Do most young Texans in the cities still have Southern accent? (Houston: live, suburban)

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Pavement Pounder

Met a girl from Waco, Texas, now living in Austin (she's here for 6 months though) and she didn't sound southern at all! I said, 'you don't have the accent', and she said it was because she was urban. I've been to Texas, but only really passed through, and didn't get a good sense of how prevalent the accent was. In Lubbock most of the teenagers at the drive-in didn't have much of a Southern/Texan accent, while one old-timer had a strong accent, and a man probably about 30 years old did a bit. In Austin I asked directions from one young man and he had a moderate Southern accent, but of course no idea where he was from. It seems most young people in the larger Texan cities (maybe under 35) have a weak or non-existent southern accent, even the smaller cities. Would you say that's true?

I think it all depends on where/how you were brought up (rural, suburban, or urban) & where you went to school, who were your teachers, who were your group of friends in high school (preps, skaters, stoners, cowboys) etc. etc.

No Southern accent here, but wouldn't be ashamed if I did. Chicks really dig the classic East Texas McConauhey accent.

[Pavement Pounder]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I've learned, doing genealogical research (aided by the little bit of linguistics that I took in college), that some of the things that are characterized as "Southern" speech in East Texas are, in fact, traceable back to specific counties in England (and in many cases, at least in the family lines I'm familiar with, came here not just by way of going through the South but from England to New England over to Illinois and down to Texas). It's amazing how long some of those things can linger. So, technically, we could say that the Texas accent is an English accent.

My father had a strong East Texas accent that didn't resemble a Southern accent at all. However, he made a point of correcting my pronunciation according to the dictionary, with the result that no matter where I was, including East Texas where I was born, people thought I was from somewhere else. I do tend to fall into a strong Texas accent when either stressed or when having someone on that clearly has stereotypical notions about Texas and Texans.

What's the difference? Isn't the East Texas accent a type of southern accent? To me it doesn't sound that unlike the accent of northern Louisiana.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Pavement Pounder

What's the difference? Isn't the East Texas accent a type of southern accent? To me it doesn't sound that unlike the accent of northern Louisiana.

It is, Pavement Pounder. Good post and point...

And so is the "twang" spoken in West Texas a "Southern accent." THL approaches it, and always has, exactly backward. That is, proceeding from her own premise (with a history of no proof other than that she says it is so! ). It is nothing personal at all, but this seems to be because she personally rejects Texas as being essentially a Southern state in terms of things associated with history and culture that, therefore, a "Texas accent" cannot possibly be a "Southern accent." (I think she has me on her "ignore list"...as if I care). A faulty premise if there ever was one. As it is, I would much rather take the words of linguistic experts than her personal outlook.

Anyway, just as there is no one single "Southern accent" (although many think of it as that spoken in the Deep South, largely by Hollywood influences), there is no single "Texas accent". BUT...the key thing is that the accent/dialect/idiom spoken by most native Texans is a form of what is called "Southern American English." THL makes distinctions that do not exist.

East Tennessee doesn't "sound like" south Mississippi. North Alabama doesn't even sound like southern Alabama. South Carolina low country doesn't resemble north Louisiana, and the traditional Virginia Tidewater doesn't sound in the least like Arkansas. What does exist again, is Southern American English, of which there are many sub-dialects and sub-sub-dialects. Point is, all are "Southern accents", just as is the one in Texas.

Honing in, what does exist is a "speech region" which is very easily distinguishable from that spoken in the Northeast, Midwest and Far West. I feel safe in saying -- just by experience and the studies themselves -- if a Texan opens his/her mouth outside of the Southern states, then their speech is going to mark them as "Southern."...and for good reason.

There is no reason to take my word for it. I am going by the most extensive study ever done on Texas speech. Here are some quotes and links:

“The most basic explanation of aTexas accent is that it’s a Southern accent with a twist,” said Professor Bailey, who has determined that the twang is not only spreading but also changing.

“It’s the twist that we’re interested in.” The preeminent scholar on Texas pronunciation, Bailey hails from southern Alabama; he has a soft lilting drawl that, for the sake of economy, will not be phonetically reproduced here but is substantially more genteel and less nasal than Bob Hinkle’s twang.

The broadly defined “Texas accent” began to form, Bailey explained, when two populations merged here in the mid-nineteenth century. Settlers who migrated from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi brought with them what would later become the Lower South Dialect (its drawl left an imprint on East Texas), while settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky brought with them the South Midland Dialect (its twang had a greater influence in West Texas).

Added to the mix of Anglo settlers from the Deep South and Appalachia who began talking to each other was an established Spanish-speaking population and an influx of Mexican, German, and Czech immigrants. “What distinguishes a Texas accent the most is the confluence of its influences,” said Bailey.


Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American Varieties . Texan . Drawl | PBS

The uniqueness of TXE is probably more an artifact of the presence of Texas in the popular imagination than a reflection of linguistic circumstances. Only a few features of Texas speech do no occur somewhere else. Nevertheless, in its mix of elements both from various dialects of English and from other languages, TXE is in fact somewhat different from other closely related varieties.

As the settlement history suggests, TXE is a form of Southern American English and thus includes many of the lexical, grammatical, and phonological features of Southern American English

Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American Varieties . Texan | PBS

Anyway, yes, you are very correct, Pavement. [/i]

One can make -- and some do and no problem -- that Texas is not a "truly Southern states." (and of course we all generally agree that Texas is first of all, Texas).

No problem (although I know some from the Deep South who say the same about Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and even Louisiana, fer gosh sakes! LOL). There is no "right answer, anyway). I disagree (obviously), but the language factor is definitely not one of them as concerns Texas.

I should add -- to give credit where due -- I definitely agree with THL that it is a shame that regional accents are becoming more and more an amorphous blend of nothing at all to make them unique, colorful, and even desirable. How sad...

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

No, not at all, but that isn't a Texas thing. I've lived all over the South and the accents everywhere are fading.

This is very true. WB. Especially in the larger cities. But also, about everywhere in the South. We live in a very mobile society today and, perhaps much more influential, is the fact of the mass media and the bland accents on news, TV shows, etc. Personally, I think it is a shame...for many reasons.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Pavement Pounder

What's the difference? Isn't the East Texas accent a type of southern accent? To me it doesn't sound that unlike the accent of northern Louisiana.

You're quite right--for native East Texans who have spent their formative years in deep ET, they do sound very much like both LA and MS.

[TexasHorseLady]

That would be DEEP ET; I was born and bred in the Henderson, Palestine, Athens, Tyler part of East Texas, where when someone has a Southern accent a la Louisiana, you can definitely tell the difference. So not only the different regions of Texas, but in some cases different parts of the same region, have different accents.

[hellpaso]

Interesting subject. I have my own example. My kids grew up primarily in border Texas & have lived in Houston since adulthood. They don't have a "typical" Texas accent--although, they use the classic terminology. "Y'all, Fixin' to, etc" . Neither do their spouses, Houston born & raised. All of them are 30ish.
I, on the other hand, still retain my Memphis/Mississippi/Border drawl. The "kids" like to tease me about how the 5 year old grand child comes home drawling after an afternoon with me

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

Well, in Houston, especially amongst the blacks, the southern accent is still alive.

That's not a Southern accent-- That's African American Vernacular English which is mostly the same nationwide with some regional variations.

The Texas accent is a variety of the Southern accent and you will find it in rural areas, among some suburban people, but not much with people who grew up in urban areas. But even across the state the Texas accent varies. In East Texas it's indistinguishable from Southern. Going northwest it turns into a more western accent and blends into the Oklahoma accent

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

That's not a Southern accent-- That's African American Vernacular English which is mostly the same nationwide with some regional variations.

The Texas accent is a variety of the Southern accent and you will find it in rural areas, among some suburban people, but not much with people who grew up in urban areas. But even across the state the Texas accent varies. In East Texas it's indistinguishable from Southern. Going northwest it turns into a more western accent and blends into the Oklahoma accent

Yes it is a southern accent. African American Vernacular English is spoken nationwide but regional accents still apply. Saying that there are only some regional variations is a gross understatement. Blacks from Houston sound nothing like blacks from Los Angeles, they sound nothing like blacks from Chicago who sound nothing like blacks from New York City.

But who knows. Maybe to white people we all sound the same

[hellpaso]

Originally Posted by mega man

But who knows. Maybe to white people we all sound the same

Um, no.