Is Texas Twang Dying Out?

 

According to a professor at the University of Texas Austin, Texas twang is on the wane.  

Lars Hinrichs, an English language and linguistics professor said, "People are becoming more bi-dialectical," which means they are able to speak in two different accents, "They're more competent at communicating with everybody else in the country. In Austin, you would have heard it (Texas twang) on campus and everywhere else."

Hinrichs heads a project that studies how much Texas accents and dialects have changed over the years.  He credits the dilution of the Texas twang to urbanization, pop culture and Texas newcomers.

In the 1980’s about 80 percent of Texans had traditional Texas accents, whereas that number is only roughly a third today.

Hinrichs believe that Texas twang will never truly go away, but that the differences between regional and national dialects will be less pronounced.

The full low down on Texas twang can be found in an article on the Chron website. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/UT-prof-Texas-twang-is-on-the-wane-4239509.php