New Orleans' Yat accent is disappearing, researchers say

Zoom in: Research from Virginia Tech professor Katie Carmichael, a Tulane alumna, has shown for years how the Yat accent has been disappearing from the city as its speakers moved into the suburbs.

• In her latest study, published in December, Carmichael reports that its disappearance is most noticeable among millennials.

Don't get carried away though. This isn't yet another thing this generation destroyed.

• Blame Hurricane Katrina instead.
• Just adolescents when the storm hit, Katrina-enforced out-migration was the main culprit, the AP reports from Carmichael's research. The storm exposed young New Orleanians to other linguistic sounds in the process.

The big picture: The Yat death knell is among a broader trend of Southern accents disappearing, the AP says.

• But while New Orleans' sound is getting quieter because of out-migration, other Southern accents are being influenced by record in-migration.