Margaret Renwick, associate professor of linguistics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the disappearance of Georgia’s deep Southern accent.
In a study conducted by Renwick and fellow researchers, it was found that the Peach State drawl, developed by white Georgians born in the mid-1960s, is slipping away.
“We don’t think everybody’s going to start talking the same, but change is going to keep happening,” she said.
According to Renwick, the steady post-World War II influx of new arrivals, especially to metro Atlanta, is to blame for Georgia’s transforming linguistic scene.
