where I’ve grown up: Elkridge, Columbia, Eliccott City, that area. Very diverse. My friends are rarely the same ethnicity as me. So I guess I’ve really melted into this pot, huh?

TRANSCRIBED BY: subject

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/09/2022

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.