Tracing the Accent: Could NYC Educators Be Behind the New Orleans Sound?

(KPEL-FM) - It's amazing what you can learn through course of the day. I had an issue with drains in my house and ended up calling a plumber to address the issue. During the diagnosis of the problem my wife asked where he was from and he responded 'N'awlins', although you didn't really have to ask, you could just hear it. Then he said something that stopped me in my tracks.

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I lived in New Orleans for many years before moving to Lafayette and had never heard the theory this plumber proposed to me. And, after doing a little research on the internet, he may have been on to something.

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Parts of New Orleans can certainly sound like New York South, and this information could be a partial explanation as to why (of course, there are so many influences that affected the city of New Orleans, but never had I heard of this one.

The story goes, according to Carmichael & Becker (2018) in a paper published by Cambridge University,

 "a group of nuns from New York (were) imported to teach in the Catholic schools in New Orleans, and they brought the accent here."

Imagine being a student in the late 1800s and early 1900s and having teachers instructing you and your classmates using the accents of New York. It would make total sense that a level of influence and impression would occur.

This sounds completely plausible as a contributing factor to the unique accent found in New Orleans, which was also influenced by the multitudes of nationalities that moved to the thriving port city. It's amazing to hear the different dialects in a single city like the ones you can hear in New Orleans:

Having a neighbor whose father was born and raised in New York to visit with further reinforces the connection between the two New cities. And boy, does he have stories.