Southern Accents

KillarneyRose · #1 05-06-2003, 06:29 PM

A kind friend knew I wasn't feeling well so she brought over snacks and "Sweet Home Alabama" for both of us to watch.

During the movie she made a comment that Reece Witherspoon did NOT have an Alabama accent in the movie, but it was a very convincing Tennessee accent. Since my friend is from Alabama but lived in Nashville for awhile, I guess I'll take her word on that but, honestly, all the southern characters in the movie sounded the same to me

So tell me, Southern GreekChatters, can you all tell what parts of the south another southerner is from just by their accents? If so, that is pretty damn cool! And if this is the case, I'd like to add that it's a good thing most of you weren't yet born when "Dallas" was on or your ears would have been burning!!!

FiReKraCkEr · #2 05-06-2003, 07:24 PM

I can tell between TN, GA, and AL indefinatley. It is how certain words are pronounced and how fast and slow the dialect is...sorta hard to explain. But yeah, Reese has a definate TN accent!

AOIIalum · #3 05-06-2003, 07:31 PM

Isn't Reese from TN originally?

I can't always tell where someone in the South is from, but do all right with Southern vs. Deep South. If I know someone is from Kentucky, I can tell which part they're from by their accent. There's a big difference between Louisville and, oh Paducah or Erlanger (and everything in between!)

Christin

FiReKraCkEr · #4 05-06-2003, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AOIIalum
Isn't Reese from TN originally?

Yes, a little out of Nashville. She went to an all girls school. Forgot the name of it, she is a born and bred TN gal

James · #5 05-06-2003, 07:53 PM

I have heard this too . . . I thought Charlie Therizon (sp?) had a prescious southern accent in Bagger Vance. but I was told by a friend in south Carlolina that it was not a true accent . . .

I have spoken to south Carolina people and people from Kentucky, I am not sure I can tell the difference. Do they have a different accent?

AlphaSigOU · #6 05-06-2003, 07:53 PM

Hell, even in Texas you have several variations of the ubiquitous 'Texas twang': East Texas, West Texas, Panhandle and even South Texas. Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, El Paso, San Antonio and Amarillo are considered neutral, since there's so many of the above variations that live there.

KillarneyRose · #7 05-06-2003, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by James
I thought Charlie Therizon (sp?) had a prescious southern accent in Bagger Vance. but I was told by a friend in south Carlolina that it was not a true accent . . .

Cherlize does a great job with the accents. She's originally from the south....South Africa! I understand that her first language isn't even English, it's Afrikaans (similar to Dutch).

Quote:

Originally posted by KDatUTC
Yes, a little out of Nashville. She went to an all girls school. Forgot the name of it, she is a born and bred TN gal

Now I'm really impressed that my friend said Reece did a convincing TN accent! I don't think either of us knew she was actually from there

AGDLynn · #8 05-06-2003, 08:49 PM

Do they say "Adlana"?

ZTAngel · #9 05-06-2003, 09:03 PM

I can distinguiseh pretty well.. I think the Louisianna accent is pretty recognizable. A friend of myne has an Lousianna accent and I absolutely love it. There's also a huge difference between a southern accent and a redneck accent. I can tell the idifference with that.

(I am slightly tipsy....will edit out my mistakes when I'm sober)

AlphaGamDiva · #10 05-06-2003, 09:07 PM

yeah, reese busted out a good tn accent....i think all southern accents are different....ms is one way, al is another...they all sound different in diff areas of the state, too. like, eastern KY sounds waaaaaaaaay diff than western or central ky.

weird thought, though, huh?

UKDaisy · #11 05-06-2003, 09:08 PM

I can tell if someone is from Kentucky! When I went to L.A. last summer a west coaster looked at me and said, "you're from KY". The prettiest accents by far are LA and GA accents. They just flow so beautifully. I kinda think Kentucky and TN accents are hickish. But thats okay, because hickish can sound cute....occaisionally.

swissmiss04 · #12 05-06-2003, 09:23 PM

I have some sort of innate ability to tell not only what Southern (and some others) state one hails from, but also what part, and in Alabama, what county/city. Yeah. I guess I'm a good listener. Inflection, vocabulary, etc. all plays in to it. It's sort of a cool ability, in a Henry Higgins sort of way.

honeychile · #13 05-06-2003, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BrownEyedGirl

Movie imitations of Southern accents drive me absolutely nuts, though! I think The Green Mile was the worst for me - sometimes these actors talk like they're mentally challenged, not Southern.

This part is SO true!!!

I had a linguists professor who could not only tell what city & state you were from by your accent, but whether it was the north-south-east-west of the city and your socio-economic class! Of course, he was getting paid to make a study of it.

I had another professor - from New York - who just assumed that anyone from the South who didn't work on losing their accent was dumb, lazy, or both. It took a lot to charm him and make him see the error of his ways!

Killarney Rose, check out the accents on "Fried Green Tomatoes", especially the rythym of the sentence structure. That's where you catch most imitators off guard.

Eirene_DGP · #14 05-06-2003, 09:28 PM

Yeah, I agree with Browneyedgirl since I am from Greenville. I absolutely hate it when actors over do the southern accent. In South Carolina, there are three different dialects. You have the mountain appalachia accent (Thats me!!), mid-lands (which tends to sound more like georgia), and Charlestonian accent which tends to be the strongest in the African American community and it is a mixture of English and Gullah (the language of the early slaves).

KillarneyRose · #15 05-06-2003, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eirene_DGP
Yeah, I agree with Browneyedgirl since I am from Greenville. I absolutely hate it when actors over do the southern accent. In South Carolina, there are three different dialects. You have the mountain appalachia accent (Thats me!!), mid-lands (which tends to sound more like georgia), and Charlestonian accent which tends to be the strongest in the African American community and it is a mixture of English and Gullah (the language of the early slaves).

I have a friend from Lancaster, SC. Is that near you? She once said something about a "spodder" and it took me the longest time to figure out that she meant "spider"! She sounds absolutely adorable though! (is it insulting to refer to a 35 year old mother of two as adorable???)