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An Examination Of Selected Vowel Structures Of Three Generations Of Native Appalachian English Speakers, Melinda L. Richards

Doctoral Dissertations

Appalachian English (AppE) is a relic dialect, until recently considered to be resistant to change due to the relative isolation of its speakers. AppE may have become an “endangered dialect,” much in the same manner as other insular dialects such as those spoken on Ocracoke Island, Smith Island, and the Sea Islands (Wolfram & Schilling-Estes, 1995; Wolfram & Schilling-Estes, 1998). The purpose of this investigation was to answer two research questions: (1) Are there significant cross-generational differences in the production of eight selected vowels during conversational speech, and (2) Are there significant cross-generational differences in the degree to which speakers …