American accent - Page 5 - Historum

Fire_Raven · March 10th, 2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Bravo

They definitely do, but they all do it differently. The Acadians (Cajuns) have a lot of French and Native American lingo all mashed into their vernacular, as well as some Spanish flavor, and are very much like Appalachians in the lyrical quality of their sentences, which are often flavored with more than is necessary, metaphor wise, to convey their point, lol.

Then there's the Yat dialect of New Orleans, which is quite similar to a Brooklyn accent in structure and execution, being more clipped and generally more rapid than Acadian.

Then there's the South Louisiana Southern dialect, which draws from both Acadian and Western Louisiana/East Texas influences, as well as influences derived from the interior of the American Deep South, and even the midwest and North. New Orleans, especially, has always picked up and assimilated linguistic trends and from influence up-river of her as far as the mouth of the Mississippi.

That's just scratching the surface, too, lol. One could write a book or two on the subject, tho as far as I know not many linguists have really studied South Louisiana in general or New Orleans in particular, unfortunately. As a result the bulk of my experience has been experiential and is thus anecdotal.

It was interesting hearing the various accents when I was down there for Hurricane's Gustave and Ike in 2008. I was working in an evac shelter in Shreveport and the first set of evacuees were mostly from the 9th ward in New Orleans and 99% African-American so there was their accent, The Shreveport locals had slightly different accents based on race but noticeably different then the New Orleans folk.

Our 2nd group of evacuees came from Lake Charles area and their accent was slightly different from the others also( I online game with a guy from that area and he sounds almost exactly like Ron White)

The 3rd group were members of a small church group from Texas so we had yet another accent group.

Never did get to hear that stereotypical Louisiana bayou accent though

**Charlie Bravo** · March 10th, 2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire_Raven

It was interesting hearing the various accents when I was down there for Hurricane's Gustave and Ike in 2008. I was working in an evac shelter in Shreveport and the first set of evacuees were mostly from the 9th ward in New Orleans and 99% African-American so there was their accent, The Shreveport locals had slightly different accents based on race but noticeably different then the New Orleans folk.

Our 2nd group of evacuees came from Lake Charles area and their accent was slightly different from the others also( I online game with a guy from that area and he sounds almost exactly like Ron White)

The 3rd group were members of a small church group from Texas so we had yet another accent group.

Never did get to hear that stereotypical Louisiana bayou accent though

Lol, once you hear that bayou accent you'll never forget it. It really is unique.

**Carlisle Blues** · March 10th, 2011, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy11

Well, if you go to "Greepernt," you'll still be able to hear a little bit of that way of speech. Although not the toidy-toid and toid variety. I think that was particularly a Manhattan Bowery thing. Still, a lot of "aksing" questions going on too.

And if you go to a Yankees-Sox game, you'll hear a cacophany of not so mellifluous accents from Beantown and Da Bronix taunting each other. "Bu-ahsston S*xx!" vs "Nieu Yawk S*xx!"

The old patrician adding "r's" where they don't belong is almost extinct. I don't remember the last time I heard someone say "idea-rrr."

And that Nawlin's Yat sometimes sounds just like parts of Brooklyn (same ethnic mix, I think).

I do agree...I also say there is no bread or pastry or pizza quite like the kind made in New York...

**Jake10** · March 10th, 2011, 04:32 PM

We also need to consider the constant influx of immigrants to the US. They influence the way others speak and add a little of their own to the overall accent. Each generation introduces new words and different ways of saying things, making accents change as the generations go by.

**Richard Stanbery** · March 10th, 2011, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimR-OCDS

I heard it said that when a person meets a man who speaks with a southern accent, they automatically assume that person's IQ level is ten
points lower than what it may actually be.

Jim

That is probably so. But Appalachians share a similar thought about outsiders. One common joke among Appalachians is how much we enjoy stupifying outsiders with our talk. And one way is to confuse the outsider with two or more Appalachians talking at once to them..

YouTube - Bill and John Tell It

And so, we have our fun too. And when that is over, the real message is driven home. And listen to the tonal inflections here (after the confusing round-talking has ended).

I just love videos. There is really no better way to demonstrate and accent without providing an audio example. But be warned, the more you listen to this Appalachian stuff, some of it might start to make sense to ye. An' en yur plum ruynt.

**Charlie Bravo** · March 10th, 2011, 05:25 PM

See, I understood every word Bill and John were saying, but I can see how an English speaker that's unfamiliar with the dialect can be stumped. I've heard some UK dialects that I was told were English, but I'd never have guessed it without being told as much.

**Richard Stanbery** · March 10th, 2011, 05:27 PM

Yeah, I know what you mean.

That cockney accent, or the one from Manchester..is that English? Them is about the most un-English speakingist folks ever I did see.

When that movie "Mary Poppins" came out, everbody around here thought it was about the Irish. We just assumed that everbody in England talked like Winston Churchill or Sherlock Holmes.

Tuor · March 10th, 2011, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Bravo

See, I understood every word Bill and John were saying, but I can see how an English speaker that's unfamiliar with the dialect can be stumped. I've heard some UK dialects that I was told were English, but I'd never have guessed it without being told as much.

Ya, I understood them as well. My and my girlfriend had a bizarre experience with one of those English accents when we were in the UK a couple summers ago. It was weird because, you know, we're in England, we expect to be able to understand everyone. We ran across some bizarre sounding accents, to us.

**Charlie Bravo** · March 10th, 2011, 05:40 PM

I'm reminded of the scene in Band of Boothers when the regiment had just gotten to England, and Hoobler comes across a British soldier dressed as a German soldier. Hoobler gets to have a look at a real German Ruger for the first time and he and this fellow strike up a brief chat which ends with Hoob saying, "I don't understand a word you just said." Lol.

Indy11 · March 10th, 2011, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlisle Blues

I do agree...I also say there is no bread or pastry or pizza quite like the kind made in New York...

Amen to that.

Although I will admit that I might have to admit that our idea of a bagel might not be the sweetest version of it.

I mean, a New York bagel is the best "bagel" you can get but I have been exposed to Montreal apostates who have this thing called a "bagel" which is mighty tasty. But... it is NOT a bagel. IMO.