ATLANTA — New research says Georgians’ accents are quickly changing.
In a University of Georgia laboratory, linguistics researchers are digitizing and analyzing 100 years of recordings.
Digital mapping shows them how we form the sound of vowels.
For Southerners in general, accents are fading fast.
Dr. Jon Forrest said new UGA and Georgia Tech research shows changes are accelerating in people who were born in Georgia, who are Black, and in their 20s.
“We saw that there was a big shift for our youngest speakers in Gen Z, where the traditional accent that you might associate with Georgia or especially Metro Atlanta, has changed a lot over time,” Forrest told Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
He said the change is tied to education changes and waves of people moving south and into cities.
“There are a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds and places. And so as the accent changes, it reflects like all those different inputs,” Forrest said.
Georgia Rep. Al Williams is from coastal Georgia. As things change, he hopes young people still remember history.
“It was the language of the motherland mixed with all the other languages that we ran into. And I learned to be proud of it,” Williams said.
“Just like culture changes or like we move forward, traditions change, language changes with it, and we’re making a new Georgia, a new South every day that we move forward,” Forrest said.
Stouffer asked Forrest about social media and whether the way we’re all connected online changes accents.
He said popular words and phrases travel through new slang words and expressions.
But actual accents are more from face-to-face interactions.
TRENDING STORIES:
- What to know about rain, snow mix potential on Wednesday
- Wallet, credit cards found in boat of teacher who vanished on Lake Oconee
- 3 facing charges after months-long drug investigation in middle GA
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
