Southern accent (United States)

Common card · No. 264427

In the United States, a Southern accent, Southern twang, or simply Southern is the sound system of the modern Southern regional dialect of American English. The Southern drawl is another common synonym, though technically defined as a particular feature within this accent. English in the American South underwent several major sound changes from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, during which a rural-originating sound system, including two chain shifts of vowel sounds, expanded geographically through the whole region. This regional accent is fairly unified, contrasting with the more diverse and localized sound systems of earlier 19th-century Southern dialects. Still, there remains ongoing variation in the Southern accent regarding various potential differences based on a speaker's exact sub-region, age, ethnicity, and other social factors. Some sub-regions of the South, and perhaps even a majority of its biggest cities, are showing a gradual shift away from the accent...

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