Georgians are losing their Southern drawl, UGA and Georgia Tech study finds
Moving away from the thick Southern drawl of TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies," a new study from Georgia Tech and University of Georgia shows that more and more native Georgians are losing their traditional Southern drawl. (AP Photo)
Native Georgians are losing their traditional Southern drawl, according to a new joint study between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
The study, “Boomer Peak or Gen X Cliff? From SVS to LBMS in Georgia English,” is published in the current issue of the journal Language Variation and Change.
Researchers listened to over 100 speakers. The oldest recordings date back to people born in 1887, and the youngest Generation Z speakers were born in 2003.
UGA linguistics professor Dr. Margaret Renwick co-authored the study, and sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss why the drawl could be fading.
Spoiler: Researchers say the change is thanks to Generation X.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
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