What is the film American Tongues about?

American Tongues is an original documentary that explores profiles of linguistic communities, linguistic prejudice and the role of media, and how dialects function throughout the country.

What is homogenized speech?

The number is 000-2020. They were looking for generic speech. Or some people call it homogenized speech. Speech that would float in any part of the country and didn’t sound like it came from somewhere in particular, perhaps the voice from nowhere.

Are dialects dying out?

According to the first set of results from an app mapping changes in English dialects launched in January by the University of Cambridge, regional accents are dying out. The English Dialects app, downloaded 70,000 times already, has generated data from 30,000 users across 4,000 locations.

Are American dialects dying?

Mass media and language: Although some localized dialects are dying out–for example in Appalachia and on the islands off the Carolinas-that is due to population movement, not the media. Regional dialects, accents and pronunciations of American English remain vigorous. Some are growing more distinctive, not less.

Is Southern accent dying?

The distinct drawls and twangs that dominate America’s Southeast as we know it may be dying off, new research suggests. A North Carolina State University study has noted a gradual shift away from the drawn-out vowel pronunciations widely associated with Southern speech, which experts say is ‘disappearing’.

Where do Southern accents come from?

The main origin of the accent comes from British immigrants. The older Southern American accent, which became less prominent following the Civil War, had stronger similarities to the British accents of Northern England.

Is Southern accent going away?

Is the Southern accent disappearing?

There’s a gradual shift toward a less distinctive regional accent, and the vowel sounds are leading the way. “Language is always changing, always in flux,” said Robin Dodsworth, an associate linguistics professor at North Carolina State University. “Over time in Raleigh, the Southern variant is disappearing.”

How did Southerners get their accent?

The Southern Drawl, like any accent, developed over the course of hundreds of years. There were many factors that contributed to its evolution including: plantation and farm life, Western expansion, immigration, and an increasing number and size of American cities.

What is a Southern accent called?

The Southern American English drawl, or “Southern drawl,” involves vowel diphthongization of the front pure vowels, or the “prolongation of the most heavily stressed syllables, with the corresponding weakening of the less stressed ones, so that there is an illusion of slowness even though the tempo may be fast.”