BY ELIZABETH LONG

 

It is said that Charlestonians don’t really move. They move down the street, go to college

in Charleston and then move back down the street. Charleston is one of the few cities in America

where you can find families that haven’t moved more than two blocks for multiple generations.

With such firm roots, they can trace not only their lineage but their accents as well. State Rep.

Chip Limehouse is a prime example. “I would say that I have the local accent, but it comes out

most on certain words that I say. Like ‘Charleston,’ or ‘Broad Street,’ ” he says. “I think the

Charleston accent is a mixture between northern and English. But then again, some people think

it’s a mixture of southern and northern.”

      According to Sylvester Primer’s book, Charleston Provincialisms, the accent

derives from French Huguenots and Jews. They were early settlers, who were primarily English

speakers from London. Primer also believes that the “high concentration of African Americans

who spoke the Gullah language, a creole language that developed on the Sea Islands and in the

Low Country, the local speech patterns were also influenced by this community ... It has ingliding

or monophthongal long mid-vowels, raises ay and aw in certain environments.” Even though

this accent can be heard in most places in Charleston, it is most prominent South of Broad, where

families have lived in the same homes for centuries.

     

Test your Charleston pronunciation with these words:

 

1. Charleston

2. Gaillard

3. Vanderhorst

4. Legare

5. Awendaw

6. Beaufain

7. Huger