Scholars of Twang Track All the 'Y'Alls' in Texas

NY Times ^ | RALPH BLUMENTHAL

[TEXOKIE]

bttt

[Maria S]

"One of the best examples of this is the TV show 'KING OF THE HILL'. Hank Hill talks real Texas."


You are RIGHT! I haddn even thought about him; he pronounces things like the rest of us do, and says, “I tell you what!” quite often. Thanks for the reminder…I LOVE that show!

(And ‘yes’ to the rest of you…I deliberately spelled ‘hadn’t’ that way, ‘cause that’s the way I say it.)

[Maria S]

“Most interesting Texas accent is from the Del Rio area.”

I’d debate that one with you! There’s some great accents around the Tulia/Plainview area. Those folks can take 15 minutes to say something that could be said (by anyone else!) in about 30 seconds. And EVERY single syllable word becomes at least 3 syllables. For example, ‘well’ becomes wah-eh-llll. I tell you WHAT!

[billbears]

I know an old boy from Dunn that hates the phrase 'fixin to'. Said it didn't bother him until he attended Carolina. Figures...

[Maria S]

"Seems a Texas accent tain't that much differnt from a Georgia accent."

Nope! Those gentle folk from Georgia always sound like they have a mouthful of mush, I tell you what!

[billbears]

The linguists came to the Outer Banks a few years back because of the English accent out there. Back before there were a lot of tourists and many visitors, I've heard from family you could go out there and it sounded like you had almost stepped onto English soil

[Amelia]

Those gentle folk from Georgia always sound like they have a mouthful of mush,

It wouldn't be mush....it might be grits, though....

[FreedomCalls]

Grits line....

There's also the "sweet tea line" -- the line (somewhere in southern Virginia) where, south of which, your iced tea is by default served extremely sweet. North of the line you get asked, or simply by default, you get served unsweetened tea and will have to find a container full of sweet-n-low hiding somewhere on the table.

In Texas, the tea is always served unsweetened -- and that to me, makes them "western" not "southern."

[Pharmboy]

I have enjoyed it also--that's what makes Freeperdom so outstanding!

[neb52]

When I was in Scotland 8 years back. My Boy Scout contingent and me introduced ourselves as Texans. Right off the bat, the Scots start in on asking about the TV show Dallas. Asking if we really had horses and were was our cowboy boots and hat. We had to gently explain to them that by the time we were old enough to stop watching cartoons, Dallas had already been off the air for a several years. So we knew nothing about it. But every foreign contingent at the Jamborette knew about Texas, including the Japs next to us.

I think a previous poster had it right. Most of us DFWers have lost the accent due to influx of Yankees and Calis migrating here, plus the accent being culled out by the Socialist School System. But I still use a lot of the Texan words like "fixin to" and "I reckon". I don't realize it until I go to post here or on other forums and have to sit there and think of what the proper English word is. hehehe.

I miss Phil being in the Senate as well. He was a Servant of the Citizens first and Politician second.

[stands2reason]

They forgot our her and far. ("hair", "fire")

Also, the accent of two-syllable words (or phrases) is always on the first. GUI'-tar. FORT' Worth.

[stands2reason]

Need should be "nade" and want "wont".

[The_Victor]

Actually that's NY, not NE

My mother-in-law is from Waterbury, CT, and she and her family (NOT my wife fortunatly) say.

[Khurkris]

Thanks...I would also definitely reccomend you take a look at the book BAJA OKLAHOMA. It is a fun read and has the best bunch of Texas phrases I ever seen all together. Enjoy.

[Wallace T.]

"Most of us DFWers have lost the accent."

It has been more D than FW that has been affected by accent loss. Texas speech is alive and well in Cowtown.

[Lone Star Reb]

As a "newbie" here (and 4th generation Texan from Deep South stock), I gotta tell y'all a true story (speaking of Dallas -Ft. Worth and all). We say in Texas, "don't let the truth get in the way of a good'un"...but this one is literally gospel.

Here while back (I am from Wichita Falls...about 100 miles NW of the "metro-plex") while on jaunt down that way, checked into a motel near the DFW airport.

The clerk asked for some information and, as I was giving it to her, suddenly interupted and said "You must be from Texas"

Somewhat taken aback and amused, I asked what had clued her in.

She replied -- no kidding -- "because you don't sound like you are from around here!"

*sigh*

On a bit more scholarly note (NOT that I fit that definition), I have noticed on some of these posts that some seem to make a distinction between a "Texas" and "Southern" accent.

As I understand it, linguistically speaking, just as there is no ONE Texas accent (although that spoken in west Texas is the one most commonly considered such), so there is no ONE "Southern" accent (although the "Plantation" accent is often considered so).

In fact, all the varieties (at least until recently with yankee migration and all) spoken in Texas are just sub-dialects of what is properly and broadly considered "Southern". Just as Virigina differs from Alabama as differs from Texas and so on, all are still "Southern"...even if some of them might be more associated in popular mind-set and culture when conjuring up images of the mythic South.

As to what exactly that "commonality" is (other than "y'all) I am not sure of...but it is there. No one, inside or outside the South (defined here as the 11 old Confederate States plus Kentucky and perhaps parts of other bordering states) has any trouble just sensing perhaps that a soft Georgia drawl has SOMETHING in common with a west Texas twang.

Off on a tangent (I've probably outworn my initial welcome anyway!), someone else mentioned sweet tea and its absence in Texas. Only PARTLY right. True, in many larger restaurants in the state, one will get it unsweetened. BUT...I don't know of hardly ANY home-brewed recipies in my fair state that doesn't list a cup or more of sugar as the main ingredient! :-)

[varina davis]

The story and history of the Melungeons in the United States is one of the most fascinating in American history and genealogy. Here is one good site to learn more: http://www.murrah.com/gen/redbones.htm

There are similiar site on the Internet. See if you have any of the physical characteristics, such as an indented area at the skull base; "shovel" teeth; extra foot bone; second toe longer than the first and other such quirks. Some website list those, plus first and surnames common among Melungeon descendants, and genetic diseases common among the group.

[luckystarmom]

I never knew you pronounced pin and pen differently.

Guess where I'm from.