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A quick check on City data would let you know Chicago's White ancestries. None of the major ones have ties to the South.
The North Side, which attracts the most transplants has more Midwesterners than anything else.
Blacks here do have ties to the South but so do Blacks in Philly. I see no reason to believe that Philly Blacks have abandoned their Southern culture entirely while Chicago Blacks have retained it.
But it's silly to act like white southerners never relocate to Chicago. They do...so it's not at all unheard of - that's all I was saying. Big U.S. cities have transplants galore from every region.
Definitely Chicago. The black Chicago accent is basically a Southern accent. There are no traces of the traditional Chicago accent that city is known for.
Per city data, the most common White ancestries are German, Polish, Irish, and Italian. Then, smaller groups exist of Greeks, Serbians, and other Southea st Europeans. The most common Southern White ancestries of Scotch-Irish, Scottish, and English aren't as common in Chicago.
The only time a White Chicagoan will have a semblance of a Southern accent is if they are a transplant (and not many Southerners move here), or if they grew up alongside mostly Blacks. But even then, the Chicago Blaccent is not a full blown Southern accent unless it's held by older generations.
The Philly Blaccent does employ aspects of the White version of the accent. But guess what? Just as it is common to hear a Black Philadelphian say "cawfee", it's as common to hear a Black Chicagoan say the very nasal pronunciation of "pahp" (pop).
OK, so Philly Blacks pronounce their r's like White Philadelphians to a greater extent than Black Chicagoans who are mostly non-rhotic, but I'd wager to say that this is dying out amongst Chicago Blacks with time. Chicago Blacks still say nasal a's like White ones do. No, they don't have a full Northern Cities Vowel Shift, but Blacks in Philly don't have the Mid-Atlantic split short-a systen, either. Both Philly and Chicago Blacks employ glide deletion to a greater extent than Whites in their respective cities.
Honestly, it's unfair to say that based on a few Philly Blacks, all Philly Blacks sound the same. Same with Chicago. Michael Wilbon, a Black Chicagoan sounds way more Northern than Beanie Sigel, a Black Philadelphian. Similarly, Bernard Hopkins, a Black Philadelphian, sounds more Northern than Twista (Chicagoan). There's no hard and fast rule for localized Blaccents, as they can display more fluidity than the White ones sometimes. The rap group State Property is a good example. Freeway has a more textbook rhotic Philly accent with less Southernisms while Peedi Crakk is non-rhotic and has more Southernisms and a slight Puerto Rican accent. It doesn't have a uniformity. Will Smith's accent isn't even that far off from many Blaccents heard in Chicago.
Now as far as the WHITE population goes, Philly has a more Southern influenced accent without question. Even if you don't consider Maryland a Southern state, Virginia is, and it's closer to Philly than Kentucky's northernmost point is to Chicago. Southern aspects of the Philly accent include the way they say their o vowels, glide deletion where the Vowel I precedes L or R, and the way they say "ou" sounds in house like "ayow". So house is hayouse, town is tayown, down is dayown, and out is ayout. Like the South, on rhymes with Dawn and not Don. This isn't heard in Chicago.
Then of course people are gonna come back and list the ways the Philly accent is Northern as if that discounts the Southern influence at all. It's a Midland accent, k? It is neither North nor South. Chicago's accent in Whites on the other hand is fully Northern as it has no Southern influences and is actually derived from the mainland European Whites who make up the bulk of the population. No glide deletion, o fronting, or "hayouse" pronunciation is heard in the Chicago accent. If anything it sounds more Minnesota or Upstate New York than anything in Illinois or most of Pennsy'vania.
My point is, this is a stupid conversation, but if you who claim Chicago is Southern come at us and you're from Pennsylvania, I can show you that the pot you **** in isn't as big as you thought.
Now if this was a convo between Chicagoans and New Yorkers, I would concede to them. But Pennsy'vania? Foh
Who are you responding to? Outside of your first paragraph, nothing you wrote had anything to do with my post. Are you talking to yourself?? City Data can be a weird place sometimes!!
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool
Let's see...not sure how many Northern dialects incorporate glide deletion. Oh, wait. None. Where'd it come from in Beanie?
What phrases of Beans incorporate glide deletion? You seem to be trying to break this down to a technical level, which is laudable, but I don't think this particular case passes muster.
Philly is and will never be considered a southern city. I dont care how many people migrated up from the south. It is a classic northeastern city.Stop trying to convince people that it's not because it won't work. You do realize Philly is right across the river from Jersey right? I guess that makes Jersey southern too.
What a strawman. Nobody said Philly was Southern. I can't defend MY Northern city against stupidity?
Who are you responding to? Outside of your first paragraph, nothing you wrote had anything to do with my post. Are you talking to yourself?? City Data can be a weird place sometimes!!
Was trying to quote you and another person, which is why the message looks disjointed.
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