Warrior- I've always thought that was the case, the Southern 'accent" was closer to the English accents than say the New Englanders. I've also thought that Aussie was similar to U.S. Southern way of speaking but with a different twist.

The Southern people were generally more isolated with their settlement penetration directions across a large regional space than say colonial and early national migration coming west from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. A large number of Scot-Irish ancestry Southern families migrated the Appalachian great valley in the first half of the 1700s after not being in Pennsylvania for too long. And of course, much of Louisiana "Southern" would sound like French sped up because they originated in "Acadia" in what is now present day Nova Scotia but were forced out by the British after the French lost one of the early 1700s North American colonial wars.

There's two different French plus Spanish in LA. The Acadian Canadian French which became the Cajuns of South LA and the French proper of New Orleans who were the ruling elite of Louisiana territory. There would be a transfer of the territory to Spain for a short duration before reverting back to France who we would buy the territory from. These folks became the Creoles of New Orleans and surrounding vicinity.

Believe it not there is a difference.

BTW, there's more French influence on the Gulf Coast than most realize. Mobile was the first French settlement, to survive that is. New Orleans was the third settlement. The actual first near Biloxi failed in it's first year.

Later, Demopolis, AL would be founded as the Vine and Olive colony by French refugees of the Napoleonic era. Myth had them as aristocratic napoleonic officers actuality they were refugees from the Haitian slave revolt.

I've heard that Appalachia and Ozarks dialect are about the closest there is to old(er) English. Kind of a time capsule.

My accent is bad Appalachian. I cannot stand to listen to my voice on a voice mail. Never realized it was so bad. I call it a lazy tongue. I caught a lot of flak for it in the army.

Same same. Northerners hammered me pretty good in the army. I can't stand to hear myself recorded. Sounds like lazy hillbilly.
And my daughter is a high school English teacher.

It's not an A-KORN, it's akern, real fast, almost one syllable.

Yanks in the army never understand light bread or sweet milk. Matter of fact they kept asking me to say light for some odd reason.

LOL all you people hating your accent... I love the southern accent better than any other accent... on men or women.

Ain't hating on it. Mine actually has two gears depending on the company. Goes into low range when the yanks are around.

Matter of fact here's a tip for you non southern speakers. When it goes deep country it's about to get real. And if it's a southern gal saying it you better get out of dodge.

I'm from SWPA all my life. Most folks around here say I talk sorta funny. I'm just a hillbilly farmer. Some ask me where I'm from in the south, and southern folks ask me where in the heck I'm from. I'm all mixed up. Lol

An interesting subject. Daughter was in theater in college and took some language courses. She says there are trained linguists that can hear someone talk and pinpoint them by their dialect to the small area that they came from. Most original settlers in the Southern Ozarks (came from Middle and Eastern Tennessee which is Appalachia), and Appalachia and have hints of what is called Elizabethan English. Scotch Irish folk.
The most neutral American English comes from of all places, Montana, Wyoming, Western Dakotas. The upper west.
I'm really OK with the way I talk. There are times I wish I could talk, not necessarily better, but more neutral. More articulate.

I think I speak pretty well for being deep southern. Personally I don’t feel like I have a strong accent but I have people tell me how my voice is real distinct. I have a very deep Randy Travis/Josh Turner sounding voice. I never realized how strong it was till I first heard myself recorded. Scout1 is spot on with Akern. Ive caught flak for that quite a few times.

There are definite differences in southern dialects. North Alabama has the hard R while lower Alabama drops to a soft R. My daddy's people are from lower Alabama and I was sent to speech classes early in school because of it. I still remember the sentence, Robert had a red rooster, and hate it to to this day. Mama was North Alabama hard R.

Parts of Mississippi even throw in hard Rs where none exist as in warsh or squarsh.

The low country in the Carolinas have their own soft accent as well, which is where most of lower Alabama originated.

This reflects the two routes into Alabama. Across the coastal plain/federal road out of the Carolinas and down through the Appalachians/Cumberland Gap.

Georgia has a similar North South difference as well though not as influenced in the North due to being on the east side of the mountains.

I’m from the mountains of Virginia. When I was in the military everybody thought I was from Texas because of my accent.

My dad’s side is from Ashland AL area. Mom used to laugh about how dad used to say he needed to throw some ar in his tar. My mom’s side is Lakeland, Fla. They have their own dialect down there but to me it doesn’t sound near as southern as GA. We moved up to GA when I was three so my dialect is pure GA. My cousins down in Fla. sometimes laugh at what and how I say certain things.

Had cousins that grew up in Clearwater, FL. They were as pure Alabama as I, with a mom from Butler and Dad from Boaz yet they sounded like yankees.

True. If there ain't no ar in that tar, you ain't gonna get very far.

Glad i don't have an accent, that must be terrible.

Them Yanks are going to be surprised when they die and God Tells them to Git in the Truck we goin up to the Big house now!!!