Where do accents start in Virginia?

[Anonymous]

I never new va had an accent

[Anonymous]

I have met people from the Lynchburg area that sound southern to me.

I lived in Tidewater (Yorktown) for three years and didn’t notice a discernible accent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What accents? South VA accents? Roanoke accent? Blacksburg accent? NoVa accent? Richmond accent? Leesburg? McLean? Or wait... Are you asking a different question?

Op here. All of the above. In this same way we discuss the Annapolis lack of local accent. Excluding DC and PG County specific demographic based accents. That very much seems to be Northern Virginia now with no accents much farther out even into Central VA. For instance, are there accents specific to the Allegheny highlands areas of Virginia and where do those start to appear? Which towns do those begin?

I have family in Lynchburg with no audible Virginian accent and family in Henry County who do have accents. I have friends raised in Richmond without accents and a friend from Front Royal with one.

Southern accents start at the state line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from Tidewater and no one my age (30s) has an accent anymore.

Op here. Speaking of loss of accents. I’m 40. My college roommate was from Suffolk and did not have an accent either.

DP. The Tidewater accent was always a little different than what one would associate with a typical southern accent, and it’s all but died. (I’ve lived in Norfolk for 20 years.)

I think there are wealthy pockets of Richmond where young people will turn it on as a signifier that their roots run deep in Virginia.

Otherwise, I think it’s mostly rural areas south of Richmond or out in the southwestern part of the state.

[Anonymous]

My husband grew up in Charlottesville and has a slight southern accent. His mother grew up north of Harrisonburg and has the full on Virginia accent.

She says LAW-yer. I can't even replicate the way she says "oil." It's almost like "awl," the tool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband grew up in Charlottesville and has a slight southern accent. His mother grew up north of Harrisonburg and has the full on Virginia accent.

She says LAW-yer. I can't even replicate the way she says "oil." It's almost like "awl," the tool.

So ignorant. It's pronounced "earl."

[Anonymous]

Accents (at least in the US) are starting to disappear with each generation. I am Gen X and am from Richmond and didn’t realize I had a southern accent until I moved to the DC area in 2000 and got made fun of the first week at my new job out of grad school.

There are many reasons why accents are starting to disappear (people are more transient and moving around, the internet exposes people to global media so you’re not just hearing the local tv, local radio, local ads, with local speaking people). It’s happening in the south, in New England, all over.

As for Virginia, IMO as soon as you get to Caroline County in the south, Faquier county in the west, you will start to hear a bit of a southern accent.

Boston accent disappearing https://youtu.be/qLXvYmS6jPw?si=S-qORkts7BlKZLkv

Southern accent disappearing. https://youtu.be/97T8VpFGS4A?si=DmItRatOVn5lqgyX

Fred Armisen doing US accents (including Virginia), starting with Maine. It’s very funny. https://youtu.be/G72tZdjnS2A?si=EG9WQwf3A6m-r_nz

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What accents? South VA accents? Roanoke accent? Blacksburg accent? NoVa accent? Richmond accent? Leesburg? McLean? Or wait... Are you asking a different question?

Op here. All of the above. In this same way we discuss the Annapolis lack of local accent. Excluding DC and PG County specific demographic based accents. That very much seems to be Northern Virginia now with no accents much farther out even into Central VA. For instance, are there accents specific to the Allegheny highlands areas of Virginia and where do those start to appear? Which towns do those begin?

I have family in Lynchburg with no audible Virginian accent and family in Henry County who do have accents. I have friends raised in Richmond without accents and a friend from Front Royal with one.

Southern accents start at the state line.

Coming in from DC, you do not find accents in Alexandria or Arlington. I would say none of Northern Virginia.

[Anonymous]

The odd thing about the tidewater accent was how similar it was to Nova Scotia's accent.