Stereotypes of an Appalachian Dialect

[genericusernames2]

He's from the same area as I am. I have the same accent. I am sick and tired of people making fun of people with Appalachian accents. I don't really like to talk to people out of state, because they poke fun at my accent, insinuating that I'm an uneducated hick. I hate my accent for that exact reason. I learned from the world around me that it's a curse to have this southern twang to my voice when that is far from the case. I hope the rest of the world learns that their stereotypes are wrong.

[izelatlan0478]

Languages are used for communicating so if people understand somehow then the accent is no problem. In West Virginia the dialects tell whether one is from upstate or downstate.

[tammons68]

Much thanks for bringing this video to others as a method of 'expansion' of our dialect. Many don't realize that our dialect is a direct descendent of the Jacobite 'Rebellion/Expansion' in North America along with the subsequent influence of our Scotch/Irish Ancestors in the years following. If as many of our Southern Brethren realized our Catholic Roots perhaps the Protestant 'affirmation' of the late 19th Century in the South would have been less 'political'.

[tammons68]

After years of covering my Western NC Appalachian Accent to accommodate the 'corporate world', I am comfortable in sharing my inherent speech pattern with my colleagues in the Midwest (Chicago). I have found NO condescension or rebuke of my method of speech in the 'City with Big Shoulders' while at Medical School. I am proud to share my time of study with my colleagues here in the Midwest, where I am essentially at home.

[stammlager5]

I'm from Oklahoma and I barely hear your accent at all. I can hear a few words here and there but for the most part, you don't even sound southern to me. I don't know if it is because you're trying to tone it down, but if it is, don't. Be proud of who you are -- to hell with anyone that gives you grief over the way you talk.

[Mcheetah]

I hope you and Jessica Hamby are happy together. Good luck with dating a vampire.

[lambarini]

i am in love with your accent! l

[redstarfish1971]

Your accent is what sets you apart and makes you unique. I think it's a really nice one by the way. I'm from New Zealand and NO ONE on the coast of the US could understand me that well, from California to New York.

[pml08usaf]

I love confusing people with the difference between Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia. Either way, I love Appalachian English!

[westvirginiamtnman]

my wife is from up north (new york) she tells me all the time the way i talk is why she married me (fellow west virginian)

[carnut476]

Yankees hate us Period no matter how we talk .

[carnut476]

Slow Down ?

[dandebonaire]

The only group that you can discriminate against is poor Southern whites... Could you imagine people making fun of a delta Black person?? You can insult Appalachians and Texans and Cajuns all day long- that is humourous.... Do the same to anyone else, it is offensive. This is the result of 146 years of cultural and political occupation by a hostile force with the brunt of economic coercion behind it.

[genericusernames2]

i'm also from Southern West Virginia. i hate my accent because of what it is associated with. i can't stand how people laugh, ask me to repeat things, or tell me to "talk normal" so much, i don't talk unless i have to. it's a shame people like me are afraid to talk out of fear of the reaction our accent usually gets.

[Msbbcarr]

I too grew up in Southwest Virginia and was offended when asked to repeat my "cute" dialect to my Eastern Virginia fellow students where I added college. Actually, every area of Virginia could be identified by dialect at one time. Not so true today. We are all losing our identifying dialects as we become more standardized. What a shame!

[lancetop]

I'm from Charlotte, and when I moved to Seattle, people drove me crazy about my accent (which they call a "drawl")....all they "knew" about Southerners had been garnered through idiotic stereotypes on TV.

[slappythelovemuffin]

I was born in grafton wv. on moving out to ca my sister was held back cus her speach. came home after 30 years and now im the one with the west coast

accent. and folks look at me wierd and i'm a native. They dont even have births in grafton anymore.

:=(

[AlohaLiz467]

I was born and raised in Southwest Virginia....my father is from here and my mother is from hawaii & cali. I took a trip to NYC and one of the store clerks asked what part of the south I was from just from me talking....when I talk here at home, people say that I don't sound like I am from here. It is so weird

[CrimsonFlameRTR]

I have no problem with different dialects. Grammar, on the other hand, when spoken incorrectly, can alter my opinion of someone's intelligence. She "talked different?" lol I'll say.

[Pnut9814]

Pike co ky right here

[llandod77]

im australian and live in california, personally the southern accent is my favourite i love it.

[XxMeiLingTianTaiXx]

I have lived in Luray, Virginia where my Dad was born & raised & his side of the family still live. I love my cousins and part why is their sweet speach patterns & accent. When Zach spoke on this video I knew he was from Virginia before he told us because he sounds like my family but his accent is tamer than theirs.We all know the sound of the Carolinans and Lousianians, but to me Virginians have the best accent of all. And yes I warsh too! Be proud of your accent. Mine is Maryland & Virginia.

[EETech]

The narrator's accent doesn't sound like the accent I'm used to from West Virginia. I think Jodie Foster's character, Clarice Starling, in Silence of the Lambs was as close as any movie has ever portrayed to a West Virginian accent. In the movie, Dr. Lecter even mentions her accent coming from West Virginia. The film Rocket Boys also has a good depiction of the accent from what I can remember. I've been away for so long that I now have almost no accent (people can't place it).

[italianoperamask]

That girl doesn't have an accent, lmao :P

[seachelle76]

@italianoperamask Actually, she does. It is EXACTLY how I speak when I'm attempting to cover up my natural accent (which I started doing at the age of twelve b/c I was tired of being made fun of). I live in KY (though not in Appalachia)- though all of my dad's people are from there. Some of us are pretty good at code switching.

[trumpetSL08]

I have that same accent but I live in yankified northern Virginia :( I hate northern VA. No sweet tea.

[helmuthoorn]

Aw jost git o'or it, cidd

If dem smawt essis thank dey'r awl sow hiy an' miytee wis deer finsee jabberin yu knaw bitter dan lettin' dem git a barkin' up ya tree an git awl ecrifa'ated `bout dad.

Na wood' ya?

[cowboyhippie]

No matter how much my wife corrects me, it is warsh and not wash and I stand my ground on it! I also can show how to form something up with a sheet of steel, with a stick and some dirt. You could use CAD software or geometry. 

[RCTPatriot75]

When I would go out west I would respond to jokes about my accent with, "it's called culture and history. wouldn't expect you to understand that".

[jlwaspnest06]

Go Wasps!

[jlwaspnest06]

Go Wasps!

[FancyGapClawhammer]

I don't hear an accent in anyone haha

[CrowSkeleton]

This Scot would happily repeat words for you all day. Your accent is beautiful, don't ever let the idea set in that folk need to sound like Generic Yankees to get on in the world.

[redskinschic]

I'm also from Southwest Va and I have to say that I used to be like the narrator, I HATED when my cousin would make fun of me or make me repeat words. (They were from Michigan) As the years pass and my wisdom & experience helps me gain a better understanding of the world around me and the area that I live in I know now that my dialect, my accent and my heritage is some that others WISH they had. I have deep seeded roots in these APPALACHIAN mountains.... I'm a very lucky girl!!!

[Whitlock1973]

I hate to say it, but he sounds like a Yankee to me... I live in the southern Appalachians and here the dialect and speak it myself.... he needs to go a little further south and listen to our accent.... I went to Missouri one time nd had to order a McChicken sandwich 4 times at the drive thru before she understood me...lol

[HisLovelyWifey]

I'm from California and I think the accent's pretty damn hot

[superevilposm]

I understand why so many of you feel like a mountain accent is a burden. I'm from northwest N.C and my first real job was traveling all over the country. I got a lot of laughs, especially up North. But I was always able to make friends and it endeared me to the company I worked for. Clients started asking for the "country boy" on job sites. I enjoy it when people , even mocking me, ask where I'm from. Except when they ask if I'm from Texas. No offense TX, but I hate that!

[myfletcher]

PS. I was a little ashamed of my slight accent as a kid. Now I love it. I hope I spelt everthang right. I have a Master dee-gree and graduated cum laude from 3 colleges !

[myfletcher]

My dad was from clay county KY. Moved to Dee-troit in the 50s. I used to have to translate what he said to my friends as a young-in. VERY thick accent and it rubbed off on me. I can speak that way when I want to or am around others from Appalichia. But I reccon I ain't as good as I use-ta-be. Hearing the accent brings back fond memories.

[xxmistakensin]

I have noticed being from a family who has a very thick Appalachian accent, us younger generations are trying to run from it. I speak nothing like my great grandparents, or even grandparents but still people will catch that I have a hint of this accent. Growing up I was really self conscious of it, my family moved to Indiana from down south, so it was a rough thing to have as a kid. I hope we learn to embrace it though, it really is a nice accent to hear. :)

[RebelliousPatriot]

Good vid, your accent doesnt seem to be that thick. Mighty i add that many forms of southern english are actuallu more grammatically correct to begin with. The Appalachian Dialect is actually somewhat based on Elizabethan English, so when people make fun of the way you talk they are also making fun of shakespear.

[tav168]

@RebelliousPatriot That is very true. I am from Appalachia and I learned a long time ago that my dialect of English is the only form of the language left today which is closest to the original Germanic English. It is less corrupted than newer forms of English. When people tell me I do not speak proper English I just Laugh and tell then where my dialect comes from and inform that they are in fact the ones who speak a from of English which is not true English.

[thethreemitosketeers]

@RebelliousPatriot While I agree that it's a sign of ignorance to mock someone for his or her linguistic dialect, the Southern Appalachian accent is more heavily based on Scottish speech patterns. This is most notably seen in the a- prefix and -in' suffix (a-huntin'), along with the intrusive r (wash pronounced "worsh"). :)

[firestormrex]

This was quite useful. I'm from Charleston, WV

[Vinny995]

Virginia For Life

[fordtruxdad]

Very well-thought and interesting project, Zach. I'm from eastern N.C. and we have the long, drawn-out coastal brogue. A young man from New York works for me and practically wets his pants every time I open my mouth. It's okay, though, because I know he's just fascinated with the way I talk and the old-timey figures of speech I use. Plus, I get a kick out of laughing at him talking about his doo-wog, drinking coowafee, etc.!

[Wodenhelm]

I'm in SWVA too. What county you from? Y'sound like you're a few counties west of me, me being from the Roanoke/Bedford area.

[ToArmsInDixie]

@Wodenhelm Hey, I'm from Amherst Virginia. Good to see some virginians from around this area.

[chufuss]

I am from Western North Carolina and have faced such sterotypes all my life.

[Bunneh000]

Zach, your accent is totally adorable! I love it!

Jo (from Southern England)

[tav168]

I am from Pineville Kentucky about as far southeastern as one can get in the state. I talk exactly like this but you know something. I like being a Hillbilly. Hillbillies are good people. I do get tired of the masses of Uneducated people who think that because we do not talk like them it means we are uneducated or inbred. That is just an ignorant way to look at someone who speaks differently than they do.

[Wodenhelm]

@tav168 Yeah, we know better. It's everyone else who's stupid and ignorant ;) (heh, to counter it, at my old job, I used to pick at this NYer for drinking "quoffee," etc)

[BraveMuslimSoldier49]

@tav168 Did u know that ur people came from Northern Ireland and are actually so called "Ulster Scots" or "Scothc-Irish" ; and that they hate Catholics ????

[AgentCarter]

she doesnt have much of an accent though. i can hear it, but its not strong.

[interstellarsurfer]

The speaker doesn't have much of a southern accent in the video, because he's trying to speak standard american english. You can still hear little bits of appalachian, but it mostly sounds midwestern, which is much more acceptable to people "who ain't from 'round here"

[firestormrex]

@interstellarsurfer He is trying to change his accent just like I have simply because people look down upon us. I've been in college for quite a few years. In Morgantown, WV. But I don't sound like I did.

[inaslump1]

I am form Southwest Va myself. I was born and raised on farmland and mountain hills and valleys. Te people I knew growing up were not at all ignorant but more vocal about what they had to say to others. The language was the same but we, like every other part of the country had our own way and words to describe things. Words such as Yonder and Holler. I made the comment to one of my CA buddies when he asked where the store was; I replied with "It's just a stone throw and a holler yonder."

[truesunn]

Although I grew up south of Detroit, your speech sounds more normal to me because all of my family is from Fonde KY... People up here are just rude period, don't worry about it!

[tav168]

@truesunn Amen

[carnut476]

@truesunn Yes, Even detroiters hate detroit everyboby hates detroit . lol

[Mcheetah]

@carnut476

At least Detroit isn't Philadelphia or Cleveland, though... Detroit actually gets a little respect due to the auto industry.

[rmm413d]

You have a lovely accent. Anyone who would laugh at it is just a bigoted, silly idiot. Keep your culture. Keep your accent. Don't be dissolved into the faceless mess of overly standardized, commercialized mainstream culture.

[lamaya43]

I'm from north georgia, just where the foothills start. People do assume things because of your accent, and I used to basically change when I would travel outside the south. I don't do this anymore, and when people ask me to "say that again" I just ask them if they want me to so they can learn the proper way to pronounce it.

[brockmountian]

u dont have much of an southern accent

[burkskeh]

this is great, zach!