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It's definitely gotten softer in the larger cities across the south, but definitely still there.
The same thing is happening in the North, though. Some traits of Northern accents like what NYC or Boston accents sound like are not heard of anymore. Interestingly they aren't moving toward General American, but more into a heavily nasal Great Lakes accent as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift slowly crawls east and west. This means some Northern accents get stronger while some get weaker. Philly, NYC, and Boston are losing their distinctive accents in their own way as NCVS crawls east. What is interesing though is that the Southern trait of Philadelphia, O fronting, shows no sign of going anywhere.
Last edited by EddieOlSkool; 04-02-2015 at 11:42 AM..
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"Save the people of Gaza"
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It ain't going nowhere. People say this about all accents, I'm beginning to think most people that say this are so used to a certain accent they don't notice it. People have always said "Oh, people in the Twin Cities don't speak with a Minnesota accent. It's very neutral." Okay, sure. In what world is pronouncing "bag" like "beg" and elongating the "ooo" neutral? :P People say the same thing about DFW. "Only people in the country have an actual Texas accent." Whatever you say
Accents in cities are definitely more watered down but oh they're not going anywhere. Sometimes its subtle but yea. I don't see why the southern accent would go away or any other accent. I've yet to find a place where people truly "talk neutral." Everywhere has certain distinct traits and even "accentless" people only SEEM so until they say certain words, or are drunk or angry. I never even noticed how much an accent I have til I moved to Minnesota! I bet you there's lots of southerners who don't think they have an accent, but they do. Its subtle but its there. Same thing with northerners.
It ain't going nowhere. People say this about all accents, I'm beginning to think most people that say this are so used to a certain accent they don't notice it. People have always said "Oh, people in the Twin Cities don't speak with a Minnesota accent. It's very neutral." Okay, sure. In what world is pronouncing "bag" like "beg" and elongating the "ooo" neutral? :P People say the same thing about DFW. "Only people in the country have an actual Texas accent." Whatever you say
Accents in cities are definitely more watered down but oh they're not going anywhere. Sometimes its subtle but yea. I don't see why the southern accent would go away or any other accent. I've yet to find a place where people truly "talk neutral." Everywhere has certain distinct traits and even "accentless" people only SEEM so until they say certain words, or are drunk or angry. I never even noticed how much an accent I have til I moved to Minnesota! I bet you there's lots of southerners who don't think they have an accent, but they do. Its subtle but its there. Same thing with northerners.
Amen. Same for Oklahoma. As long as there are bonafide Okies, there will be an Okie accent.
It ain't going nowhere. People say this about all accents, I'm beginning to think most people that say this are so used to a certain accent they don't notice it. People have always said "Oh, people in the Twin Cities don't speak with a Minnesota accent. It's very neutral." Okay, sure. In what world is pronouncing "bag" like "beg" and elongating the "ooo" neutral? :P People say the same thing about DFW. "Only people in the country have an actual Texas accent." Whatever you say
Accents in cities are definitely more watered down but oh they're not going anywhere. Sometimes its subtle but yea. I don't see why the southern accent would go away or any other accent. I've yet to find a place where people truly "talk neutral." Everywhere has certain distinct traits and even "accentless" people only SEEM so until they say certain words, or are drunk or angry. I never even noticed how much an accent I have til I moved to Minnesota! I bet you there's lots of southerners who don't think they have an accent, but they do. Its subtle but its there. Same thing with northerners.
If anything I feel the Southern accent will migrate North and the Northern one to the South. They'll just shift position.
People have always said "Oh, people in the Twin Cities don't speak with a Minnesota accent. It's very neutral." Okay, sure. In what world is pronouncing "bag" like "beg" and elongating the "ooo" neutral? :P
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