The fading musical diversity of American English
by digby
I don't know what it means, but we might guess that it's the difference between older and younger and people who were born and raised there vs transplants from elsewhere. And we don't know how they defined "southern accent." African Americans often have a distinct accent that is certainly derived from the south but which has traveled to all parts of the country with their own migration.
I have noticed that there are fewer strong regional accents generally then when I was growing up. I think it's kind of a shame. It was nice having the diversity of all the different sounds from different parts of the ocuntry.Even within regions it used to be very different --- southern accents are very diverse as are those in the midwest and northeast. More people sound the same now and it's not nearly as musical and interesting as it used to be.
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