British and Irish users; How do you perceive the accent of the US South?

[Sikeliot]

Does it sound, in any way, like any British or Irish accent? How do you perceive it?

[Libertas]

It sounds to me rather lazy and drawling and a bit decadent.

[Jack B]

I like some southern accents, depends on the person/voice I guess. I don't think they sound Irish though.

[Nixon]

A Southern accent and an Irish accent are quite different. Michigan and New York City accents are quite different as well.

[Barreldriver]

I like some southern accents, depends on the person/voice I guess. I don't think they sound Irish though.

:thumb001:

I'd like to meet the numpty that spread that misnomer about and kick him one square. :P

Southern accents vary region to region and sometimes family to family depending on relative quirks.

Early on it can be suggested that there was some similarity between certain American Southern accents and those of the Isle's but we must heavily consider time period, meaning pre-Victorian as we came about to develop our own verbal quirks relative to our experiences away from the Isle's since then.

In the past I myself was duped into this notion that our speech is anything but our own, however from listening to native UK speakers in relation to myself and my kin I would say that there is a gap.

Below I am providing a vocabulary list courtesy of listening in on my own kinfolks for comparison purposes:

Warsh - Wash

Tawrn - Torn

Dow - Door

Howrse - Horse

Pow - Poor

Burd-Bird

Arl - Earl

Lear - Leah (name of an aunt, because we as a family for a time became illiterate post-Civil War so we spelled phonetically. That trend was nipped in the bud in due time I will say.)

Considuh - Consider

Surtin - Certain

Ain't

Ya'll

Ya'll'er (You all were)

Ye's (You was)

Ain't never

I done it instead of I did it

I seen it instead of I saw it

Lay down and shut it as opposed to lie down and be quiet

I's a-fixin' ta (I was about to)

Eidy - Howdy/Hello

Didjee - Did ye/Did you

Airish (windy/chilly)

Afeared - afraid

Brickle - brittle

Now then - Hello

How's that - Come again/please restate

Yander/Yonder - Over there

Haint - Ghost

Boog - Goblin

Holler - Hollow

So on and so on.....

Most of these I have struggled to do away with for these speech patterns resulted in much teasing or alien peoples not taking me seriously in conversations. Relapses happen on occasion when excited or amongst familiar faces but in general speech I have been able to eliminate them. Elocution thus improved.

[Scrapple]

:thumb001:
Most of these I have struggled to do away with for these speech patterns resulted in much teasing or alien peoples not taking me seriously in conversations. Relapses happen on occasion when excited or amongst familiar faces but in general speech I have been able to eliminate them. Elocution thus improved.

It is a shame you had to do that but I understand. I don't like the loss of regional folkways in this country in the name of homogenity. We loose to much of a connection with our past.

[GeistFaust]

It depends on the area of the south, and the type of Southerner you are talking about. A few of the Southern accents are a bit thick and slow, and sound uneducated and lazy.


The South was home to a large group of elite families, and even to this day a lot of the old families have their cliques. They tend to have more sophisticated and cultured Southern accents, which are more more self-conscious, pronounced, and structured.

It has nice way of rolling off the tongue, and can sound warm and inviting. This depends on the area of the South, because the South was and is still to a certain extent highly tribalistic.

[Dohtig]

Does it sound, in any way, like any British or Irish accent? How do you perceive it?

It depends on what part of the south. In the deep south, along the gulf coast they drop their Rs and is closer to English received pronunciation. In the tidewater region of Virginia their accent is supposed to have derived from the Wessex accent. The Appalachian accent is supposed to have come from the Ulster Scots, so they tend to have a strong draw to their Rs. Although there has been hundreds of years of separation, I still think they somewhat similar to each other. Especially in the phrases and figures of speech.

[Albion]

You mean like this:

cODPt3T0cHE
When I think about the deep south, that it what comes to mind. ;)

It sounds very, very dumb, especially how they say "veee-hicle". I don't know what dialects it is like here, it is very distinct.

[Joe McCarthy]

A lot of the Southerners originated in the West Country and I think if one compares, say, Tennessee with Somerset, the similarity will be detected.

[Dohtig]

You mean like this:

cODPt3T0cHE
When I think about the deep south, that it what comes to mind. ;)

It sounds very, very dumb, especially how they say "veee-hicle". I don't know what dialects it is like here, it is very distinct.

It is a very smooth and beautiful accent in my opinion. Especially when spoken by a good looking woman.

[Marmie Dearest]

:thumb001:

I'd like to meet the numpty that spread that misnomer about and kick him one square. :P

Southern accents vary region to region and sometimes family to family depending on relative quirks.

Early on it can be suggested that there was some similarity between certain American Southern accents and those of the Isle's but we must heavily consider time period, meaning pre-Victorian as we came about to develop our own verbal quirks relative to our experiences away from the Isle's since then.

In the past I myself was duped into this notion that our speech is anything but our own, however from listening to native UK speakers in relation to myself and my kin I would say that there is a gap.

Below I am providing a vocabulary list courtesy of listening in on my own kinfolks for comparison purposes:

Warsh - Wash

Tawrn - Torn

Dow - Door

Howrse - Horse

Pow - Poor

Burd-Bird

Arl - Earl

Lear - Leah (name of an aunt, because we as a family for a time became illiterate post-Civil War so we spelled phonetically. That trend was nipped in the bud in due time I will say.)

Considuh - Consider

Surtin - Certain

Ain't

Ya'll

Ya'll'er (You all were)

Ye's (You was)

Ain't never

I done it instead of I did it

I seen it instead of I saw it

Lay down and shut it as opposed to lie down and be quiet

I's a-fixin' ta (I was about to)

Eidy - Howdy/Hello

Didjee - Did ye/Did you

Airish (windy/chilly)

Afeared - afraid

Brickle - brittle

Now then - Hello

How's that - Come again/please restate

Yander/Yonder - Over there

Haint - Ghost

Boog - Goblin

Holler - Hollow

So on and so on.....

Most of these I have struggled to do away with for these speech patterns resulted in much teasing or alien peoples not taking me seriously in conversations. Relapses happen on occasion when excited or amongst familiar faces but in general speech I have been able to eliminate them. Elocution thus improved.


As a Southerner I find it depressing when people try to eradicate their Southern dialect, because for all intents and purposes, these are valid dialects of English. To kill it is to kill a culture.

I empathize with wanting to be taken seriously outside of the South, but I don't think it's necessarily something to be proud of to lose your accent or dialect completely. Sounds like warped self-hatred.

[rhiannon]

Wonder if anyone has ever seen this joke before.....the punchline doesn't happen unless it's read out loud...but my father once told this to us, and I never forgot it:

M R Ducs
M R not Ducs
OSAR
C M Wangs
L I B
M R Ducs 2

[beaver]

American (Wasp) pronunciation is bad of all, I canoot even distinguish what they say, no problems with Brits (from the Island) at all

[Treffie]

Southern US accents seem to me the furthest removed of all US accents, compared to British/Irish ones

[Marmie Dearest]

Wonder if anyone has ever seen this joke before.....the punchline doesn't happen unless it's read out loud...but my father once told this to us, and I never forgot it:

M R Ducs
M R not Ducs
OSAR
C M Wangs
L I B
M R Ducs 2

:thumb001: hahaha

[rhiannon]

Southern US accents seem to me the furthest removed of all US accents, compared to British/Irish ones

Totally agree. How anyone could even begin to compare the two is completely beyond me, lol:eek:

[Barreldriver]

As a Southerner I find it depressing when people try to eradicate their Southern dialect, because for all intents and purposes, these are valid dialects of English. To kill it is to kill a culture.

I don't try to eradicate my dialect I was essentially coerced into it. It was either modify my speech while in Yankee educational institutions or face even more daily ridicule than I already put up with. My dialect has lead to Ad Hominem Abusive pertaining to how my dialect makes me seem less intelligent than I am (in their eyes, I don't see it their way myself) thus creating a distraction from what was being discussed at hand in any debate.

I 100% agree that to kill dialect is to kill culture but at the same time I have to acknowledge my position as a part of a diaspora and as such am in all meanings of the term a foreigner where I currently reside and must adapt accordingly while displaced. Once I am able to return to Tennessee or among kin that is a different story.


I empathize with wanting to be taken seriously outside of the South, but I don't think it's necessarily something to be proud of to lose your accent or dialect completely. Sounds like warped self-hatred.

I am not at all proud of having to modify dialect but I see no other alternative. I used to hold the exact sentiment as yourself, when my father would tell me that while we are displaced here we have to adapt I saw him as a traitor and was bitter, yet in recent days I have seen where he is coming from. The Yankee is a cruel monster in my eyes and sometimes we have to do unpleasant things to avoid being devoured while behind enemy lines.

[Barreldriver]

Wonder if anyone has ever seen this joke before.....the punchline doesn't happen unless it's read out loud...but my father once told this to us, and I never forgot it:

M R Ducs
M R not Ducs
OSAR
C M Wangs
L I B
M R Ducs 2

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I get the joke. :(

[Wulfhere]

They are utterly and completely unlike any British or Irish accent, and are, in fact, the most alien-sounding of all American accents.

[rhiannon]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I get the joke. :(

Shit...this site is full of libtard and various other wiseass commentaries aimed at people who think like me, lol

I like you, though....so my apologies to you if the joke offended:)

[Barreldriver]

Shit...this site is full of libtard and various other wiseass commentaries aimed at people who think like me, lol

I like you, though....so my apologies to you if the joke offended:)

Was being facetious. :P

[Phil75231]

You mean like this:

cODPt3T0cHE
When I think about the deep south, that it what comes to mind. ;)

It sounds very, very dumb, especially how they say "veee-hicle". I don't know what dialects it is like here, it is very distinct.

That's a Hollywoodized Southern accent, and one from 40 years ago at that. THIS (http://www.myspace.com/video/byron/byron-and-krista/54617093) is a real-world middle-class Deep South accent --northern Louisiana, to be specific (NOT the Cajun part of the state - in almost every way, N. La. is indistinguishable from Mississippi).

The myspace link contains a local tv segment Business Showcase, It is definitely what a typical middle-class small-city Deep South accent sounds like. Having lived in the rural and secondary city Deep South for 30 of my 44 years, I can speak with authority on this topic.

I certainly agree that the US Southern accents (notice the plural) are the most far-removed from RP British English (i.e. BBC English, more or less). Only those of the ethnic minorities and immigrants are further removed.

Still, there's the upland south (basically Appalachia plus most of Tennessee and N. Arkansas), and the Lowland (basically the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains - which extend several 100s of km inland, btw). Ironically the Deep South accent seems closer to the US Broadcast norm than the Upper South accent.

BTW, that's the beginning of one of the GREATEST chase scenes in all movie history!!!

[Baron Samedi]

That's a Hollywoodized Southern accent, and one from 40 years ago at that. THIS (http://www.myspace.com/video/byron/byron-and-krista/54617093) is a real-world middle-class Deep South accent --northern Louisiana, to be specific (NOT the Cajun part of the state - in almost every way, N. La. is indistinguishable from Mississippi).

The myspace link contains a local tv segment Business Showcase, It is definitely what a typical middle-class small-city Deep South accent sounds like. Having lived in the rural and secondary city Deep South for 30 of my 44 years, I can speak with authority on this topic.

I certainly agree that the US Southern accents (notice the plural) are the most far-removed from RP British English (i.e. BBC English, more or less). Only those of the ethnic minorities and immigrants are further removed.

Still, there's the upland south (basically Appalachia plus most of Tennessee and N. Arkansas), and the Lowland (basically the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains - which extend several 100s of km inland, btw). Ironically the Deep South accent seems closer to the US Broadcast norm than the Upper South accent.

BTW, that's the beginning of one of the GREATEST chase scenes in all movie history!!!


Yeah, that's not a southern accent, that's just dumbass in general.

Not all southerners sound like dumb hicks. Very few do, actually.

SOURCE: I am one.

[Graham]

Below I am providing a vocabulary list courtesy of listening in on my own kinfolks for comparison purposes:
Tawrn - Torn
Burd-Bird
Surtin - Certain
Ain't
Ye's (You was)
I done it instead of I did it
I seen it instead of I saw it
Didjee - Did ye/Did you
Afeared - afraid
How's that - Come again/please restate
Yander/Yonder - Over there

I preferred your type of accent to the more neutral types. More down to Earth and slow paced. But agree, with some of the other posts about, about being the most far removed.( basing it off the tele programmes)

These examples above don't sound particularly alien to me. Afraid could be afeart/feart. Didjee would be like how I say it.

yonder we use, yon not so much now. But they mean the same thing nearly..
song loch lomond:
By yon bonnie banks an' by yon bonnie braes: Whaur the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond: Whaur me an' my true love will ne-er meet again

[Barreldriver]

For those lookin for audio comparisons I may present the following:

http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts.html


The following is a list of speakers that Joseph Sargent Hall interviewed in the Great Smoky Mountains in 1939. The page for each speaker contains one or more excerpts from the interview including a transcript and sound file.

My only problem with the database is that it relies heavily on the East Tennesseans and West North Carolinians, I did not notice any from the Mountain District of Middle Tennessee represented (I from the MDMT).

From my hometown of Livingston, Overton County, TN (Middle TN Mountain District, some familiar faces to me are therein):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AplN-e7le18


Fonze Cable (East TN):

www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts/Cable_Fonze.mp3

www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts/Cable_Fonze_2.mp3

Newton Ownby (East TN):

www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts/Ownby_Newton.mp3

Jack Johnson (East TN):

www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts/Johnson_Jack.mp3

Bill Barnes (East TN):

www.cas.sc.edu/engl/dictionary/transcripts/Barnes,%20Bill.mp3

[Corraidh]

Most of the culture of the American Southland finds it's roots in the Scots-Irish people. I would assume the drawl has it's origins there too.

[rhiannon]

:thumb001:

Burd-Bird


Surtin - Certain
.

These are southern pronunciations? Nah. I say both of them and *I ain't no Southerner* lol

But, my maternal grandfather's family did live in TN for a time....so who knows.

Strangely, my mother has an odd way of saying this:

What should be children comes out sounding like chuldren I wonder if there is any regional correlation with that?

[Sikeliot]

Most of the culture of the American Southland finds it's roots in the Scots-Irish people. I would assume the drawl has it's origins there too.

But the southern accent doesn't have much of any sound in common with accents from Northern Ireland or Scotland. :confused:

[Corraidh]

But the southern accent doesn't have much of any sound in common with accents from Northern Ireland or Scotland. :confused:
Maybe if an Ulster-Scot spent some time in the Southern sun he'd start talking with a drawl.:icon_lol: