How To Get Rid of a Southern Accent: Tips from a Speech Therapist
Have you ever felt self-conscious or stereotyped because you speak with a Southern accent? Do you think that speaking more neutrally would increase your confidence and give you a professional edge? If so, you're not alone.
The good news is that it is possible to learn how to speak with a less pronounced Southern accent. While it may take some time and effort, you can change the way you speak in no time by following our simple tips.
This article will discuss modifying your Southern accent and speaking with a more standard American accent.
What is a Southern Accent, and How Can You Identify It?
What Are Some Helpful Tips for Losing Your Southern Accent?
What Are Some Benefits of Working With an Accent Specialist?
Examples Of Regional Dialects
Americans speak in various ways, and their dialects vary across different regions of the country. A regional dialect is how you make your consonants and vowels, which is influenced by where you live. Regional accents can be found throughout the United States, and they come in a variety of forms. The most common are New York, Mid-West, New England/Boston, and Southern.
The regional accents of politicians from across the United States provide some examples. We think of Senator Chuck Schumer with a New York accent, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley with a Mid-West accent, Senator Ted Kennedy with a Massachusetts accent, and former President Jimmy Carter with a Southern Coastal accent.
Actors in Hollywood have established parts that rely on the accurate representation of local accents, whether through natural ability or with the assistance of a dialect coach. In Good Will Hunting, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon use authentic Boston accents. In the Sopranos, Edie Falco brings us a flavor of the New York accent; In Fargo, we get to see how someone speaks with a Minnesota accent; Finally, Sally Field brings us a Southern accent in Forrest Gump.
Dialects are used in many different ways. In each of these situations, the dialect patterns play a helpful role in contributing to the diversity and local color of a particular geographic location. However, a regional accent sometimes gets in the way of communication.
Why Change an Accent?
In certain situations, regional accents might be cause for prejudice and preconceptions. How a phoneme (sound) is pronounced in a regional accent may lead to misunderstandings and listener confusion. For example, the word "bun" may be mispronounced as "bone." Listen to the following list of phrases and see if you think they sound the same or different. If they sound the same, then you may have a regional accent.
Bob, Barb
Kerri, carry
beat, bit
scene, sin
feast, fist
This is not to say that one way of speaking is better than another. Instead, it demonstrates how a listener may be unable to understand what someone from a different region is saying. In these cases, the person with a regional accent may want to learn how to change their pronunciation to be better understood.
There are a few key reasons people want a more neutral accent.
Sometimes, having an accent can impact intelligibility.
It may make you feel self-conscious or like others are making assumptions about your personality.
If you have a regional accent, it may alter the professional image that you are trying to portray.
While there are many reasons to change your accent, ultimately, the decision is up to you. Changing your regional accent may be your best option if you feel like your regional accent is holding you back.
What is a Southern Accent, and How Can You Identify It?
You're probably familiar with the sound of a Southern accent. Southerners can have a drawl, speak at a slower rate, and maybe use the phrase "y'all." Not everyone from the South speaks this way, and there are exceptions and variations across different regions of the South.
You've undoubtedly heard the Southern accent a hundred times, but you're not sure what it is exactly or how it differs from standard American accent pronunciations. It's an intriguing tale that sheds light on the tremendous amount of accent diversity found in even such a tiny area of the United States.
The distinctive Southern American English accent is a result of several contributing elements over the course of the last few centuries. Immigration, slavery, westward expansion, and city development affected speech patterns.
We can have a hard time differentiating between people from various parts of the South. In fact, Southerners may have trouble distinguishing someone from Atlanta, Knoxville, Houston, or Birmingham.
As with all accents, there is quite a bit of variation between these dialects. That is because there is a significant difference in language between urban and rural areas. Cities are a hotbed of linguistic invention, but they can also contribute to accent deterioration.
There is also the contributing fact that people sound different depending on the speaking habits of their region.
Characteristics of a Southern Accent
The Southern accent is one of the most distinctive and easily identifiable accents in the United States. Several features contribute to this unique way of speaking. The following are some of the characteristics that the Southern accent brings:
Use of 'y'all': This is a contraction of "you all" and is used as a second-person plural pronoun.
Use of 'ain't': This is a contraction of "am not," "is not," "are not," or "have not."
Use of 'fixin' to ': This is a contraction of "fixing to" and usually means someone is about to do something. For example, they may be fixin' to go to the store.
These are just a few of the many common Southern pronunciations. While some of these features may be considered negative, they are all part of what makes Southern accents so unique and interesting. Some examples include the Southern drawl, nasalization, changing long vowels, modifying auxiliary verbs, and word stress.
The Drawl
The Southern drawl is when vowel sounds are prolonged, and the syllables are stretched out. With the drawl, vowels are split into two syllables. For example, the word "there" may sound like "they-yur," and "bed" may sound like "bay-ehd."
The drawl is widespread throughout the South. In some situations, the vowel is extended so far that it resembles two or three vowels.
"I broke my lay-ug (leg), and now it's all ray-ud (red)."
Nasalization (Twang)
Another well-known element of Southern English is twang or nasalization. In English, the sounds /m/ and /n/ are nasalized, which means we let air escape through our nose to pronounce them. But with a southern dialect, sometimes the nasalization is used for many other sounds too.
Long Vowels
In Southern pronunciation, the vowels are often stretched but merged into one sound and nasalized. For example, with the Long vowel /i/ ("ah-ee"), Southerns may shorten it to just ah.
Mah for "my" and hah for "hi."
Variations in vowels are among the most common differences between Southern pronunciation and the standard American accent.
Auxiliary Verbs
Southern dialect also modifies English auxiliary verbs by allowing for the use of more than one modal in a verb phrase. Examples of modals include: might or may, could, can, would, will, should, or oughta.
A person with a Southern dialect might say: "I might could leave the store early today," instead of the grammatically correct sentence, "I might be able to leave the store early today."
The use of multiple modals tends to be used by Southerners as a politeness strategy. This strategy is not typically used in other regional dialects.
Word Stress
A recognizable feature among some Southerners is that they put the syllable stress on the first syllable with specific words. For example, words like "guitar," "umbrella," and "police" are spoken as "GEE-tahr," "UHM-brella," and "PO-leese."
What Are Some Helpful Tips for Losing Your Southern Accent?
Here is a do-it-yourself guide that you can use to start modifying your southern accent:
Start with Vowels
One of the main differences between Southern and Standard American pronunciation is vowel length, especially with the long vowel /i/ ("ah-ee"). Practice shortening your vowel length.
Another helpful tip is to listen to audio recordings of vowels pronounced with a standard American accent. Use the audio examples to imitate the vowel sounds that you hear. Focus on the long /i/ vowel sound during your practice.
Contrasting Vowel Pairs
Practice saying these words aloud.
fill (fihl), feel (fEEl)
din (dihn), deen (dEEn)
sin (sihn), seen (sEEn)
Tim (tihm), team (tEEM)
itch (ihch), each (EEch)
dill (dil), deal (dEEl)
Record yourself and listen for the difference between the vowel sounds in the contrasting word pairs. When saying the /i/ sound, pronounce it with the sharper "ai" rather than the softer "ah."
Words, Phrases, Sentences
After you have mastered contrasting vowel pairs, practice saying words, phrases, and sentences aloud. "Clip" or shorten your vowels to avoid drawing them out.
Be sure to place the accent on the second syllable of words. For example, pronounce the word "cement" as "suh-MENT" and not "SEE-ment."
What Are Some Benefits of Working With an Accent Specialist?
If you want to modify your Southern accent, working with an accent management specialist with a master's degree in speech-language pathology is best. An accent coach can provide insider techniques and beneficial advice on modifying your Southern dialect.
An accent specialist can help you:
Modify your pronunciation to improve clarity
Learn to speak with greater confidence
Improve intelligibility
Gain a professional edge in the workplace
Develop skills to become a more powerful speaker
It is important to remember that there is nothing wrong with having a Southern accent. It is a representation of your individuality. However, if you need to change your Southern accent for personal or professional reasons, know that it is possible with the help of an expert.
Work With a Connected Speech Pathology Accent Specialist
A speech-language pathologist is the best person to guide you as you modify your Southern accent.
Speech pathologists are trained communication specialists. Speech pathologists who are accent trainers can carefully listen to the different sounds you make, compare them with the standard American accent, and provide you with direct feedback. There should also be a concentration on teaching appropriate word stress patterns.
At Connected Speech Pathology, we can assist you in successfully modifying your Southern pronunciation with accent-reduction services. Our accent trainers are certified speech-language pathologists with specialized training in accent reduction.
Our individualized dialect coaching program is comprehensive, including assessment, guidance, practice, and feedback from an experienced coach ready to help you achieve greater results in all aspects of communication.
Learn more about our accent reduction services.
About the Author
Allison Geller is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and the owner of Connected Speech Pathology. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida in Speech-Language Pathology. Allison has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including telepractice, acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, and private practice. She has worked extensively with individuals across the lifespan including toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, and adults. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including receptive/expressive language disorders, articulation disorders, voice disorders, fluency disorders, brain injury, and swallowing disorders.
Allison served as the clinical coordinator of research in aphasia in the Neurological Institute at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. She is on the Board of Directors for the Corporate Speech Pathology Network (CORSPAN), a Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) certified clinician, and a proud Family Empowerment Scholarship/Step-Up For Students provider. Allison is passionate about delivering high quality-effective treatment remotely because it’s convenient and easy to access. What sets us apart from other online speech therapy options is—Allison takes great care to hire the very best SLPs from all over the country.
