Regional Accents and a Sense of Belonging

What’s happening to regional accents? Texan Sherrill Pool Elizondo celebrates the sounds of America and mourns the homogenization of speech.

I am not a native Virginian but many of my ancestors were from that region (I am proud of that) before later generations moved into Texas. I first became aware and fascinated by regional accents in the United States when I was working as a United States Pavilion Guide at Hemisfair ’68 in San Antonio, Texas. I was 19 and working as a guide was a learning experience in countless ways. We literally talked with hundreds of visitors during the six months and I found myself trying to guess what area of the country each person was from by their accent. If I couldn’t determine the state and did not hear a definite accent, I figured the person must be from California. There was no talk back in 1968 of even a Valley Girl accent!

Last year my husband and I took a short road trip to East Texas and Louisiana. While in the area, we drove to Tyler, Texas, which lays claim to the largest rose garden in the United States, the Tyler Rose Garden, and is known as the Rose Capital of the World.

After walking the grounds, I paid a visit to the gift shop. When I went to pay for my items, I briefly spoke with the cashier. She looked at me and said: “You’re not from around here are you?” I was most certainly taken aback by her remark. I find the older I get the more I wonder where I truly belong in my everyday life, but I most certainly belong in Texas! What she said hit me hard, but I smiled politely and finally thought to ask her … my accent?

That’s what it was! (They talk differently in East Texas than where I’m from!) I assured her I was a TRUE Texan … in fact six generations of Texans on my father’s side. (One had to be a Mexican citizen as he was here before Texas was even a Republic.)

The truth is there are several accents and dialects in Texas, more than the two that are mentioned on the internet. It’s the same for all the other states in our country, but I think, in a large state like Texas, there are just more varieties. I’ve heard that Virginia has three distinct accents: southern Piedmont, Appalachian, and Tidewater.

Go anywhere and, if one has a discerning ear, you can hear beautiful regional accents everywhere. There are several studies and videos online, some serious and some in jest, devoted to accents and dialects in the United States. One is called the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA).

I watched a video of someone who is a coach, teaching a Texas accent for actors. I laughed out loud! Some was very true but, again, some was not. In my case, I’m not from the particular region of Texas that she was giving the example of an accent. There’s Central Texas, West Texas, East Texas, North Texas, and South Texas, the last being where I consider myself obtaining my particular “Texas accent.” All I know is the territory is huge and, if you are in any given region, it may take you a day just to get out of the state! As you travel within the state, you then hear the similarities in speech … AND the differences. Vive la différence.

My observation is that we are losing some of our regional accents in the United States. I find this so sad, as the differences in accents and expressions make us all who we really are and distinguishable as to where we lived most of our lives. I can’t imagine visiting the South, or New York, or Maine, or anywhere in this beautiful country, where we all sound just alike. How boring!

I, also, believe that accents will eventually be watered down some but will never truly go away. When listening to recordings of older Americans speak, that is when you can really hear the stronger accents. I’ve become one of those older people now, but thank goodness I still can hear Texas when my own sons speak. Perhaps not the country expressions that my father or his father used, but the tone/accent is still there. No apologies … hope y’all consider yourselves blessed that you don’t sound like someone else in another state or, for that matter, in your own state.

Sherrill Pool Elizondo graduated from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) with a degree in English and education. She’s a sixth-generation Texan and interested in genealogy. She’s been an aspiring writer for over 40 years and is the proud parent of three sons and has six talented and remarkable grandchildren. She has other stories which can be found online at Bullock Texas History Museum, 70 Candles, Grand Magazine, Texas Escapes, Bridge of the gods Magazine in Oregon, and Boomer Magazine.

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