Charleston English

Charleston English or the Charleston accent is a sub-variety of Southern American English spoken by typically spoken by older natives of Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the older aristocratic Southern accents with the following features

  • Canadian raising of ou, making words like house and about more like hoose and aboat.
  • Vowels in cheer and chair can be pronounced the same. This is the cheer-chair merger.
  • Intrusive y onto the ar sound so garden and car come out as gyahden and kyah.