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I think its interesting. But everyone mentions how the South becomes less "Southern". Some people call this "progress". I laugh at that. Anyways, I mean, in reality, the North retains its culture. Is that because Northern culture is dominant over Southern culture? You never hear someone up North say "This place just isn't as Northern as it used be". In a sense, Southern culture seems much more vulnerable and fragile. Like a small child.
What happens? No one loses their Northern accents. Go to Boston or New York or Chicago, and you'll still hear young people sound relatively the same as their parents did. But the South seems to become "diluted" over time. Except in very very rural areas. So does anyone know what the cause and effect might be?
Because there isn't a large exodus from the South to the north like there is vice versa. If this was a 100 years ago, it would be a different story...there were plenty of cities then that started to grow a sort of southern influence especially as blacks moved towards the north.
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Originally Posted by Ant131531
Because there isn't a large exodus from the South to the north like there is vice versa. If this was a 100 years ago, it would be a different story...there were plenty of cities then that started to grow a sort of southern influence especially as blacks moved towards the north.
Exactly. The black accents in both Chicago, Detroit, and even Ohio all have a twang of southern in them. Due to the generation before them that moved North for work.
Exactly. The black accents in both Chicago, Detroit, and even Ohio all have a twang of southern in them. Due to the generation before them that moved North for work.
Have you noticed that blacks in DC and Chicago have a very similar accent?
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Originally Posted by KodeBlue
Have you noticed that blacks in DC and Chicago have a very similar accent?
No IMO they are much different. There have been some slang terms that both cities have claimed to created first. To me a Chicago accent, is slightly country twang, where as DC is more of a mix north and south.
Chicago blacks will stretch out their vowels much longer even with a simple word like "Hi", it sounds like there saying "Hat" or towel sounds like "Taaal". DC is more enunciated in that aspect.
People in the Northeast, at least, don't complain about neighborhoods becoming less "Northern," but they do often complain about city neighborhoods becoming less ethnic -- especially as newcomers from other parts of the country move in. That's especially true of white ethnic neighborhoods in many Northeast cities like New York, but also happens in many black neighborhoods and some Lation ones as well. It's the same dynamic. Lots of people don't like change and want where they live to stay just like it always was, whether its the deep South, South Boston, or the South Bronx.
Have you noticed that blacks in DC and Chicago have a very similar accent?
Nah.
Black regional accents are largely tied to the patterns of the Great Migration. Black people in Chicago are more likely to have roots in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee....places with deeper southern accents. There's a lot of coming and going of relatives especially with the time on her tradition of black kids going down south for the summer (because working parents couldn't watch them). Black people came to DC primarily from VA and the Carolinas. Black people on the west Coast are usually from Texas and Louisiana. This gives us that Snoop Dogg accent.
What happens? No one loses their Northern accents. Go to Boston or New York or Chicago, and you'll still hear young people sound relatively the same as their parents did.
How many 20-somethings these days do you hear with thick regional accents? None I've ever heard, honestly.
It seems like regional accents started dying out with the Baby Boomers, and have faded ever since. Even here in Minnesota, the only people who have the stereotypical accent (especially in the Twin Cities metro) are people over age 55 or so.
I work with a bunch of younger Millennials (kids born in the 90s) who are all Minnesota natives who can't even pronounce words the normal Minnesotan way. They all say "bahg" instead of "bayg" (bag), "ex-PAIR-ih-mint" instead of "ix-SPEAR-mint" (experiment), and "Cul-low-RAH-doe" instead of "Cahl-low-RAD-doe" (Colorado). The accent is slowly being eroded away due to influences from mass media and entertainment, as is the case all over the country.
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