Did moving to Scotland make my southern US accent stronger?
So I was born in the American northeast, and grew up with what I would describe as a very general American accent. When I was 14, my family moved to the south and I spent 4 years there full time plus summers when I’d come home from uni to work. For uni, I moved to Glasgow, Scotland and lived there for 4 years.
I don’t know how, but I’ve gotten an increasing amount of comments over the years that I have a southern accent. Not even just that I use southern terms (I do pretty frequently tbh but it’s very mixed with Scottish/UK slang at this point) but that my actual accent is southern. I’ve actually gotten more comments about this the further removed I am from living in the south full time. My sister stayed in the south and has a lighter accent than me.
Southern people tell me my accent is light but noticeable, but people from outside the region seem to think it’s very distinct. I’ll note though that I have no idea if my accent actually matches the true distinct qualities of the specific part of the south that I lived in or if it’s some type of weird amalgamation.
How did this happen? Why didn’t I pick up any Scottish accent even though I lived in the south and Scotland for the same amount of time? I know the south has a history of Scottish immigration that influenced accent development, does that have something to do with it?
This has been bothering me for a few years now, thanks!