Lippi-Green -- Standard Language Myth -- English With an Accent Ch. 11

The South's Self-Definition and Perception

The South defines itself against the North, emphasizing its perceived earthiness, family values, and spirituality.
This self-definition is often contradicted by the negative stereotypes imposed upon it, such as being called "hick, phony, and superstitious."
The South both embraces its distinctiveness and resists the negative consequences of that distinctiveness.

Defining the South: A Complex Task

Mapping regional dialects and cultural boundaries is subjective.
Mapmakers bring their own goals, presumptions, and generalizations to the task.
Linguistic perception, production, and listener perception can be used, but not even the most ambitious language atlases attempt to map all three dimensions.
Defining the South involves theoretical and practical considerations, making it impossible to draw an absolute boundary.

Salient Features of Southern American English

Merger of /i/ and /e/ before nasal sounds:
- "Pin" and "pen" are both pronounced as "pin,"
- "Hem" and "him" are both pronounced as "him."
Monophthongization of /ai/ to /a/ :
- Words like "tie," "rice," and "dime" sound like "tah," "rahs," and "dahm."
Use of "you all" or "y'all" for the second person plural pronoun.

The Southern Shift

The monophthongization of /ai/ to /a/ is the initial phase of the Southern Shift, changing the vowel system.
This shift is the most distinctive feature of Southern U.S. English.
Wealthier individuals in Charleston tend to use the newer variant /ai/ , while lower economic classes maintain the traditional /a/ before obstruents and word-finally.

Mental Maps and the Southern Trough

Geographers study how individuals understand boundaries, referred to as "maps in the mind."
Non-Southerners have a consistent perception of a Southern core, known as the Deep South or Southern Trough.
The Southern Trough includes Mississippi and Alabama and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Georgia.
It is often viewed as the least desirable place to live in the United States.

Evaluation of Regions

Minnesota students view their state and California as the most desirable, while the Southern Trough is the least.
Alabama students have a mirror image preference, though they also view California favorably.

Early Stereotypes and Perceptions

Early exposure to media like "Gomer Pyle," "Green Acres," and "The Andy Griffith Show" can shape perceptions of the South.
The Beverly Hillbillies was deemed "ungrammatical and ignorant".
These shows can create limited and peculiar set of characters.
Reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" can lead to a more nuanced understanding of Southern culture.
Standard language ideology can still trigger negative reactions to Southern accents.

Reinforcement of Stereotypes

Stereotypes are reinforced by shows like "The Dukes of Hazzard County," general public disdain, and criticisms from authority figures.
Stereotypes also appear in comic strips (Kudzu, Lil' Abner, Gasoline Alley) and films (Sweet Home Alabama, Ma and Pa Kettle, Forrest Gump, Deliverance).
Stereotypical characters include sadistic overseers, chivalrous men, good old boys, cheerleaders, beauty pageant mothers, Pentecostals, poor white trash, and drunken backwoods predators.
In this view, Southern English has an indiscriminate "twang" or "drawl" and is filled with idioms.

North-South Mental Divide

A North-South mental divide exists, where linguistic details are unimportant to outsiders.
Outsiders cannot distinguish between Appalachian and Charleston accents.
Southerners are unable to differentiate between Northern accents.

Language as a Marker of Regional Loyalty

How Southerners evaluate their speech is important for understanding language's role in marking regional loyalties and resisting leveling.

Surveys of Southern Accent Perceptions

A survey in Georgia explored what "having a Southern accent" means and how people evaluate their own language.
Some underreport their accent, while others claim an accent they don't have.
The survey reveals social markers attached to Southern accents.
Pollsters' questions reveal preconceived notions about connections between lifestyles and language markers.

Stereotypes in Poll Questions

Poll questions often represent stereotypes about the South.
Real Southerners are portrayed as eating chitlins and moon pies, driving American cars to church, while less Southern types eat bagels and lox.
Perceptions about stereotypes are consistent.
About 50% of participants find "Gone with the Wind" relevant to defining the South.
Stereotypes are durable in defining both self and others.

Covert Prestige

Language variation often occurs below consciousness.
In the South, distinctive language features are cultivated for covert prestige.
Example: Joe values his Piedmont accent, even if it costs him job opportunities, because community values outweigh economic incentives.

Perspectives on Accents

Covert and overt prestige depend on the speaker's viewpoint.
Online, someone described the Piedmont accent as "slow, deliberate, thoughtful, and very country."
Language variation is central to constructing the South.

Survey on Southern Identity and Accent

A 2001 survey by the Center for the Study of the American South found that Southerners consider language distinctions important.
74.8% of self-identified Southerners acknowledged having a strong or noticeable accent.
It is difficult to create a similar survey for Northerners.

Linguistic Perceptions and Regional Distinctions

Preston's studies show non-Southerners distinguish between the Southern Trough and other Southern states.
Tennessee and Kentucky are the "Outer South."
Texas is its own kind of South, while Florida is not considered Southern by most Northerners.
The "Southwest" may include Texas but exclude New Mexico and Arizona.

Journal-Constitution Southern Life Poll (1995)

Asked Southerners and non-Southerners about the importance of various elements in defining today's South.

Awareness of Southern English Varieties

Northerners are unaware of distinctions between Southern English varieties and use a one-size-fits-all accent when imitating it.

Hawaiian Students' Perspective

Hawaiian students offer a unique perspective on mainland dialects.
They perceive Southern accents beyond the traditionally defined South.

Population and Southern Accent

About 103 million people (over 34% of the U.S. population) live in states consistently marked as Southern.
This number excludes parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and the Southwest with Southern accents.
It is also too large, as not all residents of these states speak the indigenous variety of English.

Other Linguistic Communities in the South

The South includes Native American language communities, Spanish speakers, and speakers of Louisiana Creole and Gullah.
Roughly 30% of the U.S. population speaks U.S. English with a Southern accent.

Synthesizing the South

There is a strong urge to unite the South as distinct from the North.
Southerners both promote and reject this idea.
The South plays the role of "evil tendencies overcome" in the nation's self-image.
Southern difference is continually recreated and reinforced.
The South defines itself against the North but resists the consequences of being stereotyped.

Hostility and Language

An attorney's Southern accent is criticized by a client, highlighting language-focused subordination.
The characters are not poor or uneducated.

Strategies of Condescension

This column uses Bourdieu's strategies of condescension to mock the attorney's verb constructions.
The author repeats the offensive verb constructions to highlight and mock them.
The author claims authority in language matters and uses harsh imagery.
This is part of a larger strategy of subversion and language subordination.

Stereotypical Southerners in Media

Stereotypical fictional Southerners are more prominent in Northerners' minds than well known people like Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton.
Stereotypical characters include the Beverly Hillbillies, backwoodsmen, beauty queens, and wise old women.

Stereotyped Ignorance

Stereotyped Southerners are portrayed as ignorant, specifically lacking education and literacy.
Examples:
- A reporter describing a Representative's accent as incomprehensible.
- A newscaster trivializing Southern accents as something to snicker at.
- A university candidate being rejected due to having a strong Southern accent.
- Kuralt's intelligence being highlighted as unexpected due to his drawl.

Language, Intelligence, and Communication

These comments demonstrate how language barriers are built and rationalized.
The reporter projects an unwillingness to understand the Southern accent and misrepresents origin.
The newscaster uses a coercive "we," forcing an alliance.
Northern discomfort arises when intellectual authority is linked to the South.
The job applicant's credibility is devalued by language features linking him to the South.
The reporter finds the accent out-of-place, while the search committee externalizes discomfort as humor.

Contradictory Intelligence Constructions

Northern intelligence is linked to education, while Southern intelligence is linked to common sense.
Sheriff Andy Taylor exemplifies native Southern intelligence.
Plots in "Mayberry RFD" contrast Southern mother-wit with Northern acquired intelligence.

Accent Restriction

Southern accents are restricted to stereotypical characters in situation comedies.
Characters like Andy, Gomer, and Ernest T. Bass have Southern accents.
Other characters like his son, aunt, the teacher do not.
There are no regularly appearing African American characters.

Encouragement to Eliminate Accents

Northerners encourage Southerners to eliminate their accents due to perceived intellectual deficiency.
People are expected to acknowledge their cultural subordination.
Stereotypes are imaginary but powerful.

Complicity in Subordination

The subordination process is successful when targets become complicit.

Subordination Tactics and the South

The object of subordination is an entire nation united by history and culture.
The process differs from subordinating African Americans.

Effects of Exclusion

Many Southerners do not want to live elsewhere.
The threat of exclusion may be less effective.
Personal anecdotes show that Northern bias and standard language ideology have a long reach.
An actor was told to get rid of her accent to have a full career.
Accents interfere with business and can be humiliating.

Acceptance of Responsibility

Southerners exhibit insecurity about their language and accept responsibility for poor communication.
A communications consultant from New Jersey calls for Southerners to change their speech.
It is unclear whether they reject the "cow-tipping moron" stereotype.
They believe the way to accomplish the goal to convince the rest of the South to talk as she does.
The South resists language subordination more than any other group.

Media Coverage of Accent Reduction

News media is enamored with accent reduction stories.
Headlines like "Hush Mah Mouth!" are common.
Reports include dissenting opinions.

Southern Resistance to Subordination

The news media does not often report on Southern resistance.
A newspaper downplays death of an accent reduction course.
The humorous tone indicates difficulty in taking Southern contentment with their language seriously.
Another journalist trivializes the “Pro-Drawl Movement."

Uncensored Southern Voices

Southern voices are heard within Southern boundaries.
The language of the older South has charm and value.
Language is part of being.
Modernity pressures against loving the past.

Accent as Cultural Shorthand

Accent is used as cultural shorthand for unspoken properties.
Northerners appropriate Southern accents for jokes and points.
This involves condescension and trivialization, drawing on stereotypes.
Southern women are portrayed as sweet, pretty, and not bright.

Avoiding Criticism

Focusing on language allows packaging the South to escape criticism.
The South's need for redemption can be highlighted without raising sensitive topics.
Language distinguishes between self and other when other markers are absent.

Ongoing Subordination Process

The subordination process continues through accent reduction courses, movies, and negative feedback to Southern students and job applicants.

Southern Defiance

The South has resources to deflect subordination tactics and resist.
The South has a strong sense of identity and culture.
Institutions try to coax cultural and linguistic assimilation but meet suspicion and defiance.

The Seduction of Accent Reduction

News media is steadily and continuously interested in the area of accent reduction.
Accent reduction aims to replace stigmatized regional or foreign accents with favored ones.

Accent Reduction Marketing

Accent reduction is marketed by private businesses and, rarely, by schools and colleges.
College courses are found in areas with high immigration.
Private coaching is expensive.

Legitimate Reasons for Accent Reduction

Second language learners may want to reach closer to a native pronunciation.
Actors often need to simulate accents.
These goals are often reasonable and well-meaning.
ASHA states that no dialectal variety is a disorder.
Each dialect serves communication, social solidarity, and symbolic functions.
Each dialect represents the historical, social and cultural background of the speakers.

False Promises

Advertisements for accent reduction draw in students with false promises.
There is no regulation or licensing for such businesses.

Stances on Multilingualism and Accent

Some endorse the same language for clear communication despite heritage.
Speech impediments can foster misinterpretations and divide people.

Homogenization of America

An accent reduction teacher denies trying to eradicate accents and says most of the country speaks in a general American way.
Linguistic assimilation to SAE norms is seen as an appropriate price to pay to succeed.
Media promotes accent reduction and assimilation, blurring the line between reasonable claims and outrageous ones.
The broadcast media speakers have homogeneous English which does not betray regional origin.
Not all variation is unacceptable only those associated with groups out of favor. (Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Spanish accents).

Unequal Acceptability of Accents

French, German, British, and Swedish accents are more acceptable.

Linguistic Signals

A language that signals a New York or Puerto Rican origin may signal a liability.
The subtle argument suggests overall linguistic assimilation to the Midwest, middle-class, and colorless language.

Power of the News Media

Those providing news have power and control.
Translation involves filters that shape information about language.
The information industry supports language standardization.

The ABC Piece

The media is for and designed for a targeted accent. (Southern)
The aim is to control a Southern Accent