Are white Southern people influenced by African speech the most?

Question

I was wondering because I come from Virginia and I notice that my grandparents in particular from Richmond would sound much like what people stereotypically consider "black speech". This is not meant to be racist, but its more the intonation of their speech is similar. My grandparents were of course well educated Richmonders . My mother had less of that influence, but Northerners would often mistake my grandfather for a black man on the phone. Is this because of the large African settlement in the South? Or did the black people of the South imitate the white speech- or is it a mix of both?

Im just curious from a linguistic perspective. Someone told me that the Upper Crust Southern Whites spoke a type of refined 18th Century London speech that was mixed with African overtones of the slaves in the region.

Answer 1

This is a good question.

Answer 2

LOL. When you said "African speech" I thought you meant a bunch of Americans speaking in An african accent.

And have african family, it suits them and only them. (I mean as in form the continent africa, directly)

Answer 3

Wow, there are some ignorant people on here! First of all "rednecks" are ALL OVER the country. Has nothing to with Southern or Southern accents. Also - to a large degree you are correct

I was reading in a book once that white children on plantations had some slaves as designated playmates. They often traded words and phrases with each other. At one time the black population in Virginia and certain areas was larger than the whites. The intonation and speech rhythms  and "drawl" of Southern speech- can be attributed to much of the black influence on white settlers of the area. However, white people influenced black Southerners even more. I think its a trade off . But yeah- basically most Southern speech (along the coast) and Deep South (oustide Appalachia) was basically 17th Century English speech of Southwest England mixed with an African intonation.

Answer 4

That would be African AMERICAN" speech(Africans and African Americans have two different cultures) and yes..Virgina, and the South in general is the birthplace of America and have tons of African American influence.

Answer 5

I didn't catch a hint of racism or sarcasm in your initial question? It was valid and interesting question. I also understood clearly that you meant actual African dialect and accents... People tend to be sensitive about white/ black anything..

The only thing I suggest is for future references, don't allow people to make something negative out of something positive. Your responses in response to some of the posters takes away from your character and the character you asked the question with. It's just the net don't let them ruffle your feathers. Say thanks and keep it moving.

Be Well~

Answer 6

It's a southern accent.....not "African Speech".

Answer 7

You stripped us from our land and taught us how to speak english, "black" speech my A**. We were speaking a different language who do you think taught us how to speak english? tisk tisk... Read history, the right kind please...

Answer 8

White speech is what annoys me

Answer 9

People influence each other when it comes to language, it's really as simple as that.  The further the distance (physical, ideological, etc.), the less likely that people will talk the same.  When I say "ideological", I mean, for example, the difference between Northern and Southern speech.  With the two regions being so ideologically different throughout history (one had slaves one didn't...well not as many; one was agricultural, one into textiles and services; etc.) it is more likely that language would be used as an indicator and something that further separates two groups (hence the usual marginalization of Southern accents throughout the rest of the country).

The funny thing is that, when slaves were brought to the American South, they were separated from people from their families and friends so that they would not be able to communicate.  Furthermore, they clearly didn't speak English.  This is where, after some evolution of course, Ebonics ultimately originated.  After that, intonation was influenced by those who were already there - white people.  So it's funny that this is not considered "black speech", when in fact the intonation is originally "white Southern" and is now just "Southern".  There are three things that make this seem like "black speech"

1.) The largest concentration of black people in the US are in the South

2.) Most black people that do not live in the South, still had family who were in the south (as slaves and then later) and then moved elsewhere, so black culture, to a large extent, was engendered in the South.  As it is culture, some things might have changed in the move (slang for example), but the linguistic intonation has largely remained.

3.) Not to offend, but a lot of American connect Southern inflection/accents with a lack of intelligence (which probably goes back to the original rift between the North and the South).  Unfortunately, people often assume black people to be generally unintelligent and algebra tells us that if a = b and b = c, then a = c, where a = Southern Speech, b = lack of intelligence, and c = blackness

So if you were talking about the actual lexicon, slang, phrasing used, very little of what I said would apply :-).  But since you were talking about intonation/inflection/accent, this is likely why your grandparents and other whites speak in such a way that is considered, by the country at large, as "black speech".  Ultimately, it's pretty ironic that the intonation is so closely associated with "blackness" that African Americans are assumed to be originators of the accent.

Answer 10

Hello,

About 20 years ago on PBS there was a very good program out of England, a docu miniseries about the history and development of the English language around the world. I remember vividly it pointed out that the southern accent we know today came from the English, Scots and Germans who migrated out from the 13 colonies into Appalachia, Kentucky and beyond. When these people arrived and amalgamated together, they all spoke in English but the fusion of these different accents eventually evolved into the southern one after a generation or two.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 11

Youre right, it is a mix of both.

Blacks and whites, although they lived separately, nonetheless borrowed heavily from each other's culture, and that includes language. African-American Vernacular english is essentialy a southern dialect modified with some african grammar influences, and Southern White English is essentialy 17th Century British English with some Scots-Irish and African Influences, especially along the Coast and in the Appalachian region.

EDIT: Hey, I HAVE A NEW YORK ACCENT, AND I DIDNT SAY S**t ABOUT THE SOUTHERN ACCENT. If youre gonna get offended when someone calls your accent ignorant, dont do it to other people.