Picking up an accent??? (Hampton, Roanoke: how much, home, college)

[Teebyrd86]

Hey All! This threads kind of funny.. I moved to the region back in June of last year.. Various people both at work and neighbors have told me I have picked up the "country" accent that most people in Roanoke have. They say each day it gets more and more obvious. When I go home to visit they too tell me the same thing. Its not like I am doing this on pourpose. My question is.. Has anyone else picked up the accent or been told that they have. I dont see any difference but I guess its because you dont always hear what others hear. Is it possible to have a completely different accent after only 9 months of being in a town? I honestly dont care if I now have a country accent.. I am just curious to how true it might be. Thanks!!!

[PaperTrail]

I've been in the Roanoke area for almost 11 months, and I can't tell that I've developed any accent yet. I grew up in Northern Indiana, which means I have as much of a non-accent as possible. My parents, who still live there, haven't commented on any change in my tone.

Maybe your native accent factors into how much you adopt new regional accents. I have heard some interesting New Jersey-Southern accent mixes down here.

I will say that I find myself using words that are distinctly Southern (ya'll or hop-in), but I will never -- never -- leave my "pop" behind

[Oneida]

[quote=Teebyrd86;2968529] My question is.. Has anyone else picked up the accent or been told that they have.

Hi Teebyrd86,

I live in Wisconsin and all I have to do is talk to somebody from Va on the phone and I have such an Accent. It gets really bad if I spend anytime in VA. I guess the kids better get use to it. We are moving around Roanoke, sometime this year. Our 6yr son has always had an Accent. Which everybody up here thinks is really funny. (A Wisconsin boy with a VA accent) and he's never left the state of Wisconsin.

[Pikantari]

I am in the Hampton Roads area, and have been since 89. My family is still up in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

My accent? Oh yea... I got a little country going on here now. Didn't take long at all. Funny thing is, when I go back and visit with my brothers and sisters, I get my original sound back, and keep it for a little while once I am back home again.

Then I start all over... My children were both born here, so they have it.. truly. Much heavier than mine is.

[seanpecor]

It does creep in here and there. For me it's mostly the common southern phrases. I haven't incorporated "I reckon" or "yonder" yet but I find myself using the term "and what-not" in place of "and so on" I also notice I pronounce my home state of Vermont as "VERR-mont" instead of "ver-MAWNT". And I'll say stuff like "it was a hoot" and I pronounce "hoot" with something like a wavy "ooooo" sound that other folks here use in all of their "oo" words like "pool" or "tool".

Sean

[rubytue]

Originally Posted by Oneida

I live in Wisconsin and all I have to do is talk to somebody from Va on the phone and I have such an Accent. It gets really bad if I spend anytime in VA. I guess the kids better get use to it. We are moving around Roanoke, sometime this year. Our 6yr son has always had an Accent. Which everybody up here thinks is really funny. (A Wisconsin boy with a VA accent) and he's never left the state of Wisconsin.

I'm the same way (but from TN). I swear, driving down 81, my accent changes as soon as I hit Bristol. I live in Maryland now, and most people I talk to say I don't have a southern accent. But put me on the phone with my father and it comes right back.

[Neutre]

Hi!

I also picked up the Swabian accent when I lived there (I live in Rostock now).
It took me months to get rid of it.

[madbbqer]

[quote=Oneida;2973026]

Originally Posted by Teebyrd86

My question is.. Has anyone else picked up the accent or been told that they have.

Hi Teebyrd86,

I live in Wisconsin and all I have to do is talk to somebody from Va on the phone and I have such an Accent. It gets really bad if I spend anytime in VA. I guess the kids better get use to it. We are moving around Roanoke, sometime this year. Our 6yr son has always had an Accent. Which everybody up here thinks is really funny. (A Wisconsin boy with a VA accent) and he's never left the state of Wisconsin.

Funny someone from wisCAHNsin is talking about accents.....

[cheerbear]

I am originally from NC, but lately I've been told that I sound more like a Virginian. While this might seem like an apples to apples comparison, when I first started going to college in the area, people could identify my state of origin in a five minute conversation with no trouble at all. So I guess you could say I've switched from one Southern accent to another. I've even started pronouncing "Buchanan" in the same distinctive way that the locals do! Aargh! Must change that!

[breeze823]

So how do they pronounce Buchanan? Our agent said it was different than it looked but I didn't hear what she said? I don't want to sound funny when I say it