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I find this odd. (How far south some people are putting the line.)
The "general American" accent is suppose to be the closest to *no* accent there is in the country, and it's locality is centered on most of Iowa and a tiny portion of northern MO. Wouldn't this be the true "transistion" zone between southern and northern?
Growing up in central Iowa I would hear both, but they were both rare. I would always assume it was someone traveling or a newish transplant from somewhere else. It might skew slightly from left to right, east to west... but from my travels it seems to be pretty consistent.
Maybe the people putting the line so far south are confusing the nearly accent-less "general American" accent with northern accents? Even then, it would mean general American reaches further south than I thought.
Of course if the thread is just about isolated incidents, I would assume around Miami, McAllen, TX, or San Diego.... people travel all the time.
I find this odd. (How far south some people are putting the line.)
Of course if the thread is just about isolated incidents, I would assume around Miami, McAllen, TX, or San Diego.... people travel all the time.
I do too, but it's their experience. I do, however, kinda wonder about this response:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SawBoi
Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina.
Unless this poser is referring to transplants or visitors, there aren't too many places south of LA and MS - unless the poster lives off-shore in the Gulf.
I do too, but it's their experience. I do, however, kinda wonder about this response:
Unless this poser is referring to transplants or visitors, there aren't too many places south of LA and MS - unless the poster lives off-shore in the Gulf.
Yes...transplants. The deep south is full of northern transplants with northern accents. Every state I listed I've lived in. Still live in Georgia.
Yes...transplants. The deep south is full of northern transplants with northern accents. Every state I listed I've lived in. Still live in Georgia.
Ok, I understand that. But that's not exactly what I'm getting at. I lived in Houston myself for 26 years and have in-laws I see regularly in SC. And while there are loads of transplants in both places, the predominate accents I hear when I was/am out and about in those places are southern. Maybe your experiences are different, however - dunno?
Ok, I understand that. But that's not exactly what I'm getting at. I lived in Houston myself for 26 years and have in-laws I see regularly in SC. And while there are loads of transplants in both places, the predominate accents I hear when I was/am out and about in those places are southern. Maybe your experiences are different, however - dunno?
This is what I was talking about too. If we are talking about places where transplants with accents live, that means the answer is southern accents hit the northernmost reaches of the country and northern accents hit the most southern points...
Making me question the point of both threads, lol.
This is what I was talking about too. If we are talking about places where transplants with accents live, that means the answer is southern accents hit the northernmost reaches of the country and northern accents hit the most southern points...
Making me question the point of both threads, lol.
You bolded comment make sense, of course, but not because of transplants - because of long-time embedded regional linguistic patterns. For example, here is one accent map:
Permutations of these maps abound and the interfaces are of course not rigid. For example, one doesn't find natives on one side of a road in southern Indiana speaking with a accent from different from those on the other side of the road just because this map has a line there. It's instead implying that patterns start to shift as one moves in either direction from the line this linguist has drawn. If this map has any credence, someone driving north from Louisville who gets out of the car in Indy might say to themselves: "You know, I seem to hear a fairly different accent here." Somewhere between these two end points accents have shifted. As a personal example right here in the northeast, I note two distinct accent shifts when I travel 95 north to Boston - one between Philly and NYC and the other between NYC and Boston.
The point of this thread is merely a counterpart to the other. While northerners expressed their views of where accents between north and south tend to shift in the other thread, I'm simply wondering if southerners hold similar views or hear that Yankee twang a bit further north or south than their counterparts. As for the point of either thread, I agree they are not likely to lead to peace in the Middle East, but figure this one has about as much significance in the big picture as most other threads opened here. That's why I said this in my OP:
Quote:
I look forward to hearing about your experiences. And please have fun with the thread!
Last edited by Pine to Vine; 07-31-2014 at 08:37 AM..
Ok, I understand that. But that's not exactly what I'm getting at. I lived in Houston myself for 26 years and have in-laws I see regularly in SC. And while there are loads of transplants in both places, the predominate accents I hear when I was/am out and about in those places are southern. Maybe your experiences are different, however - dunno?
Just my experience as a native southerner that has lived throughout the south.
You bolded comment make sense, of course, but not because of transplants - because of long-time embedded regional linguistic patterns. For example, here is one accent map:
Permutations of these maps abound and the interfaces are of course not rigid. For example, one doesn't find natives on one side of a road in southern Indiana speaking with a accent from different from those on the other side of the road just because this map has a line there. It's instead implying that patterns start to shift as one moves in either direction from the line this linguist has drawn. If this map has any credence, someone driving north from Louisville who gets out of the car in Indy might say to themselves: "You know, I seem to hear a fairly different accent here." Somewhere between these two end points accents have shifted.
The point of this thread is merely a counterpart to the other. While northerners expressed their views of where accents between north and south tend to shift in the other thread, I'm simply wondering if southerners hold similar views or hear that Yankee twang a bit further north or south than their counterparts. As for the point of either thread, I agree they are not likely to lead to peace in the Middle East, but figure this one has about as much significance in the big picture as most other threads opened here. That's why I said this in my OP:
I am not trying to belittle you or anything, and thanks for clearing up your intentions. If the thread was really about the furthest south you hear an northern accent, the answer is anywhere on the southern border. You simply will eventually hear a northern accent down there because of travel and transplants. *And vice versa for southern accents in the north, the answer is the Canadian border*
If the thread is about where the transition between the accents being common is, then my point about people putting the line FAR too south remains the same. (Unless they consider the General American/North midland accents to be "northern accents". They aren't. They are central accents famous for being the most lacking in regional characteristics.)
I am not trying to belittle you or anything, and thanks for clearing up your intentions.
Nope - didn't take it that way at all. Your comments help me realize a more thorough explanation might bring more clarity to the thread. Appreciate your posts.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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In Kentucky accents start to transition from around Louisville to north of Lexington. Accents among multigenerational Louisvillians could be anything from strongly Midwestern to very Southern and twangy. Most people I work with have neural accents with just a little twang. Lexington accents are very Southern (with tons of transplants from Appalachian Kentucky) but get 20 miles north of the city and they start to transition. By the time you get to the Cincinnati suburbs of Northern KY you're in a place that feels unquestionably Midwestern.
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