Extensive research has been conducted since the 1930s to determine the origin of the Appalachian dialect. One popular theory is that the dialect is a preserved remnant of 16th-century (or "Elizabethan") English in isolation,[5][6] though a far more accurate comparison would be to 18th-century (or "colonial") English.[7] Regardless, the Appalachian dialect studied within the last century, like most dialects, actually shows a mix of botholder and newer features,[7] with particularUlster Scots immigrant influences.[8]
Appalachian English has long been a popularstereotype of Appalachians and is criticized both inside and outside the speaking area as an inferior dialect, which is often mistakenly attributed to supposed laziness, lack of education, or the region's relative isolation. American writers throughout the 20th century have used the dialect as the chosen speech of uneducated and unsophisticated characters, though research has largely disproven these stereotypes; however, due to such prejudice, the use of the Appalachian dialect is still often an impediment to educational and social advancement.[9]
Along with these pejorative associations, there has been much debate as to whether Appalachian English constitutes a dialect separate from the American Southern regional dialect, as it shares many core components with it. Research reveals that Appalachian English also includes many grammatical components similar to those of theMidland regional dialect, as well as several unique grammatical, lexical, and phonological features of its own.[10]
Stage 1: In the diphthong/aɪ/, the second half of the diphthong is often omitted (referred to asmonophthongization), and it is thus pronounced similar to[äː]. (Thus, for example, the wordtide in this dialect may sound to outsiders more likeTodd or eventad). In extreme instances, words such as "wire", "fire", "tire", and "hired" are pronounced identically to the words "war", "far", "tar", and "hard," respectively.[12]
Stage 2: The diphthong/eɪ/ begins further back and open in the mouth, so that, for example,fish bait andold lace in this dialect may sound to other English speakers more likefish bite andold lice. The vowel/ɛ/ then moves in the opposite direction and acquires a "drawl" or longer, glide-like sound quality, so thatred may be said to sound more likeray-ud orrih-yud. Stage 2 is most common in heavily stressed syllables.[13]
Stage 3: The vowel/ɪ/ is pronounced higher in the mouth and with a drawl, so thathit may be said to sound likehee-it. Conversely, the vowel/i/ lowers and then glides up again, so thatfeet may sound more likefih-eet orfuh-eet. Stage 3 is most common in heavily stressed syllables.[13]
Lax and tense vowels oftenneutralize before/l/, making pairs likefeel/fill andfail/fellhomophones for speakers in some areas. Some speakers may distinguish between the two sets of words by reversing the normal vowel sound, e.g.,feel may sound likefill, and vice versa.[14]
Research suggests that the Appalachian dialect is one of the most distinctive and divergent dialects within the United States.[16]
Anepenthetic/r/ sometimes occurs in some words such aswash, leading to the pronunciation "worsh"/wɔːrʃ/.[17][18]
An "-er" sound is often used for long "o" at the end of a word. For example,hollow— "a small, sheltered valley"— is pronounced/ˈhɑlər/, homophonous withholler.[19][20] Other examples are "potato" (pronounced "tader"), "tomato" (pronounced "mader")[citation needed], and "tobacco" (pronounced "backer").[21]
H-retention occurs at the beginning of certain words.It, in particular, is pronouncedhit at the beginning of a sentence and also when emphasized. The word "ain't" is pronouncedhain't, homophonic with a local word forghost orspirit (itself a corruption of the wordhaunt).[22]
Participles and gerunds such asdoing andmining end in/ɪn/ instead of/ɪŋ/. While this occurs to some extent in all dialects of American English, it possibly occurs with greater frequency in Southern Appalachia.[23]
Word finala is sometimes pronounced/i/, as inokra (/ˈokri/).[17] Also seeopera --> "opry" as in the "Gran' Ol' Opry" andDula --> "Dooley" as in "Tom Dula" (Dooley).
Intervocalics ingreasy is pronounced/z/, as in other Southern American and some British speech. A related matter: The noun "grease" is pronounced with an "s", but this consonant turns into a "z" in the adjective and in the verb "to grease."[24]
People who live in the Appalachian dialect area or elsewhere in theSouth pronounce the word Appalachia with a short "a" sound (as in "latch") in the third syllable,/ˌæpəˈlætʃə/ or/ˌæpəˈlætʃiə/, while those who live outside of the Appalachian dialect area or at its outer edges tend to pronounce it with a long "a" sound (as in "lay"),/ˌæpəˈleɪʃə/.[25][26]
"Them" is sometimes used in place of "those" as a demonstrative in both nominal and adjectival and both nominative and oblique constructions. Examples are "Them are the pants I want" and "Give me some of them crackers."
Oblique forms of the personal pronouns are used as nominative when more than one is used (cf. Frenchmoi et toi). For example, "Me and him are real good friends" instead of "He and I are really good friends." Accusative case personal pronouns are used as reflexives in situations which, in American English, do not typically demand them (e.g., "I'm gonna get me a haircut"). The -self/-selves forms are used almost exclusively as emphatics, and then often in non-standard forms (e.g., "the preacher hisself"). Second person pronouns are often retained as subjects in imperative sentences (e.g., "You go an' get you a cookie").[27]
The possessive absolutive forms, Standardyours, his, hers, theirs, andours appear asyourn, hisn, hern, theirn, andourn.[28] The possessive absolute form of "yinz/yunz/you'uns" isyournses.
Pronouns and adjectives are sometimes combined with "'un" (meaning "one"), such as "young'un" to mean "child", "big'un" to mean "big one", and "you'uns" to mean "you all".[29] "Young'n'" and "'big'n'" also are common inNorthern England.[30]
The word element "-ever" is sometimes reversed in words such as "whatever" ("everwhat"), "whoever" ("everwho"), and "however" ("everhow"), but the usage remains the same (e.g., "Everwho did this is in big trouble").[31]
The conjugation of the verb "to be" is different from that of standard English in several ways, and sometimes more than one form of the verb "to be" is acceptable in Appalachian English.[32]
Divergence from standard English conjugation of the verb "to be" occurs with the highest frequency in the past tense, where grammatically plural subjects also take the singular form "was" rather than "were". Thus, the paradigm of the verb "to be" in Appalachian English more closely resembles the paradigm for other non-"be" verbs in English, where the past tense takes a single form, regardless of number or person.[32]
The use of the wordain't is also one of the most salient features of this dialect. While "ain't" is used to some extent in most American English dialects, it is used with much greater frequency in the Appalachian dialect.[33] Similarly, the phrase "it is" frequently appeared as "it are" in Appalachian English as late as the mid-twentieth century.
While the greatest amount of divergence in subject-verb concord occurs in the past tense of the verb 'to be',[32] certain types of plural subjects have an effect on concord across various types of verbs. However, plural subjects continue to show the greatest frequency of non-concord.[34] The example below is taken fromWolfram & Christian (1976:78):
"A-prefixing" redirects here. For other uses, seeA-.
A notable feature of Appalachian English is thea-prefix which occurs with participle forms ending in-ing.[35] This prefix is pronounced as a schwa[ə].[36] Thea-prefix most commonly occurs with progressives, in both past and non-past tenses. For example, "My cousin had a little pony and we was a-ridin' it one day"[37] Common contexts also include where the participle form functions as an adverbial complement, such as after movement verbs (come,go,take off) and with verbs of continuing or starting (keep,start,get to). Examples include "All of a sudden a bear come a-runnin'," "He just kep' a-beggin'," and the song lyric "A froggie went a-courtin' and he did ride."[38]
Phonological rules and restrictions apply toa-prefixing; for example, it can only occur with verbs accented on the initial syllable:a-fóllowin but nota-discóverin ora-retírin.[39][40] Moreover, it cannot occur on–ing forms functioning as nouns or adjectives; the forms must function as verbs. Thus, sentences likethe movie was a-charmin are ungrammatical.[40] 'A' can only be a prefix of verbs or complements of verbs with–ing.[40]However, thea-prefix may not be attached to a verb which begins with an unstressed syllable, such asdiscover orretire.
While much less frequent or productive, thea-prefix can also occur on participles ending in-ed, such as "a-haunted"[41]
Thea-prefix has been found to occur most frequently in more animated or vivid narratives, as a stylistic device.[42]
Studies suggest thata-prefixing is more common with older speakers and might therefore disappear completely in a few years.[43] Because of the considerable difference ofa-prefixing frequency according to age (the frequency varied between 10% and 50%),Walt Wolfram (1976) supports the "(...) contention thata-prefixing is a phenomenon that is dying out in Appalachia".[44]
A-prefixing can be traced back to the 16th century: The construction reached its height from 1500 to 1700 and developed out of using the preposition "on" and a verbal noun ending in-ing. Only used in formal and educated writing in the 17th century, it became nonstandard in the 18th century.[45] Montgomery (2009) argues that a-prefixing developed from the preposition "an"/"on" in Early Middle English and suggests that it arose from the loss of the -n from "on" in examples like "hee set before his eyes king Henrie the eight with all his Lordeson hunting in his forrest at Windsore" (Thomas Nashe, "Unfortunate Traveller", 1594).[46]
In Appalachian English, the form 'liketa' functions as an adverb and occurs before the past form of a verb. 'Liketa' carries a meaning similar to "on the verge of" or "came so close that I really thoughtx would", wherex is the subject of the verb. It comes from a compression of the phrase "likely to".[47]
"Iliketa never went to sleep last night."
"And I knew what I'd done and boy itliketa scared me to death."
'Liketa' also imposes a notion of impossibility on the clause in which it appears, distinguishing it from the word 'almost'. For example, "They almost made it to the top of the mountain" is allowed but not "They liketa made it to the top of the mountain." 'Liketa' does not carry the same notion of partial truth as 'almost'.[47]
Sometimes the past participle of a strong verb such as "do" is used in place of the past tense. For example, "I done it already" instead of "I did it already" or in the case of the verb "see", "I seen" instead of "I saw". "Went" is often used instead of "gone" as the past participle of the verb "to go".She had went to Ashland. Less frequently, "gone" is used as the simple past tense: "I gone down to the meeting, but wasn't nobody there." "Done" is used with the past tense (or a past participle commonly used as a past tense, such as "gone") to express action just completed, as in "I done went/gone to the store".
Some English strong verbs are occasionally conjugated as weak verbs in Appalachian English, e.g. "knowed", and "seed".
The construction "don't...no" is used with transitive verbs to indicate the negative, e.g. "He don't know no better." This is commonly referred to as thedouble negative, and is either negative or emphatically negative, never positive. "None" is often used in place of "any", as in "I don't have none."
Verb forms for the verb "to lay" are used instead of forms of the verb "to lie". For example, "Lay down and hush." The same occurs with "set" for "sit",[48] and "leave" for "let".
"Might could|would|should" is sometimes used where a speaker of standard English would say "might be able to" or "could maybe".[36] It is often used as a sort of equivalent to "If it weren't for X", such as "I might would, if I had any to spare." This is found in Scots as well.[49]
Verbs ending in -st, -sk, and -sp take the syllabic -es rather than Standard -s, pronounced /ɪz/, e.g. "costes".[27]
Some nouns are spoken in pairs, the first noun describing the seemingly redundant second noun, as in "hound dog", "Cadillac car", "widow woman", "toad frog", "biscuit bread", or "rifle gun".[50]
Measurements such as "foot" and "mile" often retain their singular form even when used in the plural sense. For example, "That stick is 3 foot long", or "We need 6 foot of drywall".[28] This is found in the Scots language.[51]
The wordright can be used with adjectives (e.g., "a right cold morning") and along with its standard use with adverbs, can also be used with adverbs of manner and time (e.g., "right loud" or "right often").[52]
Being part of the greaterSouthern United States, the dialect shares many of the same terms of the South. In its relation to south of the Midland, it has several terms in common with its North Midland counterpart, includingpoke (paper bag),hull (to shell), andblinds (shutters). Certain German-derived words such assmearcase (cottage cheese), however, are present in the North Midland dialect but absent in the Appalachian dialect.[53]
The following is a list of words which occur in the Appalachian dialect. These words are not exclusive to the region, but tend to occur with greater frequency than in other English dialects:[54]
ball-hoot— to drive recklessly fast on dangerous rural or mountain roads; derived from an old logging term for rolling or skidding logs downhill[56]
blinds — window shades or window shutters. Whileblinds usually refers to window shades, in Appalachia and the greater Midland dialect, it can also refer to window shutters.[57]
clean — a verb modifier which is used to mean entirely completing an action; can be used in place of 'all the way'; e.g., "He knocked it clean off the table."
Early theories regarding the origins of the Appalachian dialect tend to revolve around popular notions regarding the region's general isolation and the belief that the region is culturally static or homogenous.[8] The tendency of Appalachian speakers to retain many aspects of their dialect for a generation or more after moving to large urban areas in the north and west suggests that Appalachian English isconservative rather than isolated.[84]
Beliefs about Appalachia's isolation led to the early suggestion that the dialect was a surviving relic of long-forgotten forms of English.[84] The most enduring of these early theories suggested that the Appalachian dialect was a remnant of Elizabethan English, a theory popularized byBerea College president William Goddell Frost in the late 1800s.[85] However, while Shakespearean words occasionally appear in Appalachian speech (e.g.,afeared), these occurrences are rare.[57] David Hackett Fischer (1989) linked the dialect to theSouthern Scots andNorthumbrian English dialects of northern England, southern Scotland and Ulster.[86] However, many aspects of this theory have been questioned by linguists, with Michael Ellis (1992) arguing that the dialect is difficult to attribute to a single source.[87]
Montgommery (1991, 1995) identifies 18 characteristics of Appalachian grammar, including the use ofmight could formight be able to, the use of "'un" with pronouns and adjectives (e.g.,young'un), the use of "done" as a helping verb (e.g.,we done finished it), and 22 words such asairish ("airy") as being derived from theScotch-Irish,Scottish and Northumbrian dialects of English.[88][89][54][90] The use of double negatives was common in England during the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in the Northern EnglishCumbrian dialect.[86] Montgommery also identified several features, such as the use of the "a-" prefix (e.g., "a-goin'" for "going") and the attachment of "-ed" to certain verbs (e.g.,knowed), as originating in Southern and Midland English dialects.[91] The use of "it are" (usually pronounced "it err") in place of "it is" was common among the rural population of the English Midlands and South in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s, and was correspondingly common amongst British colonists, in particular English colonists in the original thirteen colonies. The phrase fell out of use inEngland sometime in the early 1800s; however, it remained in use in theAppalachia region ofNorth America until the mid-to-late twentieth century.[92][93] A few items characteristic of Appalachian grammar originate, via British English and Scots dialects, in theOld Norse language, having taken root in Britain with Scandinavian settlement there during theViking Age (c. 800–1050 CE). Two such items are constructions with the word "till" to tell the time of day ("quarter till five") and the use of "at" in place of "that" as both a demonstrative and relative pronoun (Old Norseat ("that")).[87]
Some speech habits which can be traced back to the rural areas ofnorthern England andthe Midlands include the h-retention (e.g.,hit forit), the use of the wordright in the place ofvery (e.g., "right cold"), and the presence of words such asyonder.[83] Similarly the word "afeared" was common in northern England and the Midlands throughout the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s, though fell out of use in the early 1800s when it was supplanted in literary English after 1700 by the word "afraid". The word was used frequently in the work of Shakespeare. In Appalachia the word simply remained in use and did not get completely supplanted by the word "afraid", unlike in most of the English-speaking world.[54][94] Though the word "afeared" originates in northern England and throughout the Midlands, it is nonetheless incorrect to refer to the word "afeared" as "Elizabethan" because it was commonly used in England long after the Elizabethan era (including throughout the 1600s).[95]
Some pronunciation features reminiscent of those in theScottish Lowlands and Ulster can also be heard, such as the pin-pen merger and goose fronting, the Scotch-Irish and English settlers had a strong influence on the Appalachian dialect,[8] linguistic analyses suggest that Appalachian English developed as a distinctive dialect among English-speaking people in North America.[17] The Appalachian dialect retains a number of speech patterns found in Colonial American English but largely discarded in Standard speech, such as "r" intrusion (e.g., "warsh" for "wash") and a "y" sound in place of "a" on the end of certain words (e.g., "okry" for "okra").[17] The southern drawl is of an unknown American origin, although some of its characteristics suggest a relationship with the drawl of Ulster accents.[96]
Native American influences in the Appalachian dialect are virtually nonexistent except for place names (e.g., "Appalachia", "Tennessee", "Chattahoochee River", "Cheoah Mountains"). While early settlers adopted numerous customs[which?] from tribes such as theCherokee andShawnee, they typically applied existing words from their own languages to those customs.[36]
The traditional Appalachian dialect spread to theOzark Mountains in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. Ozark and Appalachian English have been documented together as a single Southern Mountain dialect of the United States.[97][1][98]
Appalachian terms found in Ozark English includefireboard,tow sack,jarfly, andbrickle and similar speech patterns also exist, such as epenthetich (hit instead ofit), the use of the "a-" prefix ("a-goin'" for "going"), and thed-stop in place of certain "z" sounds (e.g., "idn't" for "isn't"), all of which is seen in other dialects ofolder Southern American English. Studies have shown that Ozark English has more in common with the dialect of East Tennessee than with the dialect of West Tennessee or even EasternArkansas.[99] Other distinctive features of Ozark English include phonological idiosyncrasies (many of which it shares with Appalachian English);[97] certain syntactic patterns,[100][101] such as the use offor to, rather thanto, before infinitives in some constructions;[102][103] and a number of lexical peculiarities.[104]
The systematic study of linguistic boundaries in the United States has advanced, succeeding its inception in 1949. The systematic study of linguistic boundaries in the United States was established byHans Kurath.[105] Hans Kurath was an American linguist who is acknowledged for his role as chief editor of theLinguistic Atlas of New England.The Linguistic Atlas of New England was the earliest, complete linguistic atlas of a broad region.[106] Furthermore, many of Hans Kurath's initial ideas about linguistic boundaries are under discussion in the modern-day.[105] Appalachian English is one of the linguistic boundaries constructed by Hans Kurath. The origins of Appalachian English can be traced back to Scottish-Irish ancestors, and include unique grammatical and lexical differences[87] Appalachian English can be found in the following states: Ohio; West Virginia; Kentucky; North Carolina; Northern Georgia; Northern South Carolina; western Virginia; Alabama; and Tennessee.[107] Notwithstanding, when it comes to determining its specific boundaries, some linguists believe that the boundaries should be fuzzy lines. These fuzzy lines should provide rough ideas of boundaries, rather than hard lines, because there is a lot of dialectic variety within these small areas that is often difficult to differentiate.[105] The reality is a range of dialectic variants are commonplace in the Appalachian area of the country. Categorizing all of these different variants under one umbrella may actually further complicate the process of studying the variants of Appalachian speech. Appalachian English is thought to be the oldest form of English to date-including the Shakespearean dialect-which can be a factor contributing to the myth of the dialect being outdated.[108]
In addition to the linguistic boundary debates, Appalachian English is surrounded by stereotypical views of the area and the people living in it. A sense of "Appalachianism" is positively correlated with a shortage in access to environmental influences. These environmental influences include the following: housing; schooling; employment; medical assistance; and money.[109] Appalachian English is often viewed by outsiders as a dialect of uneducated people. Individuals from Appalachia tend to be perceived as low-income and lower class, regardless of the individual's actual situation.[110] Historically, these ideas originated prior to the onset of the American Civil War.[109] Appalachian stereotypes are damaging to natives of the area. Consequently, natives hide or modify their accent when visiting or moving to areas outside of Appalachia. This is done in fear ofaccent discrimination. Accent discrimination undermines intelligence and the character of an individual.[109] Furthermore, easier access to social relations via the internet has expanded the quantity of negative beliefs associated with individuals from Appalachia.[109] Despite all of the debates surrounding this dialect and whether or not its boundaries are legitimate and correct, to the people of Appalachia, their variety of English is central to their identities regardless of how it is seen by linguists, as well as outsiders.[110] According to expert linguist Kirk Hazen, "Appalachia is the most misunderstood region in the nation".[111] There are roles/portrayals of the language that have inspired it to be falsely associated with a stereotypical "hillbilly". Thus, creating misjudgments from non-Appalachians about the region.[111]
^Wolfram, Walt 1941– (December 21, 2015).American English : dialects and variation. John Wiley & Sons.ISBN9781118390221.OCLC919068264.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Bridget Anderson, "Appalachian English in the Urban North",The Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1011.
^MKL Ching (December 1996). "GreaZy/GreaSy and Other /Z/-/S/ Choices in Southern Pronunciation".Journal of English Linguistics.24 (4):295–307.doi:10.1177/007542429602400405.S2CID143998129.
^David Walls, "Appalachia".The Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. 1006–1007.
^abThornton, Richard Hopwood (1912).An American Glossary: Being an Attempt to Illustrate Certain Americanisms Upon Historical Principles. Vol. 2. Lippincott. p. 601.a form of the older English phrase, "e'er a." The negative form is "nary" (not any), the AE pronunciation of the archaic "n'er a." Both are widely used in AE. When the word "one" follows, the "w" sound is dropped to form one word, "ary'ne" [pronunciation: AR-in]/"nary'ne" [pronunciation: NAR-in]. When the word "one" is emphasized, however, the "w" sound returns ("ary ONE"/"nary ONE"). Example: "Have ye got any money?" Reply: "NO, I hain't got nary penny. Have YOU [emphasized form of "ye"] got ary'ne?" Contrary to a widespread myth current among non-AE speakers, the word is not followed by the indefinite article (which in fact is built into it).
^Harold Farwell, "Logging Terminology."The Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1021.
^abcdefg"NCLLP Appalachian English". North Carolina Language and Life Project. September 12, 2008.Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. RetrievedNovember 13, 2013.
^Described as "Upper Southern U.S." in The American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed.), which suggests it is related to words such as "grease", but it is used more broadly, as in "The children made a big gaum, th'owin papers and books all over the place" or "They really gaumed the room up." See:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gaum In The Melungeons: Resurrection of a Proud People (Mercer University Press, 1997).
^Shelby Lee Adams, "Of Kentucky", New York Times (Sunday Review), November 13, 2011, p. 9.
^Michael Ellis, "Appalachian English and Ozark English".The Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), p. 1007.
^Davy Crockett, James Shackford, et al. (ed.),A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1973), p. 18.
^"Smart".Southern US Dialect/Glossary. The Dialect Dictionary. Archived fromthe original on April 26, 2012. RetrievedDecember 4, 2011.
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Montgomery, Michael (2006), "Language", in Rudy, Abramson; Haskell, Jean (eds.),Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, pp. 999–1005,ISBN9781572334564
Montgomery, Michael (2004), Bernd, Kortmann; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.),A Handbook of Varieties of English, Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 245–280
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