Are regional accents in the big cities being phased out and replaced with a generic American accent?

23 comments

1. It appears so.

   “Being phased out” has the connotation of an active agent deciding to cause this. It’s not that, but rather a natural result of the increase in national audiovisual media, etc.

   But I hope we can preserve the vowel distinctions that avoid ambiguity. It would be a shame if the northeast loses the distinctions of Mary/merry/marry or Craig/creg.

2. phased out and replaced makes it sound like some kind of planned or directed process. Regional accents certainly do seem to be fading – I live in a big southern city, was born and raised here, and my accent is generic American as are the accents of most people I encounter – but it’s just a natural language change.

   The various types of AAVE seem to remain in vigorous usage, however, I do not see that fading away much.

3. The idea that the Northern urban rustbelt accent is being purposely phased out by individuals who move to the coasts is a interesting subject I’ve been reading about recently

   The main ideas behind it is that while it’s actually a relatively modern accent that developed in the early to mid 1900s (in cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee) in recent years once people found out they had the accent, they have actively tried to lose it so they wouldn’t be connected to the rustbelt in professional or academic settings.

4. There is no generic American accent, as that implies there is a specific accent most Americans speak. Regional accents still vary in major cities, but accents change over time. It’s not that it’s being replaced with a specific accent, it’s that the accents are changing as there is new slang, different generation, new terms, etc.

   >but now someone could be from Texas and have a neutral general accent.

   This was always the case. People just took notice of those “different” regional accents ignoring that not everyone who lives in such areas will sound the same.

5. The analysis I’ve heard is that consonant differences are diminishing while vowel differences are widening. I think there was also something about region-specific terminology disappearing but preferences between common words and quirks of grammar becoming more noticeable. Nobody knows how to document prosody and other features of diction and intonation.

6. No

7. Not among the lower and working classes. No matter where I’ve been in this country, they always have the strongest version of their regional accents.

8. In the professional class, yes absolutely. However in working class families I am seeing the opposite and no noticeable change in the upper classes.

   It makes sense though, you see a lot more migration between cities in that professional class where both the working classes and upper class are more tied to their hometowns

9. I think so. I think the neighborhoods and suburbs do a pretty solid job of keeping the accents alive surrounding major cities. Chicago and Boston immediately come to mind.

10. Very slowly but generally yes, with national mass media, regional accents in young people tend to be less pronounced. However, definitely not eliminated.

11. I’m in the northeast and I have no accent at all! People outside of New England all have accents.

12. This happened in the 1940s-50s with post-war urbanization and the television.

13. In regards to the Boston accent, yes. Fewer and fewer young people have it, although I did have a hilarious run-in with a young child the other day who fully had the accent. I can’t even mimic it.

14. Phased out implies an active effort that I don’t think is there. I think that TV, movies and national level TV presenters tend to have a west coast accent and so it’s crept into everyone’s homes and has given the impression of a default “professional” accent.

15. It’s going to depend on the city. We’re a fairly mobile population and I feel that people try to mask their accents after a relocation. In cities with a high transplant population, accents will usually be pretty generic.

    However, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, areas of New York, etc., still have their strong accent speakers.

16. Depends when sober most don’t have am accent. But you get a few drinks in people out here in the Boston suburbs the accent comes back strong

17. It certainly feels like it. Watching old home movies from the 80’s and 90’s, everyone in my family had very strong southern accents. We don’t anymore and I seriously doubt anyone other than me got rid of it on purpose.

18. Yes for sure. Even over the last 20 to 30 years, the change is enormous. Among younger people especially, strong regional accents have seen a massive decrease.

19. I hear the usual Yahds and Hahds in New England all the time. It may be softening a bit but I wouldn’t say it’s disappearing.

    The southern accent is if anything devouring some other more European-influenced ‘country’ accents from the Midwest and assimilating them into some sort of Greater Dixie standard. Everyone west of the Hudson that’s 20-miles out from any given metropolitan statistical area talks and acts like Larry the Cable Guy now (who is from, like, Nebraska, case in point)

20. I think accents are definitely mellowing out and becoming more generic with younger generations, but they aren’t being phased out entirely. There will never be a fully generic universal American accent. I can still notice accents with young people from New York, Texas, Georgia, etc. It’s just more subtle than your stereotypical 70 year blue collar man.

21. I would wager that regional accents are pretty much going away in middle/upper middle class urban areas but they will remain in more rural areas.

22. If you’re white and upper/middle class, yes.

    If you’re working class, no. I don’t think so. At least not where I live. Working class accents are still quite strong in NJ/Philly/New York area.

    Ethnic accents/dialects also remain strong, like Puerto Rican or Black.

23. I’m born and raised in the NYC area and no one ever guesses where I’m from unless I use specific words. My favorite of all time was someone (also from here) asking me if I was Canadian.