Varieties of English spoken in the Southern United States
This article is about English as spoken in the Southern United States. For older English dialects spoken in this same region, see Older Southern American English. For English as spoken in South America, see South American English.
Southern American English
Southern U.S. English
Region
Southern United States
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
Ingvaeonic
Anglo–Frisian
Anglic
English
North American English
American English
Southern American English
Early forms
Old English
Middle English
Early Modern English
Older Southern American English, Appalachian English
Writing system
Latin (English alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
–
Glottolog
sout3302
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Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect[1][2] or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, though concentrated increasingly in more rural areas, and spoken primarily by White Southerners.[3] In terms of accent, its most innovative forms include southern varieties of Appalachian English and certain varieties of Texan English.[4] Popularly known in the United States as a Southern accent or simply Southern,[5][6][7] Southern American English now comprises the largest American regional accent group by number of speakers.[8] Formal, much more recent terms within American linguistics include "Southern White Vernacular English" and "Rural White Southern English".[9][10]
Speech example
An example of a Texas-raised male with a rhotic accent (George W. Bush).
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Speech example
An example of an Arkansan male with a rhotic accent (Bill Clinton).
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Speech example
An example of a Georgian male with a non-rhotic accent (Jimmy Carter).
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^Clopper & Pisoni (2006), p. ?.
^Labov (1998), p. ?.
^Thomas (2007), p. 3.
^Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), pp. 126, 131.
^Schneider (2003), p. 35.
^"Southern". Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, based on Random House, Inc. 2014[See definition 7.]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^"Southern". Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2014[See under the "noun" heading.]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^"Do You Speak American: What Lies Ahead". PBS. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
^Thomas (2007), p. 453.
^Thomas (2004), p. ?.
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