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I want to know what Mary Lincoln accent would have been. I just don't think she had a deep southern accent as I have heard portrayed. Coming From Kentucky I believe it would have been different than the south. I would love to hear the accent because I am from WV but am going to do a living history presentation on her.
I have read that Sally Field researched Mary Todd Lincoln's accent, but she sounded way too deep-Southern to me in "Lincoln".
It's almost died out now, but when I was a child, many genteel older Lexington ladies spoke with a distinctly Southern accent, but while they'd consistently drop concluding "r"s, their speech did not include the typical Virginia/Piedmont North Carolina pronunciation of "house" as "how-uuse", "tomato" as "tomahto", or "aunt" as "ahnt" - these and similar words were given the more commonly encountered pronunciation. These ladies' speech had a very slight twang - not as noticeable as that of many contemporary native Kentuckians.
Mary Todd was extremely well-educated for a woman of her time, and she belonged to an upper-class family. It's highly likely her speech would have reflected her intelligence, humor (she was very quick-witted, vivacious and funny as a young woman), education, and family and social background.
Many of Mary Todd Lincoln's letters have been published in book form - perhaps they would be helpful in recreating her speech patterns. She also spoke fluent French and her accent was said to be good - I do not know how much of her French infiltrated her English, however. It's a given that her speech would have been grammatical, expressive and articulate, with complex sentences and a large, accurately used vocabulary. Mary Todd Lincoln was also said to be a good mimic and actress - she had the lead in many school plays.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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I tend to think accents in urban areas change over time based on population patterns. Lexington was probably more Southern culturally back in the mid 1800s than it is now with so many transplants. Plus even among natives the standard American accent is becoming more prevalent everyday in the nation. The younger people in my family have no accent and could be from Anywhere USA. I and one cousin have very thick Kentucky Mid South accents, the rest of our generation have just a bit of a twang.
NKY has always been closely associated with urban Cincinnati and IMO has never been Southern in culture, the exception being people living there with parents/ grandparents from Eastern KY. If you go into a restaurant in metro Cincy and ask for biscuits and gravy or sweet tea they look at you like you just walked off a space ship.
Louisville is really interesting for accents. I mostly work with lifelong native Louisvillians. Some are very Southern and Country and could convince you they're from Pikeville. Others act and talk just like people in Ohio or central / northern Indiana. Then you have people from Southern Indiana ( a midwestern state) that talk and act just like people in Western or Southern KY. (aka Hoosier billies) It's not based on sides of town either. In Louisville Southern or Midwestern comes down to the individual.
Comin from Spencer county KY I been told I have a thick drawl by folks from other parts of my I have noticed that folks in other parts of my sound different then folks from my neck if the woods, we might sound different but we all talk the same. We tend to drop the"g" at the end of words and we all use y'all am I the only one who noticed this?
I want to know what Mary Lincoln accent would have been. I just don't think she had a deep southern accent as I have heard portrayed. Coming From Kentucky I believe it would have been different than the south. I would love to hear the accent because I am from WV but am going to do a living history presentation on her.
Alot of the accents portayed in historical films for southerners is traditionally the accent you would've heard from the aristocrats of the region of the eastern tidewater region of Virginia and NC so its entirely possible if an early wealthy Ky plantation owner was maybe one or two generations removed from a settler from that region. You have to remember, Ky was still a young state then and not very populated but was developing a strong kinship with the southern colonies that birthed her, namely VA, MD, NC.
Kentuckys accent developed from alot of the influx of settlers from Virginia, Maryland and western/central NC which is why the states traditional accent today is somewhat southern. They were the first to propagate the state so laid out its accent. Alot of frontiersmen of the day wouldve spoke with a twang very similar to the appalachian accent with some english inflections in the sound. More educated southerners wouldve had that very uppety aristocratic eastern Va accent, and the english was VERY formal that was spoken. Frontersmen wouldve had the standard appalachian twang that we hear alot of still today in Ky. Lincoln himself would've had some twang to his accent as well since he came from a Ky frontier family with I believe VA roots. I remember reading in his senate elections in Illinois, opponents sometimes made fun of his frontier accent with the twang.
Mary Todd, im not sure what her background was? I assume eastern VA tidewater like many early wealthy Ky landowners and aristocrats so she probably did have somewhat of a southern accent like the upperclass from the region. Even much of MD in those days had the same accent.
It varies. Louisville is very diverse and actually has a sizable international population. People who hail from their originally will occasionally slip into a country accent, but not all of them. I'm actually from farther south of Louisville (visit the area often for the amazing food & record stores) but have lost most of my drawl. I try to keep enough just to be charming, though.
For what its worth here is a native Louisville dialect. I'm from Louisville and this is how all of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins talk. My nieces and nephews on the other hand barely have any twang at all.
For what its worth here is a native Louisville dialect. I'm from Louisville and this is how all of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins talk. My nieces and nephews on the other hand barely have any twang at all.
I've heard lot's of folks in Kentucky ( Tennessee as well ) that have a slight tinge of southern like in this accent you've posted. but kmost in my family have a much thicker southern accent, of course most are from western Kentucky around Owensboro..
I wish I had a recording of my friends. My good friend Tim is from SW Louisville all his life and he has a very thick, typical what I'd call a solid Kentucky accent, it's much thicker than the women in this recording, and he's born and raised in Louisville as were his parents and grandparents. You'd maybe think he was from eastern Kentucky6 or western Kentucky if you heard him talk I guess.
My other friend was born in Louisville and raised around Fairdale and areas around the airport. They went to Seneca HS at one point as well, they have a thicker Kentucky accent, or what I call a Kentucky accent, a little thicker than the recording here.
I also have friends from up river, fairly close to Cinnci and they have heavy, typical Kentucky accents.
Now, my two cousins, born in Owensboro but raised in NE Louisville ( Anchorage KY ) since they were babies have accents similar to this recording you posted. BUT they are very UPPER class and wealthy, however their mom and dad, my aunt and Uncle from western Kentucky have very thick southern accents.
My moms accent is very similar to the accent in this recording, but she hasn't lived in Kentucky in over 30 years, my dad said she had a heavier accent when he first married her. She's retiring soon and planning on returning to Kentucky in a year or two.
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