Do you consider Ohio "Midwest" or "Back East?" (Columbus: city hall, crime)

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by 1watertiger

cinci,i know what you are saying. to ny everyone is a hick... but what im saying is the accents are different in ohio. people in c-bus sound different than cleveland for example. no ? the people in cinci sound different than cleveland also.. maybe its just me. anyone else from ohio care to join in ?

Okay, so ....

Northern Ohioans sound southern and southern Ohioans sound southern?

Right. I think it's obvious that no one has been south of KY then -except for me?

[BelieveInCleve]

I came here late so I dont exactly know what the whole debate/argument/disagreement that you guys have is about. On the topic of accents though:

I will say that there is an obvious difference in the accent of the general populations in different areas in Ohio. For example, SE Ohio accents sound completely different than NE Ohio accents.

Cincinnati accents are not full southern, but are leaning towards southern. It is a good amount south of Northern Ohio so it should be that way comparatively though.

I also have to point out that different neighborhoods in the same city can have different accents. And different cities in the same area can have different accents. People from high class suburbs with good education will talk different than people from bad, low income neighborhoods. People from rural areas and outlying trailer parks will talk different than both of those. Im from low income neighborhoods, and in my normal speech I regularly use "yall" and slang terms. That just what I grew up with and the accent I picked up. It is more proper now, and when typing on the computer like now I really try to use proper grammar so everyone can understand me. The general populations accent in an area will have a pull on everyone, but just some less than others.

[MaryBeth2]

: Cle440, how about 'crek' instead of 'creek'? You know what we're talking about. It's fact, the group/family I have say things in a way that I can hear a million miles away. That's no debate. I am from Ohia!

[1watertiger]

cinci, i have no clue what your saying. i have never been told by anyone that clevelanders sound southern. but if you reason the entire state sounds southern thats your opinion. the central/southern parts of the state have a more pronounced southern accent then.? ps- your logic puts detroit,chicago,etc in the same southern accent ? i dont think so..

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by 1watertiger

cinci, i have no clue what your saying.

Finally. I was hoping that you'd see there was no logic in your own argument.

There will always be someone else that "thinks" your accent is southern in this country. If I had to come up with a scale of southern-nothern accents, it'd probably look like this:

smalltown Alabama
Tupelo, MS
Birmingham, AL
Savanah, GA
Memphis, TN
Houston, TX
Nashville, TN
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Baltimore, MA
Indianapolis, IN
Cincinnati, OH
Dayton, OH
Cols, OH
Pittsburgh, PA
Toledo, OH
Cleveland, OH
Detroit, MI
Chicago
Milwaukee
Minne
NYC
Providence
Boston

[Neuling]

Interesting thread, to a European there are basically only two kinds of American English, neutral news-type and broad Southern

I get the impression that some comments here confuse accent with dialect Grammar, vocabulary etc. don't have much to do with accent, I guess accent is about pronunciation only, usually the pronunciation of someone trying to speak a language or dialect that is on their own.

When people keep moving all over the continent in the States, are dialects gradually disappearing over there? Here in Europe this is happening, some don't care, others join folk-like groups where they try to save or reanimate dialects, dress up in funny costumes and stuff

[QCP]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

Finally. I was hoping that you'd see there was no logic in your own argument.

There will always be someone else that "thinks" your accent is southern in this country. If I had to come up with a scale of southern-nothern accents, it'd probably look like this:

smalltown Alabama
Tupelo, MS
Birmingham, AL
Savanah, GA
Memphis, TN
Houston, TX
Nashville, TN
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Baltimore, MA
Indianapolis, IN
Cincinnati, OH
Dayton, OH
Cols, OH
Pittsburgh, PA
Toledo, OH
Cleveland, OH
Detroit, MI
Chicago
Milwaukee
Minne
NYC
Providence
Boston

Wow, you must have really bored today.

[MaryBeth2]

Originally Posted by Neuling

Interesting thread, to a European there are basically only two kinds of American English, neutral news-type and broad Southern

I get the impression that some comments here confuse accent with dialect Grammar, vocabulary etc. don't have much to do with accent, I guess accent is about pronunciation only, usually the pronunciation of someone trying to speak a language or dialect that is on their own.

When people keep moving all over the continent in the States, are dialects gradually disappearing over there? Here in Europe this is happening, some don't care, others join folk-like groups where they try to save or reanimate dialects, dress up in funny costumes and stuff

You could have a point there!

[Neuling]

Do people in the States make fun of certain accents and dialects? In Germany there is a dialect called Saxon, which everybody makes fun of

By the way, that should have read: "...dialect that is not their own." in my post above :P

[MaryBeth2]

Originally Posted by Neuling

Do people in the States make fun of certain accents and dialects? In Germany there is a dialect called Saxon, which everybody makes fun of

By the way, that should have read: "...dialect that is not their own." in my post above :P

There will always be people that make fun of people that are different from themselves. That's a human element.