Our accents. (Richmond, Arlington, Hampton: home, safe, relocation)

[ConceivedinKY51]

Originally Posted by vasinger

Have you ever noticed that we're losing it?

It doesn't matter whether its Tidewater, or Shenandoah Valley. Virginians don't sound the same today.

Listen to older people from Richmond or Norfolk, or other parts of the state. They sound terribly different than most young people in Virginia do.

I know some older people from Northern Virginia who actually sound like Virginians ! Thats the way people in Northern Virginia used to sound anyway.

I wonder if in the coming years with all the immigration we're having, that our distinctive Virginia accents will be Gone With The Wind.

That's sad if the accents are going away...

[SCBeaches]

Originally Posted by ConceivedinKY51

That's sad if the accents are going away...

They're not gone yet, but do seem to be disappearing. I agree....I love to hear various accents and dialects from different parts of the country! It's one of the things that makes each place unique.

[doctorjef]

It's my impression that certain aspects of a generic Southern accent have spread geographically and proliferated in the USA over the course of my life (I'm 54). This doesn't mean that people living in the upper Midwest now sound as though they're from deep Mississippi. However, there are certain generally Southern speech patterns and vowel pronunciations that I do think have spread. This seems to be in combination with some degree of homogenization of the national American accent, though I would say that many regional accents are still quite identifiable. I also think that the observation about regional accents being largely gone among teens and twenty somethings may be more apparent than real. I base this on my experience living in the UK and hearing 14 year old upper middle class girls talking with California Valley Girl intonations. It was amazing to hear this British version of Valley Girl-speak, but I think it was a very superficial, age-specific fashion that these girls were probably going to gradually outgrow. It's a fashion more than an authentic accent. In the same way, many young English urban people speak with what's called an Essex or Estuary English accent -- it entails such things as "swallowing" and nonpronuciation of the t sound within words. The thing is, almost all of these young people actually know how to speak correctly and can drop their Estuary English if need be, reverting instead to whatever might be the authentic regional accent of their parents and upbringing. I suspect that it's much the same in America and that when the language stylizations of youth gradually get dropped, the speaker reverts to more authentic regional speech patterns. Still, the point is well taken that regional differences are diminishing, albeit to a limited extent.

[janeannwho]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

It's my impression that certain aspects of a generic Southern accent have spread geographically and proliferated in the USA over the course of my life (I'm 54). This doesn't mean that people living in the upper Midwest now sound as though they're from deep Mississippi. However, there are certain generally Southern speech patterns and vowel pronunciations that I do think have spread. This seems to be in combination with some degree of homogenization of the national American accent, though I would say that many regional accents are still quite identifiable. I also think that the observation about regional accents being largely gone among teens and twenty somethings may be more apparent than real. I base this on my experience living in the UK and hearing 14 year old upper middle class girls talking with California Valley Girl intonations. It was amazing to hear this British version of Valley Girl-speak, but I think it was a very superficial, age-specific fashion that these girls were probably going to gradually outgrow. It's a fashion more than an authentic accent. In the same way, many young English urban people speak with what's called an Essex or Estuary English accent -- it entails such things as "swallowing" and nonpronuciation of the t sound within words. The thing is, almost all of these young people actually know how to speak correctly and can drop their Estuary English if need be, reverting instead to whatever might be the authentic regional accent of their parents and upbringing. I suspect that it's much the same in America and that when the language stylizations of youth gradually get dropped, the speaker reverts to more authentic regional speech patterns. Still, the point is well taken that regional differences are diminishing, albeit to a limited extent.

If you listen to the military folks, they have what we used affectionately call the military twang. AF is affected by Texas to a great degree. When we were living in the South we found it easier to take on the accent to avoid hostility, and so when we moved out west, it took us a bit to drop the y'alls.

[doctorjef]

Thanks for that observation, which confirms my own. I've noticed that, too. Of course, a lot of folks in the military are in fact southerners, but I've also listened to military folks on tv who aren't from the South and yet sound like they are. Actually, I lived on Quantico USMC as a kid, but of course I didn't have any real basis for comparison at the time -- I suppose most people just sounded "normal" to me at that time.

[capsfan1988]

i know this post is old. however, i must respond to this. I am really interested in linquistics. I am from Alexandria, Virginia, born and raised. However, with that being said, my family is from Boston and New York City and moved to NOVA in the early 1970s (when both of my parents were in grade school). I went to college in the Appalachian mountains in the south western part of va, near ky and tn. Most of the locals have very strong Appalachian accents (and acording to them, the right way to pronounce it is Appleatchya...not applaesheea). I remember my first week of freshman year and people were calling me BOSTON! yes, BOSTON! I had/have never lived in Boston... and the only reason I could think of (besides being an avid red sox fan) is because I had spent so much time with my grandparents (who have lived in nova since the 70s) growing up, and they have heavy boston accents to this day. I always though of my self as having no accent, maybe with a slight boston pitch in my voice, but generally genaric accent. But, my accent was so strong down in Appalachia, that the locals thought I was from Boston, thus the nickname (even though I told them I was from NOVA). However, having lived off and on down there for 5 or 6 years now my accent has taken on a strange life of its own! My long time girl friend, has a heavy Appalchian accent, yet the longer we date the fainter it becomes. However, the longer I date her I seem find some words and appalachian pitch or inflection in my voice (still hardly any accent), yet I still retain a little bit of the boston pitch and inflection and lexicon from my grandparents.... of course, most people probably couldn't tell i have an accent, unless they knew linguistics. I actually remember a very recent incident where some one noticed my accent. I was at a bar in old town alexandria, and some guy says to me "where are you from? you don't sound like you are from around here" i inform him that I was born and raised in Alexandria, and asked where he was from. New Jersey was his response. Yet, he then tells me I sound like i am from balitmore or some where on the coast of MD. My mom's parents who are fromy NY who came to NOVA in the early 1970s as well, they too have stange accents. Like my grand mother has a mix of what sounds like old NOVA southern gentry type accent mixed with upstate new york (I used to always think that was really funny growing up)! and my grandfather he sounds like he is from texas or some such place (even though he lived in the Bronx for most of his childhood). Then again the main reason I can think for my mom's parents having mixed accents is they were in the military and moved around alot. However, this does not explain my dad's parents accents not changing (even though they have lived in nova just as long if not longer than my mom's parents), because they were military also, yet no loss in accent! weird?! I also have family and friends who live in Richmond and they all have a very strange accent. like it sounds like general american english, but almost more high pitched, and a different inflection... I dunno. I also met a guy once who sounded like he was from New Zealand, and he informed me he was from Roanoke. I also met a guy who sounded like he was from the Bayous of LA, but was from Gloughster, VA. I still believe though, that if most people were to meet me they would say i had a generic accent, but if you knew me better, or were better at picking up on very subtle points to an accent you would probably be left with more questions than answers. In other words I went on a rant, but Virginia has many accents, and it i believe it is hard for some one not to be influanced by other accents.

[101flyboy]

Well, the accents are going because Virginia is losing some of it's connections to the South, and has been for a while. Especially the cities and NOVA. They are updating and becoming more modernized, and especially as there are a lot of people who come from New York and Massachusetts to live here. Virginia is less good 'ole boy and much more of a mix now in these places. Also, a lot of people look at accents as being ignorant, so therefore they go out of their way to take the twang out of their speech. Personally, I couldn't care less either way.

[CAVA1990]

It wasn't that long ago that folks in Fairfax County spoke with a Southern drawl. When I was a kid in the 60s growing up in Southern California a family moved into our neighborhood from Annandale. To us Californians they sounded like something right out of Gone With the Wind. When we moved back here 20 years later, pretty much everyone sounded like we did with no discernable accent.

[roanoker 4]

Who has time these days to listen to peoples' accents? I think the issue should be what language are they speaking?

[irepchesapeake]

The aa tidewater accent breakdown Virginia= vuhginia four= foah hoose= house about= abote out= ote county= coun nee center= cen nuh Norfolk= nawfuk park= pock there=dere words like drop stop block have strong O sound words like back act track have strong A sound words like night right like have a strong I sound tidewater accent is non-rhotic which base off early old colonial English and is a lot stronga = stronger in the black community bt is still slowly dyin=dying its little similar the new england accent non of the go this far in detail and I thought id jus point that ote lol