A silly question about accents

[Kamsack]

I listened to that .... cool site by the way...

I grew up in western Kentucky in the Henderson-Owensboro-Hopkinsville triangle...and most people's accents are stronger than the recording. My parents had strong southern accents. My oldest brother moved to the Louisville area and lived for 40 years in the Oldham county area and his son and daughters and their families in the area have accents like the one on the recording... southern but not as extreme.

My sister who is 65 this year....has always had a very southern accent like my parents... more than my brothers. Hers is very pronounced and she has lived in the Land Between the Lakes region for 40 years.

Meanwhile....I never developed much of an accent --- maybe watching too much TV. I always recall in school being asked where I was from from the kids.... eventually said northern Illinois. Southern Illinois is just as thick as western Kentucky.

When I went away to college in Iowa, I would come back most summers and breaks and went to the local Kroger and the cashier asked me where I was born and I said right here in Madisonville and she about died. TV, or somehow, I never picked up the strong accent.

I have moved over several different spots from college to where I live now.... and through the travels have always had folks ask about my accent. In college, my first roomate thought I was from England .... I know many folks who think Philadelphia....for some reason even though never been there. I think now I have a mix of some Canadian influence with typical Upper Midwest, mixed with still some southern accents. I say aunt no longer like ant.... that is a dead giveway you are form the south.... as well as saying Coke for all types of pop/soda. Just use pop now.

Accents are very interesting topic...

[Kamsack]

This man is from Marion KY and is pretty close to what I recall growing up there. My parents have deceased so not back home much now.

Kentucky 8 | IDEA International Dialects of English Archive

[censusdata]

My mom and her family have very strong Southern accents, probably more similar to what you'd find in Mississippi. They even say things like "Honnney", "well bless their heart", etc. Almost like Paula Dean type accent. Mom's ancestors were mostly from the tidewater Virginia or South Carolina before moving to KY in the mid 1800s.

Some of dad's brothers had really strong Appalachian accents. They even say "fellers" rather than y'all. One when tell us when we left "You fellers come back on down and we'll take that there pontoon boat out on the lake".

[EricOldTime]

Originally Posted by censusdata

My mom and her family have very strong Southern accents, probably more similar to what you'd find in Mississippi. They even say things like "Honnney", "well bless their heart", etc. Almost like Paula Dean type accent. Mom's ancestors were mostly from the tidewater Virginia or South Carolina before moving to KY in the mid 1800s.

Some of dad's brothers had really strong Appalachian accents. They even say "fellers" rather than y'all. One when tell us when we left "You fellers come back on down and we'll take that there pontoon boat out on the lake".

My Kentucky grandparents from northwestern Kentucky always said "feller" or "fellers" quite a bit. My grandfather "pawpaw" as we called him always used his famous "Whhhy hell far!" alot, used to make me laugh "bless your or his/her little heart: that's common place throughout rural Kentucky. I've heard them say "shor-nuff" at times, "yonder" of course a "piece" that house is back-ar a piece... way on back through that country back thar"

My grandmother calls all of the boys "son" and all the girls "sis" "hey sis or just "sis" when she sees my mom or "How you gitt'n along thar sis" she says to my mom. My name is Eric she ( my grandmother ) pronounces it " "Ur-eek" My grandfather had a friend named "Otto" and he pronounced it like "Eye-toe or "Ough-toe"" seperating the two sylables......dance is pronounced "daynz" pretty standard.

Owensboro is pronounced "Owns-bar"
Louisville is "Luh-vul"
Local counties like "Mclean is "Muh-klayne" Hancock is "Hayn-kok" "Ohio" is "OH-hi ( separated ) or Uh-HI" Nasville "Naysh-vul" bur ironically enough "Evansville across the river is pronounced "Ayvuns-vee-uhl" Henderson: Hin'r-sun"etc etc...you get the idea...

They do use "ya'll" and "you-all" almost interchangebly.. My granny the other day during skype with my aunt I hear her in the background: "When ya'll com'n up to see me?" and then later she said "When you-all come on in I'll have some supper wait'n on the table fer ye"Which she always does when she knows I'm coming in, could be some fried cornbread and some beans and new potatoes with sliced/peeled tomatoes or even a bowl of hot, thawed out Burgoo from the freezer. They always buy jugs, gallon jugs of Burgoo and keep it in the freezer for special occasions, like when I come in LOL.

My aunt that lives in Louisville, she was born and raised in Owensboro and that women has one of the thickest southern accents I've ever heard, really heavy and everyone in her family talks like that.

When I heard the accent in this recording from Marion Kentucky, it sounded identical to one of my cousins from Owensboro, so much so that for a second the tone and everything was exactly the same, except for some words that my cousin pronounces are a bit heavier, but some if it was exact, especially the tone.