When you hear a Southern U.S. accent, can you guess the native state of the speaker?

Answer 1

Yes. I was born in Atlanta but spent all my life in Greenville, SC until I was 19 and joined the armed forces. I learned Latin and Spanish in Jr and Sr highschool anad then Russian in the Army, so I was trained to lsiten for inflections and accents in speech.
Anecdote:
Several years ago in a coffee shop on Broadway, NYC, waiting for a show to start with my wife and her father a waittress (about 20 years younger than I) served us. I said, I'll bet I know where you were raised. She said that she knew she had a southern accent. I said, yes, but it's from the Piedmont and my guess is upper SC. She was surprised then but even more so when I said that I'd guess medium sized town like Anderson or Greenwood. She was from Greenwood!
Incidentally, I met my wife in NC about 10 years before that when she was a waitress. After hearing her voice, I bet her I could guess where she was raised. I told her that I would guess NYC but there was a tinge of something else that was vaguely Scandinavian, Russian or Middle Eastern. Becuase she was a tall very attractive blonde, I snuck a peek at her nametag and it clued me to the likelyhood that she was most likrly Israeli due to its spelling. That is what I guessed. She was flabbergasted! Born in NYC, raised in Israel for 16 years and recently returned to US for education. I explained the deductive process and asked her out. She accepted, and now, 25 years later we have 4 children. Maybe I should have guessed Alabama???? LOL

Answer 2

Oh yah i shuah kin. Ah am from Luzziana and ah kin tell the difference from folks from Mississip or Alabammy. Now a Gawguh accent is rite different. They tend to drawl a little moah than most. Arkansas tends to have a bit of nasal twang. But ya ain't hud nuthin til ya hud a fella from Texas tawk. HE HE..just teasing. But couldn't resist this one.

Answer 3

usually, but I'm familiar with the accents (unless they come from cities in the south, obviously). also people from parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas have a very eastern genteel accent so it's hard to place. but a drawl is different than a twang

Answer 4

No. It's impossible. People will say they can, but they can't. There are so many different accents and variation within a state or even a county that it's impossible to pin down.

Answer 5

Sometimes. Being a military family we have lived all over the south, lol. Originally from Missouri so we have a pretty good idea, usually.