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‘Welcome from Columbia, SC’
Click to listen to sc.mp3 (1142Kb)
Native speaker
Accent: South Carolina Upcountry
Author: Farley
Date: 7/20/2006

Description of what is on the sound file:
This just sums up the difference between an Upcountry and Lowcountry accent. The differences are much richer, but for brevity’s sake I did not go into all the different types of accents and dialects such as Gullah or Charlestonian. After listening to my own voice a couple of times, I was surprised not by the way I say, “log” but by way I twang my “I”s. Hopefully it will make a nice contrast to Steve’s Philly accent.

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Transcript of sound file:
Welcome, my name is John Farley from Columbia, SC, born in Virginia, raised in the Carolinas. I speak with a bit of a Carolinian accent, lighter than some stronger than others.

In general, we speak of two types of accents in South Carolina, an Upcountry and a Lowcountry accent. The Upcountry accent is found closer to the Appalachian Mountains, a descendant of the old Scotch-Irish accent. The Lowcountry accent is found closer to the Atlantic, a descendant of the old Tidewater English spoken by English settlers.

My accent is more of an Upcountry accent, as noted by the way I say, “dog”, “fog” or “log”, or perhaps the way I put an “R” in a word like “Washington”.

The Lowcountry tends to soften their Rs, such as the way a friend once proudly told me, “My family were Tory’s during the War”. [British loyalists during the American Revolution]

In Virginia the Tidewater accent differs somewhat in the way they say “about” for example, “There’s a mouse in the house, get him out!”

And that about sums up an Upcountry and Lowcountry accent.

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