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View Poll Results: Accuracy of Southern Speech Map
Completely Accurate 5 6.49%
90%+ Accurate 33 42.86%
75%-90% Accurate 22 28.57%
Less than 75% Accurate 17 22.08%
Voters: 77. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
Old 06-15-2009, 10:53 AM
 
925 posts, read 2,598,014 times
Reputation: 542

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Here is the map of Southern Speech that I constructed. It is based on my travels all across the south, as well as my trips to every state within the U.S.

I've seen a lot of maps before, and I've felt that they do not do justice to the realities of the south.

Anyhow, here is the map.

Brownish-Red/Burnt Sienna: Appalachian Twang/Drawl: Strongest identifiable southern speech.

Red: Deep South Drawl: Second strongest most identifiable southern speech.

Orange: Medium Southern Accent: The typical southern accent. Not as strong as the Appalachian Twang or Deep Southern Drawl.

Yellow: Upper South southern accent: A mild southern accent. Typical or the upper regions of the south.

Bright Green: Diluted Regions: Areas where transplants have settled in great numbers, to the point where many people (transplants) do not have an identifiable southern accent, or where native older adults speak with a strong southern accent, whereby the influence of the transplants have weakened the accent of the native younger adult and teen population to a mild southern accent.

Purple: French-Influenced Southern Speech and/or Cajun.

Olive: Southern speech with an interspersed large population of Spanish speakers.

Blue: Western Speech/No Discernible Southern Speech with an interspersed large population of Spanish Speakers.

Light Blue: Population consist primarily of Spanish Speaking residents with a majority who can also speak English. No discernible southern speech outside of a small minority.

Gray: No Discernible Southern Speech.




So tell me, how accurate is it?

Southern Speech Map-southern-speech.jpg

Last edited by City Fanatic; 06-15-2009 at 11:06 AM..
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Fort Worth/Dallas
11,887 posts, read 36,809,717 times
Reputation: 5663
Interesting map city. Thanks for posting. I think it's pretty accurate myself.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:29 AM
 
542 posts, read 1,493,413 times
Reputation: 365
-There should be a little more yellow in Southern Maryland & the Eastern Shore(Lower Half in particular), and arguably far Western Maryland
-Gray should encompass a little more of Northeast Virginia
-The Cincinnati accent has always reminded me of the Baltimore one, but I can see why you put each respective area in its color scheme
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:32 AM
 
22,768 posts, read 30,611,824 times
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I think it is very accurate, I'm impressed.

I would not call it an Appalachian "Drawl/Twang", just a twang.

I like the concept of "Diluted Regions," but I would not consider Greenville or Columbia to be diluted. In NC I would just have the Charlotte CSA and the Raleigh-Durham CSA. The Piedmont Crescent (including the Triad) is not so thoroughly diluted, you still have some strong, twangy, piedmont accents outside the cities. I would add more dilution up and down the SC and NC coasts, but it can shift drastically as you move inland away from the beaches.

If I remember correctly, Florida's orange areas should be red like Georgia and LA.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
7,731 posts, read 14,297,017 times
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90% + accurate in my opinion.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:38 AM
 
2,437 posts, read 8,155,604 times
Reputation: 1532
90% accurate IMO... How did you come up with the actual borders? Documented data or just gut feeeling based on personal experience?

One thing... It would be a lot better if the legend in the map itself was more legible, so that I don;t have to bounce back and forth between your post and the map.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:39 AM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,357,158 times
Reputation: 3365
The yellow needs to extend much further into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. The Southern-influenced accent doesn't stop until you are above I-70, in the center of those states.

Also, I've never been to Texas, but I find it hard to imagine that the Southern accent excludes South Texas.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:48 AM
 
542 posts, read 1,493,413 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rubber_factory View Post
I think it is very accurate, I'm impressed.

I would not call it an Appalachian "Drawl/Twang", just a twang.

I like the concept of "Diluted Regions," but I would not consider Greenville or Columbia to be diluted.
Or Memphis. There are some transplants, but not enough to dilute the accent there, or amongst the younger citizens.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:48 AM
 
925 posts, read 2,598,014 times
Reputation: 542
Quote:
Originally Posted by kazoopilot View Post
The yellow needs to extend much further into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. The Southern-influenced accent doesn't stop until you are above I-70, in the center of those states.

Also, I've never been to Texas, but I find it hard to imagine that the Southern accent excludes South Texas.
The reason I placed the accent line where I did in the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio is because:

Illinois: In places such as Mt. Vernon and Carbondale, as various smaller towns, I didn't sense that much of a southern accent. If it was there, it was a faint southern accent. I did, however, notice the accent south of the I-57/I-24 merge. North of that, not so much.

With Missouri, even Kansas (eastern portion), I've heard southern accents farther north, up to around I-70, but they aren't in the majority (say, no more than 20% of the people I spoke with).
Indiana: I did notice the accent a little farter north in this state than Illinois, as shown on the map, but it wasn't that pronounced, if at all, beyond thirty or forty miles north of Louisville.

Ohio: I didn't notice the southern accent in the Cincinnati area, beyond a few individuals on the Ohio side, and a minority population on the Kentucky side. Only in southeastern Ohio did I sense a majority southern speaking population, and that was a very mild southern accent.
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Old 06-15-2009, 11:49 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
7,731 posts, read 14,297,017 times
Reputation: 2774
^kazoopilot - That region of South Texas is very Latin dominated. You would hear more Spanglish than anything.
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