Appalachian Dialects: I Speak More Better Than You.
Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia
When I started chatting online 12 years ago, I was dumbfounded by the number of people who did not realize West Virginia, is in fact, a state. People would ask, “What part of Virginia are you from?” Or, “How far are you from Virginia Beach?” I, of course would give a snarky response and give a little history lesson- June 20, 1863, West Virginia became a state. No-really, look it up on a map. Better yet, Google Earth. We’re here and we aren’t the backwards, uneducated hillbillies the media-including Hollywood, has made us out to be.
West Virginia, with the rugged mountains, was settled mostly by the Scotch-Irish, with a little German and Welsh in the mix. Once here, the people were so secluded because of the terrain, they either never left, or others never came in, hence, the reason the state has such a unique blend of dialects. No outside influence on language for generations-and guess what? The phrase, “I speak more better than you,” is not incorrect. Sure, English professors will dispute this, but our way of speaking, the words, the phrases, the pronunciations, is archaic- it’s Elizabethan English.
To quote from a site I found via my research, (the reason I even researched was due to the fact my mom and I were cracking up at the way we said certain words and phrases):
Almost all the so-called “bad English” used by natives of Appalachia was once employed by the highest ranking nobles of the realms of England and Scotland.
(ref: Dialect of the Appalachian People
Wow- so let me get this straight. In today’s society we’re ignorant if we use “improper grammar,” but during one point in history our “speak,” was accepted. For example, the phrase my mom and I were laughing about was, “I know what let’s do.” I said this once to a friend of mine living in Connecticut. He looked at me and said, “What did you just say?” I knew very well what I meant-”I know what we can do.” Another phrase used often, “I don’t care to,” (as mentioned in my source), to a “foreigner,” sounds as if we don’t want to do something they have asked, when we really mean, “Yes, I’ll do it.” I used to laugh at my dad for saying “deeshes,” instead of “dishes,” technically, he wasn’t incorrect. If anyone has ever traveled the state, or lived here for any period of time, you would notice our accents aren’t Southern, nor Northern- it’s a mixture of both. I like to call it “Mountain.” Dependent upon the word and context in which it’s said, you’ll hear variations. I wanted to actually record this post so the differences in my speech patterns could be heard, but my microphone isn’t working. Our dialects are probably the most difficult to master if you’re an outsider- I have yet to hear anyone “speak,” a true West Virginian accent. I’m just proud of the fact that I can finally say-I do speak more better than any of ya, whether you like it ‘er not.
This is an interesting post. It sounds cool to me. Thanks for the information. Hope to see your new posts soon.
i went last summer to malaysia i swear there was view just like this wow!
Loved your post on “Dialect”. Mom’s family came from southeast MO and a lot of phrases you mentioned brought back some memories. Original Irish ancesters settled in Virginia.
Thanks, Roger.
Marilyn: When I read the post to my mom- and read some of the article where I found the information, she said the same. Some of the phrases and words I had not heard of, but when I asked her she said, “Yep, I remember people saying that.” My ancestors are Scottish and Welsh, (German/Dutch on my dad’s side), who all settled in northwestern Virginia then moved into central West Virginia.
They say the same things about Hawaii. I don’t live there, but I have relatives that do live in Honolulu, and I’ve backpacked on the Big Island (Mauna Loa).
Once, when I was getting off a flight in Honolulu, I heard one woman say to her companion, “Back in the U.S., the people aren’t as friendly . . .” I was tempted to say, “Lady, Hawaii _is_ the U.S.” Of course, she was referring to the continguous U.s., but she should have said so, or been more specific.
Oh, your line “Better yet, Google Earth.” I thought you said to boycott Google because Google was messing with your PageRank?
When I moved to Virginia from the northeast a few years ago, I really had trouble understanding some of the locals’ speech. A man came to service the heat pump, and kept referring to “where the owhhhhrl” goes in”. I heard “oil”, but he was saying “air”.