Are there places in the North that are becoming Southern?

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by sheena12

To be fair, all Americans regions are becoming more homogenized, and regional accents are disappearing. There are complex reasons for this. One was the advent of television almost 70 years ago. Americans are hearing accent free newscasters, actors etc.

Upward mobility is another factor. Strong regional accents are not associated with education and social status.

Actually, I think the most durable of the dialects is the southern accent! In my life time, there have been four US presidents with at least moderate southern accents. Can anyone see the day when we will have a Prez with a heavy Brooklyn accent? It won't happen. The first reason is, that accent is literally disappearing. How about a Chicago accent or a Minnesota drawl?

For the past 25 years, middle class American children increasingly sound as though they are all from SoCal.

Michelle Bachman (i know not a president, thank god)???
The Kennedys are an example of a proiment family with a decently strong accent just about throughout.

[brooklynborndad]

Is it okay to get back to the OP?

I would say there are plenty of northern places that became culturally southern during the 20th century. However all that I think are undeniably southern (IE excluding areas of Appalachian settlement, whose southernness may be arguable) are african american. I grew up in Brooklyn, and lots of places in that borough had a dialect that was distinctly southern (as AAVE is, at least in some respects) cuisine that was southern, etc. Those areas gained that culture during the influx of african americans in the first half of the 20th c (of course Brooklyn ALSO had african american areas of non southern - mainly west indian - descent)

I dont know if there are any more areas like that in this century. African americans have certainly moved to neighborhoods in northern suburbs that they did not previously live in, but AFAICT those pioneering those areas are relatively culturally assimilated, and the southernness of their speech, cuisine, etc, is much lighter.

[cali3448893]

I think Ohio should win this. Everytime i go out, more people are thinking like southereners.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

Michelle Bachman (i know not a president, thank god)???
The Kennedys are an example of a proiment family with a decently strong accent just about throughout.

there are still plenty of kids from generation x or later that spill speak regional dialects, they are just much less common. but these accents are still very much alive and well among Baby-Boomers.

[LGERMAN]

I use to not believe this saying until I moved away from Chicago in 2009. "Everything South of I80 is considered the south." It's a bit of a stretch but the southern cultural influences are felt once you're in Indiana. There is a southern feel to Indianapolis especially on the south side. Accents are a bit more twangy. Lots of buffets and fried chicken joints. Funny thing though, there are no Popeyes chicken opened in the Indy area.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by LGERMAN

I use to not believe this saying until I moved away from Chicago in 2009. "Everything South of I80 is considered the south." It's a bit of a stretch but the southern cultural influences are felt once you're in Indiana. There is a southern feel to Indianapolis especially on the south side. Accents are a bit more twangy. Lots of buffets and fried chicken joints. Funny thing though, there are no Popeyes chicken opened in the Indy area.

I don't agree that I-80 is the northern boundary of the south. I agree that outside of Missouri, Indiana or Kansas is next in line in terms of being influenced by the south...however, all three of these states are more Midwestern than they are southern. The true south lies south of the Ohio River and in far southern Missouri. Only around these areas will you get unquestionably southern speech patterns and culture.

[CincyIU29]

Originally Posted by LGERMAN

I use to not believe this saying until I moved away from Chicago in 2009. "Everything South of I80 is considered the south." It's a bit of a stretch but the southern cultural influences are felt once you're in Indiana. There is a southern feel to Indianapolis especially on the south side. Accents are a bit more twangy. Lots of buffets and fried chicken joints. Funny thing though, there are no Popeyes chicken opened in the Indy area.

This attitude from Chicagoans does not surprise me. Where I go to school you can definitely tell the difference between people from the lower midwest (St. Louis and Cincinnati, and to some extent Indianapolis) and the upper midwest Chicago kids, though this is more of a lower midwest upper midwest difference than North and South.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by CincyIU29

This attitude from Chicagoans does not surprise me. Where I go to school you can definitely tell the difference between people from the lower midwest (St. Louis and Cincinnati, and to some extent Indianapolis) and the upper midwest Chicago kids, though this is more of a lower midwest upper midwest difference than North and South.

Wholeheartedly agree. Rep point incoming.

[Colts]

Ok. That's all I need to know.

Mods, go ahead and close, please.

[BigmanStl]

Id' say about 25 percent of Missouri is Dixie, 25 percent of Missouri is a transition zone like southern IN, Southern IL, and 50 percent midwest.

But yea the southern dialect you could draw a rough line from Cape Girardeau over to Joplin. However it spikes up a bit north in south central MO. Less southern further west in SW MO the accents.

SW MO around Joplin, and starting at springfield and far NW AR and NE OK are not entirely southern at all. It's more of a hybrid of western, midwestern, southern, southwestern and less southern accents than you would hear in south central or far southeast MO.

I would say Springfield Missouri area has a bit more southern influence than Joplin, especially south of the city certainly.

Branson, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Ava, Nixa are southern. Joplin is Quasi southern as I think StLouisain put it before. I would label Cape, Springfield, Joplin Southern, before Midwestern if I had a choice.

For southerness I could see comparing Springfield to Evansville, IN in a way, but springfield seems more rednecky than Evansville. Then again Springfield is located in a Border State historically, and the state overall has quite more southerness than IN and in ancestory and culture too, and also it being located in far southern MO.

Also not all the accents are the same. The southern accents from southern Cape Girardeau county on south into the bootheel are certainly different from a southern accent from lets say West Plains, Ava, and northern arkansas ozarks. Those areas little ways north of US 60 in the Ozarks on down into the Arkansas Ozarks are southern, but more upper south, hickish kinda of accent, while the bootheel for example is more delta kinda, closer to deep southish accent.

Then you also have areas in the transition zone that are a mix of midwest and the south too a little ways north of US 60 on up to around us 50.

I did also live in SW Florida for ten years, and would also visit the far southern MO ozarks are times. I mean near Bull Shoals. It screamed southern to me 100 times more than SW Florida did. Granted a lot of the areas of SW Fl are yankees but even the more inland areas most people had typical flat accent, but in far southern MO ozarks where I was at they had a very noticable accent and a lot more rednecky too.

One thing I noticed though is eastern TN, VA, far north GA mountains not only the scenery, but the people and culture seemed similar. Mountain, more hickish, especially eastern TN. Then again many in the Ozarks were from the mountain areas of TN, VA, WV, NC.