More Southern Influence: Chicago or Philadelphia? (downtown, living, state, America)

[mas23]

I'd say african americans in Chicago sound more southern overall. Or better yet they retained more southern characteristics in their speech bc of hyper-segregation and more recent migration.
BUT this is changing though since more blacks are moving to the suburbs and co-mingling with other ethnicities etc.

Philly dudes (and ladies)pretty much sound like my dudes who pronounce their "r's" but they still have a bit of a southern twang as well

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by noshadenotea

considering i'm black and speaking from a black woman's perspective about how blacks from chicago(i'm not talking about other races)sound southern. There's a such thing as the east cost(philly, jersey,ny,ct,de,etc), but i know foresure chicago isn't apart of it. There's a such thing as an east coast accent, but different dialects. I'm an african american woman and from philly, so how are you (an european man) going to tell me chicago people don't sound southern compared to black philadelphians because philly is closer to the south????? Judging from your prior post on this board, the only person who wants to be associate with ny is you with mentioning it being like chicago. Why should i listen to a white man speak about philly accents and you have no clue on what you're talking about!!

+2

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by NoShadeNoTea

Considering I'm black and speaking from a black woman's perspective about how BLACKS from Chicago(I'm NOT talking about other races)sound southern. There's a such thing as the east cost(Philly, Jersey,NY,CT,DE,etc), but I know foresure Chicago ISN'T apart of it. There's a such thing as an east coast accent, but different dialects. I'm an African American woman and from Philly, so how are you (an European man) going to tell me Chicago people don't sound southern compared to black Philadelphians because philly is closer to the south????? Judging from your prior post on this board, the ONLY person who wants to be associate with NY is you with mentioning it being like Chicago. Why should I listen to a white man speak about philly accents and you have NO clue on what you're talking about!!

I have no clue what I'm talking about? I provided examples on how the Philly accent itself and Black Philadelphians can have Southernisms in their speech and you didn't refute anything.

Nobody is saying Philly is Southern. But it's stupid to claim Blacks in Chicago speak in Southern accents because they don't. The truth is, Black speech all over the country is Southern influenced no matter where you are. And again, you've not proven exactly what an East Coast accent is. Not that it matters. East Coast accents do indeed share similarities. Similarities not unique to the Northeast but also heard in the Southeast as well. If that's what you mean by East Coast then you have a point. I assure you what Philly shares with New York and other East Coast cities is frequently heard further South, too. And I ain't talking about Baltimore, either.

[NowInWI]

Let me try to understand this thread, because I haven't read a lot of it. It appears, though I could be wrong, that posters are saying one city sounds more "Southern" than the other, in an effort to make the residents of that city seem....lesser than the other? I assume from reading the posts I've read, that this is isn't desirable, hence, the "your city sounds more Southern than mine?" Really impressive, people.

[EddieOlSkool]

If the premise of this thread was, which Black population sounds more stereotypically Southern, then Chicago would win. But if we include all areas, it's a toss up. Black and White people in Philly both have variable glide deletion and other Southern characteristics, whereas in Chicago this is only heard in Blacks.

Also forgot to mention that like Philly, Blaccents vary. On the West side of Chicago, a stronger Southern sound is heard. On the South side, Blacks have a variable dialect. My guess is because of living in proximity to very nasal Irish Americans.

[NoShadeNoTea]

If you include all areas, none of the other races in Philly have characteristics of southern accents including the Italians, Spanish, Chinese,Africans,etc, but I was saying Chicago people have characteristics of the south in their accents..

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

If the premise of this thread was, which Black population sounds more stereotypically Southern, then Chicago would win. But if we include all areas, it's a toss up. Black and White people in Philly both have variable glide deletion and other Southern characteristics, whereas in Chicago this is only heard in Blacks.

Also forgot to mention that like Philly, Blaccents vary. On the West side of Chicago, a stronger Southern sound is heard. On the South side, Blacks have a variable dialect. My guess is because of living in proximity to very nasal Irish Americans.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

If the premise of this thread was, which Black population sounds more stereotypically Southern, then Chicago would win. But if we include all areas, it's a toss up. Black and White people in Philly both have variable glide deletion and other Southern characteristics, whereas in Chicago this is only heard in Blacks.

But the thread isn't about accents. It's about overall southern influence. Accents are only one part of that.

This seems to be an open and shut case. Chicago had heavy Southern white migration from Appalachia. The Mississippi Delta influence in the city's Black population is more evident than the Carolina and Virginia influence in Philadelphia's Black population. Chicago is known for the blues and to a lesser extent barbecue. Philadelphia isn't known for either.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

But the thread isn't about accents. It's about overall southern influence. Accents are only one part of that.

This seems to be an open and shut case. Chicago had heavy Southern white migration from Appalachia. The Mississippi Delta influence in the city's Black population is more evident than the Carolina and Virginia influence in Philadelphia's Black population. Chicago is known for the blues and to a lesser extent barbecue. Philadelphia isn't known for either.

I was only replying to a few people who brought up dialect. That's all my posts were about, really.

And to NoShadeNoTea, you must not have seen (or ignored) the dialect map I posted that shows Philly is absolutely a dialect with characteristics found in the South. Glide deletion isn't a Northern trait, sorry. Neither is the pronunciation of "ow" as "ayow" but that's none of my business.

Could it be backwards? That Southern accents were rather influenced by Philly or Pennsy'vania speech? Very possible, as Philly is the granddaddy of 'Murican accents.

[Chevalier de Saint-George]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

I was only replying to a few people who brought up dialect. That's all my posts were about, really.

And to NoShadeNoTea, you must not have seen (or ignored) the dialect map I posted that shows Philly is absolutely a dialect with characteristics found in the South. Glide deletion isn't a Northern trait, sorry. Neither is the pronunciation of "ow" as "ayow" but that's none of my business.

Could it be backwards? That Southern accents were rather influenced by Philly or Pennsy'vania speech? Very possible, as Philly is the granddaddy of 'Murican accents.

I just had to answer this: Those Scotch-Irish folks that came out of PA greatly influenced the majority of accents in the South. The original Southern accents are Coastal Southern non-rhotic types that I wish could return.

[GATXM&M]

Mississippi blacks have a strong connection to Chicago. Many black Mississippians have relatives in Chicago. Even to this day, many of them move to Chicago and back to Mississippi and back to Chicago often.