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The Missouri twang is what he's referring to...and you can hear this "South Midland" twang as far north as Pendleton, Indiana. And yes, I agree, no reason to believe it was historically that different, at least after the Civil War.
I'm from the South, and a lot of people I've heard from parts of Indiana and Ohio do sound southern. In Illinois, it is not as pronounced, though there are some parts of central Illinois, in locations near Springfield, where some of the people do sound kind of southern, more so than even some places in southern Illinois.
Missouri has a distinct southern flavor in the southeastern quadrant, as well as much of western and southwestern Missouri. There are people in parts of the Kansas City area that sound no more un-southern than what you'll see in parts of the Atlanta area.
If I had to break down the midwest, I'd say it seem like this:
Southern-like: (substantial percentage of the population, imo).
Southern and western Missouri
Southern half of Indiana
South Central Ohio extending northward up to locations close to Columbus
Far, Far southern Illinois (Carbondale doesn't seem to even sound southern). I'm talking places south of the I-57/I-24 split.
Southeastern quadrant of Kansas, extending northward to the southwestern suburbs of Kansas City.
Far, Far southeast Ohio, nearly on the Kentucky/West Virginia intersection.
the True Midland accent:
Western Ohio from Findlay southward to Cincinnati
Eastern Ohio south of Youngstown area to the Appalachian area in far southeast Ohio
Northern half of Indiana (minus Chicagoland area)
Northern half of Missouri
Central Missouri from Columbia, eastward to St. Louis area
Illinois south of Chicago area extending to the I-57/24 split
Most of Kansas (minus southeast Kansas)
Far southwest Michigan (Grand Rapids southward)
Iowa (Southern half)
Nebraska (Southern half)
South Dakota (patchy: some sound northern some sound midland)
True Northern Accent:
Far Northern Ohio (Toledo to Cleveland)
Far NW Indiana (Chicago land)
Michigan (minus far southwest Michigan)
Far North Illinois (Chicago line northward)
Wisconsin
Minnesota
North Dakota
South Dakota (mixed with people who sound midland). Western South Dakota sounds midland, not northern.
Nebraska (northern half: mixed with people who sound midland)
Iowa (northern half)
I'm from the South, and a lot of people I've heard from parts of Indiana and Ohio do sound southern. In Illinois, it is not as pronounced, though there are some parts of central Illinois, in locations near Springfield, where some of the people do sound kind of southern, more so than even some places in southern Illinois.
Missouri has a distinct southern flavor in the southeastern quadrant, as well as much of western and southwestern Missouri. There are people in parts of the Kansas City area that sound no more un-southern than what you'll see in parts of the Atlanta area.
If I had to break down the midwest, I'd say it seem like this:
Southern-like: (substantial percentage of the population, imo).
Southern and western Missouri
Southern half of Indiana
South Central Ohio extending northward up to locations close to Columbus
Far, Far southern Illinois (Carbondale doesn't seem to even sound southern). I'm talking places south of the I-57/I-24 split.
Southeastern quadrant of Kansas, extending northward to the southwestern suburbs of Kansas City.
Far, Far southeast Ohio, nearly on the Kentucky/West Virginia intersection.
the True Midland accent:
Western Ohio from Findlay southward to Cincinnati
Eastern Ohio south of Youngstown area to the Appalachian area in far southeast Ohio
Northern half of Indiana (minus Chicagoland area)
Northern half of Missouri
Central Missouri from Columbia, eastward to St. Louis area
Illinois south of Chicago area extending to the I-57/24 split
Most of Kansas (minus southeast Kansas)
Far southwest Michigan (Grand Rapids southward)
Iowa (Southern half)
Nebraska (Southern half)
South Dakota (patchy: some sound northern some sound midland)
True Northern Accent:
Far Northern Ohio (Toledo to Cleveland)
Far NW Indiana (Chicago land)
Michigan (minus far southwest Michigan)
Far North Illinois (Chicago line northward)
Wisconsin
Minnesota
North Dakota
South Dakota (mixed with people who sound midland). Western South Dakota sounds midland, not northern.
Nebraska (northern half: mixed with people who sound midland)
Iowa (northern half)
I am from SE MO, there really isnt much of a southern accent until you get south of US 60.
These people (the farmers) are from my hometown of Sainte Genevieve, MO, no southern accent at all.
I am from SE MO, there really isnt much of a southern accent until you get south of US 60.
These people (the farmers) are from my hometown of Sainte Genevieve, MO, no southern accent at all.
I am from SE MO, there really isnt much of a southern accent until you get south of US 60.
These people (the farmers) are from my hometown of Sainte Genevieve, MO, no southern accent at all.
Good lord the high school kid in the Ste. Genevieve area sounds very different than anyone I went to high school with just 60 miles or so south of there.
The Ste. Gen video is nothing but midwestern accents. I don't know what anyone could possibly hear as a southern influence in any of the people in that video.
The Ste. Gen video has absolutely no southern dialect whatsoever.
By the way most southern dialect speakers in Southern Illinois are in the last 30 miles or so when you approach the Ohio River. I have several friends from Alexander County, Illinois and they sound more southern than many of the Missourians across the Mississippi River.
They sound southern to me. To my southern ears, I hear people who sound less southern than that every day.
Well, of course the Poplar Bluff folks sound southern, they are southern.
You cant hear the German intonations and speech overlays in the first video?
And the hard nasal intonations?
I'm talking about the farmer and his wife.
Theres a huge difference in the speech patterns, intonations and accents between the 2.
Good lord the high school kid in the Ste. Genevieve area sounds very different than anyone I went to high school with just 60 miles or so south of there.
The Ste. Gen video is nothing but midwestern accents. I don't know what anyone could possibly hear as a southern influence in any of the people in that video.
The Ste. Gen video has absolutely no southern dialect whatsoever.
Both of the other posters clips had people who sound southern.
The originals were southern lite, the latter were thick southern, almost in a Louisiana kind of way.
Again, I'm from the South. The first video from the other poster is much closer to what you hear from southerners around here than the first video you posted, which sound like something you'd hear either down on the coastal plain, far away from any population centers, or up in the highest regions of Appalachia in eastern Kentucky/Northeast Tennessee, and even then, I'd say a majority of southerners even in those locations don't sound that southern.
The second video you posted sounds like a general southern accent, typical of what you'd hear from native southerners in many areas of the Piedmont, but away from the population centers (in people under 40), or amongst native southerners 40+ in the population centers of the Piedmont South. It's also typical of what you'd hear in cities such as Birmingham, Montgomery, Jackson, or Columbus, Georgia.
Again, the St. Genevieve video isn't full-blown southern, but it is southern-lite. It's easy to hear. Good grief.
Last edited by Stars&StripesForever; 03-20-2012 at 07:47 PM..
Good lord the high school kid in the Ste. Genevieve area sounds very different than anyone I went to high school with just 60 miles or so south of there.
The Ste. Gen video is nothing but midwestern accents. I don't know what anyone could possibly hear as a southern influence in any of the people in that video.
The Ste. Gen video has absolutely no southern dialect whatsoever.
By the way most southern dialect speakers in Southern Illinois are in the last 30 miles or so when you approach the Ohio River. I have several friends from Alexander County, Illinois and they sound more southern than many of the Missourians across the Mississippi River.
its amazing how speech patterns change so rapidly, isnt it?
I know the people in the Ste Gen vid, his parents spoke German at home, and spoke English with a distinct German accent.....their family had been in the US for over 100 years.
There are still very old people in Ste Gen that speak with the German accent.
I consider it amazing that I got to hear it growing up.
Well, of course the Poplar Bluff folks sound southern, they are southern.
You cant hear the German intonations and speech overlays in the first video?
And the hard nasal intonations?
I'm talking about the farmer and his wife.
Theres a huge difference in the speech patterns, intonations and accents between the 2.
I noticed the nasal intonations, subtly, but it's no more evident than the southern twang which seems to peak itself in with certain words. The son in that video, if it is indeed the son, sounds even more southern than the parents/grandparents.
The second video sounds more Cajun-like than true southern. It likely has to do with Delta accent along the Mississippi River.
its amazing how speech patterns change so rapidly, isnt it?
I know the people in the Ste Gen vid, his parents spoke German at home, and spoke English with a distinct German accent.....their family had been in the US for over 100 years.
There are still very old people in Ste Gen that speak with the German accent.
I consider it amazing that I got to hear it growing up.
Yeah it is pretty neat. I remember watching KFVS 12 out of Cape last summer. They briefly interviewed an older lady from Zalma and her English was somewhat broken with a very strong German accent. I thought that Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties were the only place where you could hear that in Southeast Missouri but I guess not!
I noticed the nasal intonations, subtly, but it's no more evident than the southern twang which seems to peak itself in with certain words. The son in that video, if it is indeed the son, sounds even more southern than the parents/grandparents.
The second video sounds more Cajun-like than true southern. It likely has to do with Delta accent along the Mississippi River.
The first video I posted is from Dunklin County, which is in the Delta. The second video is from Dexter, Missouri which is on Crowley's Ridge overlooking the Delta.
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