Baltimore English
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts Busts Out His Baltimore Accent
Play videoIn this video, a Maryland-born reporter gives an example of "Baltimorese," an accent of English found among many white working-class individuals in the Baltimore metropolitan area. This video also gives an example of language prejudice, as the reporter from Maryland expresses his own dislike for the accent, and the two other reporters mock the accent to some extent. Given that Baltimorese is a working-class accent, this prejudice against the language is likely a proxy for some prejudice against working class people.
Baltimore Barbie
An SNL skit profiling "Sturdy Barbie," a contender for the new line of Barbies with a working-class, Baltimore accent and persona. [Published on 02-08-2016]
'Yo' Said What?
In Baltimore kids have started using "yo" as a gender neutral pronoun. [Published on 03-15-2015]
Baltimore Accent Discussion: Crabs for Christmas
An NPR tidbit about a Christmas musical that takes its charm from its use of the Baltimore accent. There's some nice discussion of what is indexed by the variety. [Published on 12-24-2014]
Language in Baltimore
Website featuring personal blog posts and podcasts about Baltimorese, including "hon" as an identity marker, and African American identity and Baltimorese.
Lexicon of Baltimorese
List of lexical items considered unique to Baltimorese, includes some altered spellings to demonstrate phonological features.
Game done changed: A look at selected AAVE features in the TV series The Wire
Article that looks at the features of AAE (and specifically Baltimore AAE) through the lens of The Wire.
Kathy Bates' American Horror Story Accent, explained by a linguist
A linguist's response to the internet controversy over actress Kathy Bates' attempt to produce a Baltimore accent on the TV show American Horror Story. [Published on 10-22-2014]
"Welcome to Baltimore, Hon!"
Play audioThis audio feature is from the Summer 2012 issue of American speech and can be found on their website, www.americanspeech.dukejournals.org, for download. This piece is entitled "Welcome to Baltimore, Hon!" Exploring Hon as a linguistic and identity marker in Baltimore, and is presented by Holly-Catherine Britton and Heidi J. Faust.
