What did you think of this episode?
In this episode, I research the history of "Fixin' to" (as in "I'm fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Add the very old (middle English) dialect feature "a-prefix" and you've got "I'm a-fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Then, I'll tell you about the link between our dialect and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song (bet you didn't know you're Talking Appalachian when you sing it). Finally, listen for an excerpt from Knott County, KY native Verna Mae Slone's book How We Talked, a book she published later in her life that preserves so much of her eastern KY dialect.
Sources in this episode:
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (online)
American English by Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes
How We Talked by Verna Mae Slone
Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community, Eds. Amy Clark and Nancy Hayward
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us!
Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social or here at our Patreon page:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu
Acoustic music on most episodes: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain
What did you think of this episode?
In this episode, I research the history of "Fixin' to" (as in "I'm fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Add the very old (middle English) dialect feature "a-prefix" and you've got "I'm a-fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Then, I'll tell you about the link between our dialect and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song (bet you didn't know you're Talking Appalachian when you sing it). Finally, listen for an excerpt from Knott County, KY native Verna Mae Slone's book How We Talked, a book she published later in her life that preserves so much of her eastern KY dialect.
Sources in this episode:
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (online)
American English by Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes
How We Talked by Verna Mae Slone
Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community, Eds. Amy Clark and Nancy Hayward
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us!
Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social or here at our Patreon page:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu
Acoustic music on most episodes: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain