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Do we know when/why most white southerners started speaking with rhodic instead of non-rhodic accents? I just did a play in which we had to do the classic non-rhodic "southern belle/gentlemen" accent. The play took place in Atlanta 100 years ago. My grandmother was from North Carolina and my grandfather was from Atlanta and both of them had non rhodic southern dialects: they were born in 1900 and 1910 respectively. Also, are there still white Atlantans who drop their r's?
Do we know when/why most white southerners started speaking with rhodic instead of non-rhodic accents? I just did a play in which we had to do the classic non-rhodic "southern belle/gentlemen" accent. The play took place in Atlanta 100 years ago. My grandmother was from North Carolina and my grandfather was from Atlanta and both of them had non rhodic southern dialects: they were born in 1900 and 1910 respectively. Also, are there still white Atlantans who drop their r's?
I want to say yes. If you count the suburbs, then absolutely.
I can't really answer when, but why is believed to be because of a general stigmatization of Southern accents. It's the same reason Philly's accent is becoming Yankee-fied.
Do we know when/why most white southerners started speaking with rhodic instead of non-rhodic accents? I just did a play in which we had to do the classic non-rhodic "southern belle/gentlemen" accent. The play took place in Atlanta 100 years ago. My grandmother was from North Carolina and my grandfather was from Atlanta and both of them had non rhodic southern dialects: they were born in 1900 and 1910 respectively. Also, are there still white Atlantans who drop their r's?
Yes, many if not most southerners during that time were mostly non rhotic speakers. I believe the following generations probably dropped it because of education and it seem to carry a reputation for pretentiousness. The southern planter/belle thing is mocked to some degree even in the south. So people distanced themselves from non rhoticism. Some people may still speak that way, but fewer and fewer are doing so. Southern pride or not, it pays to be understood by all.
Yes, many if not most southerners during that time were mostly non rhotic speakers. I believe the following generations probably dropped it because of education and it seem to carry a reputation for pretentiousness. The southern planter/belle thing is mocked to some degree even in the south. So people distanced themselves from non rhoticism. Some people may still speak that way, but fewer and fewer are doing so. Southern pride or not, it pays to be understood by all.
So you're saying you can't understand British people?
Personally, as someone from a rhotic region I think the "r" consonant can sound horrendous. I speak with a rhotic dialect but sometimes wish I didn't. It makes my nasal accent sound worse.
Non-rhotic accents have been dying off in the coastal south for at least two generations now. However, they are in no danger of going extinct in the Boston or NYC area. They've developed into a sociolect in both places (if you grow up in a wealthier area, you probably don't drop your r's) but anyone from the Boston or NYC metro can tell you that plenty of younger lower-middle and working-class white people still drop their r's.
Non-rhotic accents have been dying off in the coastal south for at least two generations now. However, they are in no danger of going extinct in the Boston or NYC area. They've developed into a sociolect in both places (if you grow up in a wealthier area, you probably don't drop your r's) but anyone from the Boston or NYC metro can tell you that plenty of younger lower-middle and working-class white people still drop their r's.
Agreed, but the Boston and NYC metro areas aren't even that bad in this regard compared to Rhode Island.
Non-rhotic accents have been dying off in the coastal south for at least two generations now. However, they are in no danger of going extinct in the Boston or NYC area. They've developed into a sociolect in both places (if you grow up in a wealthier area, you probably don't drop your r's) but anyone from the Boston or NYC metro can tell you that plenty of younger lower-middle and working-class white people still drop their r's.
You sure about that? Many young NYers I've met (White) are almost fully rhotic. But in the black population this is not the case.
We hear people talk as much on TV and in movies as we do in real life it seems, and producers and directors are always looking for actors or television presenters with "neutral" accents. Thus, after a while, we all normalize to a similar accent.
We hear people talk as much on TV and in movies as we do in real life it seems, and producers and directors are always looking for actors or television presenters with "neutral" accents. Thus, after a while, we all normalize to a similar accent.
Same thing here in Canada.
Except that isn't the case. In the US, though some features like rhoticity spread like wildfire, some aspects of our accents actually DIVERGE. For example, the Northern Cities Vowel Shift is one way in which Northerners are moving away from the General American.
Do we know when/why most white southerners started speaking with rhodic instead of non-rhodic accents? I just did a play in which we had to do the classic non-rhodic "southern belle/gentlemen" accent. The play took place in Atlanta 100 years ago. My grandmother was from North Carolina and my grandfather was from Atlanta and both of them had non rhodic southern dialects: they were born in 1900 and 1910 respectively. Also, are there still white Atlantans who drop their r's?
Actually, many Southerners (black and white) back then pronounced the "sustained-R" sound in a Brooklyn, NY-type way. Some older Southerners, still do this, today. This pronunciation can be heard in old Blues recordings, old Amos and Andy shows, etc.
Examples: bird, hurt, third, first, work, thirsty =
In the American south: bu-eed, hu-eet, thu-eed, fu-eest, wu-eek, thu-eesty
In Brooklyn, NY (in older generations): boyd, hoyt, thoyd, foyst, woik, thoisty
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