captainrick

To some extent, yes. Depends on the "City" or the area generally. I travel quite a bit so I do see this some. Metro areas Like Atlanta and all of Florida are losing the accent. In fact, in most areas of Florida, you would think you were talking to someone in Cali. The most unique accent was in pre-Katrina New Orleans. Natives there have an accent almost identical to a Brooklyn accent but a little less nasal and not as fast. Mississippi really doesn't have any large cities. But even in Jackson area you can see a bit of the drawl fade. But, we got guys that really talk like Larry the Cable Guy too. And some women who still sound like Scarlot O'Hara. I think the more rural the area, the more prominent the drawl. City dwellers tend to be clustered around more people who have moved to the South from other areas like northern and western states, and the melting pot effect seems to dissolve the drawl. I also think in the age of mass communication, cable tv, etc etc. the more we hear "normal" speech the more the coloquial speech disappears. Hope that answers that. Rick

And Colin, I'll thank you to not say American/Canadian accent as that's just about like saying Australian/New Zealand accent, or more closely to home, New York/Texas accent. I do think that there is a 'mellowing' of accents within the English language though, primarily due to TV and film. Eventually we may all speak Californian. (Let me go kill myself now, before it happens to me!) Let me just add as a true child of the South, that my southern drawl is completely intact, thank y'all very much. Rick