The southern accent in western Texas?

[Cathy4017]

Believe me, those of us who are hard of hearing (and it's not about volume) LIKE the neutral (i.e. Midwestern) accents.

It's crisp and clear....and it IS more easily understood than some of these drawly Southern accents or the various upper East Coast ones.

[Johnhw2]

I agree, the accent of the midwest like Nebraska got a lot of pub when Johnny Carson was such an icon and he had that neutral accent since he was from Neb. Dont knock it ....it works as a global english accent

[Two4damoney]

Originally Posted by ReppingDFW

Where I live, Southern accents with young people are almost nonexistent. Transplants + young natives raised around transplants = fading accents. I'm a native with a standard American accent (parents are from elsewhere), so I'm pretty unbiased when it comes to listening to accents. Lubbock had more of a "Texas drawl" compared to the Southern accents of East Texas that could be coming from any number of Southern States.

Yeah I think youre right. I notice that alot of the young people here speak with neutral accents. Its mostly the middle aged and older people around here that I hear the "Texas drawl" from.

[SteelBubble]

The Texas accent is still alive and well! I'm a transplant. I moved to Houston with my family when I was about 14. Although the accent is not as apparent in the younger generation, I have noticed that there still is an accent. It's extremely subtle, especially with the younger generation.

For example, a lot of Texans pronounce "tin" and "ten" the same way. I also often hear "when" pronounced as "whin." The short "e" vowel is often replaced with an "i". Another example is when Texans pronounce "length." They usually say "LEEENGTH" with a long e. These are just some minor differences I've noticed when I moved to Texas.

[doctorjef]

OMG! Someone has been digging up all the old threads.

Yes, several varieties of essentially Southern accent exist in different parts of Texas and I don't think they are being diluted as a general rule. Certain socioeconomically advantaged urban kids speak a somewhat more generic form of Young American, but it seems more a social class/educational artifact than a general generational change.