# What is give away that some one has southern US accent ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542 "2012-11-10T01:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/81 "2012-12-04T11:46:19Z")
My apologies for the length of this. I’ve lived almost 70 years in Tennessee and my degree required that I take linguistics courses. There are a lot of misconceptions about accents and grammar. Everyone in the USA has an accent. You speak as those you spend time with speak unless you make a concerted effort not to. There is no standard American accent. The reason that broadcast voices often seem to have the same accent is that originally, most broadcasting schools were in the Mid West. That isn’t necessarily true anymore, but that manner of speaking had become what is expected. (And there are bound to be several variations on what sounds Mid Western.) The word “y’all” is not _ungrammatical_. It’s just often part of a Southerner’s dialect. It is considered informal English. “Y’all are a lot of fun” is perfectly grammatical, but it wasn’t used much outside the South until more recent years. I wouldn’t use it in a term paper or a business letter. There are no superior dialects and no inferior dialects. JFK said “Cuber” instead of "Cu-bah as most of us pronounce it. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t saying it correctly. Even GWB’s “newk-u-ler” is an acceptable pronunciation according to the dictionaries that I checked. To my ears, “nu-cle-er” sounds better, but both are okay. In the 1960’s I read a study having to do with accents. Southern men who moved North tended to lose some of their Southern accents. Northern men kept their accents more often when they moved South. The opposite is true for women. If they moved North, they kept their Southern accents. Northern women who moved South picked up the accent. Celebrities used to try to change Southern accents. Ava Gardner was from one of the Carolinas. So was Edward R. Murrow. Now days actresses tend to keep their Southern accents: Kim Basinger, Holly Hunter, and Joanne Woodward are all Southern women. Dixie Carter had a very “refined” Southern accent. She was from West Tennessee. The most interesting change that I am familiar with is that of Stephen Colbert. He is from the Deep South – Charleston, South Carolina. Finally, I was asked once to do an intro for “Good Morning America.” In those days, someone gave her or his name and origin and then said “Good morning, America!” When I said that I was from Nashville, the guys behind the camera said, “You don’t sound like you’re from Nashville.” I said, “Oh, you want ‘Magnolia.’” They laughed. I did another take and added some drawl and dropped a _g_. It got on the show. I _did_ sound like Nashville – on the first take. But they were expecting a different sound. The ideas about Southern accents perpetuate fake accents. Recently I saw two families from Kentucky on “Family Feud” and the two teams sounded as different as they could be. I recall that one woman said, “Be up air.” That hurt my ears. I speak differently when I am in West Tennessee or speaking with a West Tennessean on the phone. We just fall into a slightly different dialect and accent. BTW, Kathy Bates is from Memphis (West Tennessee). Cybil Shephard too. curtsy (exits) ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/82 "2012-12-04T14:21:33Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Which movies have the most consistent and copy-able accents from different areas of the South. My brother and I are originally from Texas, and we both agree that “King of the Hill” nails mid and southeast Texas. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > “Pin” instead of “pen.” Courtney Cox is a southern girl who (I presume) has done a lot of work on losing her accent, but it still comes out when she says “pen.” You know, I’ve heard this for years, and damned if I can tell the difference between northern and southern accents for “pin” and “pen,” or “cot” and “caught” for that matter. I guess, being Southern, I never developed the ear for it. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/83 "2012-12-04T15:55:56Z")
Here is a [lady with a wonderful Southern accent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFRUSTiFUs) (North Carolina, specifically). ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/84 "2012-12-05T05:55:18Z")
Good choice, **Clothahump**. That sounds like a lot of my friends. It’s great to see a woman using her Southern accent to her advantage rather than trying to change it. ---
**Author:** ![SouthernGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SouthernGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouthernGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/85 "2012-12-05T17:43:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t know the terms exactly, but in Southern accents R’s at the end of word are often dropped or become barely audible. Sometimes a schwa replaces it. The word ‘hear’ (or ‘here’) might come out as ‘he’ or ‘he-uh’, or just a tinge of an R at the end. I find myself dropping the “H” instead of the “R” especially when saying, “Come here.” It sounds like I’m saying, “Come 'ere.” Where as many words with an “ing” on the end up up having the “G” dropped. “Talkin’”. Also when it comes to a hard pronounced vowel in a word I find that it depends on the word and the letter preceding the vowel. ---
**Author:** ![\_Tamar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/fbc32d/32.png) [@\_Tamar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Tamar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/86 "2012-12-06T01:50:17Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#): > > Really? I don’t know a single Southerner who uses “y’all” as anything _but_ the plural form of “you” (singular). In other words, no Southerner I know (including me) uses “y’all” to refer to a singular “you.” You have not met the Southerners that I have met, who routinely use “y’all” as both the singular and plural second person pronoun. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/87 "2012-12-06T01:54:23Z")
This bears investigation. There’s probably a university study on where “y’all” demands plurality or not, just waiting to be done… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/88 "2012-12-06T02:28:30Z")
I gave up on losing “y’all,” singular or plural; work at enunciating “pen;” and explained to my daughter that you can also drive to the store in a “core,” but I thought I had most of it licked until a few weeks ago I called a guy from my same part of Virginia and it all came back unbidden from fifty years ago. I could hear and feel how I was talking and let that voice continue through the call because I didn’t want him to think I was making fun of him, but otherwise I cannot talk like that on purpose! Sure, I can do a more generic Southern accent, but here I was sounding like Clarice Starling, only a bit further downhill in the Blue Ridge. But Southern and other regional accents seem to be going away. Same in the UK, but new ones seem to come up. Like Chav, but Lauren Cooper prepared me for that. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/89 "2012-12-07T03:01:14Z")
Is this the hard R they are talking about? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Lk4WrTuDS5s/maxresdefault.jpg "Learn a Southern Drawl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4WrTuDS5s) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/59KDLg8A1XY/hqdefault.jpg "Learn a Southern Drawl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KDLg8A1XY) ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/90 "2012-12-07T21:51:52Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Sorry, but you’re simply wrong. What you say may apply to the way you use it, but it’s clearly used as a ‘formal singluar’ here in Durham NC. I was surprised to hear it used that way when I moved here. > > I could be sitting alone at a table and the waitress would say, “Y’all want more coffee?” The royal y’all, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/91 "2012-12-07T22:23:21Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > In some parts of New Orleans people sound like they’re from Brooklyn. What’s up with that? Youse’all? ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/92 "2012-12-08T05:03:26Z")
> [@\_Tamar](#): > > You have not met the Southerners that I have met, who routinely use “y’all” as both the singular and plural second person pronoun. Are you SURE they’re using it as a singular pronoun? As several people have pointed out, ‘Y’all’ can be used in situations where you are addressing people who are not physically present. So, to further my example, if I asked Chewbacca, “How y’all been lately?”, am I: A: Speaking to Chewbacca only, or B: Speaking to Chewbacca and his friends and family who may not be present at this moment but who’s inclusion in implicit thanks to the y’all, such as Han, Leia, and Luke. The answer is B. I don’t think you can get much more authentically Southern than Mississippi. And all my kinfolks and everyone else I’ve known in my many years of growing up there use plural y’all. Pronouns in MS look something like: First person: Ah Second person: Ya Second person plural: Y’all Third person: He, she, them, hisself, herself Possessive pronouns/determiners: Mah (first person), Yo (second person), They (third person) Y’all, grammatically, is plural. That’s what it evolved to fulfill, the need for a plural second-person pronoun. Sometimes people seem to think its a polite personal pronoun, like the French _vous_. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/93 "2012-12-09T10:06:17Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Here is a [lady with a wonderful Southern accent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFRUSTiFUs) (North Carolina, specifically). Older people are going to sound different than young people no matter what accent .A lot of older people get local fry way of speaking the vocal cords get sore and voice scratchy and rough voice.Some southern accent can help to cut back on the local fry and rough voice but not much. It is interesting old very of the old southern accent portrayed in the movie gone with the wind girls back than talk so high pitch than later on southern accent was lower pitch and now the move back to higher pitch for girls so much so for broadcasters. I did some reading on the internet and here is some short suthern words people in south use . southern words ------ non southern words Differnt -------differnt Idnit? -------- is it Caint -------- can’t Wadn’t it? -------- wasnt it idn’t/ wadn’t" for “isn’t/ wasn’t”, Wadn’t wasnt it iden ----not That waden what he said ------- That wasnt what he said That just iden right -------That just aint right That just dudden add up ----------That just don’t add up Wadenit (or “wudnit”) means "Wasn’t it cuss -------because cain’t→----can’t ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/94 "2012-12-11T00:59:09Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Is this the hard R they are talking about? > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4WrTuDS5s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4WrTuDS5s) > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KDLg8A1XY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KDLg8A1XY) He’s doing a very mild accent. Not being a real expert, I can’t tell you which he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/95 "2012-12-12T22:05:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Here is a [lady with a wonderful Southern accent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFRUSTiFUs) (North Carolina, specifically). I have listen to some more of this video and yes her accent is noticeable.She does speak clear and I don’t hear any local fry way of speaking and her pitch and tone is average. > [@Mr.Slant](#): > > He’s doing a very mild accent. > Not being a real expert, I can’t tell you which he’s doing. After I have listen two these clips two or three times :pI think he may be just stressing the vowels where the letter R is not a the beginning .I’m sure other people here who have a southern US accent can say more on this. But I think he just stressing the vowels where the letter R is not a the beginning . NOT sure it is hard R just stressing the vowels where the letter R is not a the beginning?? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542/96 "2012-12-13T17:09:47Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > US presidents with southern US accent George W. Bush has a mixed background, but for the most part, he speaks with a mild Texas accent these days. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Lyndon Johnson are all southerners who speak with a variety of southern accents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-give-away-that-some-one-has-southern-us-accent/640542.md?page=4)