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Actually it's the black NOLA resident accents that remind me of Northeast accents.
Kazilla might be correct, done might think all black people sound the same. But to me New Orleans to small spatterings around Gulfport sounds remarkably like NY accents. You can hear certain inflections especially when they are really happy/ excited or really mad.
Two heritages NOLA and NY share in common are Haitian and Italian. Not sure if those have anything to do with it, but for some reason the similarities are there.
People tend to automatically homogenize their accents when speaking to visitors. Celebrities do it too. But when they get mad... has anyone heard Rihanna mad?
Have you been to New York or New Orleans? Or are you familiar with either city?
These 2 interviews were in the earliest stages of their careers so the accents are still thicker compared to years of being in the industry. They both have very light soft voices. There's obvious differences with their accents.
Also what does the Haitian and Italian community have to do with either cities local accents? I think you're trying to connect dots that are simply not there.
That's like suggesting Italians in Chicago sound exactly like Italians in New York City because there's a big Italian influence there. Hell, NYC had a more diverse Italian population than New Orleans which was mostly Sicilians from Palermo. And even though Italians did leave an impact on New Orleans culture, a lot of Italians eventually moved elsewhere out of New Orleans.
As far as Haitians, again different scenario which led to 2 very different outcomes. We're talking 2 different periods under 2 different circumstances. Most Haitians in New York City came after the 60's. And they were primarily of African descent. In New Orleans, most Haitians arrived in the 1800's due to the Haitian Revolution. These were WHITE SLAVE OWNERS, Free people of Color(Creoles/Mulattos) and enslaved Africans. The Haitians that arrived to New Orleans were mostly Whites and Free people of color. They fled Haiti because of the revolution of the Haitians of African descent eventually taking over the colony from their oppressor.
So how can you single out NY and New Orleans when those 2 specific ethnicities you mention came under different circumstances? Majority of Black people in New Orleans are descendants of enslaved people who came from the upper south during the domestic slave trade no different than other southern states. There was also an influx of Africans being brought to the port from the Caribbean's but this also happened in other port cities in the south. More notably Charleston.
Difference between New Orleans Black culture and other Black cultures in the south was that it was home to the biggest slave market and you did have a large caste system in Creole people there. Unlike other places where the one drop rule existed. Black culture in New Orleans was under a similar situation to the Sea Island communities off the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida in that they were able to retain more of their African culture more so than other communities throughout mainland America.
From my research this is why certain communities accents can have a "Caribbean" style to their accent. It's not really the fact it's Caribbean but that it's an West and Central African adapting to the English language. A creolization of the language that's less assimilated compared to mainland America. The Sea Island communities had the Isolation and New Orleans(distinctly different) were under different Colonial rule.
Son, I'm from Baton Rouge, between Cajun Country and New Orleans. New Orleans does not have Cajun history, you can barely find Cajun food there. Lafayette is the heart of Cajun culture.
Yes, it's distinctively different, I mentioned that earlier. Whenever I traveled to other southern states it felt like I was in a different region of the country. However, just because it's not the same as the quintessential south doesn't mean it's "less southern." Same as Miami.
Those Cajuns settled in the swamps west of the Atchafalaya River, not New Orleans.
I never insinuated that New York is the same as Maine, but no one questions the differences in northeast regions or midwest regions, yet they claim Miami isn't southern because of Latin American influences, like you just did. Not once have I heard that Buffalo isn't a northeastern city because it isn't like the Bos-Wash. But people constantly question the southerness of only southern cities because they don't fit in with the quintessential idea of the south to northerners.
The south is allowed to be diverse.
I realize this awhile ago
Taking out FL, TX, Ok, LA, now VA and NC is talking out most The South population that got to be at least 75% of the South population being Called not Southern enough to be apart of the South. Think how paradoxical that is.
The Subtraction itself is causing the less diversity which justify the argument for the subtraction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjlo
I dunno I'm with the other poster on this one. I've spent plenty of time in Atlanta. First you say "Atlanta is not southern at all" as if being southern is somehow a pejorative. That statement on its own is hyperbolic at best. Atlanta is certainly a melting pot, but there's no denying it's southern heritage. Definitely plenty of folks inside and out of the city with a southern dialect. If it is the answer to this thread title may be another conversation, but acting as if the south has been completely transplanted out of Atlanta is disingenuous IMO.
The issue with this become abstract, to Atlantan prospective what is Southern is not fix on just history what is Southern is evolving and Changing. Otherwise diversity and cosmopolitanism to Atlanta is part of what Southern is. Not what is most like a 1920's Mississippi stereotypes..
A that's the problem, TX, FL, VA and NC are at end of the South, So as these place grew more cosmopolitanism some transplants who are ashamed of being called "Southerners" are basically trying to deny there in the South. Which makes no sense. Mean while Atlanta and Nashville is too centrally located so regardless of how cosmopolitan these cities become they aren't going to be deny there Southern. So if you base "Southern" off which is most like 1920's Mississippi I agree with Columbus1984 Atlanta wouldn't be Southern either. That's different type of Southern.
Basically there many Southern accents not just one, the South is diverse, And Southern accents evolve and change. What is Southern culture in 1920 is not what the South is 2022.
No one mentioned the Kansas City area. In addition to a good friend of mine from there who has a drawl, I got to know some other individuals last time I went there and they also had Southern accents
I’ve heard what I’m pretty sure are at least partly Southern accents as far North as Peoria, IL
According to this author’s map, KC MO and Peoria are in counties that are very close to the “Nation” of “Greater Appalachia”
So as these place grew more cosmopolitanism some transplants who are ashamed of being called "Southerners" are basically trying to deny there in the South. Which makes no sense.
Most transplants to the South have no issue acknowledging where their new homes are, but "Southern" is much more of a cultural identifier than a geographic one when applied to persons. It's hardly about a simple change of address and nothing more.
There’s truth to this. Atlanta south of I-20 has a different feel than north of I-20. Nothing bad it just seems like more native Atlantans and native southerners live south of I-20 and it has a more country feel. South Fulton County, Clayton County, Douglas County, and South Dekalb County don’t really appear to have a lot of transplants or not nearly as many transplants as places such as North Fulton County, Gwinnett County, and most of Cobb County. I’m not trying to paint the entire south side with a broad brush because there’s plenty of transplants in Fayette County and Coweta County and Henry County but these areas typically have a more “southern” feel as opposed to other areas in Atlanta. If you spend most of your time in John’s Creek or Sandy Springs for example you’re not going to hear a lot of southern accents as the areas are just too diverse and void of native southerners. Metro Atlanta still feels southern to me regardless just in a different way. Just my opinion…..really doesn’t mean anything.
Seems like St. Louis still has a lot of people that speak with a Southern accent, even the younger people. Check out this video and skip to the 4:52 mark
This man says skip to 4:52 when the first southern accent heard was at the 1 minute mark. Prime example of what Kaszilla said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaszilla
Atlanta definitely sounds southern. But I'm mostly basing this off the black population. Only white people's accents get considered for threads like this.
Yup it just doesn't fit the bill we all speaking monotone to these goofies. Lol
It’s robust. It’s just that Atlanta is a melting pot and has lost its southern culture a very long time ago. Apparently you haven’t spent much time here.
Atlanta isn't a melting pot in the historical sense as it was devoid of an ethnically diverse white population until the recent arrival of white transplants from outside the South, and the idea that Atlanta lost it's Southern culture is also inaccurate because culture is something which will evolve and not lose. As far as accents, it's difficult to distinguish what you hear in black inner city Atlanta from black inner city Birmingham.
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Prime example of what Kaszilla said.
