The Differences Between Regional Southern Accents, According To A Linguist

Southern accents have nuances to them. Here, a linguist explains how they came to be and what the key differences are.

There isn't one thing that makes a Southern accent. The regions' iconic sounds go back hundreds of years.

According to Margaret E.L. Renwick, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Georgia, it was inevitable that speech would evolve. “Language change is going to happen, there’s no stopping it,” she says. “It’s natural, and it changes from generation to generation.” Even today, despite there being evidence that the Southern accent is on the decline, people are influenced in their language choices. For example, children are influenced by their caregivers, teachers, parents, and grandparents and might therefore pick up words like “pocketbook” instead of “purse.”

Language communicates more than just words. “Language is aspirational. Younger kids and teenagers will form ways of talking that are unique to their groups. If they don’t want to be a part of a particular group, they might signal that with their speech,” she says. “A lot of how we talk is social.”

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Related: Could The Southern Accent Be Fading? Researchers In Georgia Say Yes