John McWhorter points out that both of them use "oi" for "er" in the middle of words, illustrating that our stereotypes about accents - that they were blue-collar or well-do-do; that they were New York area or Midwestern; that they were black or white - are often not accurate. Armstrong says "woith" for "worth," and Durante says "toins" for "turns."
But you can ignore that and just enjoy watching them if you prefer.
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John McWhorter points out that both of them use "oi" for "er" in the middle of words, illustrating that our stereotypes about accents - that they were blue-collar or well-do-do; that they were New York area or Midwestern; that they were black or white - are often not accurate. Armstrong says "woith" for "worth....
Louis Armstrong was from New Oreleans/Nuawlins. When I first met someone from New Orleans, my first reaction was that he sounded as if he were from New York/Noo Yawk. Thus the similarity between the accents of Jimmy Durante and Louis Armstrong. The similarity between the Nuawlins and the Noo Yawk accent is probably that both were port cities with a lot of immigrants.
The Noo Yawk accent is dying out or being toned down. My freshman year roommate was from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His father had the Noo Yawk accent, but he did not. Some of that change may have been intentional. My brother's wife is from Central Mass. She lost her accent in college to become more "cosmopolitan." It is interesting to hear her talk in the presence of her brothers, who have not lost their childhood accents.
Speaking of similarities in regional accents, my mother had some older cousins born and raised in Texas but with grandparents who had moved from Tennessee to Texas several decades earlier. The old Tennessee/Texas accent said "dollah" for "dollar," just like Bert and I or other New Englanders.
pronunciation of the r or not is called rhoticity, and it is a major way of distinguishing accents, and not only in English. R's are almost vowels, and behave strangely.
What I'm hearing is two celebrities having a blast.
The Yat is a regional accent in New Orleans,esp those from the 9th Ward.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_English
The Yat is also Krazy Kat's accent, IIRC.
Wow, I did not know that!
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