The American accent is about as diverse as its population.  The "Great American Melting Pot" has caused some accents to blend in subtly across the borders, while others are as grandiose as a 10-gallon Texas cowboy hat.

From the Texas twang to the Southern drawl to the Maryland "O," from the New York "cawfee" to the Boston "Pahk the cahr in the yahd," many states have a very distinct accent.  Ask foreign nationals who now live in Connecticut if there is a distinct accent in our region and many will say, "No."

Like a triple-decker sandwich, layered between three states with distinctively different accents, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Connecticut adds more of a subtle flavor to the mix, depending on the region.

"In comparison to other parts of the country, perhaps the Connecticut accent might be considered more "refined" than some areas that are more regional or remote," said Helen Kweskin, Upper School English teacher for the King Low Heywood Thomas School in Stamford.

"Since Fairfield County is close to the New York metropolitan area, I don't think it has its own particular regional flavor.   Further afield in Connecticut there might be more of a regional twang, but I'm a transplanted "Brit," so all accents sound "American" to me, although some more so than others," Kweskin stated.

Chair of the school's Department of Modern Languages Thomas Zoubek, feels the same way.

"I think because of the manner in which people are bombarded by a "standard" American accent on the news and various other television, radio and Internet sites, that accents are becoming more homogenized," Zoubek stated.

Zoubek added that accents are sometimes lost due to a variety of factors.

"Many attribute an advanced education to the lack of an accent. This would be especially true in more educated cosmopolitan areas where local regionalism gradually gets swamped out. Distinctive accents, such as those in Brooklyn or Boston will only survive as long the population is large enough and insulated enough to maintain them," Zoubek stated.

New Canaan Realtor Inger Stringfellow said the "Connecticut accent," if there is one, is much more refined.

"People don't have a definitive accent because a lot of us are from other places," she said. "A higher percentage of our kids and adults are well educated, have gone to better schools and were raised in a wealthier community."

Stringfellow is Norwegian and speaks Danish, English, Norwegian and Swedish.

While not many residents speak with the clenched jaw like Thurston and Lovie Howell from the hit 70's TV show "Gilligan's Island," there are a still few that Stringfellow has seen in her line of work.

In the Greater Danbury area, in comparison to lower Fairfield County, words such as "idea" are pronounced "idear" or "across" is pronounced as "acrost." Then there is the "Danbury A" which sounds like more of an "ea" sound: "PEA-nts" for "pants" or "CEA-nt" for "can't."

In a New York Times article on the subject, Speech Pathologist  Pat Gomola  said "People are so much more worldly now.  But you're not going to find someone from Greenwich who hasn't been all over the world. The upper class tends to lose its accent because they're more likely to travel. And because they want to lose it."

In the same article, communications coach Nancy Morgenstern said "You won't find such accents as much with an educated population," she said. "They're more cognizant of the way they speak."

Martha Mackay and Sally Finnican, both of New Canaan, told Patch in a video (attached) that a distinctive characteristic of the Connecticut accent is the "t" sound in words such as mitten, kitten and cotton.

"I think you get it more in the center of the state where people say "buh-on" and "Manhah-en,"" Mackay said, pronouncing button and Manhattan with what she considers a Connecticut accent.

Ridgefield Library Board of Director member Bobby Mathoda who is originally from India, said the Connecticutaccent is subtle.

The Connecticut accent is more subtle, says Ridgefield Library Board of Director member Bobby Mathoda who is originally from India.

"You get used to it. I don't think they have an accents compared to the South.  I lived in the Midwest for quite some time so it is much different.   I don't think it is that distinguishable," he stated.

Mathoda has lived in the states since 1976 and still has a thick Indian accent, as many foreign nationals do when moving to this country. Accents often stick because language and speech patterns are developed at an early age.

To some foreigners moving to the states it is important for them to develop proper speech so they will hire a professional speech coach.  In Stamford, Vicki MacKenzie, a Connecticut and New York licensed speech and language pathologist and a corporate speech trainer is certified to provide foreign accent reduction. 

MacKenzie said that eliminating misunderstandings improves productivity in the workplace. 

"The goal is to improve your communication, not necessarily eliminate the accent," she said.