How did the American southern accent come about?

Answer 1

I just moved to NC from NJ and ask myself that everyday.

Answer 2

Some of my Linguistics-instructors claimed that the British colonists in the Southern US tended to come from different parts of Great Britain than the British colonists from the Northern US.

I am not sure I believe this explains 100% of the variation you find today between Northern and Southern US; because a lot of time has passed and sociolinguistic factors have had a chance to make their mark as well.

But ultimately, we are looking back to Great Britain for explanations; from what I have read and studied, it appears to me that almost every dialectual feature we have in the South came from various parts of Great Britain. In other words, for every pronunciation or use we have in the Southeast US, I believe you can find some town in Great Britain where the people have the same pronunciation. I don't think we actually innovated very much.

The only part of Southern speech I know of that is really claimed to be an innovation is the pronunciation of words like "ten" as "tin". (The "short E" changes to "short I" before /m/ or /n/.)

Answer 3

Dialect diversity develops when people are seperated from each other geographically and socially. The origins of many regional dialects of American English can be traced to the people who first settled North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The early settlers came from different parts of England, speaking different dialects. Therefore, regional dialects differences existed in the first colonies. And by the time of the American Revolution, there were already three major dialect areas in the British colonies, the Northern dialect, the Midland dialect and the Southern dialect that is. In addition to English settlers, other waves of immigration brought speakers of other dialects and languages to different regions too. For example, the Germans in the southeastern section, the Welsh west of Philadelphia all developed different dialects in various regions. That's why today so many dialects exist in The United States.

Answer 4

Evolved from the english and scottish accents of colonial days. I love my southern drawl. Listening to a yankee or Floridiots is like listening to nails on a chalk board.

Answer 5

Laziness and lack of education.

I was raised Southern, but with hard work and an education I recovered.

Using a southern accent drops that persons IQ by 20 points no matter what they are saying

Answer 6

Immigration to the area was led by the Scots-Irish, English & Scottish. The peculiarities of their particular variety of English morphed with time to create the accent you hear today.

Answer 7

It is due to our heritage from the British Isles.

A random fact that makes me proud of my dialect: the dialect in the southern Appalachians is the closest in the world to Shakespearian. =)

Answer 8

I'm not sure, but I love mine!! It gets me lots of attention when I travel, especially internationally.

Answer 9

from lack of education --- being around others who speak incorrectly (it can be picked up easily)--- location/altitude can effect speech tone.
I say "asked" --- my southern friend pronounces it - "axed"

Answer 10

I dont know, bu it sounds a little tongue tired to me