You have got to show me

[muckefuck]

I couldn't help myself; I finally succumbed to the latest dialect quiz that's sweeping the nation. Problems arose with the very first question, which attempts to determine your pronunciation of aunt based on which of three words it "rhymes with". One of these words is caught, which left me thinking, Are there actually people who say "aught" for "aunt"? Later questions make it clear that the author uses "rhymes with" to mean "contains the same vowel as". Very, very sloppy!

The result confirms what I've long suspected: That my speech has taken on more "Southern" characteristics as a result of living in the North. Sounds counterintuitive, doesn't it? But the extent to which one adopts an accent is strongly correlated with the extent to which one (consciously or unconsciously) identifies with its speakers. Despite 16 years in this city, I still don't think of myself as a Chicagoan; I'm a St. Louisan living in exile. To maintain this identity, I avoid a lot of localisms and strive to remember the folksy terms my parents and relatives used. Sometimes, I think, this leads to overcorrections, as I start saying things they never did (like "y'all").

I still bristle whenever anyone calls St. Louis "the South". In reality, it's an interesting transitional zone. Garreau calls it an outpost of The Foundry on the border between The Breadbasket and Dixie. Linguistically, it's more closely allied to the urban centres of northern Ohio than those of Iowa or Kentucky. It may be below the Bourbon Line but it's definitely north of the Sweet Tea Line.

Comments

You Are Here

[febrile.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time classifying Oklahoma -- you get different perspectives depending upon whom you ask. For instance, a number of people seem to think of "The South" as a region vaguely shaped like the new 36th ward of Texas under DeLay redistricting, encompassing the Carolinas, (maybe Virginia), Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, (maybe Arkansas), (maybe Tennessee), Louisiana, and Texas, but not Florida. "The Midwest" has similar issues. People feel comfortable calling it one of "The Plains States," but I can't stand that term. Depending upon whom I talk to, I have called Oklahoma Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern, and can make facile, silly arguments for all of them.

Doesn't matter much of the time -- up here, folks tend to think watching the tumbleweed races is the most exciting thing that would go on in a place called "Norman, Oklahoma."

But I feel a big pride in Oklahoma and consider myself as being from there, despite spending the majority of my life in other places. And, pursuant to your point, I think I tend to wear my Okiehood on my sleeve since moving to Chicago four years ago, and this is reflected in my speech.

Re: You Are Here

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

There are people who don't count Virginia as part of the south? Dude! How else do they explain the existence of West Virginia?

Re: You Are Here

[princeofcairo.livejournal.com]

When I lived in Oklahoma City, I always thought it was right smack on the border between South, West, and Midwest, and partook of all three about equally, culturally speaking. (Basically, I-35 is the border between Midwest and West; I-40 the border between South and Midwest. That line breaks down a little in northeastern Oklahoma, which seems pretty Southern, but Tulsa is a classic Midwestern small city in denial, like Ames or Cedar Rapids or Champaign.)

I don't have any great Oklahoma pride, although I'm glad I grew up there, and it beats the living hell out of the rest of the Great Plains (Kansas City excepted) -- but I like to say that I've been a lifelong Chicago native ever since I moved here in 1988.

Re: You Are Here

[robling-t.livejournal.com]

Well, the thing with Florida is, who's actually from there? I'd be curious to see what the statistics for native-born versus the influx of retirees comes out to... and a lot of the latter are almost by definition northerners, so it tends to desouthify (if that's a word :) ) the state's overall image in the collective unconscious.

And now you've got me wondering what I do think about Oklahoma. Is the South a place, or a state of mind? For myself I would have to say that OK is only the Midwest in relation to the "real" west, which would make IL the East by comparison. All I know is that my mind can't seem to place those two states into the same geographical bin no matter how I try... I think "Plains" and "Great Lakes" are more useful divisions as to the reality on the, er, ground, but still annoying. (And I would have to say that the underlying problem is really that our "east/midwest/west/south" terminology is in relation to a much earlier east-centric settlement pattern that no longer holds, which is why we're so confused today... hence the irony of having a school called "Northwestern" in a state now two-thirds of the way to the country's east coast. :) )