Posted on 09/18/2015 9:57:02 AM PDT by chasio649
The other day, my son asked why there are such a variety of accents in the country. Why does a fellow from Mississippi have a twang that’s different from a fellow in Texas?
Long ago, I asked my father a similar question. He pointed out that it isn’t just in America – a wide range of dialects and accents are common for French, Arabic, whatever.
In recent days, some interesting pieces have appeared online. One in Slate has a list of the top slang terms from every state. Here’s what was included for the Mid-South:
Arkansas: “tump” -- to tip over or dump out. Louisiana: “banquette” – sidewalk. Mississippi: “nabs” -- peanut butter crackers. Tennessee: “whirlygust” -- a strong wind. The words from Arkansas and Mississippi are familiar. Not so those from Louisiana and Tennessee.
Humans are so inventive, language doesn’t have to be spoken words. Slate has posted a video shot in a mountainous region of Turkey where residents whistle long range conversations when their shouts won’t carry. Some 10,000 people still use this method of communication.
And if you want to get into some truly odd language characteristics, head down to northwest Brazil. There, the Piraha people speak a language unrelated to any other. Christian missionaries have spent agonizing decades trying to learn the intricacies of the Piraha’s tongue and culture.
A 2007 profile in the New Yorker says Piraha is “based on just eight consonants and three vowels, (and is) one of the simplest sound systems known. Yet it possesses such a complex array of tones, stresses, and syllable lengths that its speakers can dispense with their vowels and consonants altogether and sing, hum, or whistle conversations.”
Further, the Piraha, “have no numbers, no fixed color terms, no perfect tense, no deep memory, no tradition of art or drawing, and no words for ‘all,’ ‘each,’ ‘every,’ ‘most,’ or ‘few.’”
Why has this group been able to resist modernity? Largely because they “consider all forms of human discourse other than their own to be laughably inferior, and they are unique among Amazonian peoples in remaining monolingual.”
All areas have regional accent. In the same way you learn language, you learn accent.
The short answer: Because their parents did.
The short answer: Because their parents did.
Pretty much world wide i would think.
A whole article and he never answered his question.
A friend from Madrid remarked that Mexican spanish is not like the mother tongue. When we visited “New Yawk” last year, he recognized the accent of a spanish speaking tourist as being his own. Confirmation when they spoke together.
They’ll hate it and deny it, but it is from the huge influx of African slaves and a southern drawl is simply African English of the 1800s.
Southerners have a drawl because they don’t want to sound like stupid Northerners.
Maybe an African influence?
” intricacies of the Piraha’s tongue “
Maybe they’re just joking. Everytime a stranger comes up, they pretend to communicate this way to pull their leg, because they’re not actually interested in conversing w/strangers.
Could be the funniest folks on the planet.
I would have to add that my sister and brother in law have heavy southern accents....their kids...not so much....many Southerners are shamed if they go to college and have a Southern accent...just my observation...One is an attorney and the other is an engineer...College beat the accent out of them.
Because they don’t want to be mistaken for yankees!
here we go...haha
It’s hot and muggy down there - totally saps your energy most of the year and it takes more energy to enunciate every word.
that would explain Gomer Pyle.
So a southern accent sounds like ebonics?...may i axe you that?
I see the title of this as a bait and switch.
Didn’t deliver. Not even close.
A friend from Puerto Rico could not understand Mexican spanish...they spoke too fast with too much slang.
Do you troll everything dumbass?
The 1700's and 1800's slaves probably didn't speak in ebonics either.
din du nuffins?
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