What do you think of the Coastal Southern Accent? (Savannah: typical, owner)

[Iconographer]

It should be said that Lewis Grizzard is not an example of a coastal GA accent. He was raised in west central GA; the accents are dissimilar. The same is true of Paula Deen; she was raised in SW GA, not Savannah.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

It should be said that Lewis Grizzard is not an example of a coastal GA accent. He was raised in west central GA; the accents are dissimilar. The same is true of Paula Deen; she was raised in SW GA, not Savannah.

Exactly, Lovin. Moreland for Lewis, and Albany for Paula.

[SavannahLife]

Yes you are right mason it is the gen before baby boomer that has it. that guy's accent is kind of generic Piedmont accent. Not like coastal where there are no "R"s.

[AUGnative]

I prefer the genteel coastal drawl over the nasally hillbilly speak

[ellie]

My husband says many of the southerners he knows tend to leave off their "L's" more than their "R's".

For instance: when they say "Bulldogs" you hear "Boodahgs".

I rarely hear people leave off their "R's" and believe it's a bad Hollywood exaggeration, because no one ever gets our accents right.

[SavannahLife]

On that last point why ms ellie I do declare you are most certainly right. Yes on the "l"s too. Which is more of an upstate occurrence I think, vs. coastal where R is dropped...

[masonbauknight]

Yes, SavLife, we have to distinguish those southern coastal plain, port-city accents (Savannah, Mobile -- the old Mobile accent is nice -- Charleston, Wilmington, New Orleans) from the interior piedmont. The old native Columbus and Augusta accents are still kind of nice and smooth, but once you really get closer to, or into, the Appalachians, a nasal twang takes over more and more. Knoxville's native accent is often very twangy. The old Savannah accent has no real nasality -- it's pure honey. But it's almost gone.

[SirThomas]

I had thought that "coastal southern" was a term which applied to most of the non-rhotic Southern accents in the east. My grandparents and the majority of older folks (60+) where I come from, around central Georgia, speak with a non-rhotic accent very similar to Lewis in the video I attached. I speak with a milder accent, yet it is non-rhotic nontheless. And just to get rid of some annoying stereotypes, I've never heard anyone speak like the actors in "Gone with the Wind", it's either a long dead accent or one that never existed, so if you could quit that "I do declare!" rubbish that would be nice. I might make a recording of the way my family speaks in the future: that would get rid of some stereotypes and confusion.

I rarely hear younger people speak with a non-rhotic accent, more often I hear an Appalachian-like heavily rhotic accent in Georgia (or a Northern accent). However, if you go into the small, rural towns you may find a number of people who speak with non-rhoticity. It's remarkable how quickly the accents have changed over fifty years, when there were many more non-rhotic speakers around. Some more examples of non-rhotic Georgia accents are below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9jyiM9vJ9M


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPyfqnCYO0U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jir9AeVaEF0

[AUGnative]

A lot of older people in Augusta and its surroundings still speak with the "marbles in the mouth) non-rhotic accent. It is especially heavy in the rural outskirts like Jefferson County, Burke County and McDuffie County. If you are one of the politcial good-ole-boy powerbrokers in Augusta it is pretty much required that you speak with this accent. Even many people will affect this accent just to fit in.

[Southern man]

Originally Posted by SirThomas

I had thought that "coastal southern" was a term which applied to most of the non-rhotic Southern accents in the east. My grandparents and the majority of older folks (60+) where I come from, around central Georgia, speak with a non-rhotic accent very similar to Lewis in the video I attached. I speak with a milder accent, yet it is non-rhotic nontheless. And just to get rid of some annoying stereotypes, I've never heard anyone speak like the actors in "Gone with the Wind", it's either a long dead accent or one that never existed, so if you could quit that "I do declare!" rubbish that would be nice. I might make a recording of the way my family speaks in the future: that would get rid of some stereotypes and confusion.

I rarely hear younger people speak with a non-rhotic accent, more often I hear an Appalachian-like heavily rhotic accent in Georgia (or a Northern accent). However, if you go into the small, rural towns you may find a number of people who speak with non-rhoticity. It's remarkable how quickly the accents have changed over fifty years, when there were many more non-rhotic speakers around. Some more examples of non-rhotic Georgia accents are below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9jyiM9vJ9M


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPyfqnCYO0U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jir9AeVaEF0

Sounds like music to me, I love it.