most distinct regional dialect

Didn't want to contribute to the thread divergence on the 9/11 feelings thread, but I thought this was interesting ... What do you guys think is the most distinct regional dialect in the US?

We've got Yanks in New England ("Pahk the cah") and the Southern drawl (and I'm not talking about Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary, though others might view it that way).

I've lived in the South all my life, so it doesn't sound all that distinct to me, except when the entertainment industry tries to emulate it. Kyra Sedgwick's version on The Closer is a fucking abomination. For my money ... and I routinely talk to people from all over the country ... there is no place where you can discern a location more quickly from an accent than from the northeast.

Discuss

 

I've lived in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, California and Georgia. If you believe the Southern accent isn't all that distinct then you probably need to spend some time away from the South. All accents are distinct to some ears ... not as much to others. But the Southern accent, and there are certainly variations, is truly distinct in sound and in world usage. In my opinion, more than any other accent in this country.

 

Does Cajun count? I mean, most of the Northeast stuff sounds the same, and all the Southeastern stuff does. But like Louisiana? Yowsa.

 

Personally, I think people from Montana talk funny.

 

I've never heard anyone from Montana talk.

 

Cajun is definitely in the conversation, sha.

 

I'd say Montana, Minnesota and the Dakotas are pretty distinct.

 

I'll go with Northeast, too.

 

There's a difference between Minnesota and the Dakotas?

 

I've got to go with IJAG here. The Cajun is not only a unique accent, but the syntax is equally its own. A brief vote here, though, for the upper Midwest Wisconsin-Minne-soooo-ta accent, the one made famous in Fargo.

 

The thing about the Southern accent is it varies from region to region. The North Carolina accent is different than the south Alabama accent.

Cajun gets my vote too.

 

My college roommate was from New Iberia.
I'd go home on vacation and ask my Yankee mother:
"Hey, Ma. Where you at, cher?"
Not only in the Cajun unique. It's infectious.