Older Southern American English

Older Southern American English
RegionSouthern United States
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3
GlottologNone

Older Southern American English is a diverse set of American English dialects of the Southern United States spoken most widely up until the American Civil War of the 1860s, before gradually transforming among its White speakers, first, by the turn of the 20th century, and, again, following the Great Depression, World War II, and, finally, the Civil Rights Movement.[1] By the mid-20th century, among White Southerners, these local dialects had largely consolidated into, or been replaced by, a more regionally unified Southern American English. Meanwhile, among Black Southerners, these dialects transformed into a fairly stable African-American Vernacular English, now spoken nationwide among Black people.[2] Certain features unique to older Southern U.S. English persist today, like non-rhoticity, though typically only among Black speakers or among very localized White speakers.

  1. ^ Thomas (2006:4)
  2. ^ Thomas, Erik R. "Rural White Southern Accents" (PDF). De Gruyter. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2020-12-21.