English in the US
and Canada
The English of
minorities in the USA
and dialect groups
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Syllabus
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Chicano English
Jewish English
Native American English
Appalachian English
Ocracoke English
Dialects of the Mid-West
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Chicano English
Presenters: Arianne Mansiamina,
Huong Pham, Tina Pham, Dirk van
der Smissen
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
What does Chicano mean?
Historical Aspects
Chicano Dialect
Sources and Literature
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
1. What does Chicano mean?
• Chicano is a cultural identity used by
people of Mexican descent in the USA
• Refers to a second- or third-generation
Mexican American, who have a community
on their own in the US.
• No clear etymology of the term Chicano.
• Might be a contraction of Mexicano.
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
2. Historical aspects
• History of Mexican-Americans is about
400 years of moving from region to region
• Once they lived in those states which
formerly belonged to Mexico: California,
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
• Nowadays these regions are part of the
U.S., because of the Mexican-American
war
• The Mexican-American war was from
1846 to 1848.
• After the war, Mexico sold some Mexican
territories to the U.S.
• California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado
and Texas became part of the U.S.
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
• Mexican Americans
began to create
communities in
Chicago and other
steel producing region
during World War I.
• Large Mexican
immigration in the US
after the Mexican
Revolution in 1910
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
• Many of them live now in the area of Los
Angeles
• The Hispanic population in L.A. is about
40% of the whole population
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Chicano Dialect
1. Multiple negation: speech feature which is
prominent in Black English as well as Chicano
English
“My four years I spend there I did not learn
nothing”
2. Non-Standard verb forms: use of past participle
forms instead of simple past verb forms:
“I seen almost all his movies” for “I saw”
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Embedded question inversion:
“I ask myself what would I do without a friend”
for “what I would do”
4. Differing use of the comparative: In Chicano
speech “more” is used instead of “more often”:
“They use more Spanish” for “They use Spanish
more often”
5. Lexical Pairs of Chicano English:
• I an a, thing and think, will and would and want
and won’t are homophonous in Chicano English
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Examples:
“They made I lot of parties” for “..a lot of parties”
“My parents gave me a moral and education,
and I know that doing this a would hurt my
parents” for“…I would hurt my parents”
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Any questions?
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Sources & Literature
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Thanks for your
attention!!
Chicano English
English in the US
and Canada
Jewish English
Producers: Anastasia Nikolaeva
(HS/TN), Frauke Skrobaschewsky
(HS/LN), Katharina Zill (HS/LN)
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of contents
1. History
2. Today in the United States
3. Grammar and Vocabulary
4. Conclusion
5. Sources and Literature
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
1. History
• 19th century: large group of Jews emigrated to the
United States
 2.5 Million between 1877 and 1917
• in 1870 the Jewish population was about 250.000
• the language they brought with them was Yiddish 
developed among German speaking Jews in the
middle ages
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
2. Today in the United States
• hundreds of thousands of Jews speak Jewish
varieties of English
• influences of Yiddish, textual Hebrew and
modern Hebrew
• 2 different types: 1) general English with an
addition of just a few Hebrew or Yiddish words
(e.g. Hanukah), 2) multiple influences from
Yiddish in syntax, lexicon and phonology
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
• Orthodox Jewish English includes
hundreds of loan words from Hebrew and
Yiddish  to express the elements that
characterize traditional Jewish life
e.g. “mame“ = mother
“rebe“ = teacher
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Grammar and vocabulary
• in general, the grammar of Jewish English is
English grammar
• English is used to set the sentence structure;
Yiddish, Hebrew or Aramaic words are used to
fill in the blanks
 “We must practice Ahavoh not Sinoh; We must
build Yiddishkeit, not destroy it“
(Ahavoh =
love, Sinoh = hate, Yiddishkeit = Judaism)
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
• words of non-English origin being given plurals
and verb tenses inconsistent with their language
of origin
 “Yeshiva” becomes “Yeshivas”, not “Yeshivot”
• some verbs (especially Hebrew) are often
treated as participles and inflected by English
auxiliary verbs  “He was moide that he was
wrong” = He admitted that he was wrong
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
• loanwords are replaced by the Yiddish
diminutive –ie or –y
 “kepele” (= small head) changes into “keppy”
• it is common in Ashkenazie English to attach
English suffixes to Yiddish words  “Yeke” or
“Yeki” (= German Jew) changes into the
adjective “Yekish” and the noun “Yekishness”
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
• set phrases transferred from Yiddish with “make”
and “say”: “make shabes” = prepare for the
Sabbath, “say kaddish” = recite regularly the
mourner’s prayer
• Jewish English vocabulary is primarily drawn from
English but also includesterms from Hebrew, Yiddish
and Aramaic.
• Example: the preposition ‘by’ can be used in JE as
in “I ate by my brother last night.”
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Conclusion
• Jewish English is considered as the most
widespread Jewish language of today.
• Question: Is it a JL in the same sense as Tsarfatic
(“Judeo-French), Italkic (“Judeo-Italian“) and
Yavanic (“Judeo-Greek“)?
• Needs more time to develop itself into an own
language.
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
5. Sources & Literature
Jewish English
English in the US
and Canada
Native American
English
Presenters: Nils Jäkel, Frauke Knop,
Thomas Leukel, Kathrin Nellessen,
Markus Stein
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of Contents
1. Cultural Areas
2.1 Indigenous Language Families
2.2 Navajo Example
3. Phonologic Features and Grammar
4. Language Influences
5. Sources and Literature
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
Culture and Language
• Differentiation between language and
culture areas necessary
• Cultural areas represent the environment
and special American Indian life-style
• Language areas only partly correspond to
the cultural regions  language contact
and language influence
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
1. Cultural Areas
1. New South West
2. The Eastern Timberland
3. The South-East
4. The Plains
5. California and the Great Basin
6. The Plateau-Region
7. The Subarctic
8. The North-West Coast
9. The Arctic
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
New Southwest
• situated in Arizona, New
Mexico and Southern
Colorado + Sonora,
Chilhuahua (Mexico)
• tribes: Pueblo, Navajo,
Havasupai, Mojave
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
New Southwest
• special features: hunting, collected plants, lived in
storeyed stone or houses built with clay, but also in
smaller villages near their fields (summer), trade
with other tribes, irrigation plant
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
Eastern Woodland
• tribes: Iroquois,
Delaware,
Shawnee,
Potawatomi,
Menominee,
Illinois
• special features:
hunting,
agriculture, fishing
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
The South-East
• North of the Golf of Mexico and South of the
American middle-atlantic states
• extends from Atlantic Coast to Central Texas
• Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Creek,
Seminoles
• special features: founding
of towns and public places,
mechanic commerce
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
The Great Plains
• extends from the steppeareas of Central-Canada to
Mexico and from the
Middle-West to the Rocky
Mountains
• Tribes: Blackfoot,
Mandan, Hidatsa, Sioux,
Cheyenne, Arapaho,
Shoshone, Comanche
• special features: typical feather-woven
cloaks, tipi (Sioux name for house), sacred
pipe, costumes and dances
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
California and the Great Basin
• situated in the
mountain ranges and
valleys of Utah,
Nevada and
California
• Tribes: Paiute, Ute,
Shoshone, Klamath,
Modoc, Maidu, Pomo,
Miwok, Wintun
• special features:
thatched houses,
trade (basketwork,
fishing-trade, shellmoney
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
Plateau-Region
• Tribes: Nez Perce, Walla Walla,
Yakima, Umatilla, Flathead,
Spokane, Okanagon, Cayuse,
Kootenai
• situated in the evergreen woods
and mountain-ranges of Idaho,
Eastern Oregon and Washington
as well as Western Montana and
Canada
• special features: fishing-trade,
living in villages with houses
(winter) and in cottages being
covered with mats (summer)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
The Sub-Arctic region
• encloses the largest part of
Canada and reaches from the
Atlantic Ocean to the
mountain-ranges at the
Pacific as well as from the
tundra-region down to 300
miles away from the
American-Canadian border
• tribes: Cree, Ojibwa,
Montagnais, Chippewa,
Kutchin,
• special features: no
agriculture, hunting, fishing
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
The North-West Coast
• encloses the West Coast of
North-America and reaches
from Southern Alaska to
Northern Califonia
• tribes: Tlingit, Nootka, Chinook,
Salish, Makah,
• special featueres: rich food
supply  high populousness,
living in big villages with huge
framehouses, families had
slaves, trade with North Asia,
famous with wood carvings
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
The Arctic region
• Tribes: Eskimo
• special features: no
agriculture, fishing,
whaling, living in tents
(summer) and
insulated soil-houses
(winter)
• houses made of blocks
of ice (Canada), low
population
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.1 Indigenous
Language Families
• 363,995* speakers of Native American languages
• In total there were 296 native American languages,
of which 269 are grouped in 27 language families
(the other languages are isolated or unclassified)
• Less than half of them are still used today
• Many languages have only a few speakers left
(*Source: Adapted from B. Grimes (1996). Ethnologue: Languages of the world. Dallas: SIL International. Updated
February 1999 at www.sil.org/ethnologue)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.1 Indigenous
Language Families
• Uto-Aztecan (~1,95 million)
– Oregon, Idaho, Utah,
California, Nevada,
Arizona
Today mostly in Mexico
• Hopi (5,264 Arizona, Utah,
New Mexico)
• Tubatulabal (6 California)
• Numic (subfamily)
- Comanche (864
Oklahoma)
- Shoshoni (2,284
Nevada, Idaho,
Wyoming)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.1 Indigenous
Language Families
• Nadene (180,200)
– Arizona, New Mexico
(mostly Navajo)
• Navajo (148,530)
• Dene (4000 Canada,
Alaska)
• Eyak (one survivor)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.1 Indigenous
Language Families
• Algic (?)
– From the Rocky
Mountains to New
England
• Algonquian (subfamily)
– Cheyenne (1,721
Montana)
– Blackfoot (1,062
Montana
– Arapaho (1,038
Wyoming, Oklahoma)
• Yurok (10 California)
• Extinct
– Wiyot
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.2 Navajo Example
My name is Regina. I am 22 years old and am a student
at the Navajo Community College. My clans are the
Yucca Fruit Clan. My maternal clan is Under-His-Cover
Clan, my paternal clan is Red-Streaking-Into-The-WaterClan. I am originally from the town of Rock Point. I am
presently studying three majors. To me, what's important
in Navajo culture is my being Navajo. I am very proud to
be an Indian and a Navajo. I believe we are special
because we are a 'one of a kind' tribe, just like every
other tribe. We have our clan systems. We also have our
four worlds to support us. We know who we are today
and who we want to become in the future. We know our
roots - who our grandfathers and grandmothers were.
They have gone through a lot of trouble for us, such as
the Long Walk and the many other hardships they have
faced. (…)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
2.2 Navajo Example
(…) I really like being Navajo because of who they made
me. Through the clans I am who I am today through the
lives of my mother and my father, my forefathers and my
grandmothers and grandfathers. If it wasn't for them I
wouldn't be here right now.I want to be there for somebody
in my future. I am responsible for my own future. The
Navajo people have a unique outline for life. It starts with
the thinking process to the east, the planning process to the
south, the living, action process to the west and the
satisfaction and evaluation process which is to the north.
Everything we do is clockwise. We don't go backwards. The
four sacred mountains we live between are very sacred to
us.
Native American
English
Film Scene
English in the US
and Canada
3. Phonologic Features
There are no features that can only be found in
Native American Language
• There is a big phonologic variety in Native
American Languages
Consonants:
– Retroflex Consonants in Pomo or Yuman
– Velar Nasals Consonants ( /η/ as in BE “hang”) in
Yuman or Athabeskin Languages
– Lateral Affricatives in Sahaptin and Wakashan
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Phonologic Features
Vocals:
– Voiced Vocals in Cheyenne or Hopi
– Nasal Vocals (like in French ‘bon‘) in Sioux or
Cherokee
Tonal accents:
– e.g. Cherokee, Mohican, Arapaho or some Pomo
dialects.
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Grammar
• Just like in Native American Phonology, there is a
big variety in Native American Grammar
Word Order in a sentence:
– There is no general order, the position of subject,
verb and object in a sentence may vary from one
language to the next
• He táku hwo? - What is that?
• Nitúktetanhan hwo? - Where are you from?
 Interrogative Pronoun “hwo”
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Grammar
• The rules of syntax which apply to the Lakota language
will leave you somewhat puzzled. I will give you a few
basic rules and an example to try get you started.
• When using time expressions, place it first in the
sentence:
The woman goes to town everyday.
Anpetu iyohilawinyan kin le otonwahe ta ye.
day each woman the this one town goes.
• When using articles with nouns, place them after the
noun as above. (woman the this one)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Grammar
• Wanbláke. - I saw. (Simple Past – the personal pronoun
melts with the verb) )
• Unyúhapi. - We had.
• Ínipi hwo? - Are you full? (irregular verb – to be)
• Ímapi yélo. - I'm full.
• Inánjinyo. - Stand up. (Imperative)
• Wanjí. – One. (numbers)
• Nápa - Hand
• Horse (though they didn‘t know horses until Europeans
introduced them to the Great Plain Natives)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Grammar
Grammatical features:
– Dualism in Cherokee or Sioux
– Causal systems Wakashan or Algonkin
– Inclusive/exclusive ‘we’ in Shoshone, Blackfoot or
Cheyenne
– Verbal affixes in Karok (pa- as a prefix for ‘oral’)
or Haida
– Countable/ uncountable objects in Menominee,
Salish or Tlingit
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Social and Cultural
Features of Language
• Speech use and speech behavior according to
male/female speakers in Muskogee or Atsina
• Ritual language in Cherokee or Quechua
• Trade languages: a mixture of different language;
reduced in words and grammatical features
(Wawa, Mobilian, Delaware Trade Language)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Written Language
Writing Systems:
• developed in North America
only after the arrival of
European settlers.
– Writing based on
Syllables: every symbol
stands for one sound
(Cherokee, Inuit or
Micmac)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Language Contact
•
Language Contact enables members of different
tribes communication
 diffusion, sharing features of semantic,
grammatical and phonological structure
Two types of language contact:
1) Contact of two or more American Native
Languages
2) Contact of an indigenous language with a
European one
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Contact between
Native Languages
• Extensive bilingualism and borrowing within
indigenous language groups already known in
prehistoric times
• During times of peace:
Trade: language as a means of communication in
order to exchange goods
During times of war:
Treaties: in order to make compromises and
establish new rules and introduce new orders
 Reason why there‘s no fixed grammatical
system in one language
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Contact with
European Languages
• European language contact accompanied by
massive forcible conquest, exploitation and
ethnocide/ genocide
• Language of the White is the dominant means of
communication
 American Natives have to use the dominant
language
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Foreign Influences
Native Loan Words
Mostly names for animals, plants and places,
such as:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Conneticut (Mohacian)
Kajak or Kayak (Inuit)
Skunk (Algonkin)
Tomato (Náhuatl)
Puma (Quechua)
Squash (a vegetable)
Abalone (shellfish from Costanoan, California)
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Sources & Literature
Internet Sources:
• www.americanindians.com
• www.nativeamericans.com
Literature:
• Leap, William L.: „American Indian English“, 1993
Salt Lake City.
• Seboek, Thomas: „Native Languages of the
Americas“, 1976 New York.
• Zeisberger, David: „Zeisberger‘s Indian Dictionary“,
1982 Harvard (Reprint).
Native American
English
English in the US
and Canada
Appalachian English
Producers: Ben Brieger, Negar
Hossein, Antonio Gerhard
Presenter: Daniel Glaubitz
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The Appalachian Region
Dialect areas in the Great Lake Region
Appalachian English – General Information
Appalachian – Lexicon
Practical Examples
Sample Vocabulary
Linguistic features of the personal dative
Pronouns and Demonstratives
Sources & Literature
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
1. The Appalachian Region
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
2. Dialect areas in
the Great Lake Region
• Appalachian English is the common name for the
Southern Midland dialect of American English
• Appalachia: area from the state of New York to
Alabama, that surrounds the Appalachian Mountains
• The dialect is spoken in Southern West Virginia,
southeastern Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, the upper
Potomac and Shenandoah Valleys of Virginia, East
Tennessee, and Western North Carolina
• Approximately 23 mio speakers of the Appalachian
dialect
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Appalachian English
General Information
• Used most often or most characteristically when
discussing cuisine, in storytelling, or when
discussing native industries as coal mining or
forestry
• Speakers of Appalachian English do not adapt
themselves; therefore often considered as lazy and
indifferent; for them understanding standard
American English is rather easy, vice versa
speakers of other dialects have a hard time
understanding Appalachian English
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Appalachian English
General Information
• The dialect is archaic  English speakers who
settled in the areas of the Upper Midwest had
immigrated from West Anglia, the Scottish LowLands, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland and
Scotland in the late 18th and early 19th century
• since then they have isolated themselves from the
mainstream of American life for generations
• so they use old speech forms which have fallen out
of fashion; there is still the myth that Appalachian
sounds like Shakespearian English
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Appalachians – Lexicon:
• The Appalachian dialect is mostly oral but can also
be found in writing
• old-fashioned folk flavor
• seems more likely to be an caricature of the speech
of mountain folk
• some rural expressions
Examples:
• Hidy (= hello) >> a blending of „hi“ and „howdy“
• Ever (= every) >> „Everwhere“, „ever direction“,
„everway“ and so on
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
5. A few examples of
the practical use:
1) Sometimes the past participle of a strong verb such
as "do" is used in place of the past tense. For
example, "I done it already" instead of "I did it
already" or in the case of the verb "see," "I seen"
instead of "I saw."
2) "Went" is often used instead of "gone" as the past
participle of the verb "to go." She had went to
Ashland. Less frequently, "gone" is used as the
simple past tense. I gone down to the meeting, but
wasn't nobody there.
3) "Done" is used with the past tense (or a past
participle commonly used as a past tense, such as
"gone") to express action just completed, as in, "I
done went/gone to the store".
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
5. A few examples of
the practical use:
4) Some English strong verbs are occasionally
conjugated as weak verbs in Appalachian English,
i.e. "knowed," and "seed." Most speakers of
Appalachian English do not use these forms,
however, as they indicate the lowest level of social
prestige.
5) The construction "don't...no" is used with transitive
verbs to indicate the negative, i.e. "He don't know no
better." This is commonly referred to as the double
negative, and is either negative or emphatically
negative, never positive. "None" is often used in
place of "any," as in "I don't have none."
6) The future perfect is all but nonexistent
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
6. Sample Vocabulary
• Backer: chewing tobacco. Want a chew of backer?
• Buggy: shopping cart. Get me that buggy, and make
sure it don't have no broken wheel.
• Poke: paper bag. Get me a poke of Red Man.
• Chaw: chewing tobacco. Chaw comes three ways: a
poke, a twist, or a plug.
• Plug: a quid of tobacco. That boy done slobbered all
on my plug.
• Blinds: window shades. Open them blinds and let
some sunshine in!
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
7. Linguistic features of
the personal dative
Use of non-reflexive pronouns (you, me etc.) in
certain cases for the second occurence of a single
referent within the same clause:
Examples:
1.
2.
3.
I‘d go out and cut me a limb off of a tree, get me a
good straight one.
We had us a cabin, built us a log cabin back over
there.
And then you‘d get you a bowl of ice-water.
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
8. Pronouns and Demonstratives
• "Them" is sometimes used in place of "those" as a
demonstrative in both nominative and oblique
constructions.
Examples:
1. Them are the pants I want
2. Give me some of them crackers."
• Oblique forms of the personal pronouns are used as
nominative when more than one is used (cf. French
moi et toi).
For example:
Me and him are real good buddies is said instead of He
and I are really good friends.
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
4. Sources & Literature
• Internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_English
• Trudgill, Peter/ Chambers, J.K. Dialects of English,
Longman Group, Essex/UK 1991
• Viereck, Wolfgang/ Viereck, Karin/ Ramisch,
Heinrich, dtv-Atlas Englische Sprache, Deutscher
Taschenbuchverlag, München 2002
Appalachian English
English in the US
and Canada
Ocracoke English
Presenters: Magdalena Mierzwinska
(GS TN), Michelle Keppel (GS TN),
Yeliz Özdogan (HS TN)
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Settlement and Language
2. History
3. Linguistics
4. Sources and Literature
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
Map I
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
Map II
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
1. Introduction:
The settlement of Ocracoke
Ocracoke Inlet was a strategic passageway
through the hazardous chain of barrier islands to
mainland ports
•
 stationing of pilots to guide the vessels

“An act of settling and maintaining pilots at
Ocracoke.”
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
•
•
•
1. Introduction:
Ocracoke brogue
Ocracoke English is based on Early Modern
English
Question: Which form of Early Modern
English played a role in shaping the early
Ocracoke brogue?
Early settlers along the coastal areas of the
South including some Outer Banks families
are from southern, western and eastern
England
It is also likely that early Ocracoke speech
was influenced by the Irish and Scots-Irish
varieties of English
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
1. Introduction:
Some pictures
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
1. Introduction:
Some pictures
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
1. Introduction:
Some pictures
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
2. History
•
formation of Ocracoke began about 17,000
years ago
•
Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian
navigator in 1524
•
entrance to the Pamlico Sound and the
mainland
•
Wokokon, Wocokon, Okok, Ocacock,
Occacoke, Ocracok, Ocracoke
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
2. History
• A change in size
• Portsmouth Island, Hatteras Banks
• “Pilot Town“
• population has grown from 59 (early 1700s)
to 790 (today)
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
2. History
• Ocracoke Island today is the most
Eastern end of Hyde County bordering
the Atlantic Ocean
• about 20 miles from the mainland
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• isolated from the mainland for nearly three
centuries
• during this period of isolation Ocracokers
developed a unique dialect of American
English, known as the Brogue
• contrary to popular belief, Ocracoke English is
not Elizabethan English
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• developed around the turn of the 20th century
• best-known feature is the pronunciation of the
diphthong /ai/
• hide and tide as similar to oi
• Ocracokers are known as hoi toiders
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
Older Ocracokers say:
• mommuck for to harass or bother
• quamish for sick in the stomach
• call the mail over
• dingbatter
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• That feller sure was tall.
That fellow sure was tall.
• They usually be doing their homework.
They usually do their homework.
• They put their food in a poke.
They put their food in a bag.
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• They caught some feesh.
They caught some fish.
• How you doing, buck?
How are you doing, friend?
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• /au/ of sound and round
saind and raind
• a before r
thar (there) / war (where)
• final t after /s/
oncet (once) / twicet (twice)
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
3. Linguistics
• final y for a
extry (extra) / sody (soda)
• ar for -ire
far (fire) / tar (tire)
• a-prefix with -ing
a-shining (shining) / a-hunting (hunting)
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
Thanks for your attention!
Ocracoke English
English in the US
and Canada
Dialects of the
Middle West
Presenters: Sebastian Obbink, Marc
Friedrich, Grigorij Kunin
Prof. R. Hickey
English in the US
and Canada
Table of Contents
1. Geography and History of the Midwestern
Dialects
2. The Northern-Midland boundary
3. Subareas of the Midland
4. Foreign language influences
5. Sources and Literature
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
1. Geography
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
Inland Northern
• Spread from New York and Western New
England in early 19th century
• Became the dialect of the rising managerial
class when industrial and economic power grew
in the 19th century
• In the middle of the 20th century Inland Northern
became model for pronunciation in handbooks
and dictionaries
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
Midwest / Middle West
• Area between Appalachians and Rocky
Mountains and north of Ohio River
• Divided into three major regional dialects:
Inland Northern, West Midland and South
Midland
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
West Midland
• West Midland came from Pennsylvania into Ohio
and is to be found in central Ohio, central
Indiana and central Illinois
• Across the Mississippi West Midland is to be
found in every midwestern state but Minnesota
and North Dakota
• Coexists with South Midland in Missouri, Kansas
and Oklahoma
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
South Midland
• Arrived in the midwest in the early 19th century
with settlers from southern uplands especially
from Kentucky and Tennessee
• South Midland is to be found in south Ohio,
south Indiana, south Illinois, south Iowa and
most parts of Missouri
• Scholars disagree whether South Midland is a
subdialect of Midland or of Southern
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
Northern-Midland boundary
• The Northern-Midland boundary is positioned in
the North Central States and is the approximate
division between:
• „greasy“ with [s] vs. [z]
• Quarter to vs. Quarter till
• Dutch cheese vs. Smearcase or clabber cheese
• Stone vs. Rock
• Pail vs. Bucket
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
4. Foreign language influences
• Many languages influenced the dialects of the Middle
West, but now those influences are disappearing:
• Into the 20th century there were French dialects in
isolated parts of Missouri. Now just placenames
survived like: St. Genevieve or Cape Girardeau
• Norwegian dialects influenced the English language
in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa
• Hispanic dialects influenced the English language in
Illinois and Michigan
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
4. An example of foreign influence
• In parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa
German migrants influenced the language
• In an area that was called the „Missouri
Rhineland“ some linguistic features were
noticed:
Realization of „th“ phonemes as stops
Devoicing of final consonants
Mid-level glides in /au/ and /ai/
Realization of short /a/ as a long, low-back vowel
Dialects of the
Mid-West
English in the US
and Canada
5. Sources and Literature
• Frazer, Timothy C. 1996. “The dialects of
the Middle West”. In Focus on the USA,
Schneider, Edgar W. (ed.), 81 ff.
Dialects of the
Mid-West