Disappearing Regional/Local dialects

[Leyte2019]

As much ridicule as I've heaped on Donald Trump's pronunciation of "Rusher," I can use his Queens, NY dialect as a prime example for this post. Regional and local American dialects have been fading for decades. Radio and television have had much to do with hastening this development that may have started with the spread of railroad travel in the mid to late 19th century. I'm convinced that hours of television every day flattened out an upper middle class southern gulf coast accent I acquired from my parents and older siblings . No one on network news or my favorite shows in the 70s and 80s said "powuh" instead of power. And people on television didn't say "be-lee-yuhv." They said believe. My Latin teacher in 9th grade said "Aszur Minur," which never failed to produce giggles.

Sure there are still some local strongholds like parts of New Orleans. The "yat" accent is alive and well in the "Quahtuh" and in a few outer wards. And thanks to Fargo, we can readily identify an upper Midwest/Minnesota accent. But how much longer will local and regional dialects survive? Are there some that are more insulated? Do you have examples?

[+ poolboy48220]

My mother and father grew up on Long Island. My Dad lost his accent by the time I was old enough to recognize accents, but Mom always had a bit of it left. It wasn't enough left that her family would tease her when we went back to where they grew up, about how "midwest" she sounded.

 

I never thought we had an 'accent' because we talked like most people I saw on TV. My cousins said we did - that we 'takked' funny, while we said they 'tawked' funny.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I grew up in southern California. The "valley girl" or "surfer dude" accent has vanished and been replaced by Spanish

[+ Charlie]

I always thought I knew how to pronounce Oregon, Nevada and Colorado, until I moved from the East Coast to the West Coast.

[OCClient]

One might be able to guess where I grew up, from how I pronounce "aunt".

In Southern California, their pronunciation is definitely different, at least many of the folks I encounter.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQWSh7Db-_E:115

[BSR]

When I lived in Boston, a cute guy with a Boston accent made me just melt. Something about that accent was just so masculine, authentic, and sexy. Now almost nobody in Boston proper speaks with a Boston accent because those who spoke with one all moved out to the suburbs. As much as I hope it endures, something tells me that the Bahstuhn accent will eventually fade away.