The Louisville "accent" - Is it Southern or Midwestern? (Shelbyville: university, wages)

[JohnBoy64]

Here is the reasoning between Inland South and Lowland South as per the author at "American English Dialects"

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What’s the Difference between Inland Southern and Lowland Southern?

Before discussing the distribution of Inland Southern and Lowland Southern, I need to define them more clearly, since I find that there is a lot of confusion as to what I mean by Inland Southern versus Lowland Southern. 17-Apr.-2013
Inland Southern has full monophthongization of long /ī/ [aɪ] to [a]. This means that all long /ī/ vowels are not diphthongs [aɪ], but essentially pure vowels, usually [a] (which is clearly distinguished from /ŏ/ [ɑ]). Thus, the “i”s in “ride”, “buy”, and “right” are all the same, and all sound quite Southern! However, this doesn’t mean that “ride” [ˈɹad] is pronounced the same as “rod” [ˈɹɑd], or that “right” [ˈɹat] is pronounced the same as “rot” [ˈɹɑt]: these words still have distinct pronunciations, though Yankees may have trouble hearing the difference! 27-Apr.-2013

Lowland Southern is similar, except that Lowland Southern only has partial monophthongization of long /ī/ [aɪ] to [a]. This means that the vowels of “ride” and “buy” have the Southern vowel [a] just like Inland, but the vowel of “right” is a diphthong [aɪ], with a pronunciation a bit more like other parts of the United States. The specific rule is this: before voiceless sounds the vowel is a diphthong, but elsewhere it is not. Voiceless sounds are /p, t, ch, k, f, s, sh, th/ (as is “python” /pīthən/ [ˈpʰaɪθən], where it is voiceless, not as in “lithe” /līŧħ/ [ˈlaɪð], where it is voiced). Why does it work that way? Ah, that kind of question doesn’t have a good answer in human language! However, to put it another way, how is it that they follow such a technical rule without knowing it? That does have an answer: patterns such as this are common in human language, even though the speakers are totally unaware of them at a conscious level. 17-Apr.-2013
Thus, to determine if a particular speaker speaks Inland or Lowland Southern, first make sure he speaks Southern at all by listening to words like “ride” and “buy”. If he does, then listen to words with voiceless sounds like “ripe”, “bite”, “righteous” (which has a /ch/ sound in spite of the spelling), “like”, “life”, “ice” (s sound), “python”, etc.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Far from Deep South. Glide deletion is not present in a lot of words. Maybe in "time" but the way she says "like" is more Midwest than South. I'd say it's Midland bordering on Southern. Her "o" sounds are even Midwestern. I feel like some in Louisville say "o" like Midwesterners and some say it like Southerners like "eh-oh", closer to the British vowel form. Someone I know in Louisville said that there's a "phone" line wherein the pronunciation of "phone" goes from "phe-own" to "phaw-own" somewhere in Central Indiana/Ohio and further South is pronounced "phe-own". But the women in the audio did have a very Southern trait where her short e sounds merge with short i sounds (then sounds somewhat like thin, pen like pin etc)

Honestly, it's a hard accent to place. Are the Southern characteristics there? You bet. But I've heard native Louisvillians claim their speech isn't much different from Cincy and that their speech is more neutral.

Is that 'eh-oh' pronunciation a strictly a Southern feature or is it a South Midland accent? Because you hear that throughout the Midland area starting in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

[JaxRhapsody]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Well it is interesting that dialect maps put Louisville in Southern accent territory but the more I listen, the less Southern it sounds. Glide deletion seems practically rare and only used before "L" or "R". I seriously think Louisville people sound more and more neutral Midwestern by the day. Oh, well. I think sometimes dialect maps are well-meaning but too generalized. However, who the hell am I to question the expertise of trained linguists? They can hear things than I can't. But, the whole thing is not a Black or White answer. I think maybe it's Midwestern with Southern influences or vice versa. But I won't lie, many people sound like Cincinnati people in Louisville and Cincinnati's accent is textbook Midwest - hard to place and could fit in anywhere, the well known characteristic Midwesterners are known for, that "Standard" American sound.

There's also so many people here, who aren't from here, so they don't have the accent.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by JohnBoy64

Actually the differences in glide deletion (otherwise known as monophthongization) you are referring to is very common throughout the south. Huge areas of the south have only partial glide deletion similar to the speaker in the recording. The absence of the glide deletion in words such as "like" is considered "Lowland South", where you have the glide deletion (monophthongization) spoken in general is considered "Inland South". Here is a very detailed analysis of the two American English Dialects. Inland South is most prevalent in areas that did not have a high concentration of slavery during the antebellum period such as Southern Appalachia.

Good point. Which, I feel like the Inland South is then a "transition" zone from the neutral Midland to the true Southern. Interestingly some MIDLAND dialects have partial glide deletion, like those of Philly and Baltimore. You don't tend to see this in other parts of the Midland region. Wonder why?

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

Is that 'eh-oh' pronunciation a strictly a Southern feature or is it a South Midland accent? Because you hear that throughout the Midland area starting in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Right. It's also found in the Midland. I hear it as far north as Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, and even in Central Illinois. My theory is that there weren't enough immigrants to those regions whom pronounced the O differently. In the North, lots of non-British immigrants came in and essentially shifted the sound to more "aww-oh" rather than the "eh-oh", which is heard in the British form. The North, being such a hotbed for immigration essentially "purged" the British O sound away.

When you look at the commonalities of cities with high immigration vs those that don't, the O sound seems to differ. Now of course, every city has immigrants but then the question is, to what degree did they influence the dialect? Up North, there were so many immigrants that the dialect had no reason to maintain these traits. These other cities probably didn't have such massive waves so their local sound stayed intact. This is why even in Midland/Upper South cities with recent or mass immigration you hear some people say their O's differently. Not everyone in Philly, Indy, Cincy, or even Louisville all say it "eh-oh", but many do. Contrast this with the North where nobody says it that way. Same thing with "on" rhyming with "don" and not with "dawn".

[Toby Lee]

The blending of midwestern and southern dialects are, of course, a byproduct of Louisville’s location, which is pretty much where the two cultural regions meet. It’s also the point where the Scots-Irish settlers, who settled most of Kentucky and Tennessee, run into German settlers, who migrated down the Ohio Valley. This creates the odd cultural mix that typifies Louisville and Cincinnati, which subsequently extends to the area’s linguistics.

[Toby Lee]

You’re talking to someone who has lived in Louisville, Richmond, AND Raleigh. This post is absolutely correct. Neutral accents are far more common in urban areas; you have more people, especially in Raleigh, who moved in from elsewhere, so the various accents, and cultural styles, blend in with one another.

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by Toby Lee

The blending of midwestern and southern dialects are, of course, a byproduct of Louisville’s location, which is pretty much where the two cultural regions meet. It’s also the point where the Scots-Irish settlers, who settled most of Kentucky and Tennessee, run into German settlers, who migrated down the Ohio Valley. This creates the odd cultural mix that typifies Louisville and Cincinnati, which subsequently extends to the area’s linguistics.

True, but to my ears, having lived in both cities, Cincinnati's German influence is much stronger and more pervasive than is Louisville's. This is true culturally as well as linguistically.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

Is that 'eh-oh' pronunciation a strictly a Southern feature or is it a South Midland accent? Because you hear that throughout the Midland area starting in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Yes, you do. South Jersey and outside of Philidelphia have a distinctively southern sounding diphthong.

Can an expert explain this?

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Toby Lee

You’re talking to someone who has lived in Louisville, Richmond, AND Raleigh. This post is absolutely correct. Neutral accents are far more common in urban areas; you have more people, especially in Raleigh, who moved in from elsewhere, so the various accents, and cultural styles, blend in with one another.

I am originally from NYC and I agree completely. One would be hard-pressed to find a New York accent in Manhattan and it's almost gone from Brooklyn.

Same of other cities, for the reasons that you gave. Another reason? People in metropolitan areas want to sound sophisticated and actively try to lose their accents.