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I find it interesting how New Orleans accents appear to be segregated by ward. Is there a historic reason for this? A book I'm reading about the settling of the American west says that groups from the Deep South and Cajuns/Creoles didn't intermarry through the 1860s. Would that be part of the reason or is there something else? (this is a thing pretty unique to New Orleans)
I find it interesting how New Orleans accents appear to be segregated by ward. Is there a historic reason for this? A book I'm reading about the settling of the American west says that groups from the Deep South and Cajuns/Creoles didn't intermarry through the 1860s. Would that be part of the reason or is there something else? (this is a thing pretty unique to New Orleans)
The 9th ward is just considered the epicenter of the Yat accent. That accent is really just the working class white accent that was found in many parts of the city that fitted the decription of working class and white. A ward basically serves the same function as a neighborhood (or usually a group of neighborhoods) which can have different demographics and lead to the development of different accents. Example is the 7th Ward is known for its Black Creole population. I would think the reasons why people from other parts of the South did not marry Creoles and Cajuns is becuase they have different cultures. Also New Orleans historically was seperated into a Creole Downtown (down river of Canal Street which includes wards 4-9) and an American Uptown (up river of Canal street which includes wards 1-3 and 10-17) which obviously tended to seperate the different groups.
The 9th ward is just considered the epicenter of the Yat accent. That accent is really just the working class white accent that was found in many parts of the city that fitted the decription of working class and white. A ward basically serves the same function as a neighborhood (or usually a group of neighborhoods) which can have different demographics and lead to the development of different accents. Example is the 7th Ward is known for its Black Creole population. I would think the reasons why people from other parts of the South did not marry Creoles and Cajuns is becuase they have different cultures. Also New Orleans historically was seperated into a Creole Downtown (down river of Canal Street which includes wards 4-9) and an American Uptown (up river of Canal street which includes wards 1-3 and 10-17) which obviously tended to seperate the different groups.
Yeah, that makes sense. I knew that about wards. I was just wondering if there was other mixing between wards.
Here's a link to what I mean for the New Orleans accent being segregated by neighborhood. The map is up higher, so you can see if it's at all accurate: American English Dialects
Yeah, that makes sense. I knew that about wards. I was just wondering if there was other mixing between wards.
Here's a link to what I mean for the New Orleans accent being segregated by neighborhood. The map is up higher, so you can see if it's at all accurate: American English Dialects
(I meant split up by Parish, btw).
Most of the wards didn't have specific accents and ethnicities that were only found in that particular ward. There was mixing between wards but there sometimes was the dominant or stereotypical ward that was heavily associated with it. I think most of the time it was not really segregated by neighborhood (or ward) but just by parts of the city that had the right demographics. The ward or neighborhood boundary never perfectly conformed to the accents, especially since a lot of those wards boundaries were outlined before the accents fully developed and many wards have weird borders or are only 4 blocks wide. For example most of the area on that map bordered in blue, which represents the Yat accent, is not just the 9th ward but also seems to include the lower parts of wards 2-8 and parts of St. Bernard Parish. But the 9th ward does take up a large chunk of that area and a large portion of St. Bernard Parish residents are originally from the 9th Ward.
That map might have been accurate in the 1950s (I would have also included Gentilly back then) but not really today. Those accents have spread out a lot due to the growth of suburbs. You are now much more likely to find a Yat in the areas labeled Jefferson Parish or in the rest of New Orleans than in the 9th Ward. Although, the area bordered in blue that is east of the Lower 9th Ward is St. Bernard Parish and that area is still an epicenter of the Yat accent. I would also say that I would not describe any area on that map as "Classical Southern" in present times, though historically that would have been parts of Uptown and Garden District areas. Plus the Black accents do not seem to be shown at all on the map.
Most of the wards didn't have specific accents and ethnicities that were only found in that particular ward. There was mixing between wards but there sometimes was the dominant or stereotypical ward that was heavily associated with it. I think most of the time it was not really segregated by neighborhood (or ward) but just by parts of the city that had the right demographics. The ward or neighborhood boundary never perfectly conformed to the accents, especially since a lot of those wards boundaries were outlined before the accents fully developed and many wards have weird borders or are only 4 blocks wide. For example most of the area on that map bordered in blue, which represents the Yat accent, is not just the 9th ward but also seems to include the lower parts of wards 2-8 and parts of St. Bernard Parish.
That map might have been accurate in the 1950s (I would have also included Gentilly back then) but not really today. Those accents have spread out a lot due to the growth of suburbs. You are now much more likely to find a Yat in the areas labeled Jefferson Parish or in the rest of New Orleans than in the 9th Ward. Although, the area bordered in blue that is east of the Lower 9th Ward is St. Bernard Parish and that area is still an epicenter of the Yat accent. I would also say that I would not describe any area on that map as "Classical Southern" in present times, though historically that would have been parts of Uptown and Garden District areas. Plus the Black accents do not seem to be shown at all on the map.
Chalmette wouldn't be considered Yet would it? I can normally pick out a person from Chalmette really quickly.
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