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In my opinion, blacks in houston have a more authentic and noticeable southern accent than blacks in dallas. Blacks in DFW have very watered down southern accents; they're closer to a midwestern/oklahoma/kansas/missouri dialect to my ear. I dont consider oklahoma midwestern, but I noticed a lot of blacks from DFW and Oklahoma sound alike. I dont consider the accent particular to either DFW nor Oklahoma. Its best described as just kind of a generic midland country accent in my opinion.
I noticed very few Austinites of any race have accents either.
Probably because 90% of the population is from elsewhere in the US.
I have to disagree! The kids from Chicago that go to my school have a "New Yorkish" type.
I've never heard anyone from any part of the midwest sound like someone from the Northeast. On top of that IMO blacks in Chicago almost sound southern.
WOW! I have two ears. LOL! Some of those Chicago kids said that people always tell them that they sound like they are from New York. They don't sound southern at all.
i'm a little surprised to hear you say that. i'm not african-american like you, and as mentioned earlier i'm the furthest thing from an expert on african-american vernacular english (aave)...but i've long felt that the nyc variant of aave is very distinct, even from places relatively nearby such as philly.
in a nutshell, the aave in nyc has obvious influences from the american south mixed with the harsh-sounding, stereotypical nyc pronunciations that are usually associated with ethnic white new yorkers: water is pronounced "waw-duh", coffee = "cawfee", hard = "hawwd", etc. in addition, more than a few AA new yorkers (as well as puerto ricans, dominicans, and even some outer borough asians and whites) pronounce their "Rs" with a "W" sound, i.e. "very" sounds like "veh-rwee". and finally, there's just a certain urban-sounding cadence that screams "AA new yorker" to me - it's difficult to describe accurately, but i can usually identify it pretty quickly when i hear it.
of course, not every AA in the nyc area speaks with this type of accent, just as not every white new yorker sounds like robert deniro, larry david, or archie bunker. there are varying degrees of accents, and more than a few people (primarily in wealthy areas) speak with a very neutral, non-regional accent altogether, including some AAs, of course. heck, when i travel around the u.s., people are always shocked when i tell them i grew up in the nyc area - people often assume i'm from somewhere like california or seattle or the midwest. so it all depends.
i can't speak for miami, but the aave in los angeles sounds pretty distinct to me - not so much that it's unique to LA only (could be more of a general californian AA thing), but rather that it can sometimes sound much more "country" and less "urban" than the nyc aave that i'm used to. again, though, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, and i've certainly met some AAs in LA who spoke with a very light, generalized aave that didn't sound especially localized, along with a few who spoke with a totally neutral, general american accent.
i dunno...i guess what i'm getting at is that when i hear biggie smalls (nyc) and snoop dogg (los angeles), i hear two very different accents, with the latter being noticeably drawly and country-sounding.
Yeah.....I still think they sound too much alike.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205
I have to disagree! The kids from Chicago that go to my school have a "New Yorkish" type accent. I'm not saying that because their accent is obviously distinct while being in a sea of country folks; I have family that lives in New York, and I hear the Chicago kids say some of the same things that my NY folks say. Blacks in Miami are country.....Trick Daddy, Trina, and Ochocinco.
Chicago people do not sound like New Yorkers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metro Matt
Uhh...
I think most people would disagree with you on this....yeeeeaaah.
Ok, I wasn't looking for validation. It's my opinion.
We can nitpick, but when it comes down to it; most major city accents are very reflective of their regions. I only exclude New Orleans because they have a very distinct accent that can't be found outside of their city. Lots of you guys are trying to back up your responses with different dialects;dialects and accents are two different things.
Ok, I wasn't looking for validation. It's my opinion.
We can nitpick, but when it comes down to it; most major city accents are very reflective of their regions. I only exclude New Orleans because they have a very distinct accent that can't be found outside of their city. Lots of you guys are trying to back up your responses with different dialects;dialects and accents are two different things.
The ones I've heard. They don't sound like people from NYC, but they sound like people from Upstate New York. This girl was talking to me last semester, and I just knew she was from Rochester or Buffalo until she gave me her number and it has a Chicago area code.
I said "almost". It's not 100% southern, but there are a lot of words that can go either way. As with any accent, it won't be true for every single person from that city though.
Los Angeles has given America two very distinct terms of speech or accents.
No doubt the "Valley Girl" accent as well as the "Surf Dude" accents originated in the LA area.
Of course it does not mean the overall LA population follows either one, but they do exist
as a cultural subset within the city, and it has probably spread beyond its borders in one
way or another.
ok then. although i do find it interesting that a non-african-american like myself can hear the differences btwn the AA accents in philly and nyc while an AA such as yourself does not.
Strongly have to disagree with that. Black Dallasites are known for being loud and country. Black Houstonian accents are less harsh.
Anyways, the only one I pick is New Orleans. NYC sounds like people from the Philadelphia. Chicago doesn't really have much of a noticeable accent [imo]; same with LA and Miami.
It all depends on where you're from when it comes to being able to detect different accents. Black Houstonians sound different from Black Dallasites to me. Not just the dialect, but the accent as well is different and pretty noticeable.
I have to disagree with that. You're saying that all blacks sound loud and country. I'm not loud at all (or country), I'm actually quite shy sometimes. I don't talk loud at all. There's some loud blacks in Dallas. The majority of the loud blacks are VERY GHETTO! I cannot stand loud people. So you will never see me with them LOL.
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