Journalist: Texas twang on the rise

AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF ^ | Tuesday, January 25, 2005 | By Katie Humphrey

[Arrowhead1952]

Students get lesson in how Americans talk from 'NewsHour' ex-anchor

By Katie Humphrey

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Y'all better get ready because the Texas drawl is the future of American English -- at least according to journalist Robert MacNeil, who has spent many years studying and chronicling how Americans talk.

Maybe it's because of country music or migration from north to south, but any way you look at it, the number of people speaking with a Southern dialect -- particularly "Texan" -- is on the rise, MacNeil told about 270 area high school students who gathered at the campus of Advanced Micro Devices on Monday afternoon.

"Talking Southern may ultimately become the most normal way of talking American," he said, recalling a study from the 1990s that found that 76 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 41 percent of people older than 65 in the United States used "y'all" on a regular basis. And that was before President Bush took office.

MacNeil, former executive editor and co-anchor of "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour," used Monday's discussion as a prequel to his evening speech at the University of Texas' LBJ Library, part of KLRU's Distinguished Speaker Series.

The discussion focused on MacNeil's latest book, "Do You Speak American?" and his Public Broadcasting Service documentary of the same title, which aired on KLRU in early January. In the documentary -- MacNeil's first since retiring in 1995 -- he travels across the United States to explore the slang, dialects and quirky accents that give American English its linguistic diversity.

"Most people are really interested in language because it's something that we all own and it belongs to all of us," MacNeil said, adding that even slang-happy teenagers can find linguistics interesting if it is presented in the right way. "Only when they saw the series did they realize that it didn't have to be boring at all."

Students laughed as they watched MacNeil mimic a "Surfer Dude" accent using a 69-word sentence that included the word "like" 13 times. Then he slipped into a slow Southern drawl to share some typical Texas phrases with the students.

"Texas is known for its wonderfully colorful metaphors and expressions," he said, including sayings such as "meaner than a skillet full of rattlesnakes."

"The great skill in Texas is to not copy these expressions but to create your own," he said. "Our language is constantly changing."

But our perceptions of certain dialects are not, he said. While working on the documentary, MacNeil said he met people who faced discriminated for talking differently: an inner-city student who "talks black," an immigrant who speaks Spanglish and a New Englander who drops the r's in words.

"While we are very careful about what we say about all kinds of things, we permit ourselves a certain degree of racism when talking about language," he said.

As a result, people have learned to be bilingual in a sense, speaking a formal standard English and a more informal dialect, depending on the situation, he said.

Sarah Mendoza, a senior at Del Valle High School, said she noticed changes in her classmates' speech patterns as they asked MacNeil questions.

"People talked differently here than when they are at home or with their friends," she said. "Some of them stuttered or tried to use a bigger vocabulary."

One student's use of the word "proliferation" did indeed draw gasps from his peers.

[hushpad]

Then he slipped into a slow Southern drawl to share some typical Texas phrases with the students. <<<

Texans do have a Twang in their speech, but they do not talk a "slow Southern drawl" like those who live in the Carolinas or Georgia.

There is nothing like a Texas Twang. Nothing.

[MeekOneGOP]

Journalist: Texas twang on the rise

Excerpt:

Y'all better get ready because the Texas drawl is the future of American English -- at least according to journalist Robert MacNeil, who has spent many years studying and chronicling how Americans talk.

Maybe it's because of country music or migration from north to south, but any way you look at it, the number of people speaking with a Southern dialect -- particularly "Texan" -- is on the rise, MacNeil told about 270 area high school students who gathered at the campus of Advanced Micro Devices on Monday afternoon.

"Talking Southern may ultimately become the most normal way of talking American," he said, recalling a study from the 1990s that found that 76 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 41 percent of people older than 65 in the United States used "y'all" on a regular basis. And that was before President Bush took office.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL! Gotta love it! :^D

My wife is Chinese and I met her sister before I met my future wife.

It is so great when I hear Chinese use the word "Ya'll". Glad I taught 'em that. :^D

[ladtx]

Don't forget Mexia, Bourne, Bexar, and Montague.

[ladtx]

Bourne == Boerne. My bad.

[nomorelurker]

Don't forget Waxahachie.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Man-chack-ka

When I lived in Austin (1976-1986), the "correct" pronunciation for Manchaca was "MAN-chack".

[Arrowhead1952]

Don't forget Mexia, Bourne, Bexar, and Montague.

Mehayah, Burnee, Bear, Montetgae

I still have to laugh about some people from the northern US asking me where the Pedernails River was located, and I had no idea what they were talking about, until they spelled the name.

[MeekOneGOP]

Headin' over to my PhotoDeluxe software to fix up a couple of pics.

See ya'll later.

[MissAmericanPie]

Being a Texan I have never understood why the way we speak is called a "twang". Texans take English and short hand it. Quick minds and all that. We can get a point across to each other with a minimum of words, such as, "had enuf?".

This expression covers everything from, "Have you had enough to eat", to, "Should I stop beating you now", to, "This is boring or offensive, let's leave".

[lonestar]

Texans do have a Twang in their speech, but they do not talk a "slow Southern drawl" like those who live in the Carolinas or Georgia.

Ever been to East Texas?

[HostileTerritory]

Montetgae

I give up. What?

[Arrowhead1952]

Mon-te-gay is how my neighbor pronounces Montague. Of course, she is from England.

[Conspiracy Guy]

bye

[hushpad]

Ever been to East Texas?

Yep! And they do talk a bit slower than we do here in the West, but Dang! them Carolina folks talk as slow as molasses flows on a chilly morning, even East Texas gets to the point sooner than later!

[grobdriver]

When I lived in Austin (1976-1986), the "correct" pronunciation for Manchaca was "MAN-chack".

Hmmm... you could be right.
But it's South of the river. Who cares?

[fr_freak]

...recalling a study from the 1990s that found that 76 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 41 percent of people older than 65 in the United States used "y'all" on a regular basis.

I have seen a lot of younger people adopting "y'all" in their speech, but from what I've seen, it's more because they are imitating the rap/hip-hop culture than Southern culture.

[Arrowhead1952]

I should have added that my neighbor from England is trying her hardest to imitate Texans' drawl.

[annyokie]

I've reverted to modified Okie since I moved to Oklahoma. I thought I lost that g-dropping thing (goin', fixin' etc) but I was wrong.

[dix]

Back years ago when I was hanging out in New York, and California a little bit I was kind of embarrassed a little bit about my Texas accent.

Over time I came to appreciate it, and now I am very proud to speak the way I do. No way do I ever try to pronounce my ings or hesitate to use our colorful expressions.