is texas south? was: Southern drawl origin? (non-memberquery)

[Donald M. Lance]

People from different parts of the country have different ideas about regions, including
Texas.  See my article, "Regional Variation in Subjective Dialect Divisions in the United
States," in HANDBOOK OF PERCEPTUAL DIALECTOLOGY, Volume I, edited by Dennis R. Preston
(John Benjamins Pub Co, 1999), pp. 283-314.  Since it's Benjamins, it'll cost you more
than a quarter, but your university library oughta have it if they haven't already bought
it.  Rather than just say "ya, ya, ya, I know more than you do!" I've appended below the
text in which Texas is discussed.  Sorry, I couldn't include the maps.  The data are from
perceptual maps drawn by 268 university students in 9 states.  (Warning: You have to know
MI, MA, TN, etc to read it.)

Lynne is right.  Historically, I-35 divided Southern and Western cultures in the cities
from Waco through San Antonio.  East of I-35 there is farm land that attracted Southern
dirt farmers, and west of it the rocks, cactus, and rattle snakes make the hilly land more
appropriate for the kind of people who wear chaps and cowboy boots.  And wonder of
wonders, I-35 achieved that feat before it existed.  No, TxDoT knew where to put it --
obviously for cultural reasons -- but after World War II populations along this corridor
have moved around quite a bit.  In the 1950s, local phonologies reflected the section of
town where one grew up.

DMLance

Lynne Murphy wrote:

> Andrea said:
> >
> > Texas is not the South, phonologically and culturally.  It is the West.
> >
>
> I think that depends on what part of Texas you're talking about.  Wacoans very
> proudly assert that the south is to the east of town and the west is to the west
> of it.  In other words, they consider the cotton-growing parts of the state to
> be 'the south' and the cattle-rearing parts to be 'the west'.  Waco has a
> debutante ball, the Cotton Palace, which would be right at home in Georgia, and
> its middle-aged male denizens quite proudly wear the mantle of 'southern
> gentlemen'.
>
> To a northerner like me, it was the size of the hair-dos, rather than the accent
> that made me interpret Waco as pretty darned 'southern' (and the omnipresence of
> Southern Baptists).  But really, I think Texas is neither south nor west, it's a
> creation unto itself.
>
> Lynne

=======================

SOUTHERN DIALECT AREAS

 Because the South as a geographical region has a complex history and most Americans are
aware of dialect areas within the South, at least four categories are needed to present
the findings of this study. A substantial number of participants from all states except MA
designated a Southern dialect area, and large enough numbers to justify separate maps also
outlined Southeastern and Mid-Southern areas. Some students also indicated an awareness of
uniqueness in the speech of residents of Appalachia, but they were few, and the majority
of their maps were geographically inaccurate.

Southern and Southeastern

 There is less variation in the location of a core of the Southern dialect area than the
core of any other area in this study. Rather than include eight maps that look very much
alike, in figure 4 we have the map with the fewest states (AL), the one with the most
(SD), and a map that combines the totals of all participants who marked a dialect area to
which they gave the name South or Southern. At least 70% of the participants in each state
placed the six-state area of NC-SC-GA-TN-AL-MS in the Southern dialect area, but there was
considerable variation in the periphery. Thirty-seven percent (7/19) of the Alabama
students included TX in the Southern area, whereas 60% (25/42) of the South Dakotans did
so. Seventeen percent (7/42) of the South Dakotans included AZ in the Southern area,
whereas only four percent (10/268) of the participants in the other eight states did. One
student from SD placed NE in the Southern area, and two from SD and one from WA included
CO. Ten of the fourteen students who considered KS to have Southern speech were from SD,
two from WA; the others who thought Coloradans speak a Southern dialect were from MA and
GA. The only group in which no one placed DE and MD in the Southern dialect area was the
set from SD.

FIGURE 4 ABOUT HERE
Figure 4. Southern dialect area [set of 3 maps]
FIGURE 5 ABOUT HERE
Figure 5. Southeastern dialect areas [set of 4 maps]

 Seventeen participants designated a Southeastern area, with its core in the same states
as the core of the composite Southern map. Because of the ways in which the students drew
lines and used the terms, we will here treat Southeastern as a subdialect within general
Southern. Students from only five states used the term Southeast on their maps: PA (2), GA
(4), MO (6), SD (1), WA (4). Figure 5 has four maps representing the responses from states
in which at least five students indicated a Southeastern area; four students from GA, SD,
and WA used no label or used a name other than Southeastern (e.g., “Hillbillies”) but were
apparently designating a Southeastern dialect within the general Southern area and thus
are included in the maps in figure 5. The maps of the students from MA, MO, and SD have
the same core area, with a fair amount of variation in the peripheral states, but the
number of students represented in these maps is too low to justify much generalization.
 Participants from all nine states commented on the fact that dialects other than Southern
are spoken in FL. Some made comments about “mixed dialects” or Northerners having settled
in FL, but many simply drew the Southern or Southeastern boundary westward at the Florida
state line. In figure 4c, only 55% of those marking a Southern dialect area (154/232)
included Florida, the same percentage as Kentucky. Those with the highest inclusion rate
were WA (91%), PA (88%), and OH (72%); those with the lowest were MA (43%) and AL (38%).
 The state of Louisiana received special attention by fifty participants. Some drew a line
around the state but did not apply a label. Thirty-eight designated a portion or all of
the state as speaking Cajun and nine as speaking Creole. The states with the highest
number of participants referring to Cajun or Creole were AL (13), MO (12), and GA (8). One
NY student wrote “Cajun Creole” in the Missouri Bootheel.
 Only four participants—two from MO and one each from OH and AL—referred to the speech of
the Ozarks area of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas as a Southern dialect.

FIGURE 6 ABOUT HERE
Figure 6. Appalachian dialect area [set of 7 maps]

Appalachian

 Twenty-eight of the 268 participants designated an Appalachian area: MO 11, OH 10, GA 5,
AL 1, NY 1. No one from MA, PA, or WA marked an area that could be construed as
representing the Appalachian speech area, but one student from SD drew a line around a
portion of Appalachia and labeled it Hillbilly. Only the Ohio students manifested enough
consistency and geographical accuracy to warrant the drawing of a map, but since the
Appalachian area covers only parts of several states, it is more informative to reproduce
representative samples from individual maps. In figures 6a-e the students have circled the
mountainous area of the Southeastern states, with three of them extending their areas
beyond the mountains and foothills, i.e., beyond where one finds Appalachian culture and
language. The students from whose maps figures 6b and 6d were taken most accurately
depicted this dialect area. Figures 6f and 6g are examples of instances in which the
respondents knew that the speech of WV was Appalachian, but the remainder of their
designated areas are substantially different from what we see in figures 6a-d. The
Missourian who drew the map in 6f was very likely thinking of the historical relationship
between Appalachian and Ozark dialects.

Upper South

 As students drew lines around the Northeastern and Southern areas, the set of states that
politicians call the Border States (KY to VA) received ambiguous treatment. Some
participants included them in the Northeastern area, many placed them in the Southern
area, and twenty-eight assigned them to their own dialect region, with a variety of names.
Nine, six of them from OH, called the area Appalachian, four Mid(land) South, two Upper
South, two “light Southern,” and one “Pseudo-South.” Seven Ohioans and nine Missourians
marked the area, but no one from SD or MA did so. Figure 7 shows the distribution of data
from the twenty-eight students who indicated an awareness of differences between the
speech of residents of the Upper South and that of their neighbors. The core of the area
is KY (27), VA (25), and WV (23), with TN (21) and NC (20) in fourth and fifth place. Two
Missourians extended the area into southern MO and northern AR, and one from OH included
all of MO and AR.

FIGURE 7 ABOUT HERE
Figure 7. Upper South dialect area (all students)

Mid-Southern

 Is Texas drawl a Southern or Western dialect? In placing lines and choosing names, some
participants in this project seemed to consider it Southern and others Western. This
section will discuss maps in which the former label is used or implied, and maps with the
latter label will be discussed in the section on the West. If a student marked a section
in the central-southern part of the country and overtly indicated that the dialect is
Southern, it was included in figure 8. Also included are maps with a variety of names that
designated a section including TX and the states of MO, AR, and/or LA. Twenty-one of the
thirty-two participants who outlined the area analyzed in figure 8 used the term South or
Southern, only one using Southwestern. The students’ use of names like Mid-South(ern),
Midland South, Midwest Southern, and West Southern motivated our use of the term
Mid-Southern here. Only the SD participants (with 10 maps), and perhaps NY (6) and WA (5),
marked the area often enough to justify a map, but it seemed preferable to prepare a
composite of all thirty-two responses so that the states on the periphery would be
included. Responses from all nine states were very much alike, with students from WA, SD,
and NY providing the low frequency periphery. Three students from WA, one from SD, and one
from NY placed Colorado speech in the same area as TX, and the SD student also included
the speech of NE with that of TX, labeling it “Harsh Southern.”

FIGURE 8 ABOUT HERE
Figure 8. Mid-Southern dialect area (all students)

 We see that TX and OK clearly occupy the core of this perceived area. These two states
are also frequently associated with Western speech rather than Southern. Many students
drew a line around TX alone or TX plus one or more surrounding states and labeled the area
Texan or, in a few instances, Cowboy. These interpretations of Texas accent will be
included in the following section of this article.

WESTERN AREAS

 Fewer students marked dialect areas in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States than
elsewhere, but there are some clear patterns. This section will discuss the Southwestern,
Texas, Western, Northwestern, and West Coast areas.

FIGURE 9 ABOUT HERE
Figure 9. Southwestern dialect area (all students)

Southwestern

 Forty-eight participants marked an area that they regarded as the Southwestern dialect
area, shown in figure 9. The core of the area is NM-AZ (42, 43), followed by TX (29). In
the third level of frequency are states from OK to CA. In the peripheral area in this map,
the states of MO, AR, and LA were all marked by participants from NY and SD, and an Ohio
student included WY in the Southwest. One may note that the gaps between the levels of
frequency in the legend of figure 9 are larger than those seen in other figures in this
article. Though there were enough respondents from WA, MO, and OH to justify separate
maps, it seemed preferable to include all the responses in a single map, since the
individual state maps would have looked very much alike.

FIGURE 10 ABOUT HERE
Figure 10. Texas dialect area (all students)

Texas

 Eighty-one of the 268 participants (30%) gave special attention to the speech of Texas.
Forty-seven circled the state and indicated that Texas speech was unique, and thirty four
drew a larger perimeter around an area that they labeled Texas or Texan. See figure 10.
Only one participant (from NY) stated explicitly that Texas speech is Southern; five
others—from MA (1), GA (2), SD (2)—used the term Cowboy to refer to the speech of Texas
and immediately surrounding states. These labels led to the placement of this section of
the article within the Western area, along with Southwestern. The student who linked the
speech of TX and MS was from OH, and the one who extended Texas dialect to CO and KS was
from WA.