Southern Accents

[Spartan]

^What makes you say that Spartan?

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I think Charleston Native answered that pretty well. It is an interesting accent to hear .

There are many different accents, even within South Carolina. I can definitely distinguish between greater Columbians that grew up in Lexington County as opposed to those that grew up in Richland County.

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I never picked up on a Richland/Lexington accent? Maybe its because I was stuck in the University most of the time?

I was raised in the North Florida area which falls in the "Coastal Southern" region and have never heard a doughnut called a cookie or a soda (carbonated beverage) called a dope.  I guess words such as those are more common among the older generations (I'm only 23). 

I didn't thouroughly read the entire article, but do they touch on the topics of "slang" words as a significant portion of a dialect?

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I have never heard of a donught being called a "cookie" either. I have heard of 'catty-corner.' I use that word often.

Indeed it is. More migrants are coming into Charleston from up north, and the dialects of the area are fading as a result. The Lowcountry really has 2 accents: one is the "Southern belle" accent, which is close to the Scarlett O'Hara generalization. This one is used by mainly downtown "blue-bloods" where generations of people's families have been born and raised in the city. The other dialect is Gullah. However, both really are fading and turning into a Coastal Southern/California accent. Many people use words like "dude" and "coolness"...mainly because of the beach influence from other migrants. Gullah can be very hard to understand, and as a result, it is used for places to carry a Gullah theme like a restaurant or attraction. It is a definitely dying dialect, unfortunately.

I was born and raised there, but many people have thought that I was from Ohio!  As far as calling doughnuts "cookies" and soda "dope"? I don't know a single soul in that region that has ever called them that.

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They have a Gullah exhibit at the State Museum. You you are ever there be sure to check it out. Its almost its own language, but you can still understand it if you concentrate hard enough.

[Justin6882]

84% (Dixie).  Did you have any Confederate ancestors?

Yeah, I'm wondering what the other 16% is...

I have a strong southern accent, and I'm not sure how I got it. My dad is from Ohio and my mom is from the Va. Beach area - neither of them have a southern accent.

BTW, my favorite question the quiz was "What do you call a Carbonated Beverage"... ITS COKE!! All of it! Hearing the it called "pop" gives me chills

[StevenRocks]

Righfully, my accent ought to be Virginia Piedmont, but it's more like a TV news anchor

[Miesian Corners]

Other terms we use that others don't:

Fixing to

(Example: Women in other regions of the US experience "PMS" or "pre menstral syndrome. In the South they experience "FTS", or "Fixing to start".

Crank the car.

Cut on/off the light.

[johnnydr87]

78% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!

What???

That surprises me..

[Mith242]

I was surprised I scored as high as I did. Most people say I don't have much of an accent. But I guess I still use a lot of the same words and sentence structure.

[johnnydr87]

I was surprised I scored as high as I did.  Most people say I don't have much of an accent.  But I guess I still use a lot of the same words and sentence structure.

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Yeah. Same here. My parents have foreign accents, for crying out loud. People in the north can't really detect an accent on me either. I guess I use a lot of the same terms...

[Charleston native]

I was surprised I scored as high as I did.  Most people say I don't have much of an accent.  But I guess I still use a lot of the same words and sentence structure.

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I feel the same way. I scored a 71% Dixie. The funny thing is that only friends of mine from Colorado and New York say I have one, but it is VERY weak. Yet, I scored so high...well, I think if you even have times where you say "ya'll" every now and then, the test puts that stigma on you.

[johnnydr87]

I feel the same way. I scored a 71% Dixie. The funny thing is that only friends of mine from Colorado and New York say I have one, but it is VERY weak. Yet, I scored so high...well, I think if you even have times where you say "ya'll" every now and then, the test puts that stigma on you.

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Occasionally, I let "ya'll" slip out too. But I try to avoid it when possible just because it's not "correct" English.

[krazeeboi]

Interestingly enough, my paternal grandmother speaks with a minute Gullah dialect at times (it really only applies to certain phrases), yet she was born and raised in Orangeburg County, SC, which is considered the Midlands. But I guess the two areas (Lowcountry and Midlands) are close enough where an effect would be present.

I do have an accent, I know it, and I'm proud of it. But at times, especially when I'm engaging in some form of oratory, it can rarely be detected. But for the most part, it is.

[Mith242]

It's a shame that there's a stigma a lot of times to southern accents. Anytime you want to act like you're some uneducated idiot what's the response? Put on a thick southern accent. I know a lot of it is probably just light hearted fun. And I think there are a lot of southerners who aren't offended by it. But I think a lot of people have 'lost' at least some of their accent because of the stigma attached to it.

[krazeeboi]

^Exactly. As the article says:

Contrary to what your teachers probably tried to tell you, there is no such thing as "correct English." Any manner of speaking that is following the rules of a dialect is equally "correct." Words like ain't are "real" words in some dialects and perfectly acceptable to use. However, people are judged by the way they speak, and dialects carry different levels of social prestige with them based on the prejudices within a society. Generally, the southern dialects of American English carry a lower prestige, at least among northerners who will assume that a person speaking a southern dialect is less intelligent and less educated than they are. Some educated southerners even feel this way and will "correct" their speech to meet northern standards.

[WildWest]

Funny thing about southern accents are how contagious they can be. I've never lived in the south, but whenever I'm there for more than a day or two, I come back home with a slight southern draw for like a week.

My sister-in-law, who is from North Dakota of all places-talk about funky accents-has lived in N Carolina for 3 years now and has a very southern cadence and accent.

My wife lived in the south, well Houston, Texas area, for a year when she was 7 or 8 years old and not since. She has a pretty obvious accent, but only when she drinks. To bad she doesn't drink very often.

[Dale]

Funny thing about southern accents are how contagious they can be.  I've never lived in the south, but whenever I'm there for more than a day or two, I come back home with a slight southern draw for like a week.

My sister-in-law, who is from North Dakota of all places-talk about funky accents-has lived in N Carolina for 3 years now and has a very southern cadence and accent.

My wife lived in the south, well Houston, Texas area, for a year when she was 7 or 8 years old  and not since.  She has a pretty obvious accent, but only when she drinks.  To bad she doesn't drink very often.

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It's sexy, ain't it ?

[Rock2uf]

I have a fairly strong southern accent and I don't attempt to hide it. I was just up in Philadelphia, PA for two weeks and I walked around "southern draw'in" across the whole town. It makes for a good conversation piece.

I agree that there is a negative stigma associated with the southern accent, but the truth is, northerners are no more educated than we are in the south. In fact, I've found (from my experience) that southerners become independent adults at an earlier age than northerners do. This has much to do with southern culture. If you have a southern accent, don't try to hide it. If someone looks down on you for having one, then they are probably too shallow to deal with anyway.

I'm from Florida, and as you know, we have plenty of northerners moving down here. I really don't mind them. In fact, I learn a lot about northern culture from talking with them. But, I do dislike how northerners move down south bringing their accents with them, while trashing our native southern dialect and culture. In many urban areas of Florida, particularly Orlando, it is pretty difficult to find a southern accent anymore. If our accent and culture is so negatively viewed, then maybe northerns shouldn't move down here (in droves, by the way)? I say, when in Rome...........

[Miesian Corners]

Occasionally, I let  "ya'll" slip out too.  But I try to avoid it when possible just because it's not "correct" English.

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Oh but you'd be wrong on that one. It is very much correct English. "Y'all" is a contraction of "you-all". You-all functions with grammatical regularity as a second person plural pronoun.

I will NEVER be embarassed by my accent. I will be embarassed for those who draw attention to it (because they will be obviously oblivious to their rudeness).

[Mith242]

I think in Arkansas it is a little different. Arkansas has been the butt of jokes for a long time. Arkansas is a small poor state but it's not a third world country. But growing up in Arkansas I can't say at the time I had much pride about it. I remember kids moving into the area and making comments like 'wow, you guys do wear shoes' and actually meaning it. I think there were some people in the state that were made to feel that they should be ashamed of their state and their culture. I was born and raised most of my life in Arkansas but didn't develop a strong accent. I think sometimes even in school there was a feeling that we had to try to act and talk like someone from somewhere else to try to prove to people we weren't just a bunch of inbreed hicks. Of course now I am proud of my state and value it for what it is, it's not perfect but it's still a lot better than what many people give it credit for. I just hope the newer generations of Arkansans don't have to go through what I did.

[Rock2uf]

Mith242,

You should be proud of your state. Actually, I was born in Southwest Ark, but moved to Northcentral FL at an early age. I still have family there in Ark. Most of the time, people who trash the state have never been there. It is actually a much prettier state as a whole than Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, or Georgia (I'm sure I'll catch hell for that one - but I think it's undeniable - when considered statewide). And, the people of Arkansas are no more backwoods than people in other states.

Through my travels I have found this: in every state, once you get far outside of major urban areas, there are people living a country lifestyle, and frankly, many of them live like "hicks" or "rednecks" (whichever description you choose - I just say "country"). For example, there are towns in Pennsylvania an hour or so outside of Philly that are every bit as country as towns in Ark, or towns in any other southern state. My point is, country is country, just some people talk differently and chew snuff. Rural north and south aren't that much different.

[johnnydr87]

I think in Arkansas it is a little different.  Arkansas has been the butt of jokes for a long time.  Arkansas is a small poor state but it's not a third world country.  But growing up in Arkansas I can't say at the time I had much pride about it.  I remember kids moving into the area and making comments like 'wow, you guys do wear shoes' and actually meaning it.  I think there were some people in the state that were made to feel that they should be ashamed of their state and their culture.  I was born and raised most of my life in Arkansas but didn't develop a strong accent.  I think sometimes even in school there was a feeling that we had to try to act and talk like someone from somewhere else to try to prove to people we weren't just a bunch of inbreed hicks.  Of course now I am proud of my state and value it for what it is, it's not perfect but it's still a lot better than what many people give it credit for.  I just hope the newer generations of Arkansans don't have to go through what I did.

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I think the self-deprecating ethos among Arkansan youths is slowly changing. Slowly. I used to to be one of the foremost persecutors of the state (although I still criticize the state in areas that need improvements), mainly because of the influence of my brothers and sisters. We moved here from New Orleans, and we all had preconceived notions of the place moving in. I know I've made a complete turnaround and often tout the state. My older sisters on the other hand (who have lived out of the state in college longer than in the state) still make little cheap shots at the state when traveling to other "sophisticated" places like NYC or ski resorts.

I think the leaders have gotten better (be they political or business or other) at increasing Arkansan pride among the youth. The area colleges and politicians seem to be making huge steps to keep the gifted Arkansans in Arkansas. The recent prosperity of the state in the 90s (undoubtedly tied to that certain loved/hated politician) and 00s certainly help. Evanescence, Allison Kraus and Union Station, Wesley Clark, and other local celebrities/politicians certainly help the pride.

[Mith242]

Well it's good to hear that things seem to be better now. Of course it's a shame that perhaps some people either left the state or gave up because they deemed themselves inferior in the past. Anyways sorry to have gotten off topic there. The point I was trying to make was that I knew a number of people who consciencely or subconsciencely dropped their accents because of the negative connotations. I had gotten the impression this might have happened elsewhere in the south. Perhaps it has in the past I'm not sure.

[Rock2uf]

Mith242,

I would say "yes" it has happened somewhat everywhere in the south. Especially among those working in professional fields. These people tend to think (as we have been discussing) that to speak clearly and intelligently, one must drop the southern accent. At times, around certain people in some business situations, even I have found myself losing my accent for a conversation or two. Not intentionally, though. I don't think.

[Spartan]

I agree that there is a negative stigma associated with the southern accent, but the truth is, northerners are no more educated than we are in the south.  In fact, I've found (from my experience) that southerners become independent adults at an earlier age than northerners do.  This has much to do with southern culture.  If you have a southern accent, don't try to hide it.  If someone looks down on you for having one, then they are probably too shallow to deal with anyway. 

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Well said.

[johnnydr87]

I agree that there is a negative stigma associated with the southern accent, but the truth is, northerners are no more educated than we are in the south.  In fact, I've found (from my experience) that southerners become independent adults at an earlier age than northerners do. 

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I wouldn't necessarily agree with that sentiment. Southerners may learn to become more independent earlier on because of their rural lifestyles, but to claim education isn't worse in the south than the north is quite a stretch. Just look at standardized test scores. I'm not saying northerners are smarter (they probably just fund education better), but if you look at the percentage of college graduates and the average test scores of the north, they are generally higher.

[johnnydr87]

If someone looks down on you for having one, then they are probably too shallow to deal with anyway. 

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This is true. I think only very narrow minded northerners would think less of a person because of his or her southern twang. Our past couple of Presidents have all had southern twangs! To most northerners, southern accents are probably just interesting and different. My sister moved to NYC and they like to tease her about her slight accent.

[Rock2uf]

I'm not saying northerners are smarter (they probably just fund education better), but if you look at the percentage of college graduates and the average test scores of the north, they are generally higher.

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^generally higher?

Maybe so. I'd like to see some numbers backing up your argument (I'm not claiming you're wrong, I'm just curious myself).