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Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect [1] [2] or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, primarily by White Southerners and increasingly concentrated in more rural areas. [3]
Older Southern American English is a diverse set of English dialects of the Southern United States spoken most widely up until the American Civil War of the 1860s, gradually transforming among its White speakers—possibly first due to postwar economy-driven migrations—up until the mid-20th century. [1]
Many of these countries, while retaining strong British English or American English influences, have developed their own unique dialects, which include Indian English and Philippine English. Chief among other native English dialects are Canadian English and Australian English , which rank third and fourth in the number of native speakers . [ 4 ]
Rather, Southern American English is a collection of dialects of the English spoken throughout the South. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects, with speech differing between, for example, that of Appalachian region and the coastal "low country" around Charleston, South Carolina.
As with most English varieties spoken by African Americans, African-American Vernacular English shares a large portion of its grammar and phonology with the regional dialects of the Southern United States, [10] and especially older Southern American English, [11] due to the historical enslavement of African Americans primarily in that region.
Regional vocabulary within American English varies. Below is a list of lexical differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region. A term featured on a list may or may not be found throughout the region concerned, and may or may not be recognized by speakers outside that region.
The Southern Shift and Southern Drawl: A vowel shift known as the Southern Shift, which largely defines the speech of most of the Southern United States, is the most developed both in Texas English and here in Appalachian English (located in a dialect region which The Atlas of North American English identifies as the "Inland South"). [11]
Most words of Native American/First Nations language origin are the common names for indigenous flora and fauna, or describe items of Native American or First Nations life and culture. Some few are names applied in honor of Native Americans or First Nations peoples or due to a vague similarity to the original object of the word.