Tag Archives: American Southern Accents

News Roundup: Gaddafi’s Secret Weapon

A few news tidbits from the world of accents and dialects: 1.) Another week,another fluffy study about how people perceive dialects. This time, New Zealanders were asked which accents they liked or disliked. The results? Kiwis like Kiwi accents the … Continue reading

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Is the Southern Accent Leaving the cities?

Immediately upon posting yesterday’s dissection of “y’all,” I came across a recent piece in North Carolina’s Cary News, titled Y’alls’ accent is fading. The article discusses the erosion of the traditional “Southern Accent” in urban areas. This passage sums it … Continue reading

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The Remarkable History of “Y’all”

In contemporary New York City, it is common to hear local teenagers use the word “y’all.” A few decades ago, this word would have been confined to speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), who brought the word with them … Continue reading

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North America’s Strange “Island” Dialects

One of my missions in life is to convince non-Americans that we do not, in fact, all speak alike. Sadly, the media are against me: most foreigners get their ideas of how we speak from American television, where accents are … Continue reading

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