Misplaced Pages

Older Southern American English: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 15:23, 13 October 2010 edit155.84.57.253 (talk) →History: London urbanites did not flock to Virginia← Previous edit Revision as of 15:23, 13 October 2010 edit undo155.84.57.253 (talk) →HistoryNext edit →
Line 22: Line 22:
As the "original" colonies, Virginia and ] were settled mostly by people from ]. As the "original" colonies, Virginia and ] were settled mostly by people from ].


The ], ] and ] areas maintained strong commercial and cultural ties to England. Thus, the colonists and their descendants defined "class" according to England's connotation. As the upper class English dialect changed, the dialects of the upper class Americans in these areas changed. One example, is the "r-dropping" of the late 18th and early 19th century, resulting in the similar "r-dropping" found in Boston and parts of Virginia today.<ref name=boeree/> The ], ] and ] areas maintained strong commercial and cultural ties to England. Thus, the colonists and their descendants defined "social class" according to England's connotations. As the upper class English dialect changed, the dialects of the upper class Americans in these areas changed. One example, is the "r-dropping" of the late 18th and early 19th century, resulting in the similar "r-dropping" found in Boston and parts of Virginia today.<ref name=boeree/>


==Famous Old Virginia accents== ==Famous Old Virginia accents==

Revision as of 15:23, 13 October 2010

The Old Virginia accent is one that is primarily heard in the South, especially in the Commonwealth of Virginia. An Old Virginia accent takes a strong southern accent, and adds typical words that are pronounced differently, such as "out" and "house."

There are varieties of an Old Virginia accent, varying from strong to weak. One with a weak Old Virginia accent will have a southern accent accompanied by a slight drawl to the ending of words.

Characteristics

Southern and south midland accent characteristics include:

  • "drawl"
  • /ai/ > /æ:/ in find, mind
  • /oi/ > /o/ in boil, oil
  • /u:/ > /yu:/ in due, tuesday
  • au/ > /æu/ in out, doubt
  • /e/ > /ei/ in bed, head
  • /e/ > /i/ in pen, ten
  • greasy > greazy
  • carry > tote
  • dragged > drug
  • you > you all, y’all

History

As the "original" colonies, Virginia and Massachusetts were settled mostly by people from Southern England.

The Boston, Massachusetts, Richmond, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina areas maintained strong commercial and cultural ties to England. Thus, the colonists and their descendants defined "social class" according to England's connotations. As the upper class English dialect changed, the dialects of the upper class Americans in these areas changed. One example, is the "r-dropping" of the late 18th and early 19th century, resulting in the similar "r-dropping" found in Boston and parts of Virginia today.

Famous Old Virginia accents

Some famous people who speak with this accent are U.S. Congressman Virgil Goode and Mayor of Richmond and past-Governor of Virginia L. Douglas Wilder.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dialects of English: American English," by Dr. C. George Boeree, accessed August 23, 2010

External links

Category: