Poll -- Do You Have a Texas Accent? (Houston, San Antonio: credit, neighborhoods)

[TexasReb]

Good Sunday Afternoon, fellow Texans!

Ok...here is the weekly poll from yours truly.

To give credit where it is certainly due, the idea stemmed from the one started last week by Metro Matt. That is to say, according to some reasearches, the real McCoy "Texas accent" is fading. Not necessarily disappearing...but evolving, so to speak (no pun intended), especially in huge urban areas of the state.

This might be the most difficult poll I have ever attempted to produce in terms of exactly how to make the possible responses, make sense. So forgive me, please, if I fail to do so on lots of levels...

But anyway, as several of y'all mentioned (and it is VERY true), it is often quite difficult to "hear yourself" the way another hears you. Especially if the other party is from another part of the country. As my Texas sisters Cathy and LoneStar2007 bring up, sometimes what we THINK we say, is not what we REALLY say. Hell, I think I say "eye" when I am referring to myself in first person...but Becky (fiance) =-- from Colorado -- tells me that it comes across as more like "ahh"

And I don't doubt it! "Ah'm gonna run up to the store, do you want anythang while ah'm there?.."

So, bottom line is, on this poll, do you THINK (or not), you have -- generally speaking -- a "Texas accent". And -- perhaps as a minor corrallary -- mostly use idiom (i.e. "y'all", "coke", "yonder", etc) associated with Texas/South...."

Go for it, kids!

By the way, this is a MULTIPLE OPTION POLL...you can vote for more than one answer!

[Cathy4017]

I have fought "ah" for "I" for a number of years. I have NEVER said "thang" for "thing." "Thang" is really extreme, I think!

Another term you hear often is "enny" for any....I've also never said that, but it's very common.

But you know as well as I do that there are several native Texan accents throughout the state, and a native West Texan is not going to sound like a native East Texan, the latter of which is (to my ears) a much heavier "southern" accent.

Away from Texas, I find myself saying "You all" or even occasionally "you guys", since I hear it so much here in Northern NM. But you do hear y'all from other Texans here. I'm rather attached to the term myself, LOL!!

[L210]

People often ask me if I'm from San Antonio because I have a light southern accent, but it's not a Texas accent. My accent is a mix of the local, sort of neutral accent and the African American accent, so it throws people off. Although, I've been told I sound like a white person, just not from Texas. I also grew up in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods; I don't know if that has contributed to my accent.

The only Texas word I use is y'all. I never heard people say "fixin' to" or use "coke" for all sodas growing up. Instead, my family members used "finna."

[madrone2k]

This is a fun topic, partly because there are bound to be a lot of different opinions.

I was born and raised in Houston. Despite that, my friend from Queens, NY, claims I have a strong Texas accent. Not surprisingly, I think he has a strong accent. OTOH, I've had a few people (generally foreigners) ask if I'm from England (I like telling my English colleagues this, it never fails to get a reaction :-)

I'm not sure if the use of "y'all" is a good litmus test anymore ... I've read that some regionalisms have spread while others have died out. As for me, I use "y'all" a lot, but sometimes "you guys" instead. Not sure how that came about, but sometimes it one or the other just feels natural at the time.

[kenshi]

The poll has a lot of answers that aren't mutally exclusive. I went with "probably not much of one". I've been told by people from out of the region that I definitely have an accent but it's not nearly the strongest they've heard. I've been told by an Alabaman that I sound like a yankee.

As for whether I want to keep it, I'm content to keep a mild accent but I don't want a strong one.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by kenshi

The poll has a lot of answers that aren't mutally exclusive. I went with "probably not much of one". I've been told by people from out of the region that I definitely have an accent but it's not nearly the strongest they've heard. I've been told by an Alabaman that I sound like a yankee.

As for whether I want to keep it, I'm content to keep a mild accent but I don't want a strong one.

That is an interesting commentary!

I have a distant cousin who was born and raised in northern Alabama (the mountain area), and we talk occasionally. Her husband is from the same area, and not long after they got married, they moved to south Mississippi, for his job (something at a nuclear plant or whatever). She got a part time job with the local school district.

Not long after she started work, a co-worker asked her where she was oringally from...

My cousin/friend jokingly rejoined along the lines of "What makes you think I am from around here...?

The other lady just summed it up by saying her speech just did not SOUND like that spoken from south Mississippi. Southern? Yes. South Mississippi type? No.

Anyway, Sarah told her she was born and raised in north Alabama..

According to my cousin/friend, the other lady nodded knowingly, and said along the lines of "I was going to guess either north Alabama...or Texas"

[Dariusb]

I was born in Texas, Texarkana to be exact, and lived here most of my life and people always say I have a midwestern accent. My mother was raised in North Dakota, maybe that has something to do with it.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by kenshi

The poll has a lot of answers that aren't mutally exclusive.

Yes, it does. So I want to repeat that the poll is "multiple option". You can choose more than one option.

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

According to my cousin/friend, the other lady nodded knowingly, and said along the lines of "I was going to guess either north Alabama...or Texas"

Hah. My friend is from northern Alabama (Florence area) and I can say they sound nothing like us.

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Yes, it does. So I want to repeat that the poll is "multiple option". You can choose more than one option.

My mistake. I didn't realize it was possible to make such a poll. Anyway, I said which option I picked and explained further.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by kenshi

Hah. My friend is from northern Alabama (Florence area) and I can say they sound nothing like us.

Interestingly (I will have to confirm for sure), I think my friend is from that same general area of north Alabama. In fact, seems like she has mentioned Florence, quite a bit.... I DO know, she is from Waterloo, AL...and right next to the Tennessee River.

As to whether or not residents of north Alabama sound like "us" (which is a broad summation in its own right...that is to say, is it East Texas, West Texas, the blend of both, etc...etc), is highly subjective. I am only passing on what she said. And yeah, I believe it from personal experience and talking with her on the phone...

I dont know for sure what you mean when you say "us"...but that is not a problem at all...it comes up quite often in discussions like this. Which is great!

Now, I DO know that a disproportionate number of the original settlers to west Texas, came from northern Alabama and eastern Tennessee, so it would at least stand to reason that the speech patterns/dialect/accent/idiom...were and still are...the main influence.