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In all seriousness though, there is something I've been trying to figure out for a while, so I decided I would just create a thread on the topic.
Why do a lot of blacks in the midwest region and even the west sound so strikingly southern? I travel quite a bit, so I have the opportunity to interact with locals from different regions. I was surprised when standing in a McDonalds in Minneapolis, how southern all the blacks sounded. I heard two guys in there who sounded almost as southern as a black native of Alabama.
I'm originally from the east coast, but currently live in Cincinnati, OH. Frankly, I was astonished at how "country" the majority of blacks sound here (yes...majority). What really rings a bell in my ears is the pronunciation of words such as: fall, ball, tall, call, mall, etc almost rhyming with foul. (....and they have the nerve to say I "touk" funny.) Another word that comes to mind is how they say hour. Usually when most people pronounce hour, it's done in two syllables such as "ow-wer." I've heard numerous blacks here pronounce hour in one long, lazy syllable such as "ihrrr." The first time I heard someone say that, I literally didn't know what he was saying or even attempting to say, so I had to "axe" him what he was talking about. I had a black female tell me, they (Ohioans or Cincinnatians, idk) speak standard english. I can agree that most of the whites have a rather "flat" accent, but the blacks, nawww.
I would have to say the place I've found blacks to have the closest variation of english to standard american is Springfield, MA. Being from the east coast/ New England, I pronounce the aformentioned words to rhyme with brawl. As I mentioned before, it's not just a Cincinnati phenomenon because I've heard it all throughout Detroit and Chicago; the two biggest cities in the midwest.
I've already heard about how most blacks originated in the south and I'm not buying that argument. The same issue is present with blacks on the east coast; me being one of them. My parents moved to CT in their early 20's from SC in 1978, so I'm only one generation removed from the south. However, I have relatives in the midwest who have been settled there since the 30's and 40's and the younger generations still sound like they just stepped off the bus from Alabama. I've found a lot of blacks in Detroit and Chicago to sound more southern than those in a lot of places in the Carolinas (small towns exempt).
Well, I guess to wrap up my thread, I want to know why a lot of the blacks in the midwest and parts of the west still sound southern while those on the east coast and New England are essentially, more assimilated into their surrounding cultures? Does it have to do with lack of educational opportunities or what?
P.S. I'm a young black male btw, in case some of you guys didn't catch the subtle hints. So NO, I'm not some furtive internet racist!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!
Last edited by high mileage; 12-24-2009 at 01:12 AM..
Reason: spelling
They sound Southern because the accent migrated up here from the South along with their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It persists several generations later both as a consequence of cultural isolation and as force for cultural unity and reinforcement to prevent the diminution or loss of cultural identity. Whether that's a positive or negative force is, of course, a source of some controversy.
My dialect is a mixture of Northside hardcore Chicagoan (nasal drawn out vowels, esp "a") and slight southern twang, but I was born and raised in Chicago. I always just chalked it up to spending many summers of my youth in Alabama and picking up my mom's dialect as she's a native of Alabama.
But I know what you're referring to. It baffles me because I always thought that most black Northerners with some sort of southern roots should have slight twangs, not full on drawls.
They sound Southern because the accent migrated up here from the South along with their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It persists several generations later both as a consequence of cultural isolation and as force for cultural unity and reinforcement to prevent the diminution or loss of cultural identity. Whether that's a positive or negative force is, of course, a source of some controversy.
I like this thought, in a way it's like what we found when we first moved to SC from WI this Feb: you can pick the transplants out in a crowd as they kept their "native" accents, but there is a wide range of depth to the "drawl" heard from the locals. Ones with a lighter accent seem that way as they moved here when they were kids, so their parents still had the northern/mid west accent. But the ones who can trace their roots back to the war here, their accent is about as thick as it can get.
They sound Southern because the accent migrated up here from the South along with their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It persists several generations later both as a consequence of cultural isolation and as force for cultural unity and reinforcement to prevent the diminution or loss of cultural identity. Whether that's a positive or negative force is, of course, a source of some controversy.
Like I've said before, I've heard that argument numerous times but it still doesn't explain why black midwesterners have such a drawl whereas a lot of blacks on the east coast have only a slight twang, if any. Blacks in both regions were faced with similar issues....
Also, Philadelphia is another city that comes to mind where a lot of blacks have a relatively neutral accent. Artists and celebrities such as Eve, ?uestlove from The Roots, Jasmine Sullivan, Kobe Bryant, and Bill Cosby are all from Philadelphia and I've heard blacks refer to a few of the mentioned persons as "sounding white."
It's a shame how some blacks are quick to refer to another black person who is articulate as "sounding or acting white." I hear quite a bit how I either sound proper or like rapper Asher Roth (who happens to be from the Philly area.) You don't hear white people saying how articulate he is. Some even say he tries to sound black; I disagree, but that's another subject.
Like I've said before, I've heard that argument numerous times but it still doesn't explain why black midwesterners have such a drawl whereas a lot of blacks on the east coast have only a slight twang, if any. Blacks in both regions were faced with similar issues.....
What sounds like a "slight twang" to you still sounds like a distinctive accent to me. Maybe it just doesn't sound as distinctive to you because you're used to it. Maybe the non-rhotic speech patterns that Blacks brought up with the south was more adaptable to the non-rhoticism found on much of the East Coast is more so the differences weren't as stark to begin with. The Great Lakes accent found from Rochester to Milwaukee is among the most rhotic in the English-speaking world so right away the accents were hugely different.
What sounds like a "slight twang" to you still sounds like a distinctive accent to me. Maybe it just doesn't sound as distinctive to you because you're used to it. Maybe the non-rhotic speech patterns that Blacks brought up with the south was more adaptable to the non-rhoticism found on much of the East Coast is more so the differences weren't as stark to begin with. The Great Lakes accent found from Rochester to Milwaukee is among the most rhotic in the English-speaking world so right away the accents were hugely different.
Alright.....I can buy that. Makes sense to me. I guess an easy way to tell what kind of accent and dialect you have is if you go to an area and the majority of people's speech patterns sound normal to you versus it ringing bells in your ears. For example, when people start their cars, my friend in Buffalo starrrts his carrr (ring,ring),I stahrt my cahr, Eve stahrts her cahr as well, and my aunt in Boston stahhts her cahh. Some in Cali stort their cores (ring, ring).
Last edited by high mileage; 12-24-2009 at 10:43 AM..
I always love it when some black guy from the UK starts speaking with the British accent..so different and refined compared to black acccents here in America.
I always love it when some black guy from the UK starts speaking with the British accent..so different and refined compared to black acccents here in America.
I agree. It's funny listening to some of the thugged-out rappers from the UK with the accent.
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I knew the title would get some attention.
. (....and they have the nerve to say I "touk" funny.) Another word that comes to mind is how they say hour. Usually when most people pronounce hour, it's done in two syllables such as "ow-wer." I've heard numerous blacks here pronounce hour in one long, lazy syllable such as "ihrrr." The first time I heard someone say that, I literally didn't know what he was saying or even attempting to say, so I had to "axe" him what he was talking about. I had a black female tell me, they (Ohioans or Cincinnatians, idk) speak standard english
. I can agree that most of the whites have a rather "flat" accent, but the blacks, nawww. 
.
Some interesting points...
. Some in Cali stort their cores (ring, ring)
.
