New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey
The New York City accent
The New York City accent is the most studied urban accent in the world, and traditionally the most stigmatised in America. It is variably non-rhotic — R-dropping was once the norm and is now heard mainly in older and working-class speech — and it raises the vowel in “caught”, “talk” and “coffee” much higher than the rest of the country.
Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →
How to recognise a New York City accent
- A raised, gliding vowel in “coffee”, “talk” and “dog”.
- Variable R-dropping: “car” can end in a vowel.
- “Cot” and “caught” stay firmly distinct.
- A raised “trap” vowel before nasals — “man” towards “meh-an”.
Also known as New York accent, Brooklyn accent, Bronx accent, NYC accent, Noo Yawk. Spoken in New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey, United States.
The New York City pronunciation fingerprint
These are the answers the quiz expects from a New York City speaker on its 14 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.
“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat” — no trap–bath split
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
rhotic — the R at the end of “car” is pronounced
“put” and “putt” have different vowels — the foot–strut split
a quick D-like tap in “bottle” — T-flapping, or a glottal stop in “bottle” — “bo’le”
“cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
two of “Mary”, “marry” and “merry” match and one differs, or “Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound different
the vowel in “day” glides
the vowel in “go” glides
a true TH at the start of “three”, or TH-stopping — “three” sounds like “tree”
the H in “house” is pronounced
yod-dropping — “tune” sounds like “toon”
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
“happy” ends on a long “-ee” — happy-tensing
Everyday words in New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey
Speakers with a New York City accent
Cardi B
Highbridge, The Bronx, New York, United States
Raised in Highbridge in the South Bronx; this match uses the New York City answer profile.
Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.
Is my accent New York City?
The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile. The quiz takes about four minutes: answer 26 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.