African American regional accents (school, college, living in)

[Truthfully19]

There was a thread on here a while ago that dealt with different accents of people from different regions in the country. While many descriptions of those accents were dead on I feel that they didn't take into account how blacks in those areas speak. Its a misconception that blacks everywhere speak the same. In school I have friends from Detroit, Texas, Memphis, Cali, Kansas etc..and each one of them speak with their own accent...

[IBrakeforTailgaters]

It's true. I love watching television shows and hearing those differences in dialects and accents when large groups of people are together. Here in the Carolinas, some accents sharply contrast. One of the prettiest accents I've ever heard is the Gullah/Geechy accents of people in the South Carolina Low Country. When I was in college, I frequently visited my family who lives near Charleston. We went to church one weekend, and I was just amazed at the way they sounded when they really started giving their praises. It was so pretty!

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Truthfully19

There was a thread on here a while ago that dealt with different accents of people from different regions in the country. While many descriptions of those accents were dead on I feel that they didn't take into account how blacks in those areas speak. Its a misconception that blacks everywhere speak the same. In school I have friends from Detroit, Texas, Memphis, Cali, Kansas etc..and each one of them speak with their own accent...

That can vary within a family too. For instance, my father is from Mississippi and my mother is from South Carolina. While my father still has remnants of a Southern accent, my mother's accent is pretty much in tact. Keep in mind, these are two people that have been living in Upstate NY since the mid 60's or so. Let alone the fact that their children speak with another accent due to where they were born.

[Truthfully19]

Im from Chicago and their is a different way of speaking among african americans that I can't readily identify maybe its because I live here. But I never noticed it until I went away to school and many of my friends down south commented on my speech and how I talked. Its so funny how the accent changes in a place as close as Milwaukee. To me they sound a bit like people from Detroit.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by IBrakeforTailgaters

It's true. I love watching television shows and hearing those differences in dialects and accents when large groups of people are together. Here in the Carolinas, some accents sharply contrast. One of the prettiest accents I've ever heard is the Gullah/Geechy accents of people in the South Carolina Low Country. When I was in college, I frequently visited my family who lives near Charleston. We went to church one weekend, and I was just amazed at the way they sounded when they really started giving their praises. It was so pretty!

Yes, the Lowcountry Gullah accent is quite distinct, not dissimilar from the Black New Orleans accent.

[PrinceTheo]

Definitely. AA's aren't exceptions to regional/local/class differences

[flyingwriter]

I never noticed a difference between blacks from Detroit and Chicago, but I do notice how differently they sound from non-blacks in Michigan. Many have a southern-sounding accent, at least to my untrained ear. Also, not all blacks have a different accent from whites/hispanics/asians in the same area. I know many black people (myself included) who sound like any other Michigander.

[K.O.N.Y]

theres an black accent for every region. New york, South, west (etc) just like with whites

[Truthfully19]

well actuallly blacks in detroit really round their a's and o's. You'll here words like "dog" pronounced "dawhg"...Chicago doesn't really pronounce whole words and thats something that I hadn't realized until I went away to school. Car=Caa, Snicker Bar= Snicka Ba', and there are other things also.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

I never noticed a difference between blacks from Detroit and Chicago, but I do notice how differently they sound from non-blacks in Michigan. Many have a southern-sounding accent, at least to my untrained ear. Also, not all blacks have a different accent from whites/hispanics/asians in the same area. I know many black people (myself included) who sound like any other Michigander.

I think when there is hardly or lack of a difference, that could be due to how long one's family has been living in a region as well. For example, the Blacks in Nova Scotia have people that descended from people that have been there since shortly after the Revoluntionary War from Southern states in many cases. Some say that they don't have a distinct accent, while some say they do. A part of that could be due to the different waves of Black folks to Nova Scotia. some descend from people that came after the War of 1812 also from Southern states. Some from Blacks from the Caribbean that came to work in the steel mills there. Some descend from Jamaican "Maroons" from way back as well. There were others that came in different ways as well.

Tell if you notice an accent of any kind from these films:NFB - Across Cultures

NFB - Across Cultures

and more on this:African American Vernacular English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Nova Scotians - Parableman