English, the state's official language, is almost universally spoken.
The Southern dialect is commonly found in North Carolina and is usually easily understood by most people. Being in the Northern South or "Upper South" the dialect of North Carolina is somewhat different than the stereotypical southern accent, which is often more of the dialect found in the "Deep South". The standard dialect in most parts of the state, especially in the Piedmont and Eastern parts of the state borrows from the Virginia Piedmont accent, which is derived from the Virginia Tobacco Planters of the colonial era. The difference may be trivial to the untrained ear, but in some people with thicker accents it may sound a bit strange at first with some words sounding more British than in other parts of the South. The Southern dialect varies within the state, though, with the mountainous western portions having a dialect shared with most areas of the Appalachian Mountains in the South. Due to years of isolation, residents of the Outer Banks speak in a distinct "brogue" that in many cases sounds more like British English and Irish than any American dialect. This brogue can be difficult to understand at first, but not impossible to comprehend.
Spanish spoken by a sizable minority population in some areas, and as a second-language throughout the state.
Cherokee is spoken by 15,000 to 20,000 people in western North Carolina, along with a number of other Native American languages.
In the cities of Charlotte and Raleigh you will also find a wide amount of languages spoken due to these cities' high immigrant populations.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about North Carolina
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in North Carolina - updated May 2024
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North Carolina Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
