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Chicago accent with Black folk is pretty southern-ish...Locals pronounce the city name "Shi-ka-Go". They pronounce words like "All" by saying "awwl" or "yaawl". It's noticeable to someone from the East Coast. Baltimore has it's own thing for sure, but is still very East Coast in accent. It's 90 miles from Philly. The words that are questionable in Baltimore really have little to do with the South, "Tew", "Dew", "Yew", "Blew" etc. Anything past Cleveland to me has a Midwest twang to it, the accents are noticeable and stand out as having more twang than any states on the East Coast from the DC area northward. My cousins from Cincinnati sound country.
Black people from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan all have a strong southern dialect.
Spend a summer and a winter in both, and you'll quickly known which one is more like the South and which is more like the North from a climate perspective.
That's silly. Baltimore has the same exact weather as Philly, plus or minus 5 degrees.
That's silly. Baltimore has the same exact weather as Philly, plus or minus 5 degrees.
Was I comparing Baltimore and Philly? No. Baltimore and Chicago summers and (especially) winters are pretty different. Besides, Philly is both 1) not that far from the coast (giving a tempering effect), and 2) not that far from the southern Midatlantic (i.e., towards the southern edge of the Northeast).
Black people from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan all have a strong southern dialect.
I don’t hear it from folks in Michigan or Ohio at all. Note LeBron James, Bow Wow Jalen Rose, Chris Webber..my boss is a black man from Celeveland I don’t hear it at all.
Now my friend from Chicago? Oh my god...country as hell
Lived there 6 years, IMO not much. If you ask Kode Blue he'll give you a different take.
I mean Baltimore has it's historical southern roots yes. There are some remnants still, but to me Baltimore is a product of being in it's exact location that it is. A NE corridor city with lots of Black people, and a few white ethnic enclaves, Hispanics sprinkled in small number, and more Northern leaning than Southern. DC is the middle ground. Mostly in the Beltway it's not Southern nowadays, but once you get 40 miles South of it you can tell the difference. By the time you get to Richmond it's clear you are in the South, but not anything like the deep south or even Carolinas.
The point I was making about the accents are that to me the MD-VA regional "black accent" isn't to my ear as country sounding as (some) in Black Chicago. There you hear people say "Awww" when pronouncing "All" things like that, you don't hear that in DC, Baltimore, and maybe not even in Richmond.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DC's Finest
Chicago's black population is decidedly more southern than Baltimore's black population, which copies off of New York.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KodeBlue
Black people in Chicago have more of a stereotypical southern accent than Baltimore. I don't know where the hell our (Baltimore) accent came from. It doesn't sound like anywhere else, not even it's closest neighbors DC and Philly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the resident09
Black Baltimore's accent is closest to Philly/Delaware/South Jerz, but still unique in it's own right. I agree the overall culture would be considered more southern influenced than Chicago, but it's not a classic city in the South.
Chicago's blacks vary a lot. There are some with Midwestern (white-sounding) accents, some with a kind of hybrid accents, and some with stereotypical southern accents.
In Baltimore/DC, almost all blacks have a degree of a southern twang to their accents.
In Chicago, there is a mix to the black accents. Here are some samples of the variety of different black accents:
In Baltimore and DC, you can't find many native blacks without a hint of a southern accent. I grew up there. I would say that there are a lot more southern-sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC. I agree that you will find more deep-southern sounding blacks in Chicago than in Baltimore/DC. But in terms of overall percentages, you will find more traditional southern sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC than Chicago, which makes sense given that that region once was (and technically still is Southern).
Chicago's blacks vary a lot. There are some with Midwestern (white-sounding) accents, some with a kind of hybrid accents, and some with stereotypical southern accents.
In Baltimore/DC, almost all blacks have a degree of a southern twang to their accents.
In Chicago, there is a mix to the black accents. Here are some samples of the variety of different black accents:
In Baltimore and DC, you can't find many native blacks without a hint of a southern accent. I grew up there. I would say that there are a lot more southern-sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC. I agree that you will find more deep-southern sounding blacks in Chicago than in Baltimore/DC. But in terms of overall percentages, you will find more traditional southern sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC than Chicago, which makes sense given that that region once was (and technically still is Southern).
Technically speaking, any accent that Baltimore or DC has is a southern accent since both are southern cities. Every city has variations in their accent as well: Jada Pinkett, Toni Braxton, don't have typical Baltimore accents , but people like Monique, or Traci Braxton (Toni's sister) have heavy accents. Generally speaking, black people from Chicago have more of what would be considered a southern accent than Baltimore.
Chicago's blacks vary a lot. There are some with Midwestern (white-sounding) accents, some with a kind of hybrid accents, and some with stereotypical southern accents.
In Baltimore/DC, almost all blacks have a degree of a southern twang to their accents.
In Chicago, there is a mix to the black accents. Here are some samples of the variety of different black accents:
In Baltimore and DC, you can't find many native blacks without a hint of a southern accent. I grew up there. I would say that there are a lot more southern-sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC. I agree that you will find more deep-southern sounding blacks in Chicago than in Baltimore/DC. But in terms of overall percentages, you will find more traditional southern sounding blacks in Baltimore/DC than Chicago, which makes sense given that that region once was (and technically still is Southern).
The "region" where Baltimore is, is definitely not southern. Yes, I have seen the U.S. Census Bureau map/classification. No, I don't care, as there are several other reputable organizations that would classify it as a Northeastern city, and no one organization is the end-all be all for dictating which states are in which region. In basically every functional and meaningful metric possible, Baltimore is a *northeastern* and northern city, and the region it is in, at best is simply a mix of the upper south and Northeast; similar to Cincinnati and St Louis.
As for accents, I definitely see/meet far more southern sounding blacks in Chicago (and nearby Midwestern cities) than northern-sounding blacks. But nonetheless, any southern characteristics of Chicago, has certainly almost entirely been brought up from the black population during the great migration. Chicago is known for soul food, jazz/blues music, and being a fairly black city, which yes, are all traits of a southern city in some ways. However the white population definitely has mostly nothing to do with the south; Chicago has ought to be one of the most Catholic major cities in the U.S., and most of the whites here are ethnically Irish, German, Polish, or Italian, which is not alike to most southern cities.
I don’t hear it from folks in Michigan or Ohio at all. Note LeBron James, Bow Wow Jalen Rose, Chris Webber..my boss is a black man from Celeveland I don’t hear it at all.
Now my friend from Chicago? Oh my god...country as hell
I believe Chicago’s Black southern accent is more consistent by and large than Michigan and Ohio but I hear some country in some folks depending on who it is in Michigan and Ohio.
Like the way some Detroiters pronounce “down” or “here” plus people like Judge Mathis or hell just listen to a lot of new Detroit rappers or hood movies and you would swear some of these cats came straight from Alabama. They even use the term “den a mug”. Growing up I always thought that was some Texas slang.
As far as Ohio, I hear a lot of country folks from Ohio. Ron Isley/Bootsy Collins/ Judge Lynn Toler...The actor from Living Single who played Overton. Him being country was like a running gag on the show. Bone Thugs use to get mistaken for being a Southern or Westcoast rap group from Eastcoast cats back in the 90s.
Those names you mention had to go through training as public speakers with the exception of Bow Wow so of course their accents won’t be as deep. Bow Wow left Ohio as a kid so that’s not even a good example. Hell, I know Steve Harvey originally from West VA but he spent half of his childhood in Cleveland and he’s one of the countriest entertainers I’ve heard.
I’ve been to Akron plenty of times to visit my Uncle(originally from TX) one of my best friends originally from Youngstown and I probably know of a good amount of Black folks from both states just living in between Houston and Atlanta and as a Southerner I can hear the country in their dialect by and large. Some non existent, most I definitely hear it. Maybe not as apparent as Chicago or St.Louis even though I think with some Ohio people it’s just as strong imo.
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