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The DC accent is primarily a black accent only and covers much of the DC metro area. It's very Mid-Atlantic in both dialect and accent. Someone from the NYC or Philly or New Jersey or Boston or general New England would think that we sound Southern and/or 'Country' whereas Someone from say Charleston, Birmingham, Atlanta (Excluding the transplants), Little Rock, Louisville, etc. would think that we sound Northern.
The DC accent is kind of like a weird blend between the Tidewater dialect (Southern-lite) and the Baltimore accent (Northern-lite). It's a VERY distinctive accent. Put me in a room with people from Philly, St. Louis, Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, Wilmington, Miami, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, and Charleston and I can easily make out the DC accent. Most of us here in the DMV trace our ancestry to Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia FTW.
When I lived in the NYC area, I thought blacks sounded vaguely southern. Of course, I had a poor sense of what a real southern accent sounds like. Don't hear too much southern in that LiL Mama video. A friend of mine probably went to high school with her, judging by the year they both graduated.
Nah. This is Southern... These are Blacks from Atlanta. NYC AA's barely have a trace of a Southern influence in thier accent.
The DC accent is kind of like a weird blend between the Tidewater dialect (Southern-lite) and the Baltimore accent (Northern-lite). It's a VERY distinctive accent. Put me in a room with people from Philly, St. Louis, Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, Wilmington, Miami, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, and Charleston and I can easily make out the DC accent. Most of us here in the DMV trace our ancestry to Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia FTW.
Just curious...what strikes you as "northern" about the Baltimore "blaccent?"
The California variant of African-American Vernacular English is surprisingly rhotic compared to most AAVE dialects.
I don't even know why our accents are rhotic compared to another African Americans in the rest of the US. It might be because many of us in Cali grew up around Hispanics who strongly prounce thier R's, so it might have rubbed off on us. I also notice Hispanic type cadences in some of the younger Blacks around the LA area.
I don't even know why our accents are rhotic compared to another African Americans in the rest of the US. It might be because many of us in Cali grew up around Hispanics who strongly prounce thier R's, so it might have rubbed off on us. I also notice Hispanic type cadences in some of the younger Blacks around the LA area.
Hmm. Interesting pattern. NYC hispanics, at least those who grew up there, tend to pronounce R's even less than most other locals.
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