Do Oklahomans typically have a Southern or Midwestern accent? (Oklahoma City: home, Mennonites)

[Rubi3]

Since there's a post by me in this thread, I must have read it before, but don't remember. Surely it's not my age! Interesting to read your take on Oklahoma, SassafrasGypsy. I get so tired of people who feel the need to bash Oklahoma. I can also attest to knowing there is plenty of ignorance in the northern states. Those who think the south has a lock on it are grossly misinformed.

[MHGB]

I think that the Oklahoma drawl is more common in those raised in more rural or country areas than those from college towns or OKC. I can't imagine your "Fargo" sound mattering anymore to people with a drawl than it would matter to you about the way they speak. As a matter of fact, I think you may find people liking the way you sound.

[EddieOlSkool]

Oklahoma is mostly outside of the Southern accent territory. Many on OK don't even consider themselves Southern, anyway.

The OK accent is actually more "Midwest" and neutral sounding. It doesn't sound Northern or Southern. It's Midland. Minnesota's accent on the other hand is separated from the rest of the Midwest with its heavy Northern sound influenced by immigrants of Scandinavia, so for this reason of it being a true Northern dialect, it's considered a separate category of "Upper Midwest", having a MUCH different than the typical Midland dialect heard in the Midwest.

In Oklahoma people say the "o" sound differently. Hello sounds more like "hell-eh-oh" whereas in Minnesota it sounds like "hell-awww" where the "o" is stretched out.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by tkx7

I'm moving to Oklahoma soon- I'm hoping it's more like the midwest than the south because I've been living in the southern states and the people are mostly uneducated, lazy and bible thumping hippocrates, when it comes to politics especially. I'm just looking forward to getting away from that culture and a place that is more open-minded and educated. Honestly, I'm just happy to get out of "bible belt"

Calls people uneducated, yet can't spell.

[Shane C]

I'm originally from the Ark-La-Tex. I've lived in Dallas, Little Rock, St Louis, Omaha, and Columbia South Carolina. My grandparents were from SE Oklahoma and I have family in Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and just about all of the rest of Oklamoha are definitely Southern. Not Alabama deep South, but Southern light. However, a light beer is still a beer. There's a "redneck" stigma that comes with being Southern. I'm assuming that's why a lot of young Tulsans on this board are obsessed with trying to be Mid-Western. That being said, I'll acknowledge cable tv and transplants from other regions have watered down the Southern accent in younger Okies. But all of this Oklahoma Mid-West talk is crushed with one name, REBA. What part of REBA's accent or mannerisms say Mid-West???

[PsychDoc]

There's absolutely nothing "Midwestern" at all about Oklahoma.


Oklahoma isn't "southern" either, but it has more in common with the south than any other region. Calling Oklahoma "Southern light" is fairly accurate. I consider Oklahoma and Texas to be in their own class in terms of regional categorization, but both Oklahoman and Texan culture have a strong southern influence and certainly more in common with the south than they do with the west coast, Midwest or northeast.

[Shane C]

I agree that Oklahoma and Texas are distinct from the rest of the South. Oklahoma/Texas is to the South what the Mid-West is to the North. The North is split into the North East and Mid-West. Maybe the South should be split into two groups with Oklahoma/Texas being one of the Southern groups and the other Southern (deep South) states being the other.

[Shane C]

You mentioned Oklahoma isn't "Southern." Somebody needs to tell that to Reba, Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, and my numerous friends and family that live throughout Oklahoma. They all speak and act Southern.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Shane C

You mentioned Oklahoma isn't "Southern." Somebody needs to tell that to Reba, Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, and my numerous friends and family that live throughout Oklahoma. They all speak and act Southern.

Reba and Blake Shelton are both from the part of Oklahoma that is southern and nobody really debates that. Garth Brooks is from the OKC area. Actually the town he is from (Yukon) has a history of Czech settlement which is certainly not "southern".

[Shane C]

Ancestry doesn't determine Southern. I highly doubt most Czech's in Oklahoma still speak and act like people in Eastern Europe. The original Czech immigrants in Oklahoma moved to the South and their offspring were born into Southern culture. There's a town called Slovac, Arkansas. Everyone in the town is either Slovac or half Slovac. But their Eastern European surnames are the only remaining connection to Eastern Europe. Everyone there speaks and acts Southern.