squarish

I previously shared this on my personal FB page, so if you’re friends with me on FB, I apologize for the redundancy. But I am sharing a link to audio clips so hope this post is worth your while.

I was on a plane last month to O’Hare and noticed this unusual sound. It was squarish and a bit odd. That’s when it hit me: The sound was the Midwestern accent. And this is what I must sound like to Mississippians. Egad! It occurred to me on the plane that if accents were shapes, the Midwestern accent would be a square. Clean lines, kind of pointy every now and then, and sanitized. The Deep South accent would be a long letter S on its side. Drawn out, round edges.

Don’t believe me? The International Dialects of English Archive has hundreds of recordings. Give these a listen: www.dialectsarchive.com/mississippi

Like I said, a long letter S on its side. Really lovely.