Non rhotic accents dying out among whites in the US? (college, live)
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.
As the article says, rhotic speakers pronounce r in pre-consonant and post-vowel situations, in words like 'hard' or 'bar' for instance.
As the map shows, there are only pockets of native rhoticism in the US. However, it seems, as the non-rhotic accents (Delta, Piedmont, Tidewater, NY, Boston/E. New England) weaken among the young, it seems that non-rhoticism will be a feature of the past in the US among whites. Blacks of all ages still widely speak AAVE which is partially or even wholly non-rhotic, although even among them I wonder if the trend is towards more rhoticism.
Is the Virginia tidewater accent going extinct? I made a thread about young people with Boston accents and was quite pleased to find some youngsters speaking it, but it seems when many go to college the accent is diluted. The NY accent now seems strongest among Hispanics, or at least it seemed that way in my short stay there.
Yes, non-rhotic accents have rapidly declined due to the stigma attached to this feature.
I would caution against using the map above as a definitive geographic depiction of non-rhotic accents among whites. It is based on the highly limited data set of the Atlas of North American English by Labov et al.. For example, research that I and colleagues of mine have conducted in New England shows that non-rhoticity extends as far west as the Connecticut River (the NH/VT border - and used to extend a bit farther west, even). The decline in r-lessness among younger speakers is apparent across New England, however. In 50 years it will have almost completely disappeared.
I somehow have a non rhotic accent but I can almost turn it off like a light switch. Born and raised in CT though but mother's family is from Rhode Island.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ja1myn
I somehow have a non rhotic accent but I can almost turn it off like a light switch. Born and raised in CT though but mother's family is from Rhode Island.
How non-rhotic? Fully non-rhotic or partially rhotic?
I think this is sad but true. I'm in my 30s and originally from Tidewater and most people in my age cohort (and certainly younger people as well) are rhotic speakers. Non-rhoticity among whites there will be pretty much extinct when my parents' generation passes on, except perhaps in the most rural areas of the region.
I didn't start to appreciate my non-rhoticity until only a few years ago. Like ja1myn, I can "turn it off" when I need to, and I think I learned to do that in college when I wanted to speak in a way that more closely resembled "standard American English."
I didn't start to appreciate my non-rhoticity until only a few years ago. Like ja1myn, I can "turn it off" when I need to, and I think I learned to do that in college when I wanted to speak in a way that more closely resembled "standard American English."
I learned to in HS when I moved to upstate NY. No one up there spoke like I did and they would all think I was faking some bizarre speech pattern. I am proud of who I am though and my accent is part of who I am. They can deal with it.
But when it comes to people in Atlanta and people in the South in general that I've encountered, they have a very difficult challenge trying to figure out what I'm saying when I'm speaking normally with my non-rhoticy or whatever it's called. I feel bad for them so I try to pronounce my r's when I remember.
The OP brought up a good point about non-rhotic speech being even more prevalent with blacks. Throughout the south, in Atlanta, and even over here in Houston, the "r" in words like here/there/hair/where/hard are practically nonexistent in the African American community.
Personally, my accent has developed into somewhat of a mix. Sometimes I pronounce my r's and sometimes I don't.
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.
