Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just want to point out that there isn't a monolithic Southern accent. Even within different parts of the South or even in the cities themselves. That's all.
I just want to point out that there isn't a monolithic Southern accent. Even within different parts of the South or even in the cities themselves. That's all.
Sure, but like the North, consistent patterns make up the Southern accents. Like the Southern Shift and the drawl.
Small exceptions like New Orleans exist for this, but since Chicago's black population doesn't tend to hail from New Orleans, it becomes a moot point. There IS a difference between a Chicago Blaccent and a Mississippi one.
Perhaps but I can I hear some Southern characteristics in their speech in many Black Chicagoans? Yeah. When I talk to my cousins around my age and friends, you can hear some Southern in there. Also, accent isn't the only influence anyway when it comes to having a Southern influence.
The second guy sounds like so many people I grew up around. People think because Blacks in Chicago don't sound like Superfans that they don't have a Chicago accent. Well, that's one representation of the Chicago accent. It's like wondering why Black New Yorkers don't sound like the cast from Goodfellas. Using one isolated representation is a stupid way to guess how most people in the city talk. Did the Superfans have aspects of the accent right? Yeah. But others were god-awful and inaccurate. Nobody in Chicago says "sahsaj" for sausage (that would imply a caught-cot merger which is not present here). They sounded like Minnesotans with that at times. They had Northern Cities Vowel Shift but not a Chicago accent. White people in Chicago don't even sound like that. I'd like to add that few of the Superfans were even from Illinois.
Yeah, I'd say I sound more like the man in the second vid. Not exactly like em of course. But I grew up on the SE side and sw burbs though.
Also I'm black btw but my family is from another country though.
This. I will add with Chicago, though, that black Chicagoans' level of education and class also affects their accent drastically. The more hood/lower class blacks have basically what are still Southern accents while a lot of the more educated or more middle and upper class black Chicagoans will have more of a traditional Midwest/Northern type accent, or sound more "East Coast," as some put it.
That's probably true of most Southern cities as well. I don't hear much of anything southern when Keri Hilson and Donald Glover speak.
Monica doesn't have much of a Southern accent either. It's a slight accent. She sounds like any number of callers on the Steve Harvey morning show who could be anywhere from L.A. to Hampton, VA.
I haven't spent much time in deep Southern cities, but if that is true, I find it sad. To think that you're too educated to the point you're above regional accents sounds a bit arrogant in my opinion. It's one thing to avoid incorrect grammar but to think a particular accent itself is beneath you is ridiculous. Now I'm not speaking about these particular famous people. Many times those with musical/theatre training are actually taught to eliminate any trace of a distinctive region because of marketability and also adaptability in different roles. But then again that idea flies in the face of success of actors with strong regional accents.
I remember spending some time in Louisville. Most everyone had a Southern or a variation of a South Midland accent. One woman there however you could tell made it a point to NOT have an accent tied to Louisville. She sounded like she could be from Central Indiana. I thought that was kind of sad and annoying at the same time. I asked her if she'd ever traveled and she said she had not. I don't know why but I think to make it a point to not have a regional dialect takes unnecessary effort and seems kind of meaningless. It's not like people from around you will think you're ignorant since they'd most likely not even hear their own accent.
I will doubt that educated Blacks in Deep South cities have Northern/Northeast accents, though. It would be pretty hard for that to happen unless they spent time around a lot of transplants or took specific speech coaching. I'm guessing they'd have "Midland" and non-distinct neither-North-nor-South speech patterns. In a city like Chicago it's more likely that such Blacks would sound Northern since they live there. Northern speech doesn't just mean educated, there are specific speech patterns tied to it. Now I'm sure BajanYankee already knew that but I'm more so saying it to people who otherwise think Northern accents = educated. There is a reason NYC, Chicago, and Boston accents are stigmatized even within their own cities.
I haven't spent much time in deep Southern cities, but if that is true, I find it sad. To think that you're too educated to the point you're above regional accents sounds a bit arrogant in my opinion. It's one thing to avoid incorrect grammar but to think a particular accent itself is beneath you is ridiculous. Now I'm not speaking about these particular famous people. Many times those with musical/theatre training are actually taught to eliminate any trace of a distinctive region because of marketability and also adaptability in different roles. But then again that idea flies in the face of success of actors with strong regional accents.
I don't think it's necessarily that people think they are above regional accents. I think it's more that educated, upper middle class people tend to conform to a certain type of speech.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool
I will doubt that educated Blacks in Deep South cities have Northern/Northeast accents, though. It would be pretty hard for that to happen unless they spent time around a lot of transplants or took specific speech coaching. I'm guessing they'd have "Midland" and non-distinct neither-North-nor-South speech patterns. In a city like Chicago it's more likely that such Blacks would sound Northern since they live there. Northern speech doesn't just mean educated, there are specific speech patterns tied to it. Now I'm sure BajanYankee already knew that but I'm more so saying it to people who otherwise think Northern accents = educated. There is a reason NYC, Chicago, and Boston accents are stigmatized even within their own cities.
I don't have a "Northern/Northeast accent." I would describe my accent as General American. Nobody ever knows where I'm from until I tell them.
I think most educated people in general have more standardized, general accents. You don't have to be a master thespian to have one.
As far as Chicago goes, the accent seems to range from neutral (Common) to Southern (Bernie Mac, Arthur Agee).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
