Appalachian English

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Sunday, November 15. 2015

They say it's a remnant of the old Scots-Irish dialect

Posted by The News Junkie at 13:10 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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For decades they have lived there with few 'outsiders' moving in and they have kept their ways and language. Now that Californians and moonbeam Brown have pretty much ruined California and the California expatriates have pretty much ruined Colorado and Washington, maybe they will discover West Virginia to Northern Alabama and ruin it too.

#1 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-11-15 14:13 (Reply)

Hush your mouth.

#1.1 B Moe on 2015-11-15 21:02 (Reply)

I lived near this part of the country for 6 years. At first, it was so hard to understand people b/c their accent was so thick. Now, I don't even notice!

The most 'mountain' type talk were the people from Tennessee. I remember, they were 'worse' than the people who lived around me.

My favorite difference was that everyone there asked if your kids were 'going to get their picture made' for the yearbook, rather than 'get their picture taken.'

Great people. Friendly. Generous.

#2 MissT on 2015-11-15 16:40 (Reply)

The Appalachian speech moved with them if they kept to their group. My western Virginian [before West Virginia was a state -- around the late 1790s] ancestors settled in the river bluffs of western Illinois. While they have mostly [mostly] lost the nasal twang, the speech and speech patterns remain.
There were very few words or phrases in that video I didn't hear growing up and can still hear today when I go 'home'.
I understand that it is gradually disappearing there today, probably due to a combination of population exodus and the ubiquity of cable tv and cell phones.

My Chicago suburban wife is still amused at how my 'accent' slips back into that hillbilly style after we have visited for a couple of days. She still needs occasional 'translations' after 20+ years of knowing my family and home town.

#3 JorgXMcKie on 2015-11-15 21:41 (Reply)

The Appalachian speech moved with them if they kept to their group. My western Virginian [before West Virginia was a state -- around the late 1790s] ancestors settled in the river bluffs of western Illinois.

That would also describe Abraham Lincoln's family, which moved from the Shenandoah Valley to Kentucky to Indiana to Illinois. Also my father's side of the family.

The mountain use of "plumb" is one that I am familiar with. I don't know if my familiarity came from my father's side of the family, or from my mother's side of the family. My mother's family went from Virginia to Tennessee to Texas. I suspect I got "plumb" from my mother's side, as my maternal grandmother had an idiosyncratic vocabulary and was very articulate. Both sides had Scots-Irish, though stronger on my mother's side.

#3.1 Gringo on 2015-11-16 17:10 (Reply)

We used "plumb" growing up, though my mother, who grew up in rural North Carolina, tried to forbid it as vulgar.

My mother-in-law grew up in North Louisiana; she says "si-gogglin," meaning "cattywampus."

Though I was raised in suburban Houston, all the dialect in that clip sounded very familiar to me.

#3.1.1 Texan99 on 2015-11-16 23:55 (Reply)

Learned a lot of in the Ozarks in Arkansas. It's not fire, it's far, it's not far, it's fur. I once said, "Those trees are far away." the fellow with me replied, "Yup, them trees is a fur piece." Accents make the world go round, I once worked with a British Army unit whose troops were all from Wales. I couldn't understand a word they said even though their English officer told me they were speaking English.

#4 RichK (Link) on 2015-11-17 12:37 (Reply)

The loss of our regional accents and dialects has made America a poorer place. Used to love to travel and enjoy the unique accents of the different parts of the country. Network television encouraged a neutral accent , defined as flat Midwestern.

Interestingly enough I was born and raised in central Illinois farm country, and always assumed that that was the accent with which I spoke. I failed to realize how strongly I was influenced by the many transplanted Kentuckians who settled this area sometimes generations ago. Until I went to college snd everyone from Northern Illinois made fun of my southern accent. A southern accent from central Illinois. Yeah, right. But maybe they had a point, though I fsiled to see it at the time.

#5 Bigdiogi on 2015-11-21 02:31 (Reply)

My grandfather called Coke (just Coke) "dope". The generation before him had dealt with Coca-Cola that still had cocaine in it. So they called it "dope" and he learned from them.

But he was from the tidewater in Carolina, not the mountains.

He taught me the important things in life - that RC was the only coke acidic enough to dissolve a Moon Pie. Try one with a Sprite or Pepsi and you faced a choking hazard.

#6 Ruffin on 2015-11-21 06:20 (Reply)

My mother's family came from eastern AR, Yell County, and earlier from further east. I recognize that accent and always thought it was Okie. I remember my great aunt Lydia would say ''you-uns'' instead of the more common ''y'all''.

#7 Gordon Daugherty on 2015-11-21 12:54 (Reply)

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Sunday, November 15. 2015

Appalachian English