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What I'm trying to comprehend is why people are so focused on the black accent in this thread instead of the white accent, which historically is how dialect maps have been measured. The white accent in most of Maryland save Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore is not Southern. Same thing for most of Missouri.
The White accents of Maryland fall into either Midland or Southern categories. Just like Missouri, except the STL accent is more Northern influenced and the majority of the state speaks in Midland accents, whereas in Maryland it's split more down the middle. Even the Baltimore White accent is like a Southern version of the Philly accent with their longer u's and more glide deletion. You will also hear more Whites in Baltimore say y'all as much as t hey say yas/yeeuz.
It's Southern influenced for sure but I'd still group it in with Baltimore and Washington and Philadelphia before Richmond. It's very close to where the Southern dialect overlaps with the Mid-Atlantic dialect. I heard a few Southern accents when I was there but several things were lacking as well.
The White accents of Maryland fall into either Midland or Southern categories. Just like Missouri, except the STL accent is more Northern influenced and the majority of the state speaks in Midland accents, whereas in Maryland it's split more down the middle. Even the Baltimore White accent is like a Southern version of the Philly accent with their longer u's and more glide deletion. You will also hear more Whites in Baltimore say y'all as much as t hey say yas/yeeuz.
That's not accurate. Linguistics maps group Baltimore in with Philadelphia and Southern Jersey. You are calling that into question and I also wonder how much you've actually been to Baltimore. I never heard a white person say y'all the times I have been to Baltimore. There's no doubt the Baltimore accent has some Southern influences but it is a Midland/Lower Northeastern dialect first and foremost. It's not Southern. The Southern accent doesn't start in Maryland until you are south of D.C. and Annapolis.
Missouri is a state representative of middle America. Maryland is a state representative of middle America.
Missouri is much less Southern than people think. It does have Southern influences but they are overblown. On the other hand Maryland is never thought of as Southern but it has much more Southern in its culture than people assume. Neither are truly Southern, though people's assumptions of their Southern status is usually the exact opposite of what is true. Missouri is less Southern than people think and Maryland is more Southern than people think.
If we were to go by people's stupid assumtions, Missouri = Mississippi, and Maryland = Massachusetts.
That's not accurate. Linguistics maps group Baltimore in with Philadelphia and Southern Jersey. You are calling that into question and I also wonder how much you've actually been to Baltimore. I never heard a white person say y'all the times I have been to Baltimore. There's no doubt the Baltimore accent has some Southern influences but it is a Midland/Lower Northeastern dialect first and foremost. It's not Southern. The Southern accent doesn't start in Maryland until you are south of D.C. and Annapolis.
I didn't say it was Southern. I said it had more Southern influences than the STL accent. Also, there is no such category as lower Northeastern dialects. They're either North Midland or South Midland. Lower Northeast isn't a thing in dialect maps ever.
I didn't say it was Southern. I said it had more Southern influences than the STL accent. Also, there is no such category as lower Northeastern dialects.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool
I didn't say it was Southern. I said it had more Southern influences than the STL accent. Also, there is no such category as lower Northeastern dialects. They're either North Midland or South Midland. Lower Northeast isn't a thing in dialect maps ever.
There are though.
Just because it isn't reflected in a dialect map doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Most dialect maps use "Midland" as a catch all for the myriad of accents between the definitive northern and southern accents of the east.
There are people in southern Pennsylvania, for example, who have a very unique dialect. The southern border of Ohio doesn't one dominant accent but several different ones.
It's just that these differences are all small enough to be thrown into one toy box.
The White accents of Maryland fall into either Midland or Southern categories. Just like Missouri, except the STL accent is more Northern influenced and the majority of the state speaks in Midland accents, whereas in Maryland it's split more down the middle. Even the Baltimore White accent is like a Southern version of the Philly accent with their longer u's and more glide deletion. You will also hear more Whites in Baltimore say y'all as much as t hey say yas/yeeuz.
Where else in the South besides Baltimore do they speak with "long u's?"
Where else in the South besides Baltimore do they speak with "long u's?"
Kinda everywhere in the Upper South and less deep. For example, long u's are heard in Kentucky and Tennessee.
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