How would Southern Speech Patterns, or Dialect compare to modern accents?

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Oct 23, 2021
How similar/dissimilar were speech patterns and dialects in the CW era from modern accents, especially in the state of Alabama?
Would a person whose ancestors were French talk differently from someone with, say, Scottish ancestry? If so, how?
What sort of idioms were in common usage at the time?
Is it possible to write accurately about the CW without using the N word?
I live in MN and most of my experience with southern dialect is from TV & movies, although I did go to TX for a few days several years ago, which resulted in an interesting interaction between me, the MN transplant I was visiting and her coworker. How likely is it that my perception of how people talked in Alabama during the CW is accurate?

I‘m writing a novel set in Alabama and New Orleans, and I want to be as accurate in my dialog as possible. One main character has French ancestry and the other might be Scottish. Any suggestions are welcome.
 
Wow...... I really like your post. If not already, please be aware that there many different southern dialects- Tidewater, Texan, coastal Carolinian, upland Southern, Appalachian, etc. To me- an Alabama accent is different from what you experienced in Texas. And a true Mobilian speaks differently than someone from Huntsville. But regional dialects/ accents are dying quickly.
Just this morning I listened to a recorded interview with a CW veteran from Virginia. Try searching on YouTube.
 
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There is a general rule of thumb that the geographically farther South a Southerner is from, the slower he or she speaks. I am from the upper South and have what would be considered a Tidewater accent with a fast cadence. It is hard for some people who are not used to it to understand on occasion. My wife has the classical syrup sweet Southern accent and she is a little easier to understand and on the ear (she is a teacher).

When I was a teenager me and my family went to Pittsburgh, PA. one summer for a short vacation and we had several of the natives there ask us if we were from Australia because of our accents. I never thought I sounded like a Aussie but since Southern accents are closer than the way the Oueen's English was spoken in Elizabethan times than the standard "American" accent I guess there would be some similarities to the accents spoken by natives of the islands across the pond.
 
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It's hard to answer that question since we don't have recordings from the era. But I would suggest you look at things written at the time which tried to mimic speech in spelling and punctuation. A number of writers from the era altered spellings and punctuation to demonstrate the sound of their speakers - they way we now write gonna instead of going to. Of course, some of these, especially when portraying the speech of poor southerners and slaves, are exaggerated. But they do give you a sense of how speech differed in different areas.

As to New Orleans, I would think those who grew up speaking French had accented speech. French speakers seem to have a persistent accent when speaking English. That might impact Creole speakers too.

I agree with @Sheltowee and @nc native that there are regional variations in Southern accents and I'm sure those would have been noticeable at the time. You might also take into consideration the education levels of the speakers - as today, those of the time who were well educated and well travelled had different diction.
 
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Is it possible to write accurately about the CW without using the N word?

Well, Robert E. Lee left extensive correspondence from the era. He never used, "the N-word" in any of it. Not ever.

Let me ask you, is it possible to write accurately about 21st century Minnesota without using it?

There is a general rule of thumb that the geographically farther South a Southerner is from, the slower he or she speaks. I am from the upper South and have what would be considered a Tidewater accent with a fast cadence.

My mother hails from NW Louisiana. I knew my grandparents' generation from there very well and can tell you, theytalkedsodangedfastyoucouldhardlyunderstandwhattheyweresaying.

You may be right about Mississippi and so forth, but I have issue with any 'rule of thumb.'
 
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I'm from Alabama. Born and raised. There are still many dialects, speech patterns, and differing idioms in use in various parts of the State. As recently as my childhood, you could still easily recognize the region where a person's ancestors came from in their speech. My own grandfather retained the dialect and pronunciation patterns of his ancestry. Im happy to try and expand on various dialects and pronunciation, but it could take some time. For starters, why don't you join us for the live Zoom presentation Wednesday night and you can laugh with everyone else at my southern accent? :biggrin:

EDITED TO ADD: A few threads that include discussion of southern accents and idioms.
This first one is really funny and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in southern dialects!




 
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I'm from Alabama. Born and raised. There are still many dialects, speech patterns, and differing idioms in use in various parts of the State. As recently as my childhood, you could still easily recognize the region where a person's ancestors came from in their speech. My own grandfather retained the dialect and pronunciation patterns of his ancestry. Im happy to try and expand on various dialects and pronunciation, but it could take some time. For starters, why don't you join us for the live Zoom presentation Wednesday night and you can laugh with everyone else at my southern accent? :biggrin:

EDITED TO ADD: A few threads that include discussion of southern accents and idioms.
This first one is really funny and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in southern dialects!




I have a couple of stories about interactions with southerners and communication that would best be shared in a live voice setting, but Wednesday nights are Bible study.
 
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Let us not be naive here in regard to the N word. This is a search of New York papers from 1840-1870. Whether to use it or not in a contemporary work is not the point but trying to pretend it wasn't common then is not historically sustainable.

Chronicling America NY 1840-1870

edit: I tried to post the link but the software won't let me. Just go to Chronicling America yourself and do the search. There were Results 1 - 20 of 4175
 
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I was always amused by my southern Ohio cousin's use of "You'uns"...
Apparently rooted in the Scots-Irish variation for “you ones”. Very common use in my family (Appalachian).

From website A Way With Words-

You'uns, a dialectal form of the second-person plural, generally means "you and your kin." The term is heard in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and much of the South, reflecting migration patterns of immigrants from the British Isles. It's also related to yinz, heard in western Pennsylvania to mean the same thing. This is part of a complete episode.
 
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How noble of a slaveholder to not use the N-word to describe the property in his charge🤔

Please post evidence that Robert E. Lee was ever a slaveholder? No, his father-in-law's slaves don't count, any more than Abraham Lincoln's wife's or Ulysses Grant's wife's family slaves count against them.

Really appreciate your help with this.
 
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Please post evidence that Robert E. Lee was ever a slaveholder? No, his father-in-law's slaves don't count, any more than Abraham Lincoln's wife's or Ulysses Grant's wife's family slaves count against them.

Really appreciate your help with this.
Lincoln's wife never own slaves. Lee was the executor of his father in laws estate. So yes he was the holder of the property in slaves and they were in his charge. He was a defato slaveholder. Absolutely. Indisputable. You want to call Grant a slaveholder that's fine with me👍
 
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Lincoln's wife never own slaves. Lee was the executor of his father in laws estate. So yes he was the holder of the property in slaves and they were in his charge. He was a defato slaveholder. Absolutely. Indisputable. You want to call Grant a slaveholder that's fine with me👍

Acting as an executor of an estate doesn't make anyone a 'property holder.' The job is to dispense with the property.

Mary Todd Lincoln came from a very wealthy, slave-holding family. This is not in doubt, but thanks for playing.
 
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Acting as an executor of an estate doesn't make anyone a 'property holder.' The job is to dispense with the property.

Mary Todd Lincoln came from a very wealthy, slave-holding family. This is not in doubt, but thanks for playing.
Took Lee five years to do it, which that length of time was disputed by the actual property. In the mean time he held the property, he was in charge of the property, assigning work, feeding, housing, discipline of said property (actually took off two years from his military service to do so because he couldn't find a decent overseer). Mary Lincoln never own slaves.The Lincoln family never owned slaves, nor was Lincoln ever responsible for his wife's family slaves.
 
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The accents you hear depend on your ears. It’s like a grace note or the spaces in a melody.

Kidding aside, most dialects are being lost to a great extent IMHO. Or replaced IE anyone remember valley girl, or fast time at ridgemont high. Those “ accents “ can now be heard freely at any university here in the Northeast. So, I would venture to guess that modern Alabama is a bit different than CW Alabama.

But, if you listen to, let’s say reggae music it still has much to do with the climate.
 
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