Southern Accent

Describing the southern accent on History.

[@brawnydasco]

This man is playing a dangerous game code-switching so rapidly. I once witnessed a college professor from upper Michigan transition to Spanish too abruptly and his head exploded.

[@Salok_z]

i'd expect to see that on a regular episode of regular show

[@goldenfurniture123]

@@Salok_z lol

[@VEE0034]

​@@Salok_zun lol

[@papi-sauce]

so is he still alive

[@thatdemoninthecar]

​​@@papi-sauceWell decapitation/head explosion Isn't really that serious so he's probably okay

[@Mellowspark1]

This guy could probably be a boss at prank calls.

[@HK-sw3vi]

he could also be an employee with that many accents

[@SStupendous]

@@HK-sw3vi You misunderstood what he meant, a "boss" at something means you're really good/professional at it..

[@knt3140]

@@SStupendousAt this point he could even be a customer, who knows

[@therooster1339]

As long as he doesn't call anyone from Louisiana doing that terrible "cajun" accent, or anyone in the South trying to sound like an aristocrat. His accent is just as terrible as asking someone from the South to do an impression of how they think someone from New York talks. Heavily exaggerated, and saying things nobody actually says other than on TV

[@dignelberrt]

​@@therooster1339well yeah no shit it's exaggerated, he's highlighting the unique inflections of each accent for people who aren't great enough with accents to hear the minute differences

[@MarkArandjus]

It is scary how well he switches accents even mid sentence for just a few words.

[@erictonyes]

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if his internal monologue is constantly switching too, haha

[@lpc9929]

I'm infertile from eating scented candles

[@CantTellYou]

Imagine being this dude’s grandson & having him read you a bedtime story

[@tedadams1324]

That dialect coach is extremely talented. He would be extraordinary in any role on film himself!

[@therooster1339]

He isn't though. He sounds like someone mimicking a southern accent after watching a bunch of movies of people mimicking terrible southern accents. His "cajun" is even worse than what he thinks southern aristocrats sound like

[@grenzhochspannungshindernis]

He makes english accent as good as a cow plays cricket with a guitar.

[@TheHamburgler123]

​@therooster1339 Agreed that his Cajun accent is pretty bad... I have a good friend from south Louisiana and I got to meet his grandparents one time. That accent was a trip! Nothing like the one he portrayed in the video.

[@chungus100]

He's an accent coach, not a sensational actor. Stop putting people you find cool on high horses.

[@ulture]

shame he's wrong. That 'posh' English accent, properly called 'Conservative Received Pronunciation', didn't develop until the late 19th century. The word "ain't" may well have originated in the 17th century as he says, but the impression he does would be completely unrecognisable to an 18th century English aristocrat.

[@baronvg]

This guy is way better doing random accents than any other million views videos of people on youtube.

[@rich1051414]

+baronvg Well, he is an actual accent historian and vocal coach :)

[@kevinswift8654]

@@rich1051414 Yeah, lol, it would be more surprising if an amateur KZbinr one-upped him.

[@icarus2k]

@@kevinswift8654 The point is he should make youtube videos

[@icarus2k]

@@ace5735 OK and the comment I'm replying was made when it was 5 years old. Your point?

[@theparadigm8149]

That’s his job, my guy! 😂 He ain’t doing it for clout

[@Crampsam]

As a Brit I have to say, this guys posh English accent is very good. My mum used to work in a castle as a cleaner and her employers sounded exactly like that

[@styxrakash4639]

What castle??

[@prodigalsonresurrection]

Too obscure to be pinned as trolling, but too outlandish for Americans who have never seen a castle before

[@WhiteTrashTennessee]

I like the sound of them dirty essex women myself but im from America

[@eancola6111]

“Castle cleaner” just isn’t one of those jobs available in the states

[@mithcee]

@@eancola6111 What if you work at Disney?

[@awedelen1]

For someone who’s not a Cajun or Creole that man pulled off the sound & the rhythm that’s so famous and so hard to replicate well. Wow.

[@PMickeyDee]

He did okay, better than anyone on TV I suppose. It still sounds off though. It feels like he put too much Houston Mexican in his Cajun. Though I fully commend his efforts

[@willrobbins2550]

@@PMickeyDeeit can be tough to speak stupid

[@SpaceMissile]

felt just like I was watching true blood

[@davenotstaine5646]

Idk when he did the Cajun accent all I heard was Scarface but I think media has ruined my interpretation of the Cajun accent

[@TheCosmicStarmen]

@@SpaceMissile Renee from True Blood sent me here, you

[@micahnightwolf]

The Appalachian people didn't just bring their accents with them from Ireland. They brought their music too. We Americans know it as bluegrass.

[@dopemopey]

Makes sense why I hate country music, but really like bluegrass.

[@hokage1997]

cute fursona!

[@wolf17238]

​@@dopemopey😂😂 Hick music

[@ArneArnesen-tsuu]

@@wolf17238 What do you like, Mr. Judgemental?

[@wolf17238]

​@ArneArnesen-tsuu 😂😂 Wouldn't you like to know. Did I offend you? Are you from Mississippi, Kentucky, or West Virginia?

[@LucaLott]

I miss what History Channel used to be. .

[@warrenangub240]

Coz its sjw isis politic bullshit nuw.

[@Therizinosaurus]

What are they now?

[@syntexarmagedon6349]

@@Therizinosaurus now they are searching for aliens and trying to communicate with E.T...

[@Therizinosaurus]

@@syntexarmagedon6349 gosh

[@ydyd4410]

@@syntexarmagedon6349 font forget the blades. It will KEEL.

[@malbogia8003]

Wait. Wait wait wait. Did this guy just now (a decade ago) do more justice to a southern accent than any actor has in the past 50 years? 😅

[@therooster1339]

No, he didn't. His attempt at cajun is worse than his southern aristocrat; and they're both REALLY bad. He sounds like he got all of his knowledge from the same movies you speak of

[@malbogia8003]

@@therooster1339 well, I never said it was good.

[@mkkk1058]

@@therooster1339 post your attempt or stfu

[@valdeezycleaver]

@@therooster1339his Cajun one was more French Canadian, I think he was trying to show the evolution.

[@sam8404]

@@malbogia8003 saying he did more justice to it than anyone else _is_ saying it's good.

[@pedrodemello3666]

History Channel talking about history? What is this witchery?

[@illBeatsandSuch]

Petrov Theovsk THROWBACK HIST CHANNEL

[@billul1]

+Petrov Theovsk History Channel have seen a better time.

[@paaatrick9451]

History Channel talking about History? What is this witchery? It is very butchering. jk

[@movsestimiryan3854]

Petrov Theovsk --- I know LOL. They used to be pretty good when I was a kid, now always some trash.

[@jsinmcc92]

Ancient aliens is history O-o O-o O-o

[@elainebmack]

His explanation of the link between the aristocratic British accent and the lilting Southern accent makes sense. So many British actors played Southerners in films. Think of Vivian Leigh in "Gone With the Wind", or even the Australian actress Judith Anderson in "Cat on aHot Tin Roof". It seems to be an easy accent for Brits to adopt.

[@daniellemusella1594]

Or even Benedict Cumberbatch & Michael Fassbender (don't want to nit-pick about true origins; please go with it) in "Twelve Years A Slave". They both did a great job with their Southern accents.

[@BobPapadopoulos]

It's not just the accent in many cases. Even the grammatical rules are often more purely traditional English than the rest of the country, which makes for interesting situations like the word "learn". People think Southerners are stupid for saying they're "going to learn someone" about something because they think it's incorrect usage... when the word learn is actually a homonym that can mean either "to learn" or, when used transitively with an object, can also mean "to teach". The word "lore" meaning a teaching, for example, comes from the same root.

[@SkogarmaorFeder]

Southern pronunciation of "wash" as "worsh" or "warsh" is also from Britain.

[@agoogleuser4443]

That's why Brits generally do a better fake southern accent than northern US actors. It's not quite as fake.

[@suthinscientist9801]

It's a cakewalk for brits to fake the aristocratic southern accent because both aristocratic southern and most British accents are non-rhotic

[@223rockmaster]

Given the topic at hand the "Hard R" line was absolutely priceless.

[@moonsvc]

fr, had to scroll down quite a bit to find this comment

[@MikehMike01]

🤡

[@NatoVSChina]

I mean the hard r meaning comes from an actual hard r in pronunciation

[@223rockmaster]

Yes...@@NatoVSChina

[@damnson7046]

"SOUTHERN'S THE SOUND OF JOLLY OLD ENGLAND" (PAN TO SCOTLAND)

[@HitodamaKyrie]

As someone from south Alabama, I find this even more interesting considering the homogenization that languages undergo.

[@lrgcokewithlemon]

I’m from Mobile and gulf southern is such a different southern accent compared to inland southern accents…from New Orleans to about PCB we have a distinct sound

[@DasGoodSoup]

@@lrgcokewithlemonim in texas and sometimes i just realize I sound country but not like "middle of Kentucky cornfield" country

[@G8tr1522]

i grew up in Dothan ✌️ i got tf out asap tho

[@HitodamaKyrie]

Haha, as a fellow Dothan-ian I understand. Moved to Daleville for my highschool years though. Have since left the state altogether.@@G8tr1522

[@Jackson...]

​@G8tr1522 I've got a lot of family in Abbeville, pretty close to Dothan. I always thought if I was raised there I'd just want to escape as fast as possible, it's just gone so downhill.

[@smokyprogg]

2:39 Southerners always at it with the hard R

[@016329]

I love southern accents, such a lovely melody to them! I also find them the easiest to imitate as a British person and this sort of explains why! Listen to these old English dialects recorded in the 1950s and I’m sure you’ll see the similarity with accents from the American South: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4Sbe4Vqmq90jqM

[@adayinforever]

As an American from the south that doesn't particularly have a southern accent, Southern accents are very easy to mimic. As a general rule, it's the easiest one to imitate.

[@km09.]

@@adayinforever and why don't you have an accent if you are from the south. Are you embarrassed?

[@therooster1339]

@@km09. he's lying.

[@Dryhten1801]

@@adayinforever Yeah, it's just a very "obvious" accent, not very subtle. Pretty sure that's why it's easier for people to imitate

[@panthercreek60]

Probably why English/ British actors are so much better at the Southern accent than yankee actors, who usually sound absolutely ridiculous.

[@TheLouisianan]

Defining most of the South as just 'country' is kinda a spin. Mississippi and Alabama have pretty distinct accents from one another.

[@starcityrc3298]

Texas and Oklahoma have pretty similar accents. Missouri has a unique southern drawl. Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia are very similar the generic "Country Accent"

[@roblee4457]

Missouri ain’t southern

[@williamjordan5554]

Not quite.

[@mabybee]

@@roblee4457 Missouri is an interesting case. By all means, it’s a Midwestern state and classifying it as such wouldn’t draw any ire from anyone. However, there are a number of shared cultural similarities with southern states, especially as you get closer to Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Nothing “Southern” like what you get in Mississippi or Georgia or Virginia, but still certain influences that make it obvious it’s a border state with a close history of migration in relation to the South.

[@LordDirus007]

@@roblee4457 Tell that to my 75 year old Grandma who is from Kahoka and speaks with a thick Southern Drawl. It isn't Tobacco or Missouri it's "Tobaccah and Missourah". She also says "Cotton Picken" a lot. You should check out the famous OutLaw Jesse James and what his motivations were. "Little Dixie (Missouri)"

[@cheeksfadays6322]

An interesting development I’ve witnessed has been the adoption of midwestern sayings and pronunciations in my neck of East Texas. My father and a few dozen of his work buddies have been taking pipeline jobs and plant jobs up in the mid west and then bringing the influence back since the 1990’s. It didn’t hit me till I heard my dad, in nearly perfect Texas twang say “ ope lemme squeeze right past ya there”. We all died laughing at the weird mix. But now we say it too so it’s stuck. Over the years it seems it has made the leap to some of my friends.

[@custerranch]

Just north of you here in SE Oklahoma, and my teenagers and I started using "ope!" after seeing some Midwestern satire videos about it. We thought it was funny, and now we use it too.

[@Cotygeek]

It's the same way that "y'all" used to be a strictly Southern expression, but now you're hearing it a lot more often in the rest of the country.

[@MrFredstt]

@@CotygeekEven made it into the dictionary. Us southerners are making our mark lol

[@85walterrulez]

Oh no. Ope has escaped the NFC North. There's no containing it now.

[@OrNaurItsKat]

​@@custerranchjust a little North of you here in the Tulsa suburbs, I started saying ope for the same reason and now it's just part of my kid's speech lol

[@AugustHawk]

All accents are beautiful - like a harmonious global choir. Just like languages should be preserved, so should accents. I remember growing up, trying to "iron out" or rid myself of a distinct accent, but now that I've grown up and traveled the world, I realize how beautiful all accents are, including mine.

[@BiophysicalChemist]

It's not the accent that matters, it's what you do with it. The southern accents didn't get a bad reputation because they sound different, but because the people speaking them had a nasty culture of violent racism. Of course that is no reason to judge based on accent, but means those of us who grew up in the South with an accent should make an extra effort to speak intelligently with our words, in order that we might wholly dispel its historical association with ignorant, racist murderers.

[@AugustHawk]

+Philip Pretty big of you to label the entire South racist. That just contributes to the problem. Racism exists around the world. So does love and hope. Next time, work to contribute to the latter two. The world will be a kinder more enjoyable place. Bless your heart and you take care now, ya hear? ;)

[@BiophysicalChemist]

+AugustHawk I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. In no way was I implying the entire South is racist. I grew up and still live in rural TN, and while racism often still exists in small insulated pockets, it is by no means a majority sentiment. I was simply pointing out that _in the past_, racism in the South was rampant and often violently executed in systematic fashion. Thus the face of racism in the US unfortunately became associated with the accent of the voices with which its vile rhetoric was most often spoken. Again, I'm not claiming this association is fair or just, and of course it is wrong to judge a person solely by their language, dialect, or accent. But it is unfortunately an association that still exists in many people's minds. My comment was in support of what you said about seeing the beauty in all accents. We should not try to run away from a part of ourselves and our culture that is uniquely beautiful, just because it is often unfairly associated in people's minds with violence and racism. Instead we should work to reclaim its reputation and eliminate its negative connotations in the public eye by always striving to speak eloquently and intelligently, as opposed to trying to mask our accent in fear of judgement.

[@AugustHawk]

Philip Your apology is graciously accepted, and I, too, apologize if my rebuttal came off too strong. I have a sensitive button to "blanket statements." ;) I concur with your comment. It appears we share the same sentiments. God bless.

[@cicero1178]

AugustHawk I disagree. If every accent is beautiful then none are beautiful

[@BelleroseQC]

I have never heard a greater French accent from a non-French speaker, my goodness.

[@clakoclakson]

I love the different accents, you have to keep them! Here in Spain, a small country compared to the US, we have a wide variety of accents and I love it!

[@Thedrunkape96]

Pero todos los acentos de España usan el ceceo

[@dicklongstroke5414]

Andalucía!

[@nachnt]

​@@Thedrunkape96 En primer lugar, no. Y en segundo, por tu comentario, das a entender que no sabes lo que es el ceceo. Existe la distinción, el seseo, el ceceo y el jejeo. Todos ellos en España.

[@Thedrunkape96]

@@nachnt nunca he oído a un español usar el seseo. Todos los españoles que he conocido pronuncian la c y la z usando el ceceo.

[@kamikazekalamari]

@@Thedrunkape96 solo por que tu no no lo has oído no significa que no exista. Grandes partes de Andalucía sesean. Hasta es la región de origen del sesear.

[@jmil2tx]

I could listen to him for hours. He's wonderful. :)

[@smithstickney6728]

That guy got the Louisiana French accent pretty good. Just needs to go a leeeeetle bit flatter. Though I think the way he uses it sounds like what imagine our ancestors sounded like in the 19th century when speaking Enlish.

[@O-sa-car]

also nobody talks like that in NOLA lol

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

Well, he's a speech coach, so of course he's going to be good at it.

[@KenzertYT]

Well of course not...@@O-sa-car

[@Justeeeevy]

@@O-sa-careither head straight south from New Orleans, or go west of the pontchartrain, and that’s where you’ll find the old Cajun accent. It’s very rare but you can absolutely find it in Nola if they decide to crawl out the swamp for some reason or another.

[@mlejeune9]

Louisiana is really 3 accents. North of Evangeline parish sound is standard southern, almost Texan. South of Evangeline Parish and west of the Mississippi river is Cajun, and then Nola doesnt even sound like its in the South lol some odd mix of New England accents

[@annettemint]

Great point in that there are different Southern accents. I'm originally from East Texas very close to Shreveport. I went to school in Dallas and alot of folks had a hard time understanding me. I worked hard on losing some of the accent...but I'm still a country girl at heart.

[@agoogleuser4443]

My mama's from Dallas. She's lived in NC since 1963 and still sounds like a Texan. My daddy's from NC so I have a little bit of both in my accent. Most southerners say pecan as pee-can. I say puh-kahn like a Texan. I say go or show like a North Carolinian.

[@chesiregirl]

Texas alone has so many dialects. I drive 45 minutes up the freeway to my job teaching at a high school, and the students there talk with a different accent!

[@phlogistanjones2722]

@@agoogleuser4443 Huh... I say that I love puh-kahn pie because it contains pee-cans... which I love. So.... I am all flusterpated.....

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

​@@phlogistanjones2722😂

[@WildWaver]

near waskom?

[@user-xo6jc5ek4l]

Came from Korea to here Georgia. 5years ago. Just realized It is a southern accent the way I talk.. lol

[@IamWhoIam2023]

I'm from Boston and my favorite accent ever is southern accent Much love and peace All ya down south ❤

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

When I visited Boston a few years ago, I got a few compliments on my southern accent. That was nice, because we usually get made fun of for it. I equally enjoyed their accents, esp when they said wicked pissah! 😂 Too funny.

[@OcarinaLink24]

I love how the map cuts off the northern part of Virginia. They seriously did their homework~!

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

It wasnt always that way. It used to be just like the rest of the state. Also by the same token, they should cut out at least half of Florida and most of Texas.

[@Coltboy00]

Crazy man, Southern Delaware and rest of Delmarva all speak in a southern accent similar in some ways to Appalachian Accents. My dad and I have thick accents but schooling and influx of migrants to the state is making the accent rarer by the year. Only the western Delaware and eastern Maryland regions(crazily where both my sides of the family come from) speak in the southern dialect now. Living in Saint Louis has largely made the accent a habit for me now so I think accents are adopted because now I speak more in GenAm in a professional setting while with friends going full accent.

[@Coltboy00]

The Chihuahua Strangler It’s pretty ranged, farmers vs fisherman. Tangier Island has a sort of Scottish or some type of British accent. They are all fisherman

[@southernillin8856]

They know nothing of southern Illinois though. I grew up in the Mississippi river valley and am a descendant of James Polk. Southerners settled this region. I've stayed in Tennessee and have been mistaken as a local several times.

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

@W Gaston I don't know FL terribly well, but most often it is the least Southern state in the South, along with Texas. Virginia is only slightly more Southern along with Kentucky, and then you have the "real South" which is pretty much SC, GA, AL, TN, AND MISS.

[@hismajesty6272]

As a Cajun, I’m glad our dialect is being recognized.

[@kylo0053]

Why do you care?

[@meaganalexander2088]

@@kylo0053because people get it wrong in every movie 😂 every “Cajun” accent is usually just a Colonel Sanders Dixie belle accent. One of the only true Cajun accents I’ve seen done well is “Ray” the firefly in Princess and the Frog, and the voice actor was an actual Cajun unsurprisingly, lol.

[@jcrdnz7568]

The way he put together that Southern Cajun accent is gold. And it makes sense.

[@maxtew6521]

I'm from Alabama, and when my punk band from Auburn University toured and hit DC back in 2003, the students at the after party asked me if I was Irish or British. They had me saying "tin foal [foil]" for half an hour for their own amusement.

[@agoogleuser4443]

🤣🤣

[@madskrillz2]

Lol one of my buddies is from Chicago and he always gives me shit for how I say oil. Down here it's "ole" not "oyl" 😂

[@samuraibat1916]

They ain't never heard tin foal before?

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

Like my aunt who grew up in Annapolis Maryland finding it hilarious at my Appalachian pronunciation of “cookin’ ool” for cooking oil,

[@PMickeyDee]

I'm from Louisiana & it's always "rice", "dice", "ice", "lice" for me. I code switch really hard when I'm not around folks who sound like me (it's not intentional, but it's a really weird) but my accent apparently shines through with those words because they're the only ones I feel I can't code switch out of without putting in the work.

[@chrisweidner4768]

Once stationed at Ft Benning and later Ft. Stewart. Loved the kindness of the language. Southern bells. Yumm. I still say “fixin’ to.’ Mesmerized listening to this genius.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

“I reckon imma fixin to swatch ya fer sworpin in the house” something I heard all my life growing up, never thought it was strange until someone asked what did that mean.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

Yep, we southerners love to say fixin to, lol. My daughter and I joke about it a lot. Also say cut off the light instead of turn it off.

[@Hadvar]

Incredible that when he did the Appalachian accent, it sounded just like my uncle, or anybody else who was raised around here outside of a larger city. What a stellar coach!

[@Shivdotb]

He seems so passionate about his craft

[@aikidragonpiper71]

Every southern state has multiple accents. Here in Arkansas we have at least 5 . Irritating that we are so stereotyped as being dumb . I don't notice my accent until I travel up north to somewhere like Chicago.

[@davidbond3013]

Very true, I never realized how monotone and "nasally" the Yankees sound. My mother and her family are Yankees and my father and I were both born in Mississippi, and we've lived in Missisippi, and Georgia for most of my life, and live in NW Georgia. Whenever we moved to Ohio to help my grandmother out when I was ten everybody sounded so different.

[@aikidragonpiper71]

He also said many rural and mountain areas of the south were probably influenced by Scots/Irish immigrants . Makes since I have lots of Scottish and Irish ancestors but I also have Native American mixed in like Cherokee ,Choctaw , Creek and Crow. Many people in western Arkansas have a similar heritage. But no matter your heritage be proud of your southern accent.

[@9175rock]

@@davidbond3013 🙄😒

[@xxxx-dl2tq]

@@9175rock Awwww poor yankee’s upset 😢

[@diabolivirtusen-tavares-ea4645]

But statistics rarely lie.... most are dumb

[@dainonmcduffie4396]

Aww in the beginning, the train depot and Tuxedo Tobacco advertisement painted on the brick building are both pictures from my hometown of Cornelia, GA. Never expected it to pop up randomly on the history channel.

[@jebbroham1776]

I'm proud to have the Texan accent myself. Born and raised in Northeast Texas, I've heard just about every accent there is in these parts, but to this day I still can't understand a lick of what those Cajun boys are saying. That's a whole different language I gotta say.

[@kylo0053]

Why are you proud of something you were born into and has no value?

[@REAL2222ful]

I worked as an offshore customer service agent and my most challenging costumer was an elder from Louisiana who I barely understood. I had to snatch keywords from what he was saying and and then confirming back with him if that was what he asked for. Bless your soul, Mr. Caruthers.

[@Seffsqautch]

I’m a southerner with a pretty think accent that has moved to New Hampshire… I’m basically a circus act.

[@rizzo-films]

This is so interesting. I’m from Chicago and our accent is dying away, leaving a standard midwest accent. So, looking at how southern and even east coast accents were influenced by all these other international cultures is really fun and fascinating. Different genres of country music have similar influences, too.

[@damuffinman6895]

What accent, you mean black slang?

[@arianna1906]

​@@damuffinman6895 accent is how you pronounce a word, not what words ya use

[@eldon9735]

​@@damuffinman6895ever heard old 1930's cartoon villains? That's kinda what Chicagoans sound like. We've still got a little bit left but it's not as distinct as it once was

[@rizzo-films]

@@eldon9735 not sure what cartoons you’re talking about (any cartoon examples to use in a search?), but I remember a lot of old cartoon villains using New Jersey accents, like every Gotham City thug. You can hear the most exaggerated Chicago accent if you search “SNL Chicago bears”. That’s actually pretty accurate for the older generation of Chicagoans. Mostly the white ones but not just white. There are different flavors of it most communities.

[@rizzo-films]

@@damuffinman6895 not the slang, the accent. Do a search on KZbin for “Chicago accent” and you’ll get some good examples.

[@sannipjarramillo375]

East Texas is a mix of the Southern accents from the non-Appalachian and non-non-Atlantic Upland South, meaning it only evolved from Deep Southern accents and Atlantic Southern accents mixing together, and also the Southern accent evolved from the Southeast England RP, which used to be a rhotic form of Upper RP.

[@Christopher-ii6tr]

You are not correct a majority of East Texans were Tennessee mountain folks. My accent barely sounds different from my wife's East Texan aunt's.

[@Gandhi_Physique]

I have never heard a Texan sound like someone from Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, or North Carolina.

[@ItzB-1037]

Yeah northwest Louisiana it’s wild hearing myself an everyone else we all sound funny to me

[@kingkrab5138]

@@Gandhi_PhysiqueTexas is a big state, each region has a different accent.

[@Gandhi_Physique]

@@kingkrab5138 I guess lol. I forget that sometimes. I'm from central, so I heard the accent ranchers tend to have and a normal US voice (idk how else to word it lol, it is a clear voice though)

[@confusedDruid]

Man i love youtube, an hour ago i was crying learning about a mental illness that i didnt know that i should ask my doctor about having, 15 minutes ago i was watching a bird yelling at himself for being bad bc no one else was there to do it, and now im learning about where the southern accent comes from. This truely is a magical place

[@MrRAGE-md5rj]

You OK, man? You need help?

[@godofdreamzzz]

Im from Kentucky and I can recognize when others are from the same region almost instantly if they have an accent

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

Yep the same, also estimate their age by their dialect as they change generation to generation.

[@dirrdevil]

This is uncanny. I didn't search for this. It showed up in my KZbin recommendations but I saw this exact segment on TV passing by one once. So weird to run into it again.

[@ThatOneHacker305]

Me too lol

[@FutureOorah]

I loooooooove my southern accent!!!!

[@yusufelsayed7898]

I have a heavy Brooklyn NY accent.

[@patrickbarrett4107]

@Bruno56 That's what's called linguistic discrimination. It's one of the last bastions of socially accepted discrimination.

[@agoogleuser4443]

@Bruno56 Well if interviewers are that ignorant then we probably don't want to work for them anyway! Why is it so hard for Yankees to understand that accent and intelligence have nothing to do with each other?

[@suthinscientist9801]

Me too! I love my non-rhotic southern accent!

[@rxw5520]

It’s nice to see someone with actual historical knowledge doing accents on KZbin. All we have nowadays is Fred Armison.

[@Jugi_boy]

2:24 “tighter R” ohh we know 😅

[@wackyruss]

I love the Cajun accent. Y'all from Shreveport, sha? We gon go down to de bayou an get us an ah-lee-gatah! Tonnerre mais ça c'est bon! Laissez les Bon temps rouler!

[@donovandarbonne6842]

Russell Solomon Shreveport is farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from being Cajun lol

[@donovandarbonne6842]

Yea don’t ever associate Shreveport with Cajun please

[@JLDReactions]

@@donovandarbonne6842 I don't think he was associating it with being Cajun. That's from the movie, The Princess and the Frog.

[@luckypuccino16]

Anything above the I-10 in Louisiana is pretty much Arkansas

[@matteofalduto766]

This guys picks, chooses and switches his accent more easily than what I can do with socks

[@Aryanne_v2]

The Appalachians isn't the only place you'll hear the hard R in the South.

[@muraismybby4617]

Bruhh

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

You seem to not know history then

[@UltraVega924]

This guy is a master!

[@Assdafflabaff]

2:45 Oh my God when he says "Muther, Father" he sounds EXACTLY like the guy who played King Arthur in Excalibur. Holy crap!

[@mohammadqadri5065]

i was sweating bullets when he was explaining the “R” section…

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

Imagine like me going to school in the South and the one kid has to pronounce the name of the country of Niger, poor kid was sweating bullets and looked like he was about to pass out.

[@anakinskinwalker1724]

@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606Back in the day they were happy to say it

[@ModestNeophyte]

South Carolina alone has at LEAST 4 accents. you got the piedmont accent up around clemson and greenville, you got the peedee accent, the geechee (i know im spellin it wrong) down on the coast round charleston, and then you just got the mishmash of it all in the midlands.

[@nyancat2221]

🙏 thank this man for clearifying that there’s more than 3 southern accents.

[@TheMahagoni]

This is one of the best things I've ever seen! Thank you

[@robin5973]

TN has multiple accents. East TN vs. Memphis for example. Then you add in the Appalachian aspect. Ive been here 30 years (from FL) and my monotone "yankee accent" still shines through. I have a lot of fun with my TN friends over how different our accents are.

[@pamelacorona3665]

I just watched this last week and loved it ! It made me appreciate my country more and our southern neighbors and kinfolk : )

[@kellyoleary4156]

OMG I want the old fashioned southern lilt! Those of you with southern accents, in so jealous! Don’t lose them. I’m English and so wish I had a southern accent!

[@simplesimon8255]

It’s overrated as fuck.

[@thevoidlookspretty7079]

I was born and raised in Georgia, and I’ve spent the last 3 years in Alabama for college. I realized last summer that there’s a notable accent difference between the two states, and those are only separated by a river.

[@Bryan198026]

This was fascinating. I never knew this. I just know I've always liked a southern accent especially on a lady. Lol.

[@theopenrift]

Y'know I think remember seeing this clip on TV when this aired, and I could never truly forget about it because of this man.

[@BogMouse3137]

The History Channel actually creating something history related?! What a pleasant surprise!

[@jiggermast]

I find it a great shame that so many people seem to be somewhat condescending towards your southern states accents, rather like here in the UK where the same goes for the Northern accent, I recall reading in Liam Clancy's autobiography that whilst travelling in the deep southern states researching early traditional Folk music in the early 50's, they came upon a very remote area where amazing as it sounds, a sort of early pure Elizabethan English accent was actually spoken, can anyone enlighten me as to which area this would have been and does it still survive today?

[@Monkeyland03]

I am not sure but I had no clue that the Southern accents actually had so much of a relation with the British accent! In England, I read that they have a whole lot of different accents, perhaps even more then the U.S.A. Some people in England disrespect other accents in England.

[@jiggermast]

Monkeyland03 Dozens and dozens of different ones in the UK, Sadly many of them still identify you with your class! The northern once heavily industrialised working class part of the country for instance. Many people here nowdays try to play the class thing down and it is waning, but it still exists under the surface...ie Open your mouth here and your class is immediately evident!

[@jiggermast]

***** Thanks Steve, most interesting. I think your southern accents are all incredible and you should cherish them all dearly before they're diluted down or lost altogether!

[@candyroberts9210]

jiggermast I'm a historical drama enthusiast so I have watched movies about people in the north of England, the south of England, and the west around Bath. I love the northern accents of England! I think they're the closest English people can get to sounding Scottish...I love both Scottish and English accents, lol.

[@candyroberts9210]

jiggermast I'm a historical drama enthusiast so I have watched movies about people in the north of England, the south of England, and the west around Bath. I love the northern accents of England! I think they're the closest English people can get to sounding Scottish...I love both Scottish and English accents, lol.

[@cynthiaputman9542]

I am from Charleston, SC. I approve this message.

[@manotenkerian]

Cynthia Putman Charleston SC has the gullah accent

[@bryrye4545]

This was back when History Channel was still about HISTORY. HUFF.

[@jacksonbruns8424]

This is incredible! Super interesting how a blending of different peoples and accents creates something new and unique, even when it comes to something like projecting a status which over time creates a new norm

[@hl5218]

When he began to speak in a cajun accent I felt like he was about to shout "OYE, BELTALOWDA!"

[@aimannorzahariwod]

Ahhh a fellow expanse fan. Man I miss it.

[@gagesmith-ingodwerock]

Man, I miss Texas. I don't have a Texan accent, but I definitely permanently picked up some of the lingo and dialect.

[@JBBooks-uo8jg]

I’ve lived in the south all my life. (Mostly in Arkansas) I catch myself talking like the English aristocratic way sometimes. Don’t know how that came about.

[@clydegoodrich6720]

I'm fascinated by Mr. Stern's mastery of this subject. And I do so appreciate his (non-biased) expertise. Well done, sir! As a student of Spanish and its rich and delightful variety of accents and dialects, I've been enthralled by this topic for my entire adult life. I'm a native of Savannah, Georgia. In college, my roommate, John, invited his cousin from Appalachian Georgia for a visit. I literally needed John to interpret virtually everything. That was 1969. Who knows now? Another note: in my travels to Europe in 1990, I easily understood everyone across Spain, yet struggled to grasp what the street blokes would say to me in London.... but with expats in Abu Dhabi, that was effortless. It's all part of the wonder of language, and it's free to enjoy! Oh, one more thing: while serving as an agronomist aide in Colombia, 1970s, I visited in a remote area some farmers, "campesinos," whose language had elements of Cervantes' "Don Quijote," which I studied back in college. That was a magical moment.😊

[@smp6565]

I hardly understand anything but it’s the sweetest accent ever ❤️😂👍🏻

[@rodgerbrown2430]

see, Southerners actually speak proper English.....it's everyone else that has it all wrong-HA!

[@rodgerbrown2430]

that's just because he had a buzz from drinking Moonshine (LOL)

[@RaptorJesus]

Christopher Peterson That's the hilarious thing. The slang of the lower-class South has more in common with black slang and culture than it does anything like upper-crust white people.

[@wesleyogilvie8105]

Rodger Brown So in other words, when a black person says "y'all" or "ain't", then they're speaking proper English?

[@rodgerbrown2430]

wesley ogilvie I've read where "ya'll" didnt come from "you all". It actually comes from "ye all". What I read aid that other European languages such as Spanish traditionally have 2 words for "you" one singular and one plural, but only modern English uses just the singular. Originally though it l also had 2 words for "you" both singular and plural, and so many European languages still today. It said at the time "ye" was the plural of "you" and sometimes people would just say "ye all" as well. In the South it supossedly came from Scotch-Irish settlers who still used "ye and ye all" in their Old Scots dialect at the time. Eventually "ye all" was just shortened to "y'all" It means the same thing as "you all" but it came from an earlier time when English speech still had 2 words for "you", either singuler or plural, as do most European languages. It was just dropped from the English tongue later on, but in the South it remained as it had already taken root there. so yes, 'y'all" is completely proper English. It comes from an earlier time when it was more common in the English language but has since been dropped by most other English speakers. It's not that it's improper, it's just from an older time and older English speech dialect.And it was never dropped like it was in most other English speaking regions elsewhere. There are alot of things about Southern speech that are basically a cultural time capsule frozen at an earlier point and then evolved form there in the Southern U.S. And it make more sense to me that it came from the actual word spelled "ye" "all" and just shortened to "y'all" than from the words "you all" and simply mispronounced

[@Coltboy00]

Bruno56 That’s an ignorant thought in and of itself. You can’t hate a people as a wide scope like that especially because that is racist. The only slave owning southerners were rich ones and the poor ones got to kick rocks and starve.

[@fancysfolly554]

This is so true...I remember my grandmother speaking that In that manner..Mutha, Fathuh. Didn’t know it was English accent..she used to say to us, her grandkids, “yes my dahling”

[@suthinscientist9801]

Well, some of us suthinuhs actually still do talk like that!

[@kadenmac2009]

Yep, I'm from south Georgia. My grandparents and other older people around here say " Mutha and Fathuh"...Its absolutely amazing how the British accent has survived that long(Most of my family came from England in the 1700's). I don't hear too many younger people talking like that though

[@fancysfolly554]

DawgFan 09 no. That old accent will be gone with the wind

[@kadenmac2009]

Yeah it's definatley dying..sad too.

[@nitroxylictv]

@@kadenmac2009 American accents are dying too fast. We are all going to develop the generic, boring TV accent, which honestly in my opinion, the generic American accent is not an accent. It sounds so boring that you could label it the default human accent. I wish I had never lost my southern accent I was slowly developing as a kid.

[@FullerAbyss]

Thank you for posting this. Most people just don't understand.

[@jawkneeG]

Makes sense... today just for fun I decided I was going to try to learn to talk like Bill Clinton lol, realized he kinda sounds southern.. so I just started to practice talking with a southern accent and I kept slipping into an English accent mid sentence / word. Sometimes a bit of Australian would come out too. Fascinating how different accents around the world are connected.

[@TheLocalLt]

Bill Clinton definitely had a bit of a drawl, another southern democrat with a great accent was John Edwards. That dude seemed certain to ride his smooth talking South Carolina accent into the White House until he torpedoed his career in epic fashion.

[@williamjordan5554]

Last shot was of a New Orleans trolley. Not mentioned is the New Orleans accent is not Cajun but rather strongly influenced by Italian and Irish immigrants. That's why it sounds reminiscent of a New York accent.

[@SandfordSmythe]

I noticed that.

[@Seashellsbytheseashore21]

True. New Orleans accent is not Cajun at all.

[@Johnbones23]

You spittin mad facts yah heard

[@-R.E.D.A.C.T.E.D-]

Holy crap. This random video recommendation was way more informative than i could had imagine.

[@Alex-cn9uj]

This is the best demonstration I found on KZbin for the answer I was looking for thank you

[@iqbalchowdhury9021]

1:24 the Braithwaites mansion if you know you know

[@LatinAmericanDog]

This guy is so amazing!! He shall be my master!!

[@veirvena2062]

"im trying to find where yonder's at" is the funniest shit I've heard

[@lsunationalchamps08]

I’m from south Louisiana and always get told something about my accent everywhere I go 🤣

[@terencejones9044]

please put up this documentary!

[@franklynlohr1060]

I love southern accents. I can tell the different between any Southern accent easily. My favorite is the Texas accent because it’s so slow and long and twangy. Only native Texans speak with this accent. And I can tell they’re from Texas.

[@Gandhi_Physique]

I don't think I have it, but I grew up around ranches and black areas. Mostly black areas though and near a military base so that might be why I don't really have the accent you're talking about.

[@CGH250]

I remember watching American Idol when Elton John was coaching contestant Kelly Pickler. Kelly is from eastern NC. I live in middle NC. After hearing Kelly talk he exclaimed “ my gosh - you sound British when you talk”!!

[@user-rz8bu6vl8x]

I live in MS but love to listen to LA Cajuns talk! And people laugh at my southern accent.

[@chrisrobinson3831]

I live in Alabama. The older whites here say "they -air" instead of there. I love it! I'ma black man from south Louisiana. So we got our own shit!

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

I’m from West Virginia and my mom recently took a business trip to New Orleans and said people were asking her what accent she had, and they also asked how a white woman had the last name Bailey, apparently a lot of black people have that name in Louisiana.

[@timothytikker3834]

I remember when I (born in California) lived in Charleston, South Carolina, would take from time to time with a local woman in her nineties who spoke a true model Charlestonian aristocratic accent. A friend once said of her "I can't understand a word she says!" When I remarked to another friend (born in Iowa) on how this puzzled me, as the accent struck me as quite mild, she pointed out "he's from _North_ Carolina."

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

That's a funny story, but as a native of NC, I've never met anyone from SC that I had a hard time understanding. My grandfather was actually from SC.

[@user-tz8pf4pd4q]

Wow this guy's knowledge and accents are amazing

[@Blio_]

I’ve lived my entire life with a slight southern accent and surrounded by incredibly southern people, and I love learning the roots of our accent.

[@cromabu5090]

This is why I like the southern accent, it has British roots. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 Rule Britannia!!!

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

*upper-class English, not "british". Another one who did not pay attention to the video..

[@Blueridge4000]

That was amazing I wish there was more! I'm made in Louisiana but born & raised in Texas!!!

[@agoogleuser4443]

That's so weird you said that, cause I was made in Texas but born & raised in NC! I say I'm half Texan on my mama's side, lol.

[@Blueridge4000]

A Google User lol I get what you mean, I’m 1st generation Texas on my dads side 2nd generation on my Moms side. Both families migrated from Louisiana Creole & Indian parishes.

[@slimpickens9103]

Excellent always wondered how there were so many versions of the southern accent but it makes sense the countries and regions of origin playing an impactful twang to the dialect.

[@Britt4770]

I need more of this man and documentary 😂❤.

[@bostontowny4life744]

I’m from New Orleans, I have a mix of a bayou and Yat New Orleans accent. Now I live in Boston and most people say I sound like I’m trying to “talk like a black person”. Which I’m not (in Italian), I think I just pronounce allot of words in a creole way and it comes off like that.

[@BL-zi9wb]

This guy knows a lot about Hard R's

[@Skrimpish]

There was a great pbs show on vowel shift and why they pick "east atlantic" for news casters as that dialect allowed east/west/north/south understand each other. Super interesting as it dealt with michigan accent which imo is one of the strangest.

[@jonathantweedy2645]

love learning where this came from

[@trepticon5287]

There is a southern accent that a mixture between the Appalachian accent and the traditional southern accent and I call it the foothills accent