[Elizabeth B.]

Upon returning from a trip to Georgia and brushing up on history there, noting the English influence, I am wondering why and how the “Southern accent” came to be in the South.

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Name : Elizabeth B., Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 40+, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Elementary school teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jack]

There are definite similarities between speech patterns in England and the South. The South was settled more by people of British origin than any other European area. The soft vowel sounds of England and what I call the old aristocracy of the South are similar.

My ancestors going back to my great great grandparents were all of English/Scottish lineage. My father, now deceased, used speech patterns and phrases I have seen in English movies and would be considered atypical of contemporary U.S. speech.

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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 54, City : Suwanee, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Professional, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[J.A. Crumpton]

I grew up in the South, so I’ve always found this to be a very interesting question. A former English teacher, I studied language arts while in college, and this was a much-discussed topic in one of my classes. The Southern accent, by the way, has nothing to do with educational levels, as many think. According to my studies, there are two primary influences on the language of the South. First, a large portion of the South – particularly Appalachia – was settled by Scots, who contributed enormously to the language. The second influence is quite interesting; it is thought that boys and girls in the South who were raised on plantations often spent a lot more time with their slave “nannies” and so forth than their parents and picked up a lot of sounds this way. It is just a theory, of course.

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Name : J.A. Crumpton, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 31, City : Phoenix, State : AZ, Country : United States, Occupation : Web developer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Hallie21404]

While not an authentic Southerner myself, my theory is that since the accent sounds much more British than those found in other parts of the United States, the Southern drawl simply came from Englishmen in the South who were cut off from the folks up north.

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Name : Hallie21404, City : Frankfort, State : KY, Country : United States, 

[Kelcoleman]

I’m also a Southerner. I think I lot of speech depends on how you hold your mouth when you talk. My husband (from Ohio) can give a pretty good Southern accent if he follows my admonition to “smile when you talk.”

This isn’t just true for Southern accents. You have to purse your lips to get a French accent. If I speak French without thinking about doing that I’m told I have a French Canadian accent. The Appalachian accent is definitely influenced by Elizabethan English, which is the time period when many of those settlers immigrated to America. One theory is that they were so isolated the speech didn’t evolve as quickly.

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Name : Kelcoleman, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 39, City : Boulder, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Myra-H20218]

I’m a transplanted Virginian. Accents tend to “standardize” after a long period of exposure to other accents – from travel, trade, TV or the telephone. Witness Northerners’ tendency to pick up “y’all,” and everyone else’s sore temptation to drop the entire end off of a word when speaking with a New Englander. What the heck; we Southerners never needed it, anyway.

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Name : Myra-H20218, Gender : F, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, 

[Geoff21642]

Some experts, such as Joseph E. Holloway of California State University at Northridge, suggest that if you cross a mix of traditional Western European accents, especially those from the UK, with a mix of traditional West African accents you will end up with a mix of traditional southern US accents. Of course, you would need to hire some fairly energetic ethnolinguists, speech coaches, and voice actors to pull off such an experiement conclusively. From the colonial period through WWII, the African-descended population in the southern US far outnumbered that in the north. This has been the most significant ethnic distinction between the two regions for the longest period of time and at the earliest stages of cultural formation.

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Name : Geoff21642, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Mysticism (non-organized religion), Age : 42, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Information Consultant, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Geoff21641]

Some experts, such as Joseph E. Holloway of California State University at Northridge, suggest that if you cross a mix of traditional Western European accents with a mix of traditional West African accents you will end up with a mix of traditional southern US accents. Of course, you would need to hire some fairly energetic ethnolinguists, speech coaches, and voice actors to pull off such an experiement conclusively. From the colonial period through WWII, the African-descended population in the southern US far outnumbered that in the north. This has been the most significant ethnic distinction between the two regions for the longest period of time and at the earliest stages of cultural formation.

User Detail :  

Name : Geoff21641, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Mysticism (non-organized religion), Age : 42, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Information Consultant, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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