how many dialects/accents of English are there in The U.S.A?

Question

i would like an approximate number of main varieties of English

Answer 1

Dialects aren't as pronounced as they used to be, but, some still stand out. The one most people notice is Southern, which still has quite a few variations. You have Appalachian, which is most common in SW VA, NE TN and NW NC, where you hear words like "poke" for a paper bag, etc. Then you've got Tidewater VA, where you hear oot and aboot for out and about, then the Cajun variation around Louisiana, and Texan, for a few. You've also got the Lowcountry of SC and GA, which is more of the genteel Southern accent, like the planters and upper class, and Gullah, which was the dialect of the slaves.

Then for northern, or Yankee, you have Pennsylvanians, where yins gets used where us Southerners would say y'all. Then you've got Massachussets, like the Kennedys, for example, with the broad "a", like paak my caah, and they call water fountains bubblers. Then you have Nooo Yawk-ese, which is more pronounced around Brooklyn. Want to know something odd? The "yat" accent from a lot of N'Awlins Irish sounds quite similar to Brooklynese. Then, of course, you have the Vermont/Maine variations, think the dialogue in a lot of Stephen King's novels' characters. Then, of course, you have the Minnesotans and Michiganders, whose main source of immigrants were Swedes and Norwegians, and the best comparison I can think of is the mom in the "Bobby's World" cartoons.

Other than that, you have "flyover" country, which is the midwest, and that's what the movies and TV use as your normal American accent, for the most part.

Then you have "ebonics", or AAVE, which, I do not truly consider an accent, but pure-d murder of the English language.

Answer 2

More like accents than dialects. People from the South have very pronounced accents, but those from Brooklyn, NY and Minnesota or Massachussetts are fairly defined as well. In most of the country, people don't sound too much different than the next state. English is English with just a little twist here and there.

Answer 3

I lived in London for a while and whenever I arrived at Kings Cross Station I was overjoyed to hear the Geordie accents of fellow travellers returning North. Sorry I cheated but I love the Geordie accent and even more the gentle Northumbrian dialect of the people in rural Northumbria - music to the ears.

Answer 4

if its anything like the different dialects in england, then uncountable amounts. we have a different one for almost every city and county, and sometimes even town or village. it would take ages to count and classify them all