Appalachian Ohio "Southern" influenced? (Columbus, Cincinnati: live, moving to, manufacturing)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

I may be imagining things, but I think Steubenville native Dean Martin spoke with a slight Southern accent. Do you consider the Appalachian parts of the Buckeye state to have a Southern influence?

[Fletchman]

Definitely. Even in Columbus, it's fairly common to hear a southern drawl now and then. Lots of people moved here for work from Kentucky and West Virginia. Some of the towns along the Ohio River have a pronounced southern influence like Georgetown.

[joe from dayton]

No, I don't. I have a lot of family from the Steubenville area (my mom's side of the family was and is hill people). A lot of the inhabitants are ancestors of the Anglo-Scotch-Irish (as well as Pennsylvania Dutch and Welsh) who continued to push inland into the country's interior (and moved from the coal mines of PA into the coal fields of Ohio and West Virginia). While their speech in unique, I don't find anything southern about it

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

I may be imagining things, but I think Steubenville native Dean Martin spoke with a slight Southern accent.

He spoke with an eastern Ohio accent.

Do you consider the Appalachian parts of the Buckeye state to have a Southern influence?

No. Parts of Ohio do have an Appalachian influence, however. Appalachian does not equate Southern, and vice versa.

Plenty of people from Tennessee and Kentucky drove up the Dixie Highway to Detroit to work in the factories. Why don't you go on the Detroit forum and ask if folks up there speak with a slight Southern accent?

[sheena12]

Since moving to North Eastern Ohio, I have met quite a few people whose families moved here, to work in the steel mills or the auto manufacturing industry, from points south. Mostly, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Some older relatives of some people that I have met, absolutely have southern accents and eat traditionally southern foods.

The area is diverse, and by no means is everyone here from those states, but I've met quite a few who are.

There are also people with "country accents", that can easily sound "southern" to city and suburban ears.

[tallydude02]

Some of my family moved to the Akron area from rural southwestern Pennsylvania and north-central West Virginia for work years ago and they were constantly made fun of because of their accents and called hillbillies.

The accent Dean Martin had is very common throughout eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and southwestern Pennsylvania. While it has some similarities to the more southern areas of West Virginia and Kentucky, the accent is more Pittsburgh influenced. But I imagine the southern Appalachian migrants had a harder time because of their thicker accents.

I worked in Columbus for several months and no one commented on my accent. However, I did hear quite a few jokes about Kentucky and West Virginia.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

I may be imagining things, but I think Steubenville native Dean Martin spoke with a slight Southern accent. Do you consider the Appalachian parts of the Buckeye state to have a Southern influence?

Yes. For a long time, the joke in eastern Kentucky was to learn the three R's - "readin, ritin', and route 23 north". A lot of those people found work in factories in Ohio, and are now second and third generation.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

He spoke with an eastern Ohio accent.


No. Parts of Ohio do have an Appalachian influence, however. Appalachian does not equate Southern, and vice versa.

Plenty of people from Tennessee and Kentucky drove up the Dixie Highway to Detroit to work in the factories. Why don't you go on the Detroit forum and ask if folks up there speak with a slight Southern accent?

I lived in southern Ohio for 22 years, around Gallipolis and Jackson, and never once heard a native describe themselves as being "Southern". I never heard any of them classify themselves as being anything other than Midwesterners. Not saying there aren't strong Southern cultural influences, but they still don't identify themselves as being southerners.You do see Confederate flags here and there, but in that region it is more of a symbol of a redneck or right wing outlook, or they are trying to project a "rebel" image, not to identify themselves as southerners. You see the same thing in other rural areas of Ohio and the Midwest.

[KathrynAragon]

Dang it, I and my southern accent are moving to the Cincinnati area in 2024!