Appalachian Speech: By Craig Hadley

[paulcalloway]

Appalachian Speech

Edited by Craig Hadley (mchadley@aol.com) of the Cracker Company (http://www.crackercompany.org/)

The speech of ordinary, down-home or uneducated folk of Appalachia, particularly that of the southern regions, as it evolved throughout the 1800s, with many terms or peculiar pronunciations still in use today.

a body: person, man or woman.

acrost: across.

afeared: afraid.

afore: before.

agin: against.

aim: intend.

argie: argue.

backards: backwards.

bile: boil.

brung: brought.

call: reason.

chur: chair.

didje: did you.

drank: drink.

druther: I'd rather.

exter: extra.

ezactly: exactly.

fitten: appropriate.

fixen: intending.

guvment: government.

heerd: heard.

hern: hers.

hesh up: hush up.

hisn: his.

holler: valley.

idee: idea.

jist: just.

keer: care.

lasses: molasses.

Law, Laws: euphemism for Lord. nary: never.

nary: never.

nigh: near.

ourn: ours.

pizen: poison.

poke: bag.

pone: corn bread.

puny feelin': sick.

richeer: right here. shortsweetenin': sugar.

sich: such.

spell: for a time.

study on it: think about it.

stump liquor: corn liquor. tolable: tolerable/mediocre. tother: the other.

uppity: snobbish.

vittles: food.

whup: whip.

widder: widow.

yaller: yellow.

yourn: yours.

Edit: This listing was compiled by Craig Hadley prior to the 2000 Outpost event and was posted on the Authentic Campaigner with his permission. -PC

[flattop32355]

As a long-time Appalachian resident (35 yrs in NE Kentucky), I encourage all to keep in mind that there's a big difference between a Southern accent and an Appalachian one. There's Southern "cayan't" and Appalachian "caint". So make sure which is appropriate for the unit y'all (Southern) or yu'uns (Appalachian) are reenacting...

[markj]

Greetings,

I'm surprised the list left out the ever popular "haint" (have not). Use of this term seems to have been ubiquitous throughout both North and South. "Youns" or "you-uns" appears to have been used far more than the stereotypically Southern "y'all." I've only seen this term used once in all my readings of Southern diaries and letters.

We have access here at Purdue to "JSTOR"--I did a quick survey of its on-line journal article holdings using the key words "Applachian AND dialect" and got over 200 hits alone. One article, in particular, discusses the historic use of Appalachian dialect terms in the West (i.e., Illinois).

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Richmond Depot]

Actually, having gone to college in Wise, va. for awhile I can honestly say that almost all of these pronunciations are still in use there today. I did alot of Geneaology there and actually got back into some of the more rural settings during my interviews and was pretty surprised at the continued use of these pronunciations as late as 1986.

[markj]

Greetings,

Yep, I still encounter this occasionally here in Indiana. Of course, that's not so surprising given that southern Indiana was initially populated by folks from Virginia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[huntdaw]

I still use a lot of these myself. Always heard 'em growing up and use them without even thinking. Reckon a lot of folks do.

It is true, as mentioned above, that there are many differences in usage and accent depending on where you hail from. We often hear about the different dialects in other languages - high German vs. low German for example - but the English language as used throughout the South will reveal many different dialects albeit some differences are very subtle.

IMO, if you can't do all the nuances and subtleties in these accents it is best to dispense with them while doing a first person and just be yourself. That would apply to the vast majority of us I belive.

[LWhite64]

Like Michael said, I still use a lot of those too, I grew up and still live in a rural Southern Appalachian community(as anyone that went to the Outposts know), and it has been a concious thing for me to use correct grammer. My Grandpa and Grandma used all of those and then some on a daily basis. A few that were left out were mayter-Tomato, tater-potato, jeat-did you eat, squarell-squirrel, sprang-spring, whupper Will-whipper will, Whup-whip(heard that one way too many times), and then there is of course a whole lot of sayings like my personal favorite, Shot to Doll Rags.

Lee

[Possum Skinner]

Mashed em plum to squarsh.

Come out fum over thar.

Deader than a doodle bug.

That ain't no sich a way to be a doin.

Those are some of my grandmother's great ones. I sure miss her.

Grew up in the Piedmont region of Alabama. Our folks weren't able to get all the way outta the hills.

[Spinster]

Cain=can

hope=help
Cain I hope you git yourah car outta the dytch wid mya truck?

year=years
I've lived on this property nearabout 50 year.

mommick=all messed up (but also a term of false modesty)
I don't know what's wrong with me today, I made such a mommick of this cake, its not presentable for company.

Well, I'll let you get back to your rat killin'====I've visited with you awhile, finished my business, and you've finished yours, we've both got other things that need doing and its time for me to go on to the house


And, for a later time period than CW:

dope=Coca Cola
Honey, its so hot, come set up on the porch fer a spell-cain I git you a dope?
(If you had manners, you opened up the little bottle and poured it in a glass on ice, if you didn't, you just handed them the bottle and the "church key" (bottle opener).

And, even later,

Coke=any carbonated soft drink-used in the same way that other say soda" or "pop"
Y'all want a Coke? What kind of Coke do you want-I got some RC's, some Pomac, and one Delaware Punch.

[Miche_Todd]

Here is another, don't know how PC it is but it is used a lot in my area and I live in south central KY. The farther east you go the more I see it used.

Law - police, as in I will call the law on you.

[vbetts]

And here I thought it was "sic the law on you"... ;-)

Vicki Betts
East Texas--a mix of Georgia and Tennessee

[Miche_Todd]

And here I thought it was "sic the law on you"... ;-)

Vicki Betts
East Texas--a mix of Georgia and Tennessee


Actually you are right!! Sorry, usually it is "Feller I'm gonna sic the law on you" Wonder if law enforcement officers were referred to in the same manner in the period????

[huntdaw]

How about:

zinc = sink

tolerable = something that's ok. "I'm doin' tolerable today."

spell = a period of time

obliged = thanks

"flatter than a flitter": "That thing was smashed flatter than a flitter". I've used that one a lot,especially when I was a kid before I got "edumacated".

And, as I mentioned in an earlier post a few weeks back - dropping the "l" when accompanied by a "d" sound: "It is really code outside today" Lots of folks around here use that one.

And the one that drives me crazy is the use of "ideal" for idea. "I've got a great ideal". This one may be unique to the southeast Missouri area because I do not think I have heard it elsewhere. How about some of you?

[LWhite64]

While driving around yesterday, mostly through rural areas near one of my family cemeteries, I thought of a few "fun" ones my Grandma used.

Granny Scrooch....the female version of the boogey man I guess, had her visits threatened a lot as a young child.

Ole Raw Head and Bloody Bones....the main reason I still have trouble going in the attic...and I wont go up there at night alone.

One Legd Yahoo....I dont know what the heck it was supposed to be, but it lived in the woods.

Panther(pronounced Pain-thar)...Panther, Mountain Lion

Haint- Ghost

Booger- Ghost

Willer Wisp- Ghost



Lee

[flattop32355]

Many people think of Appalachia as a rather small area, but it extends over a great deal of territory; from Georgia up through southern Pennsylvania and Ohio, and at least west to the Mississippi River, if not beyond. And its influence extends even further, due to people leaving the area for jobs elsewhere. It's mostly associated with hilly terrain, family clans and suspicion of outsiders. It's less so today, but still quite unique.

Now, if we could get a thread going on how to ACT Appalachian.....!

[PogueMahone]

I see a word on the initial list that is not of Appalachian origin - druther. This brings to mind the reaction I get when I use words like "kin", "reckon" and "druther". People think it is hillbilly and country. All of these expressions are used in Shakespeare.

The usage of some of the words is also rather "old English". Compare the English usage of certain words to the American usage. Common language, yet different language. Referring to someone as a "body" is from an older time of polite speech. (It is also gender neutral for all you wimmen libbers.)

Also, a "haint" is a ghost. Also in Shakespeare.

Read more Shakespeare, learn to talk like a hillbilly.

[Spinster]

"Read more Shakespeare, learn to talk like a hillbilly."

Reminds me of the time my 7th grade teacher gigged me 20 points for using "unecessarily verbose, complicated, and archaic words with obscure references" in my paper on Charles Dickens. Granddaddy, with his 6th grade mountain school education, had stepped in to help with the paper while he was laid up with a broken leg. :tounge_sm

[Jack Booda]

How many of you call your maternal grandfather, PawPaw?

[LWhite64]

When I was really young I called my Grandpa Papaw and my Grandma Mamaw. Those were both paternal, I never knew my maternal Grandparents. I think the terms were interchangable.

Lee

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo Kameraden!

I would recommend the 1980's PBS video series "The Story of English" and its side book or companion book, THE STORY OF ENGLISH by McCrum, Cran, and MacNeil- avaialble at many libraries or through ILL.

Particularly Chapter 3 "A Muse of Fire," Chapter 4, "The Guid Scots Tongue," and Chapter 7, "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt
Former Trans-Appalachian "Woodsy" Speaker Mess

[btwils]

How about (fair to middlin) that means so so. how are you doing? Fair to middlin. Also my grandmother was a mawmaw and my grandfather was a papa. I still miss her Fried Pies. Brian Wilson

[westernprivate]

Growing up and living in the Southern Apps. (Western, NC and Western, SC) I am reminded of two that have been left out

Cooter= turtle

Play Pretty= toy

Beau Blackwell

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo Kameraden!

Always the prefix "a" on verbs- "a-feared," "a-swingin'," "a-fishin'," "a-huntin'," "a-goin'."

Deleting the final "g" on "ing" verbs (as above)

"Sword" = "sward"

" Chew" = "chaw"

"Engine" = "ingine"

"Picture" = "picter or pigger"

"Curdled Sour Milk" = "Bonny clabber"

"Wheat Cake" = "Flannel Cake"

"All you" = in many forms "you -all," "y'all," "You 'nes,"

"Hair" = "Hayre" or "Harre" "Herr"

"It" = "Hit" (as in "Hit's somethin' new ta me.)

"Pint" = "parnt"

"Tobacco" = "t' bacco" or "t'bacca" or "tobacca" or "baccer"

"Definitely" = "plum" as in "plum right" or "plum crazy"

"Angry" = "mad" (not mad as in insane)

"Swindle" = "bamboozle"

"Lie" = "lay"

"Knew" = "knowed"

"Window" = "winda" or "winnder"

"Root" = "rutt"

"Broom" = "brumm"

"Roof" = "ruff"

Final "o's" become soft "a's" as in "potata's"

Final "i's" become soft "a's" as in "Cincinnata"

Internal "i's" becomes soft "a's" as in "Louaville"

Final "er's" are dropped, as in Hamburg or Double Cheeseburgs

"Pin," "pen," and (animal) "pen" are all pronounced "pin"

"Mary," "merry," and "marry" are not all pronounced the same

"Fire" = "far"

"Tire" = "tar"

"Flower" = "Flaur"

"Greasy" = "greasie" not "greazzie"

"Pop" = "soda"

"Soda = "pop"

"Sack" = "bag"

"Poke" = "sack"

"Mirror" = "mirra"

"Bury" = "burrie" not "berry"

The practice, from the German frontier influence, of putting the verb LAST in a sentence. "Eat finished!" not "Finnish eating!"

"Dollar" = "dawhlar"

"House" = "haus."

The practice of adding more syllables to words with less. Such as "Yes" becoming "Yay-ass."

It can be tricky here, because the romanticism with things Appalachian largely spread AFTER the 1920's expansion of the radio which fed that interest by bringing the actual voices of "Amercia's hillbilies" to the ears of most people.
His was further developed and explopited by the power and draw of the NY and Hollywood image makers and the evolution of "country music" and "country" in music, talk, and dress.

And I won't even mention the Sun Belt and New South phenomena on modern day Confederate reenactors who speak something there CW ancestors would have alot of fun in hearing.... ;-) :-)

And, my grandfather was called "Pap." My grandmother, "Grandmaw." My father, when he become a grandfather did not like it, and went to "Popa" instead...
My wife's grandfather was called "Grandpaw." Her 98 year old last week grandmother, "Granny." :-)

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt

[shubal]

Just a quick note,
Micheal Montgomery, professor at University of South Carolina who has worked on regional language origins for his whole career has just come out with an extensive tome that might be of some interest on this thread.

The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English
Montgomery, Michael B., and Joseph S. Hall
University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville

Its pricey but you might want to check your library pretty soon.

[LtDan]

As an educated West Virginia I can say that the use of these "terms" needs to be natural. I have heard too many people attempt our accent ans tear it up. For one thing we tend to speak faster than your average southerner. There is a certain flow to the words and the terms being used. It most definately should not be forced. On a final note, the folks in the Appalachian region had an accent that some have suggested was closer to Shakespeare than the "English" we hear now. This is a result of the isolation the hills provided. There was just not enough contact with other dialects to offer a variance of the original dialect.Please keep this in mind when you speak of the "uneducated' Appalachians.

[MDec]

The movie "SGT YORK", with Gary Cooper is full of the same words that have been shared on this thread. I'm sure the use of the words were more commonly in use in that area, when the film was made in 1941. I'll have to rent it again.

Michael Dec
Rutledge's/McClung's Tennessee Battery

[nrandolph]

On the subject of movies, the John Wayne movie True Grit offers up an amazing number of what could be termed Appalachian or country usage of language. I was watching it a couple months ago and was surprised at the amount of "old time" words used. Never recognized that as a kid when I first saw it, but it sure bounces on my ears now that I'm more tuned in to listening for that sort of thing.

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[KyCavalier]

Having married a young lady from Peoria, Illinois we had several friends and family down for the wedding here in Kentucky. I remember her friend was just going crazy with the use of two syllables for one syllable words, as Curt mentioned with "Yay-ass." She told of story in the lady's room involving one of my cousins girls asking for "hay-yelp" she asked her several times until she realized she needed help with her pants. Oh, and the selling of fishing bait ("hey if they had 'em they woulda used 'um" :rolleyes: ) out of a vending machine just floored her....I bet she still talks about it. :tounge_sm Oh, and the drive-thru liquor stores were such a hoot for her....

Tony Downs
6th KY Cav.

[Army30th]

My mother was born in a two room shack in Wilkes County NC, and her parents were as "rural" as they come. Neither one ever attended a day of public schooling. My father's mother was also born in that same county. She had the proverbial "6th Grade edumacation". Got relatives all over from Transylvania Co right up into Ashe Co.

Their manner of speech was very flowing and quaint. They weren't intentionally speaking single syllable words with two syllables, it just naturally came out that way. If you attempt to try a dialect like this, please take a trip to the area, listen to how the locals speak. Stay away from the motels, and seven elevens. Go to truckstops, local mom and pop restaurants, the grocery store. Forget the movies and that Larry fellow. That isn't the way a true Southron speaks.

I lived 34 years in the south, now that I'm up north, I miss it.

[FlatLandFed]

"If you attempt to try a dialect like this, please take a trip to the area, listen to how the locals speak."

Good point, although sometimes it's difficult to determine who's "local." My inlaws (they are native Omaha, Nebraskans but lived a long time in Atlanta, West Germany and California due to his military contract obligations) retired to Brevard, NC -- and unfortunately most of the circles in which they travel are populated by other transplanted northerners. Soooooo, when I visit I enjoy going to the stores downtown and talking with craftsmen along the mountain trails, but I'm never certain when I'm hearing an "authentic" local dialect.

Still is great fun. I used to talk with a Brevard native who moved here to Lincoln in the 1930s -- he regaled me with tales of chatting with Civil War veterans when he was a lad -- and I would say the way he spoke was not "midwestern" but also not what would jump out as a North Carolina accent.

My brothers have lived in Clemson, SC and Savannah, Ga for many years, so they use what I would consider southern phrases (as does my fair bride, who was born in Omaha but raised in Atlanta) but not really a Hollywood version of a "southern" voice.

A while back a thread (heck, maybe it's above!) noted that the Ashley Wilkes character's speech pattern, with its English inflection, probably was closer to what a man of his station would have sounded like in the 1860s. A colleague who helped stage the "Civil War" musical (quit laughing, it was so-so but good overall) here was an expert in Shakesperean plays and used "that" voice for his Confederate role -- when I asked him how he'd perfected his part, he smiled and started quoting from "Midsummer Night's Dream" -- same voice, just a couple hundred years earlier.

I'd like to go back to reading letters from my CW ancestors (Ohio and New York) -- their phonetic spelling should give a hint as to how they pronounced certain words.

Regards,
Paul Hadley
Land of Carson, Cavett, Fonda, Brando and Ford

P.S. -- at the risk of being tossed to the sinks folder, if you can recall the voice of the Powerful Oz in the movie version, it's a ringer for WJ Bryan's recorded voice here at the museum. Maybe there's more to the legend of why the story was written than meets the eye ...

[maineman]

Being born and raised in North Alabama, along the Tennessee River, all those items of speach I heard "pert near" every day.

Have always had my "Yankee" wife remark on how I'm always "fixin'" to do something or making a "mess" of grits. If it's not in plain sight, it's always "Over Yonder ways" or if Im about done, I'm "purt near" done.

Was once told "Y'all" is singular, "You All" is plural, amd " All Y'all" is plural posessive

[rebinnj]

Greetings,

Yep, I still encounter this occasionally here in Indiana. Of course, that's not so surprising given that southern Indiana was initially populated by folks from Virginia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

I am from southern Indiana, around the Bean Blossom area and my gandmother always pronounced the word oil as "earl" (Grab me a jug of that cooking earl). Just wondering if anyone else has heard it pronounced this way.

[Resaca]

I remember my grandparents and even my parents saying "rurnt" as in ruined or spoiled. "This milk smells rurnt". My grandfather was originally from North Carolina and my grandmother from north Georgia.

Best Regards,
Tony Patton
Blue Ridge Mess

[arthurlee]

Being born in Virginia, to parents raised in Georgia, now raising children of my own in East Texas, I might have a little worth while input to this post. One thing I have noticed for most of these post, is the loss of the more formal spoken english of "my people". While it is fun to see the words they used in the old days, there is much of it around today that fits any proper Confed's Kit.

We do have our share of 'Simple Hill Folks in the family, and I love to hear them talk, I have a sister that always ask when the last time I ET' (had eaten) was. But we had an array of more refined speakers in the family, even some of the more common farm folks, spoke an eloquent language that is slowly being lost to time.

Pronunciation is a big factor - ice tea where the I is long and slightly drawn out, unlike the northern quick "iee" sound.

Because the "sound" is so unique, it is well worth a trip to Rome Georgia, Wise Lake in Alabama, or anywhere among the foothills where the roads turn to dirt. Listening to and speaking this dialect has become an art form which I attempt to practice as much and as often as possible. this wonderfull little part of our American charcter may soon be lost. One thing which all good Southerners ( and those prtraying such) should remember is not to be in a hurry to finish a sentance or thought. Take your time, they did'nt have to pay for minutes in those days and words were a plenty.

Much Regard,
Arthur Lee Maxwell
Shepherd Texas

[arthurlee]

I hit the post button again, sorry about that

[FarbNoMore]

HAHA. We still say "Rurnt" in my household. My son just said it this morning. When I joined the Army, my speech changed. I haven't said "y'all" in a very long time. It seems to be "you guys" these days. It's funny how a small amount of time can change someone so much.

[reddcorp]

My mother and my grandmother, both from south Georgia, often use the phrase "Well, I'll swan" when amazed by something or another.

My paternal greatgrandfather (a Smyrna Georgia native) was called "Grandsir" by all of the grandkids, and everyone else for that matter. I've not heard that used anywhere else.

Andy Redd

[nrandolph]

One very common expression I heard when I first started teaching in Pendleton County in West Virginia, an extremely rural area, was, for an expression of amazement, "El, Deed and double!" Never have heard that one anywhere but there and an easy way to tell where in the state they live.

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[Bluegoose]

My wife and I are south Georgiaians, too and we've heard practically all of the above, including,...

fly flap=fly swatter
oh flitter=darn it
better'n snuff=awfully good
padder's=face powder
chigger bite=a chip as on a cup rim
'shaw=really?
I swannee-I declare
hit'll do=it will do
a fur piece=a far distance

[Chuck A Luck]

Having been born & raised in upper East Tennessee, this thread has brought back many fond memories. I lived "down 'ere" for over 25 years, before relocating to the edge of Dixieland in the early 80's. One term ("appylachian conjunction"?) I used to hear a lot (and still use, if I want to turn on my old Tennessee accent) is "Yont," (for "Do you want"), as in...

"Yont to fetch me 'at hickory switch, cuz you'n gotta whuppin comin'!"

[C.R. Henderson]

In reading this whole thread one term that hasn't come up is "dun" as in "Y'all dun did that boy wrong." Another one that I use almost daily is a reply to the question "How you doin'?" which is "Fair to partly cloudy." Which could also be said "Aahight". I come from a long line of Georgians- part from down 'round Laurens County (Dublin/McRae) and the other half from around Hall county (Gainesville/Floowery Branch)[that side actually helped settle Hall county in 1811 between the Chattahoochee and the Chestatee Rivers.

[Hank Trent]

That just reminded me, I've not heard the "Fair to partly cloudy" reply, but "fair to middlin'" was common in my family.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[58th C]

A number of years ago I came across a series of children's books written in regional dialects. The series was written in the 1940's. Lois Lenski is best known for her Newbery Medal winning "Strawberry Girl" which takes place in rural Florida around 1900. Her research for "Blue Ridge Billy " was done in Ashe Co. , N.C. She chose to write this way so the reader could get a feel for the ways people in various parts of the country spoke. She did note that what some may have considered "poor English" was , in fact, Old English. You-uns with children might enjoy this as a read-aloud.

Lauren Kaye

[sumter_guard]

There was talk a page or so back of movies that do a good job utilizing this accent (for lack of a better word . . . is dialect better?). I wanted to mention the Audie Murphy "Red Badge of Courage." Rob Hodge and I talked about it one time and I remember us both agreeing that the soldiers must have sounded very similar to those portrayals. Just for the dialogue alone that is a great film.

"A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat 'em the better they be."

Andrew

[rebelyell62]

Nearly all of my people hail from S.C. Kentucky (Lincoln County)

My grandma still call bacon middlen meat ( the meat from the middle of the hog)

Everyone still says" I reckon" to mean in agreement.

"Over yonder" Over there

Pee Pyyyy ,peek a boo.

One particular moment comes to mind when I was a small boy.

My dear mother was shopping at Sears for Christmas gifts (mid 70's) She ask the lady where she might find the "civil war sets" ( toy soldiers, cannon,etc, boxed as a set)
The lady pointed her to the houseware section of the store, thinking mom was saying silver ware sets.

I still fondly smile when I think of that.

[Digger]

My family (Mom's) is from Boone County, WV, and my Dad's if from Perry County, KY. Having traveled all over the United States and abroad, I am amazed at the variations of dialect. My wife is orignally from New York city, and then later moved to South Eastern Massachusetts where she has lived until our marriage. She was of the mind that there was only one Southern accent, and was amazed when I could generally tell someone's place of origin by nuances and expressions. My favorite story is of my Mom at the local grocery store. They still bring the sacks of groceries to your car. The fella asked my mom whichin? To which my Mom replied...which end of what? (She lost here hillbilly translator over the years). The fella slowly says to her (with a look of exasperation) What...are...ya...in? Meaning which car was her's.

[Dave Gaddy]

[QUOTE=rebelyell62;67848]Nearly all of my people hail from S.C. Kentucky (Lincoln County)


Pee Pyyyy ,peek a boo.


That brings back memories to a "lower NC Piedmont/mountain-educated" Tar Heel, and I often wondered about the expression, for that's the way I always heard it. But I finally decided that (like "chester drawers" being "chest OF drawers") what was intended was "peep eye"--just slide the final "p" back to the left a notch!
Tom Wicker's novel about 2nd Manassas, "Unto this Hour," does a good job on dialect: e.g., "fard." Meaning? "He stuck his haird up an' Ah fard at it."

[Rev]

Based upon an event from this weekend past:

Please, please don't attempt to do a first person Southron dialect if you have a Down East accent. It just won't fly and you will send anyone within earshot into either a laughing or caniption fit.

[Vicksburg Dave]

I read a Yank diary in an arhive a few years ago where he mocked members of "Stewit's Ko" (CS) for their speech.


(Stewart's Corps)

[tenfed1861]

A good book to read to learn some good Appalachian speech pattern is "Tales of a Ridgerunner".I don't remember the auther,but it is good to hear speech pattern of NE TN/SE KY in the turn-of-the-century period.And it's a good read all around.

[Army30th]

IMHO, anyone who tries to attempt to "affect" a Southern dialect is probably not going to do it very well, or at the very worst end up sounding like Larry the "you know who", without some vocal coaching from someone who was raised in the South. I live in NJ and still speak with a Southern NC accent. I get laughed at all the time. I guess I'll never be Jer-zee, thank God!

The honest to God only way to learn it, is to live there and hear it. And really listen. It's a beautiful sound.

[Rev]

True, William. The various Southern dialects are much more that a drawl with a few 'odd' words thrown in. Regional dialect, be it Southern or not, is more a complex tapestry composed of diction, enunciation, cadence, and other factors than a mere 'accent'. We Southrons can almost always spot someone mimicking a Southern dialect, even when well trained. There are a very few top rank actors that can pull it off. There are a few that can, such as Jean Smart. But, one reason they are able to do it is that they are working a script. They are not speaking stream of conscious.

[Hank Trent]

Well, I'll just toss this out. I'm from Ohio, with West Virginia parents. Always lived in those two states, except for teenage years in Massachusetts.

Last December, I was at Fort Gaines Alabama for a Christmas event, and was portraying a local carpenter preparing to build winter quarters at the fort. It was the first time I'd even been to Alabama.

A reenactor who really was a long-time Mobile-area resident talked to me quite a bit over the weekend, and when he asked where I was from, I told him in first person that I was born and raised in Mobile. He played along, or so I thought, but at the end of the weekend, when I talked to him out of character, he was shocked. He said, "I knew somebody was coming from Ohio and was going to be in first person all weekend, but I didn't know it was you." I think he was kinda disappointed the fort hadn't actually hired me to start reconstructing the old winter quarters.

I don't know if he was just being nice, but it sure seemed like he was serious. I wasn't actually trying to "speak with an accent," just trying to adapt to fit in with those around me. If indeed I unintentionally fooled him, I'm wondering if people don't pay that much attention to accents as long as they're kinda close, and pick up more on the whole package: natural tone of voice, mannerisms, confidence, consistency, etc.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Spinster]

Hank,

Pa wasn't woofing you, and he is always 'nice'--but your experiences of a southern accent does not have all the infinite variety at your disposal.

The backbayou, non-Cajun, coastal areas, do have sub-accents not unlike your own. Traveling east and upriver from Mobile, and sticking to the lower classes of a generation ago.......yep there you are.

My own normal accent is definitely educated southron mountain--I did not acquire the Upper Class, Lower Alabama accent until I was in college, and it was taught just as certainly as English and Chemistry.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Are we "judging" the quality or effectiveness of our impressions based upon 20th/21st Century regional affectations/ accents, or 19th Century?

Curt

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Michael1787/AccentMap-2_edited.jpg

[Hank Trent]

Are we "judging" the quality or effectiveness of our impressions based upon 20th/21st Century regional affectations/ accents, or 19th Century?

Ironically, it can come full circle. From worst to best:

1) One's natural accent when it's obviously out of place for the portrayal

2) Adopting a sorta kinda okay accent that sounds believable in context

3) Theoretically perfect period accent--which ironically might sometimes sound hokey to modern ears.

I'd still say the goal is number three, but one had better make darn sure it sounds hokey because it is accurate and a real soldier from the period would have spoken that way, not because it really is hokey. As someone said, "Doing first person isn't a license to say 'tarnation.'" :)

However, I'd also suggest that as an easier intermediate goal, the second is better than the first.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Mountain_Guerrilla]

Curt

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Michael1787/AccentMap-2_edited.jpg

Interesting map / & thread.

Looking at the map I can see where my own people (after traveling here from Scotland & Ireland etc) followed primarily the "South Midland" route from SW Virginia & NW North Carolina, passing thru for a time in Central/Eastern Kentucky & East Tennessee into SE /SW Missouri but then my grandparents taking a turn northwards to western Washington state.

All the family (including myself) have grown up with that "South Missouri drawl", and though I was born in the Pacific NW have people all the time ask me if I am from the Midwest or South. :wink_smil

Rather than try to "put anything on" I just talk in my normal style, which includes a number of the words/phrases mentioned, probably because this is what I grew up hearing family speak. I have to admit though that if I get around someone who is from the region, or speaks in a "Southern" dialect that my own dialect tends to come out stronger. This is not a conscious effort on my part.

[tigerstripe37]

I have always wondered why people who live in my area often times have trouble understanding my speech patterns but according to Mr. Hadley's diagram breakdown my part of SWVA is right on the border of southern to southern midland so that may go a long way in regards to the explanation. I utilize many of the speech substitutes that yaw alude to but generally only in comfortable company i.e. neighbors and the like. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for the diagram Mr. Hadley.

Sincerely,
Brenton D. Boone

[tomarch]

I think the map may not tell the whole tale. Most of you folks are "back in the states" as they used to say in the Gold Rush. Out here in Calif. there is a whole region in the San Joaquin Valley made up of decendents of Dust Bowl refugees. As a result, you could mistake Bakersfields for Tulsa.:D

I spent near about twelve year livin' in Crawford Co., Arkansas and spent several more in E. Tenn and Ga.so I thought I could spot where an accent was from. I was talking to a renactor friend here in Santa Barbara and commented on what I thought was his Tennessee accent. He replyed "I wasn't born in Tennessee, I was born up in San Luis Obispo Co.!":o

[nrandolph]

I live in the tip of the northern panhandle of West Virginia and grew up in the north central part of the state. One thing that I can depend on is the diversity of accents, even here in Hancock County.

I think I could come up with at least four variants of the general accent here in the county. In Upshur County, where I grew up, there were three variations that I can think of at the moment, but with less distinction between them as opposed to here.

Here in Hancock County, it runs the gamut from the Youngstown/Pittsburgh "Yinzer" accent to the hicky, Ohio Valley accent, on to a more "country WV/Ohio thing and then a mish-mash of all of the above. Then there's also a more northern "educated" type accent.

Always interesting to listen to folks speak around here!

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[J. Donaldson]

What about words like "crick" for creek or adding an "r" to wash so that you say "warsh"? I've lived in Iowa all of my life, and I've used these colloquialisms all of my life. What type of linguistic mode does that represent? I have no idea where I picked these modes up, they just are (and they drive my wife nuts sometimes.)

[redtemplar]

Pom my word nonner he was caught pilferin and got seven yurs in th penatinchur.

Johnny Combs