Today's society is dominated by stereotypes and misconceptions; the way that we talk, walk or even look has a large impact on the way other human beings judge us. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that some people associate the Southern accent with a lack of education or laziness. Despite this fact, Southerners continue to maintain their unique dialect, and ignore stereotypes that they are often forced to undertake. In fact, to many southerners their dialect is more than a way of speaking, it is a long standing tradition that goes far beyond the language.
             The Southern dialect is the product of a wide array of cultural and ethnic influences. Both the French and African slaves had a large impact on the Southern way of speaking. Because the French dominated most of the Southern and Western American regions during the 18th century, their way of speaking was highly influential on the Southern culture. Just as the French significantly contributed to the Southern dialect so too did the African slaves. The large populace of African slaves played a large role in today's Southern accent. Furthermore, because the South is largely agricultural, the people tended stay in one location thereby allowing for the development of a deep rooted, distinct accent. Many historians believe that today's Southern dialect is largely attributed to cities such as Richmond, Charleston and Savannah due to their historical importance in the South. The Southern accent today is ever changing and even within the south there are a wide variation of accents. For example, the "Gullah" way of speaking is predominantly spoken by Southern blacks living in Georgia and South Carolina; it is a combination of English and Western African dialects. The "Coastal Southern" dialect includes words such as dope (soda) and doughnuts (cookies) which are terms that are not used in other Southern regions. In addition, many people from ...