How is it that people in the southern usa have accents?

actually, the southern accent is a deriviative of the scottish/irish accent as many settlers of the south eastern states settled this region.

if you listen closely to people from the mountains of NC and Sc or the accent of Charleston Sc and some in Va. you will notice a british or irish twang!

and, some regions still use british words instead of the more american conterparts- such as breaches for pants and knickers and smocks and prams (baby stroller) yes, we say prams in SC!

The same way that people in the north have accents. Ever heard a Boston accent? They don't even use the letter "r." Trust me, to those of us in the south, the northerners are the ones with the accents!

I am English and just love the southern American accent. As for it making the person sound unintelligent, NO! not at all. Goodness dont know why you would think that. Its always sounded very soft and sincere to me.

What's weird is that I grew up on Long Island, NY and my family didn't have an accent when I was young. But in the 25 years I've lived away from there, their accents have gotten heavier and heavier.

;-)

many parts of the country have accents some are just more obvious than others. I am not sure why except that perhaps people from one country settled there orginally and the sound was picked up. It continued on with time

You know it's funny because I moved to Fl from NY. I think people down here have accents but they think I do

Everyone who speaks does so with an accent.

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When I moved from Mass. to Fla., I noticed that it was a very much slower pace of life. People smiled more, and went slower on the freeways. Maybe it has something to do with the heat.

Maybe they are the ones that speak normally, and ya'll are the accents and dialects of English!

How come northern people have accents?

To us southerners, you sound funny.