Southern Accents in KS? (Wichita, Kansas City: transplants, live, estate)

[alex985]

How prevalent is the southern accent in Kansas? Would you say a typical Kansas "native" would have a slight twang to their voice or no? Is it more prevalent in southeastern KS? I've always been curious of this...



Thanks

[GraniteStater]

Yes, the closer you get to the Oklahoma border. The bigger cities in NE Kansas like Topeka, Lawrence, KC metro, will have a very muted southern influence to their speech. It is more southern than the Midwest core northward obviously. Someone from central or northern Iowa northward will likely think that most Kansans have somewhat of a drawl.

[Kansas_djv]

It's called a Flatlander accent. I'm told it sounds southern, if you are from the Northeast, say PA, IA, OH. I haven't really noticed it in myself but I'm told by some that Kansans do sound 'southern'.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Kansas_djv

It's called a Flatlander accent. I'm told it sounds southern, if you are from the Northeast, say PA, IA, OH. I haven't really noticed it in myself but I'm told by some that Kansans do sound 'southern'.

Compare an average person from Iowa to that of Kansas and you will notice a difference in speech patterns. OH is the Midwest, not even close to being the Northeast. Eastern KS is at the southwest periphery of the Midwest.

[knrstz]

I moved to Wichita from OKC. I notice the southern accent is a lot less. Even in the smaller communities with farmers. The accent isn't near as strong as OKlahoma.

[RadioSilence]

I wouldn't describe Kansas accents as southern drawls, certainly not like people I know from Mississippi or North Carolina. It's a slight twang. My mom grew up in Sumner County (which borders Oklahoma), so her accent is more in line with Oklahoma and Texas than people in the Kansas City area.

Speech patterns from Nebraska and Iowa more closely resemble Minnesotans to my ears. I lived in Minnesota for a while. People from Minnesota thought my "neutral" Kansas accent was southern, though.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by RadioSilence

I wouldn't describe Kansas accents as southern drawls, certainly not like people I know from Mississippi or North Carolina. It's a slight twang. My mom grew up in Sumner County (which borders Oklahoma), so her accent is more in line with Oklahoma and Texas than people in the Kansas City area.

Speech patterns from Nebraska and Iowa more closely resemble Minnesotans to my ears. I lived in Minnesota for a while. People from Minnesota thought my "neutral" Kansas accent was southern, though.

We all have accents of one sort or another, though. However, based on a wide sampling of people I have heard I would say Omaha is closer to neutral accent wise than Kansas City.

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

We all have accents of one sort or another, though. However, based on a wide sampling of people I have heard I would say Omaha is closer to neutral accent wise than Kansas City.

Having lived in both metros, I would agree with this.

In Johnson county there were lots of "neutral" accents, of course, I think largely because many were transplants from other areas or their parents were. But my experience was that the speech of multi-generational KC area natives definitely has a southern influence. Not strong enough in most cases to call it a drawl....more like a "country" sound.

[Sco]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

Having lived in both metros, I would agree with this.

In Johnson county there were lots of "neutral" accents, of course, I think largely because many were transplants from other areas or their parents were. But my experience was that the speech of multi-generational KC area natives definitely has a southern influence. Not strong enough in most cases to call it a drawl....more like a "country" sound.

Being raised outside the area and sharing time between Kansas and the southwest, I find the accent very obvious to my ears. I have even had a few people tell me while speaking with a very pronounced southern style accent that native Kansans are known for having no accents.

I agree that it is not a deep or mid south sound, it is more like what I would describe as a generic rural or country sound. It is similar to the sound of a Nashville singer that has been trained to sound country even though they grew up in Southern California.

[graywolf_14]

I was born and raised in ks and I was never told that I had a southern accent.