Celtic influence

[JoatSimeon at aol.com]

>sidonian at ggms.com writes:

>I don't think this is at all an unreasonable theory.  As someone who _is_
>from the American south I am intimately acquainted with the dialects here
>and, with eyes closed or over the telephone it is often impossible to tell
>the difference between a "black" dialect and a "thick" southern accent.

-- this was exactly my point.

It is _impossible_ for a minority not to be profoundly affected by the speech
of the majority among whom they live.

The process is unconscious (like most linguistic change) and irresistable.