drawling

Drawling is the act or quality of speaking with a drawl, a manner of speech in which vowels are deliberately prolonged, the tempo is slowed, and the rhythm feels relaxed or stretched. The noun form is drawl, and the adjective drawling describes speech that exhibits this characteristic.

Phonetic features commonly associated with drawling include lengthened vowel sounds on stressed syllables, sometimes vowel changes or diphthong shifts, and a generally slower pace. Consonants may be less distinctly articulated, and pitch variation is often moderate, creating a languid or easygoing impression. Drawl patterns vary by speaker and dialect.

Historically, the term drawl dates to early 19th-century American English and has become widely linked with the Southern United States, though drawling speech occurs in other regions as well. In contemporary usage the term can be descriptive or evaluative, carrying neutral, affectionate, or stereotype-laden connotations depending on context.

In literature and media, drawling speech is commonly used to signal a character's background, personality, or social setting—calm, informal, or rural—without requiring explicit description. The feature can contribute to voice and realism but can also reinforce regional stereotypes if presented simplistically.

See also: dialect, prosody, regional speech.