Do Coloradans Have An Accent?

When thinking about the way people speak across America, a Southern twang or thick East Coast accent always stand out as obvious and recognizable.

Although Coloradans might not talk with a distinct, bold accent that others do, it doesn't mean that people from the Centennial State don't have one at all.

But what exactly is a Colorado accent?

Linguists define an accent as the way people pronounce words, based on where they’re from. That being said, linguists have identified some subtle characteristics and pronunciations that distinguish Coloradans' speech from other regions of the country.

For example, those with a Colorado accent typically display a "T-Glottalization" when speaking. T-glottalization is a sound change where the sound of the letter "t" is replaced by a glottal stop. A glottal stop is a sound made by briefly stopping the airflow in your throat. This means dropping the hard "t" sound in words like "mountains," so instead it would sound like "moun'ns." 

Other words stand out in the Colorado accent, especially when it comes to how locals pronounce familiar names. One instance of this, is the pronunciation of the word coyote. Many Colorado locals say “coyote” with just two syllables—“kai-ote”—instead of the more common three-syllable version, “kai-o-tee.” This two-syllable way is especially popular in rural areas and among older residents.

Ironically, the way residents of the Centennial State pronounce "Colorado" is another big dialectal difference.

There are also regional variations when it comes to the way Coloradans speak. Different regions within Colorado, such as the Front Range and places west of the mountains, may have slightly different pronunciations and vocabulary than in other areas in the state. Some linguists argue that residents of western Colorado speak with more of a slower drawl than natives up north.

According to the Longmont Leader, there are also some speech quirks that many Coloradans share, such as the "positive anymore" sentence style.

Everybody in the United States speaks in a unique local way, Coloradans included.