How do you recognise a Texas accent?

The pin–pen merger — “pin” and “pen” are identical. Southern drawl: “bed” stretched towards “bay-ed”. Monophthongal “price” in East Texas — “nine” as “nahn”. “Y’all” universally, and “fixin’ to” for “about to”.

Which famous people have a Texas accent?

Matthew McConaughey is a speaker whose recorded speech anchors the Texas English profile used by DialectGuessr.

How do I test whether I have a Texas accent?

DialectGuessr's free accent test asks 29 questions about the words you use and how you pronounce them, then scores your answers against the Texas English profile and every other profile in the survey. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.

Texas

The Texas accent

The Texas accent is a Southern accent with its own western character, and it varies enormously between East Texas, which patterns with the Deep South, and West Texas, which is closer to general Western speech. Statewide markers include the pin–pen merger and a drawl that stretches short vowels into two-part sounds.

Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →

How to recognise a Texas accent

The pin–pen merger — “pin” and “pen” are identical.
Southern drawl: “bed” stretched towards “bay-ed”.
Monophthongal “price” in East Texas — “nine” as “nahn”.
“Y’all” universally, and “fixin’ to” for “about to”.

Also known as Texas accent, Texan accent, Southern accent, Texas drawl. Spoken in Texas, United States.

The Texas pronunciation fingerprint

These are the answers the quiz expects from a Texas speaker on its 30 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.

“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat”
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
the R at the end of “car” is pronounced
Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic: Do You Pronounce the R in “Car”?
a quick D-like tap in “bottle”
Bottle, Bo'le or Boddle? The T in the Middle of a Word
“cot” and “caught” rhyme, or “cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound the same
Mary, Marry, Merry: One Sound, Two or Three?
“day” is one flat sound — deh, or “day” ends on a slight “ee” — day-ee
The Vowel in “Day”: Gliding or Steady?
“go” ends on a slight “oo” — go-oo
The Vowel in “Go”: Gliding or Steady?
“tune” sounds like “toon”, without a Y sound, or “tune” sounds like “tyoon”, with a Y sound after the T
Tune, Toon or Choon? The Y After a Consonant
no — they sound different
Do “Singer” and “Finger” Rhyme? The Velar Nasal Plus
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
The Bristol L: Why “Area” Can Sound Like “Areal”
a th sound
“Dat” for “That”: TH-Stopping in the Function Words
“ship” and “sheep” have different vowel sounds
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels
The Foot–Strut Split: Do “Put” and “Putt” Rhyme?
“three” starts with a TH sound, with the tongue against the teeth
Three, Free or Tree? What Happens to Your TH
the H in “house” is pronounced
H-Dropping: Do You Say “House” or “'Ouse”?
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
Fur and Fair: The Merger That Marks Liverpool
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
Beer and Bear: The Merger That Marks New Zealand
“happy” ends on a long “-ee”
Happy: Does It End in “-ee” or “-ih”?
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
Wine or Vine? Where V and W Fall Together
“school” starts straight on the S
“Eschool” for “School”: The Vowel Some Accents Add
“bed” ends with D and “bet” ends with T
Bed or Bet? Final-Obstruent Devoicing
a smooth R, without tapping or rolling the tongue
Rolled, Uvular or Neither? How the R Is Made
“pin” and “pen” sound the same
Pin or Pen? The Southern US Vowel Merger
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another, or the vowel in “ride” stays as one sound
Does “Ride” Stay on One Sound? Southern PRICE
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Celery or Salary? Melbourne's Quiet Giveaway

Everyday words in Texas

Expected everyday vocabulary for a Texas speaker.
Question	Usual answer
What do you usually call a sweet carbonated drink?	Coke (as a general term)
What do you call shoes worn for sport or exercise?	Tennis shoes
What do you usually call the main evening meal?	Dinner
What do you call a small, round piece of bread for one person?	Roll
What do you call thin strips of potato served hot and fried?	Fries
What is your general word for small sugary treats?	Candy
What do you call the wheeled basket used in a supermarket?	Shopping cart
What do you call restaurant food collected to eat elsewhere?	Takeout
What do you call a public fixture you drink water from?	Water fountain
What do you call a small neighbourhood shop selling everyday items?	Convenience store
How do you usually address a group of people informally?	Y’all
What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?	Trash can
What do you call the narrow passageway between or behind houses?	Alley / alleyway
What do you call the insulated box you carry cold drinks in?	Cooler
You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?	Waiting in line
“Man’s getting emotional.” Who is “man”?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call rubber sandals held on by a strap between the toes?	Flip-flops
What do you call the red-amber-green signal at a junction?	Stoplight
What do you call a circular junction you drive around?	Traffic circle
How do you say “the” in a phrase like “I’m going down the shop”?	A full “the”
“We’ll not be home while seven.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
“I’m after having my dinner.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call a shared minibus used as public transport?	I do not have a word for that
Does “she be working on Fridays” sound like a normal way to say she works Fridays regularly?	No — it does not sound like my English
Does “the car needs washed” sound normal — without “to be”?	No — I would say “needs to be washed”
What do you call a long sandwich in a split roll?	Sub / submarine
What do you call a multi-storey building for parking cars?	Parking garage
Can “da kine” stand in for a thing you have not named?	No — that is not a word I use

What 33 people from the Texas area told the survey

33 people who grew up in the Texas area have taken the DialectGuessr quiz. These are the answers where they differ most from everyone else who has taken it.

Answers from people who grew up in the Texas area, against everyone else in the survey.
Question	Their answer	Here vs elsewhere
What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?	Trash can	94% vs 38% elsewhere · 31 of 33
How do you usually address a group of people informally?	Y’all	76% vs 22% elsewhere · 25 of 33
Which is closest to how you naturally say “tune”?	“Toon” — without a Y sound	91% vs 45% elsewhere · 30 of 33
What do you call shoes worn for sport or exercise?	Tennis shoes	61% vs 14% elsewhere · 20 of 33
What is your general word for small sugary treats?	Candy	91% vs 47% elsewhere · 30 of 33
What usually happens to the middle consonant when you say “bottle”?	A quick D-like tap	88% vs 46% elsewhere · 29 of 33

From people who chose to take the quiz and pinned where they grew up, so a self-selected sample rather than a random one. The figures are recalculated daily as more people answer.

How Texas answered the Harvard Dialect Survey

The Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003, recorded how respondents in every US state answered the same questions. These are Texas’s answers, most common first.

Texas, Harvard Dialect Survey.
Question	Answers in Texas
Soda, Pop or Coke? The Map of How America Orders a Fizzy Drink	coke 59% · soda 25% · pop 2%
Traffic Circle, Roundabout or Rotary?	traffic circle 40% · roundabout 21% · rotary 3%
Water Fountain, Drinking Fountain or Bubbler?	water fountain 89% · drinking fountain 9% · bubbler 1%
Crawfish, Crawdad or Crayfish?	crawfish 59% · crawdad 32% · crayfish 3%
Roly Poly or Potato Bug?	roly poly 46% · potato bug 1%
You Guys, Y'all or You All?	y'all 73% · you guys 11% · you all 9%
Kitty-Corner or Catty-Corner?	catty-corner 65% · kitty-corner 16%
Garage Sale or Yard Sale?	garage sale 79% · yard sale 17%
Tennis Shoes or Sneakers?	tennis shoes 69% · sneakers 20%
Trash Can or Garbage Can?	trash can 62% · garbage can 11%
Scratch Paper or Scrap Paper?	scratch paper 48% · scrap paper 9%
Caramel: Two Syllables or Three?	with 3 syllables ("carra-mel") 41% · with 2 syllables ("car-ml") 37%
Mischievous or Mischievious?	mischievious (4 syllables) 39% · mischievous (3 syllables) 32%
Rubber Band, Hair Tie or Elastic?	rubber band 43% · hair tie 17% · (hair) elastic 4%

Data from the Harvard Dialect Survey (Bert Vaux and Scott Golder, 2002–2003), used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence. A self-selected sample from two decades ago: how people spoke then, not a census.

Speakers with a Texas accent

Matthew McConaughey
Longview, East Texas, United States
Born in Uvalde and raised in Longview; his natural voice is a recognisable Texas benchmark.

Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.

The Texas accent test

Is your accent Texas? The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile above. The test takes about two minutes: answer 29 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.

Take the free Texas accent test →