The culture of New Orleans is unique among, and distinct from, that of other cities in the United States, including other Southern cities. New Orleans has been called the "northernmost Caribbean city" and "perhaps the most hedonistic city in the United States". Over the years, New Orleans has had a dominant influence on American and global culture.
In a locale once inhabited by Choctaw, Houmas, and other native tribes, prominent cultural influences date to the French and Spanish colonial periods and the introduction of enslaved Africans in the 18th century.
Language
American English, with significant variations, is the dominant language in New Orleans. Despite the city's French colonial history, French is rarely used in daily life. However, its expressions and pronunciation have influenced various dialects in New Orleans, and it was still in significant use at the start of the 20th century. There are nine French immersion schools in the Greater New Orleans area and French is still spoken among elites in the city. The city has a long tradition of Hispanic immigrants dating back to the 18th century. Louisiana French, Spanish and Vietnamese are also heard in the city; Louisiana French speakers from southeast Louisiana entered the city during the 1970s–1980s oil boom, and a sizable Vietnamese community established itself in the city in the last third of the 20th century.
The distinctive local accent is a Creole accent and not the stereotypical Southern accent so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It does, like earlier Southern Englishes, feature frequent deletion of post-vocalic "r". There are many theories of the origin of the accent, but it likely results from New Orleans' geographic isolation by water, and the fact that New Orleans was a major port of entry into the United States throughout the 19th century . Many of the immigrant groups who reside in Brooklyn also reside in New Orleans, with the largest groups being Irish, Germans, and Italians (with Sicilians predominating in the last group).
The prestige associated with being from New Orleans by many residents is likely a factor in the linguistic assimilation of the ethnically divergent population. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city (but remains very strong in the surrounding parishes). As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, it is usually attested much more strongly by older members of the population. One subtype of the New Orleans accent is sometimes identified as Yat (from "Where y'at). This word is not used as a generalized term for the New Orleans accent, and is generally reserved for the strongest varieties.
New Orleans is usually pronounced by locals as "noo-AW-lyenz", "noo-AW-linz", "noo-OR-linz", or "noo-OR-lyenz". The tendency among people around the world to say "noo-or-LEENZ" stems from the use of that pronunciation by singers and songwriters, who find it easy to rhyme. The pronunciation "NAW-linz" is likewise not generally used nor liked by locals but has been popularized by the tourist trade.
Local pronunciations: , , , ,
French: La Nouvelle-Orléans
Spanish: Nueva Orleans
Also notable are lexical items specific to the city, such as lagniappe meaning "a little something extra", makin' groceries for grocery shopping, or neutral ground for a street median.
Music
New Orleans has always been a significant center for music with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. It was the site of the first opera house in the United States. The city engendered jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. In addition, the nearby countryside is the home of Creole music, Zydeco music, Jazz, and Delta blues.
Crime
New Orleans has consistently experienced a high homicide rate during the previous two to three decades. Its average annual per-capita homicide rate (59 per 100,000) ranks highest of large cities in the country from 1990 to 2010 based on Bureau Of Justice Statistics from FBI Uniform Crime Reports. In 1994, 421 people were killed (85.8 per 100,000 people), a homicide rate which has not been matched by any major city to date. The homicide rate rose and fell year to year throughout the late 1990s, but the overall trend from 1994 to 1999 was a steady reduction in homicides.