section_path: Culture/Accent and dialect
section_name: Accent and dialect
paragraph_text: Accent and dialect
  
  The New York area is home to a distinctive regional accent and speech pattern called the New York dialect, alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It has been considered one of the most recognizable accents within American English. The traditional New York area speech pattern is known for its rapid delivery, and its accent is characterized as non-rhotic so that the sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant, therefore the pronunciation of the city name as "New Yawk". The classic version of the New York City dialect is centered on middle- and working-class New Yorkers. The influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect, and the traditional form of this speech pattern is no longer as prevalent.