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Comment by allsunny | Hacker News Reader

I went to Jamaica about 15 years ago and ran into some ethnically Chinese folks that were speaking Patois. I remember thinking how cool that was.

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In this clip about the Mississippi Delta Chinese, you will hear ethnically Chinese folks not only speak with a heavy Southern accent, but also exhibit facial and behavioral tics that are typically associated with people who live in the deep south. It's fascinating.

Skip to 1:32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NMrqGHr5zE

Hah! That was really interesting, thanks for sharing. I never considered that people from the south would have idiosyncratic facial and behavioral tics.

Being from the suburbs of the sf bay area, now I’m wondering is there anything similar that’s characteristic of people from the west coast?

Uptalk https://youtube.com/watch?v=pPZMy_JWsOU

As I understand it, uptalk began as more typically spoken by adolescent or young women and then spread to some men --but not just in the bay area but generally, initially east and west coasts. Then there is vocal fry but that's a different phenomenon.

I totally agree, but can you describe the facial/behavioral stuff? All I get is "she looks like a typical southern lady" and am interested in why

There are many examples. Her expressiveness and how she slows down and emphasizes certain words (5:13), the way she talks with her hands (3:49), how she expresses disappointment and how she does closes her eyes (5:47), how she whispers (6:02).

These types of expressions are atypical of most Chinese people, and even of most Americans.

As a lifelong Mississippian, that was wonderful and charming to see and hear. I get so used to hearing those voices that it's not noticeable until someone points out the unusualness of our little part of the world.

I was at a classmates house in college and his Chinese-born grandmother spent most of her life in Jamaica, she spoke english with a very interesting Chinese-Jamaican accent and made us delicious Jamaican food with a Chinese touch. I wish there were more opportunities to try these authentic fusion cuisine and not the nonsense places we have all over town that try to cater to everyone with some uninspired mish-mash of south east asian flavors.

Fun anecdote: My German teacher in high school, Frau Chen, a six foot tall German lady, was married to Chinese Jamaican man. He spoke with a thick Jamaican accent. I always wondered what that household was like.

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