What did you think of this episode?
Early authors used "eye dialect," or a deliberate misspelling of words that doesn't change how they sound (like "tu" for "to" or "uv" for "of.") This literary practice, based on the authors' observations of what they heard people say, was to make their Appalachian characters seem foolish or uneducated. This use of eye dialect carried forward into comic characters like Snuffy Smith.
The late Dr. Michael Montgomery's research provided valuable-and more legitimate- groundwork for those of us studying dialect today, as documented in his essay "The Englishes of Appalachia" in Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. He isolates several words and phrases used in early letters that give us insight into how 1700's settlers of central Appalachia would have sounded, and the English, Scots, and Ulster roots that defined them.
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?
Early authors used "eye dialect," or a deliberate misspelling of words that doesn't change how they sound (like "tu" for "to" or "uv" for "of.") This literary practice, based on the authors' observations of what they heard people say, was to make their Appalachian characters seem foolish or uneducated. This use of eye dialect carried forward into comic characters like Snuffy Smith.
The late Dr. Michael Montgomery's research provided valuable-and more legitimate- groundwork for those of us studying dialect today, as documented in his essay "The Englishes of Appalachia" in Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. He isolates several words and phrases used in early letters that give us insight into how 1700's settlers of central Appalachia would have sounded, and the English, Scots, and Ulster roots that defined them.
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