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Here's what got me interested in this. I live in Georgia. At work there's this guy(a Black guy)who I work with. When listening to him talk for a while I assumed that he was from New York or NJ going by his accent. I eventually asked him where he was from and he told me he was from New Orleans. He was living in my hometown in Georgia because he was one of the Hurricane Katrina people that relocated to my area. Anyway,I told him that I never thought that he could be from New Orleans or the south. I told him that judging by his accent I always thought that he was from up north like from New York or New Jersey somewhere. He kinda got a laugh out of that and said that I was the first person to ever tell him that.
I looked into New Orleans accents and came across info on what's called the Yat Dialect. This dialect is spoken by most natives of New Orleans both black and white. From what I've read this yat dialect of New Orleans was influenced by some of the same people who settled in Manhattan who also settled in New Orleans. So if you ever meet someone from New Orleans see if you notice any similarities with their accents to NY accents. Didn't those last two girls in the video sound like they were from Brooklyn?
Just curious. Where do you live now? Which people are hearing your accent?
Manhattan, New Yorkers. I've tested linguists and they can't figure me out either
People are always surprised when Southerners like me don't have the stereotypical Southern accent. Lots of places in the South have their own thing - like New Orleans - or simply no Southern accent at all and therefore non-Southerners can never figure out where we're from. It's like people assume that if you're from anywhere in the South you'll talk like the stereotypical hillbilly from rural Mississippi or something.
Last edited by Jester2138; 05-13-2012 at 03:21 PM..
I looked into New Orleans accents and came across info on what's called the Yat Dialect. This dialect is spoken by most natives of New Orleans both black and white.
Not by most natives of New Orleans, no. It really depends on your family. If you're an old New Orleans family you'll probably have a bit of a Yat accent - the strength depends on your "New Orleanian-ness." People who only live in the city and don't venture into the surrounding rural areas very often won't have as much of an accent.
I, for instance, was born and raised in Uptown New Orleans and have no recognizable Southern or New Orleans accent. I'll pick one up a bit, however, when I'm talking to someone with such an accent. In New York I apparently pick up a bit of a New York accent.
They all sound the exact same to me. Southern. It sounds super cuutttee when they are children. I think the best way to judge this is threw the children, instead of the adults. Adults ( young adults included ) could just be acting. However some people accents are being forced, because of the way vocal cords are shaped over time, and genetics.
About black accent, I only really here American sounding voices. It is perfectly clear that many real African Americans are from the South, and only recently migrated to the big cities.
They have those hot-blooded American genes inside them.
The video pretty much just told me, hey you need to have "sharp words" in order to have respected in New Orleans. Seriously who have to get tired using those words.
When I went to New Orleans for the first time the Yat dialect fooled me in mistaken a person for being a New York transplant. I never knew this type of accent even evolved in the south. Well, you learn something new when you travel. The Yat dialect is basically the New York accent of the south.
Here's a few more videos
Yat dialect spoken in these videos. You can hear it even when the narrator speaks in the documentary.
Those accents to me don't sound like Northeast or NY accents to me. The only similarity to a NY accent is that they are both non-rhotic (don't pronounce R's).
However, I think unlike many northerners, I can tell the difference between these New Orleans accents and other accents of the south.
The video pretty much just told me, hey you need to have "sharp words" in order to have respected in New Orleans. Seriously who have to get tired using those words.
The one point of the first video that I disagree with is when the "expert" says you have to speak "normal" English to be respected in New Orleans. This is wrong. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. People are very proud of their accents and you won't be taken seriously as a New Orleanian in local politics, industry, or culture unless you can talk like one
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