Southern American English
(Deep South)
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File:SouthernEnglishMap.jpg
Approximate extent of Southern American English


•South does not have one monolithic dialect, there are vast differences between regions in the
area.
•It is a GROUP of dialects.
•African American Vernacular English has a lot in common with Southern dialects because of strong
historical ties. •Southern dialects originated in large part from British immigrants who moved to
the area in 17. and 18. centuries.
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•Only few generalizations can be made about Southern American English because of the great
variation between the regions. •Pronunciation also differs very much between older and younger
generations as well as between numerous ethnical groups. •Older SAE: distinction between [ær], [er]
and [ɛr] in marry, merry, and Mary is preserved. •Newer SAE: Merging of [ɛ] and [ɪ] before nasal
consonants = pen and pin are pronounced the same.

•Lax and tense vowel neutralization before L. Pairs like feel/fill become homophones.
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•Dialects
•Atlantic: Virginia Piedmont (most famous, strong influence on the rest of dialects ), Coastal
Southern. •Midland and Highland: South Midland or Highland Southern, Southern Appalachian. •Gulf of
Mexico: Gulf Southern and Mississippi Delta, Florida Cracker.
•Louisiana: Cajun, Creole, French.
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Signature sounds
•Merging of [ɛ] and [ɪ] before nasal consonants = pen and pin are pronounced the same. (Occasional
diphtongization – end, men)
•Words such as yellow, window: Final vowel pronounced as r.less schwa instead of [oʊ] or [o].
•Monophtongization: Words such as boy, boil, choice: diphtong reduced to monophtong [ɔ] . Also
(right, time, like)
•Every is reduced to ɛvə.
•-Ing is pronounced as [in] instead of [iŋ] in present participles.
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•Many nouns are stressed on the first syllable instead on the second: 'police, 'cement, 'Detroit,
'behind.
•Contractions: voiced alveolar fricative [z] becomes voiced alveolar stop [d]. Isn´t [iznt] =
[idnt], wasn´t [wʌznt] = [wʌdnt].
•The Southern vowel shift: the nuclei of [ɛ] and [ɪ] move to become higher and fronter, of [ɛjə],
[ɛ] becomes a tenser [ejə].
•Vowel lowering: [i] is realised as [ɛ] or [aə] before velar nasal. Sing [siŋ] = [saəŋ].
•Post coronal glides: words with coronal stops /t/d/n/ have a glide /j/ inserted between the stop
and vowel. Tune, duke, news become [tju:n], [djuk], [nju:z]
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The Deep South
http://ww2.valdosta.edu/%7Esljennin/US_map-Deep_South.png


•Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.
•Famous for: The Southern drawl.
•Vowels are longer, monophtongs become diphtongs and diphtongs become triphtongs.
•    Kit [kit] = [ki:ət], milk [milk] = [mij(ə)k]
•    Lingering on important words while shortening the less important words.
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Rhotic vs. Non-Rhotic
File:Non rhotic-whites-usa.png