Tuesday, February 08, 2005, 15:34 GMT
No, unfortunately it was a little vague. It's one thing that always kind of irritates me when people mention the influences on American English--nobody ever seems to mention HOW certain dialects were influenced by others.
Basically, what I know is that the inland southern dialect actually did not begin in the South at all, but started in Western Pennsylvania. In Western PA today, you can probalby trace the accent more readily back to Northern Ireland/Northwest England than you could in say, Tennessee. In that area, for example, there's a strong cot/caught merger similar to Northern Ireland.
Basically, what I know is that the inland southern dialect actually did not begin in the South at all, but started in Western Pennsylvania. In Western PA today, you can probalby trace the accent more readily back to Northern Ireland/Northwest England than you could in say, Tennessee. In that area, for example, there's a strong cot/caught merger similar to Northern Ireland.