Introduction
When you think about Boston or Massachusetts, what things come to your mind? It can be great universities such as Harvard, MIT, that it is the best business city in the world. There is no arguing with it because these are definitely true. Then, have you ever heard about the strange accent, bad driving habits and the extremely high taxes of Boston or Massachusetts? These things are very well-known as stereotypes in these places. Is this true or just preconception? There are three analyses of these thoughts and at the end of this paper, you will know which one is true and which one is false. Although stereotypes of Bostonians have some basis in various historical circumstances, native behavior, and the personal impressions of non-Bostonians, these stereotypes are no longer well-founded.
Language
The first stereotype of Boston is its unique accent. Whenever you are talking to a Bostonian, his accent will be very impressive for us foreign students. The Boston accent is very obvious even in some artistic works such as "Good Will Hunting", "The Departed", and "Fever Pitch", “it is known for its distinctive diction” (Global Editorial, 2011). This unique accent can be in Boston and of much eastern Massachusetts.
When speaks to the causes of Boston accent, this kind of English spoken style can be traced back to the New England area (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) in which these six states were the earliest colony controlled by the British government in 1620. Ten years later, in 1630, Boston became a colony and had its own special accent without retroflex which pronounces with the tip of the tongue curled up towards the hard palate . “The best-known features of the Boston accent are non-rhoticity and broad A. It is most prominent in often traditionally Irish or Italian Boston neighborhoods and surrounding cities and towns” (Mascia, 2001). For instance, when