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You Guys vs. You All
Although the latest Census data show that the U.S. population is shifting to the south and west, linguistics professor James Marchand says it may be years before there is an upsurge in southern drawls. Dialects, he says, are as much a product of youth as location. "We tend to keep the speech patterns we form when we are young unless we make a conscientious effort to change them." The desire to fit in with one's peers explains why children adopt local speech patterns regardless of their parents' origins, says Marchand. Adults sometimes adopt a new dialect to disguise their origins or to emulate someone of social standing or accomplishment. The spread of "southernisms" may have more to do with the popularity of George Bush than shifts in population.
Winter 2001