Southern English
African-American English in North Carolina
Play videoAfrican American North Carolinians discuss their use of language, touching on style-shifting, communities of practice, phonology, history of language, etc. Lots of metalinguistic commentary and great speakers.
"Segment on African American English and its role in the lives and identities of African Americans in North Carolina. Excerpt from from the documentary "Voices of North Carolina""
US Language Attitudes
Play videoLinguist on a train asks people about their language attitudes and what regions they think speak more correctly.
Never Insult a Queer Person on TV, or Else - Bob The Drag Queen - Live from Austin
Play videoThis is a clip of Bob The Drag Queen doing standup comedy in Austin, TX, talking about being queer, as well as winning reality TV shows and family. Artifact 1 of 2 for an analysis of monophthongal vs diphthongal /ai/, following Rahman (2007)'s research on /ai/ variation in African American Language in narrative comedy. This clip was compared with Artifact 2 (The X Change Rate: Bob the Drag Queen https://youtu.be/brFvTNTUtSM?t=1271), which is a talk-show on which Bob is being interviewed by a close friend and fellow drag queen, who is also a speaker of AAL.
Dave Chappelle Stand-Up Monologue - SNL
Play videoVideo of comedian Dave Chappelle's stand-up monologue from his time hosting SNL in November 2020.
Larry the Cable Guy: My fake southern accent
Play videoLarry the Cable Guy explains where he picked up his southern accent and gives examples of code-switching.
Reba tries to say "ice"
Play videoReba tries to say 'chewing ice' in this clip, but because of her Southern dialect (which features aɪ-monopthongization even before voiceless consonants) it comes out as something closer to 'chewing ass'. We briefly came across examples of aɪ-monophthongization in class in the context of Bill Clinton's outburst.
Southern Dialect Pt. 1
Play videoStudy of Southern accents - rhotic or “r” pronouncing Mountain Southern, and non-rhotic or “r” dropping Plantation or Tidewater Southern.
Ideologies and stereotypes of southern english
Play videoMusician performs song explaining ideologies and stereotypes associated with the southern accent and the feelings some speakers have about it.
Comedian Darren Knight aka Southern Momma and the big snow storm
Play videoComedian Darren Knight's rendition of how southern mothers react to a snow storm in the south.
Ed Sheeran tries American Accents
Play videoIn this video, British singer Ed Sheeran is asked by a fan during a Q&A session to do his best "American Accent". He goes on to say that he can do three different ones, starting with the "Valley Girl from California" one, then moving to the "Regular" one and ending with the "Southern Draw" one. Since English is obviously one language in and of itself, but different English speaking countries have different accents. For example, Ed has a British English accent. But there are also Australian English accents, Irish English accents, and so on. There are different accents for different parts of the world, but there are also sub-accents in different parts of the same country, as shown here by Mr. Sheeran.
Do You Speak American?
Scholar and author, John G. Fought, focuses on how different dialect uses around the country affect the pronunciation of words and formation of speech patterns. Fought explains how the history of the United States has shaped language and has helped develop speech communities into what they are today. The media's role in what is considered "American" in regard to language is also described by Fought, touching on its key part in influencing specific dialect in different regions.
Sh%t Southern Women Say, Episode 1
Play videoThis comical satire highlights common phrases and slang frequently used by southern women. These iconic sayings can also index their southern roots.
Unapologetically Southern
Play videoIn this video, Chad Prather, a man who identifies himself as a Southern Gentleman. "Rants" in defense of his southern "accent" or dialect. Here we can see a man defending his own way of communication against attacks (in the form of social media messages and comments) from people who hold the language ideology that his accent proves that he is not intelligent.
Fred Armisen Can Do Any Southern Accent
Play videoComedian Fred Armisen walks through various southern accents and distinguishing characteristics.
President Bill Clinton Grand Jury testimony: Meaning of the word "is"
Play videoWhat do words mean? It depends on how you think about it.
Tracking Hillary Clinton's use of every American accent east of the Mississippi
A series of clips that demonstrate Hillary Clinton's performance of some varieties of American English, particularly Southern English and Northern Cities English (her native variety) [Published on 05-01-2015]
Can "Y'all" Mean Just One Person?
This blog post explores the idea of the singular "y'all". The post entertains the idea that this form of "y'all" comes from a style-shift used around non-Southerners in an attempt to differentiate themselves and assert their identity (similar to Kara's Jersey vowels being more commonly heard outside of Jersey). [Published on 10-03-2014]
What linguists say about Kevin Spacey's bizarre Southern accent on House of Cards
Linguists discuss the use (and non-use) of Southern English features by actor Kevin Spacey, who portrays a politician from South Carolina on the TV show House of Cards. [Published on 02-27-2015]
Paula Deen, Y'all!
Play videoThough it tragically does not contain any olive oil (my favorite thing to hear Paula Deen say), this clip is a really good example of a lot of the features of Southern English we talked about in class. Around 1:25, there's a very clear "nice" that is obviously still a diphthong, indicating that Paula is not from the Appalachian region or northern Texas, where speakers monophthongize before voiceless consonants.
American Tongues: Ice Hole
Play videoAn /ai/ monophthongization joke from the documentary American Tongues.
Treasured Island
An interactive feature, including a number of audio interviews with native residents, profiling the declining population of Tangiers Island, Va. [Published on 05-11-2014]
Louisiana Accents
Play videoA native of Louisiana demonstrates her understanding of the different accents in her home state, including the Cajun accent and the New Orleans accent.
The Grammar Rules Behind 3 Commonly Disparaged Dialects
A 2013 piece highlighting three features of three stigmatized U.S. dialects - a-prefixing in Appalachian English, "liketa" in Southern English, and remote past BIN in African American English
Wheel of Fortune: Seven swans a swimmin'
A contestant on Wheel of Fortune in 2012 solved a puzzle with "Seven swans a swimmin'," and lost the prize money after judges on the show rejected her alveolar pronunciation.
When Presidents say "Y'all:" The Strange Story of Dialects in America
A 2013 Atlantic interview with Walt Woflram on dialects and politics.
Southern Shift
Play audioA young female speaker from George Mason University's Speech Accent Archive from Norton, Virginia (English15) who has the Southern Shift.
eNCLLP: Charlotte
Play videoA clip from the documentary Voices of North Carolina on language in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jeff Foxworthy's "redneck" definitions
Play videoJeff Foxworthy provides Rachel Ray with some "redneck" definitions and illustrates his Southern dialect - he's from Atlanta, Georgia.
NPR: Psychology Behind the Sudden Southern Drawl
A 2006 piece on NPR about Bill Clinton's use of a heavier Southern accent in a moment of anger, with guest Walt Wolfram, who explains the phenomenon of style-shifting.
Racism (Linguistic Profiling) Caught on Tape
Play videoWhite office manager at Tennessee car rental company makes racist remarks over the phone after wrongly guessing the race of the customer based on linguistic profiling.