Appalachian English
5 most difficult American accents to understand…
Play videoA British man lists the American accents that he finds most difficult to understand. He mentions what historical and linguistic roots he associates with each accent, and he broadly points to how interesting it is that English speakers are not always intelligible to each other. Particularly for the last one, he expresses a complete inability to understand speakers of it, and many Americans in the comment section even agree.
The Punctual Whenever
Play videoA youtube short that discusses the use of the punctual whenever. The punctual whenever refers the the use of whenever to refer to a specific moment in time rather than a set of events and is a common behavior in speakers of Appalachian and southern dialects of english. The poster argues that criticism of the usage of this feature is rooted in standard language ideology and is deeply tied to racist, classist, and misogynistic biases.
How is "Appalachian" pronounced?
Youtubers disagree on the pronunciation of the word "Appalachian" and refer to the authority of first their mothers and then the internet in order to determine the "correct" pronunciation. Example of language ideology at work. [Published on 04-02-2024]
My Mother, Whenever She Passed Away, She Had Pneumonia
I have a good friend from West Virginia. Before knowing him I had never heard the use of "whenever" in a sentence like "Whenever we used to go to the lake as kids we would eat lots of popsicles." I would say something like "When we used to go to the lake as kids we would eat lots of popsicles." I know now this phenomenon to be called the "punctual whenever" and it seems to be localized in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, mostly, but Midlands, some of the South, and Appalachia in general. The only other region where this phenomenon is widespread is Northern Ireland.
The Legendary Language of the Appalachian “Holler”
An exploration of Appalachian English; its origins and its relation to other variations of English (such as AAE); the article also discusses the myth that Appalachian English is frozen in time, reminiscent of Old English. [Published on 08-08-2018]
American Tongues: How they talk in KY, OH, and TX
Play videoAn excerpt from the documentary American Tongues profiling speech in three states: Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas.
Listen: How to Speak with a certain Southern Twang
Walt Wolfram discusses the Appalachian variety in North Carolina in an audio clip for North Carolina public radio, including features like [Published on 06-09-2014]
The Grammar Rules Behind 3 Commonly Disparaged Dialects
A 2013 piece highlighting three features of three stigmatized U.S. dialects - a-prefixing in Appalachian English, "liketa" in Southern English, and remote past BIN in African American English
Stereotypes of an Appalachian Dialect
Play videoA speaker of an Appalachian dialect discusses stereotypes of his dialect.
Story of English: Appalachian English
Play videoSegment from the 1986 documentary "The Story of English" on Appalachian English.
Them Hillibillies
(Enlarge image)From the Indiana State Museum; full title "Since them hillbillies moved down to the holler."
Mountain Talk
Play videoAn excerpt from the film "Mountain Talk," on Applachian English in North Carolina, from the the North Carolina Language and Life Project