Which Southern State Has the Strongest Southern Accent? (similarities, America, life)
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Texas: The Texas accent is definitely southern! It's Slooooooowwwwww and Twangyyy. The further west you go somewhere around San Antonio and Amarillo the Mexican accent starts to influence the dialect more and more, becoming less draaawed out and emphasizing strongly on the consonants and sylables. By the time you get to "El PAH-So" the southern accent is completely replaced by the New Mexican one, which is pretty well pronounced and resembles the Northern accent.
There is no one Texas accent, though, and I certainly don't speak slow; nor with a twang.
Which is "strongest" is a matter of mere opinion, but I can talk pretty in depth however about the regional differences of the southern accent since I've studied it quite extensively...
Florida: I reckon Florida south of the Orlando area doesn't have much of a southern accent accept for some rural inland areas as far south as Lake Okeechobee. The Central and Southern Florida accent originates from the Yankee settlers or "Snowbirds" from The Great Lakes region and the Northeast. North of the Orlando area is a diferent story where you're sure to hear that twang that we all associate with the South, from Jacksonville to Pensacola you're bound to hear a "yall" or two.
Georgia: Georgia's southern accent is quite strong but I would describe it best as a more "refined southern accent", Georgians are polite and friendly and the southern accent is never over-bearing or vulgar, its a genteel and charming accent. Paula Dean has an authentic Georgia accent. Atlanta being a large city with many newcommers at times has a much milder accent than the rest of the state.
Alabama: Alabama's accent and pesonality is pure "Redneck". Alabamans are proud, strong spirited and rather abrassive from my personal experience. Besides having a very strong twang they're also rather fond of using racial derrogatory slurs. Like the one we all know that starts with an "N". I had a friend from Alabama and I never heard the "N" word in so many new ways. lol.
Mississippi: Mississippi's accent is heavily influenced by the African-American accent, especially in the delta and in southern Mississippi, which is more low-pitched and much more drawed out. Proper gramatics are obsolete even by Southern standards. I don't even think they know how to spell "Y'all". The Northern Mississippi accent is extremely twangy. I had a friend from near Tupelo and I swear to you I had some serious trouble understanding him. I constantly had to ask him to repeat himself. Said he was from some little town called "Hayookah".. is what I understood. I laughed so hard, I kept asking him where it was that he was from, and I still couldn't understand him. LOL! Come to think about it Mississippi has the strongest accent!!!
Louisiana: My home state. Louisiana has two very distinct and very different accents. The Southern and the Northern. Southern Lousiana is home to the Cajuns and Creoles. The accent is not very "southern" at all in fact it strongly resembles the Northeastern accent of New York and Boston, but much much slower. "Kenner" is pronounced "Kennah". "Parish" is "Paaahrish". "New Orleans" (Listen up yall) is pronounced "NYEW AWLINS"... not "Nawlins" or ""New Orleeeens". The vocab is pretty colorful too if you catch my drift, New Orleanians cursing more than drunken sailors. There are strong traces of the southern accent in the vocabulary however.. "Yall" is used for everything. "Yall house" "Yall Flowas" "Yall Fu*kin Gumbo need sum moah crawfish" etc.. and alot of unique expressions and pronounciations like "It shaw is code aht cheah" "It sure is cold out here". Northern Louisiana accent is somewhere between the Texas accent and the Mississippi accent, very strong and twangy.
Texas: The Texas accent is definitely southern! It's Slooooooowwwwww and Twangyyy. The further west you go somewhere around San Antonio and Amarillo the Mexican accent starts to influence the dialect more and more, becoming less draaawed out and emphasizing strongly on the consonants and sylables. By the time you get to "El PAH-So" the southern accent is completely replaced by the New Mexican one, which is pretty well pronounced and resembles the Northern accent.
Arkansas: Arkansas accent is pretty thick too. I would best describe it as twangy and drawed out, the "R"s sound kinda like when a Dog gets his paw stepped on. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRKANSAW! ARRRRRE YA GAWNNA PARRRRRRK YURRRR CARRRRRR? CAWSE HERRRRRRREE IN ARRRRRRRRRRKANSAW WE GOTSS PARRRRRRRRKIN LAWTS!!! Yep thats Arkansas... home of OLD YELLERRRRRRR!
Tenneesee: Needless to say the state that invented Country Music and is bordered on all it's sides by Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia definitely has a strong Southern Aceent. The Memphis accent sounds alot like the Mississipi accent and is real drawled out. The Central and Eastern highland accent is more chirpy and twingy.
Kentucky: Don't know much about Kentucky other than they think they're better than Tennesse and the rest of the south so they use "You All" instead of "Yall". Bluegrass state couldn't be more country however but I think their accent isn't quite as strong as Tennesse's, but maybe I'm wrong. Beautiful state though, the most beautiful in America to me.
Carolinas: South Carolina's accent is VERY STRONG! There's no denying the "South" in "South Carolina". I knew a nice lady from Myrtle Beaych and I thought she had a SPAYCH IMPEDIMUNT until I got a chance to met the rest of her WUNDERFOWUL FAYMALY.. The South Carolina accent is one of the strongest in the South! North Carolina, in the Appalachian Smoky Mountains you're bound to hear a very strong accent similar South Carolina's, but in the urban areas of central and eastern North Carolina where alot of people came from elsewhere, it is much much milder, still country but not as strong as in South Carolina's.
Virginia: (the only confederate state besides Florida that voted democratic in the last election) Most Virginians live near Washington D.C. and that area doesn't have very much of an accent at all, Alexandria, Arlington all these places might as well be Chicago or Los Angeles accentwise. In Southern and Western part of Virginia, like the Shanedoah valley, the southern accent is pretty darn noticeable! In some parts of coastal and Northern Virginia the accent is a mixture of Southern and Northeastern, pretty interesting.
The Southern Accent is pretty widespread and In addition to the states I just mentioned It is also pretty strong in: West Virginia, Central Pensylvania, Western and Southern Maryland, Southern Ohio, Southern Indiana, Southern Missouri, Oklahoma and parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Because it has always been considered an inferior dialect, over the years it has lost ground to the Hollywood accent based on the Mid-Western accent among younger generations trying to fit in. In more recent years however, there has been a suprising reversal of this trend. This is the case everywhere accross the nation from New Hyampsha to Minesooouta. People are generally less educated nowadays than they used to be and the regional accents are becoming alot stronger and more pronounced.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,539,156 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MontyEX
Which is "strongest" is a matter of mere opinion, but I can talk pretty in depth however about the regional differences of the southern accent since I've studied it quite extensively...
Florida: I reckon Florida south of the Orlando area doesn't have much of a southern accent accept for some rural inland areas as far south as Lake Okeechobee. The Central and Southern Florida accent originates from the Yankee settlers or "Snowbirds" from The Great Lakes region and the Northeast. North of the Orlando area is a diferent story where you're sure to hear that twang that we all associate with the South, from Jacksonville to Pensacola you're bound to hear a "yall" or two.
Georgia: Georgia's southern accent is quite strong but I would describe it best as a more "refined southern accent", Georgians are polite and friendly and the southern accent is never over-bearing or vulgar, its a genteel and charming accent. Paula Dean has an authentic Georgia accent. Atlanta being a large city with many newcommers at times has a much milder accent than the rest of the state.
Alabama: Alabama's accent and pesonality is pure "Redneck". Alabamans are proud, strong spirited and rather abrassive from my personal experience. Besides having a very strong twang they're also rather fond of using racial derrogatory slurs. Like the one we all know that starts with an "N". I had a friend from Alabama and I never heard the "N" word in so many new ways. lol.
Mississippi: Mississippi's accent is heavily influenced by the African-American accent, especially in the delta and in southern Mississippi, which is more low-pitched and much more drawed out. Proper gramatics are obsolete even by Southern standards. I don't even think they know how to spell "Y'all". The Northern Mississippi accent is extremely twangy. I had a friend from near Tupelo and I swear to you I had some serious trouble understanding him. I constantly had to ask him to repeat himself. Said he was from some little town called "Hayookah".. is what I understood. I laughed so hard, I kept asking him where it was that he was from, and I still couldn't understand him. LOL! Come to think about it Mississippi has the strongest accent!!!
Louisiana: My home state. Louisiana has two very distinct and very different accents. The Southern and the Northern. Southern Lousiana is home to the Cajuns and Creoles. The accent is not very "southern" at all in fact it strongly resembles the Northeastern accent of New York and Boston, but much much slower. "Kenner" is pronounced "Kennah". "Parish" is "Paaahrish". "New Orleans" (Listen up yall) is pronounced "NYEW AWLINS"... not "Nawlins" or ""New Orleeeens". The vocab is pretty colorful too if you catch my drift, New Orleanians cursing more than drunken sailors. There are strong traces of the southern accent in the vocabulary however.. "Yall" is used for everything. "Yall house" "Yall Flowas" "Yall Fu*kin Gumbo need sum moah crawfish" etc.. and alot of unique expressions and pronounciations like "It shaw is code aht cheah" "It sure is cold out here". Northern Louisiana accent is somewhere between the Texas accent and the Mississippi accent, very strong and twangy.
Texas: The Texas accent is definitely southern! It's Slooooooowwwwww and Twangyyy. The further west you go somewhere around San Antonio and Amarillo the Mexican accent starts to influence the dialect more and more, becoming less draaawed out and emphasizing strongly on the consonants and sylables. By the time you get to "El PAH-So" the southern accent is completely replaced by the New Mexican one, which is pretty well pronounced and resembles the Northern accent.
Arkansas: Arkansas accent is pretty thick too. I would best describe it as twangy and drawed out, the "R"s sound kinda like when a Dog gets his paw stepped on. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRKANSAW! ARRRRRE YA GAWNNA PARRRRRRK YURRRR CARRRRRR? CAWSE HERRRRRRREE IN ARRRRRRRRRRKANSAW WE GOTSS PARRRRRRRRKIN LAWTS!!! Yep thats Arkansas... home of OLD YELLERRRRRRR!
Tenneesee: Needless to say the state that invented Country Music and is bordered on all it's sides by Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia definitely has a strong Southern Aceent. The Memphis accent sounds alot like the Mississipi accent and is real drawled out. The Central and Eastern highland accent is more chirpy and twingy.
Kentucky: Don't know much about Kentucky other than they think they're better than Tennesse and the rest of the south so they use "You All" instead of "Yall". Bluegrass state couldn't be more country however but I think their accent isn't quite as strong as Tennesse's, but maybe I'm wrong. Beautiful state though, the most beautiful in America to me.
Carolinas: South Carolina's accent is VERY STRONG! There's no denying the "South" in "South Carolina". I knew a nice lady from Myrtle Beaych and I thought she had a SPAYCH IMPEDIMUNT until I got a chance to met the rest of her WUNDERFOWUL FAYMALY.. The South Carolina accent is one of the strongest in the South! North Carolina, in the Appalachian Smoky Mountains you're bound to hear a very strong accent similar South Carolina's, but in the urban areas of central and eastern North Carolina where alot of people came from elsewhere, it is much much milder, still country but not as strong as in South Carolina's.
Virginia: (the only confederate state besides Florida that voted democratic in the last election) Most Virginians live near Washington D.C. and that area doesn't have very much of an accent at all, Alexandria, Arlington all these places might as well be Chicago or Los Angeles accentwise. In Southern and Western part of Virginia, like the Shanedoah valley, the southern accent is pretty darn noticeable! In some parts of coastal and Northern Virginia the accent is a mixture of Southern and Northeastern, pretty interesting.
The Southern Accent is pretty widespread and In addition to the states I just mentioned It is also pretty strong in: West Virginia, Central Pensylvania, Western and Southern Maryland, Southern Ohio, Southern Indiana, Southern Missouri, Oklahoma and parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Because it has always been considered an inferior dialect, over the years it has lost ground to the Hollywood accent based on the Mid-Western accent among younger generations trying to fit in. In more recent years however, there has been a suprising reversal of this trend. This is the case everywhere accross the nation from New Hyampsha to Minesooouta. People are generally less educated nowadays than they used to be and the regional accents are becoming alot stronger and more pronounced.
As an addendum to your last paragraph you can also hear southern-esque accents in upstate NY, southern Illinois, southern California, Nevada, eastern Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska. I think twang and drawl are more of a rural trait than a southern one.
I believe Tennessee has the most southern accent but just in East Tennessee if you visit there those people are country I don't think the others have much of a southern accent except texas
I believe Tennessee has the most southern accent but just in East Tennessee if you visit there those people are country I don't think the others have much of a southern accent except texas
What? You don't think the others have much of a southern accent except Texas? You don't think Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Louisiana have a Southern accent?
Monty's comment about Texas is true but the slow part isn't really a Southern trait only. It's a frontier Western trait. I find people in the frontier west talk slower than those in the East. It is very twangy but there isn't one Texas accent.
I actually think this is a pretty silly question. The South is such a huge region and the accents vary so much, even within each state, that's it's hard to say one state's Southern accent is heavier than another's.
To answer the question, though, it really all depends on the Southerner and how rural they are, not which Southern state they come from; in a lot of major Southern cities these days (Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, Nashville, etc), a lot of young people under the age of 40 aren't even really going to have a Southern accent, but instead a more nuetral, non-regional accent that is media and internet influenced. But the more rural an area is in ANY Southern state, the stronger the accents get.
In my opinion, I think that Alabama and Mississippi are the two states that have the strongest accent. I am from Alabama and believe me,
I picked Alabama.... I have some friends in that state and Man the accent is quite noticable
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