If you were lucky enough to have a farm to tend and was able bodied enough to tend it then yes. After ww2 my mother nearly starved to death in Rockcastle Co. KY. Her family had a subsistence level farm but she was married, had kids and no transportation or communication.
My grandparents grew up on farms in this area and their families took in children whose parents couldn’t provide for them etc. my gparents couldn’t have had much more money than others, they just farmed the land and weren’t starving. Bless them.
Born and raised in the foothills of NC. And it’s funny when I hear people make fun of how we talk. If I got out of town and get away from the accent for more than a week, it’s amazing how comforting it is to hear it again when you get back home. Love my home, love my people.
I am often embarrassed of my Philly accent, its very obvious. I have tried to suppress it. I suppose i shouldn't be. I literally cringe when i hear my accent on a tv show or news broadcast. I don't think there is anything wrong with" mountain talk" it has a certain charm and appeal, in my opinion. However, when i worked for a publishing company, i had to handle customer service calls, sometimes i couldn't understand what people were saying, some of thickest accents i noticed were callers from Tennessee and Kentucky. It could be frustrating at times but when you are not accustomed to certain ways of speaking, and your trying hard to help a customer.
Thank you. These are my people, I've been all over the country, lived out West, Arizona, Utah, and I'll say this, I was gone for 4 years, and when I moved back here, I kissed the ground. We may be backwards, talk funny, etc, but were good people.
I grew up in rural Appalachia. Boone, NC and Butler, TN specifically. I'm a 7th generation local. I was raised on a tobacco farm. I became an engineer. It was not as though I was unaware that the "ole folks" spoke differently than we did, but I never thought of it as a separate language. However, as I think about it more deeply, there is no way an outsider could likely discern the speech patterns of my ancestors. I grew up knowing Mr. Hicks and was close friends with his kids. They were really good friends. He was among the kindest, wisest men who ever affected me. We are proud of our heritage. Although we don't live exactly like our ancestors did, we often take pride in having learned how they survived under those circumstances. We are obligated to explain ourselves, uncomfortably, more often than we are to share our minds. No, I'm not inbred. I'm not uneducated. I can live off the land if necessary. I study theoretical physics in my spare time. Stereotypes depict me unfairly.
Love this Docu....Don't EVER lose your traditions!!!!!Most traditions are lost nowadays and the way they want to make this world into one and the same.It's so sad to see so many traditions lost and gone forever :(
Mountain Folk TO ME, best folk in the world, people that will take their shirt off their backs & give u, expect nothing in return, invite u to their homes with no price tags GOD BLESS THEM
Southern West Virginia here. I love that the Appalachian Moutains stretch across other states. Folks in NC and other places sound just like my family here.
Myself being a native Warsawer, where no more than 12% survived the WW2 , i can only have deepest respect and admiration for the tradition,language and the way of life of the Appalachian ppl. We too, Warsawers, had our own dialect, own slang and we spoke with "our" accent. Almost all of it is lost now. I was raised in a borough where some still spoke our dialect. My father sometimes does. Some ppl say that when i talk with friends who are from Warsaw i speak different. I'll try to pass on my children the tradition of our dialect. Dear Appalachian ppl - never let any yankee, any snob tell you that your accent, your mountain talk is something to be ashamed of. Love from Poland.
12%! Lord Almighty! I knew they were brutal to you guys but I had no idea it was that bad. Even so I've always had a spot in my heart for how brave the Polish were. Riding against tanks and armored vehicles on horseback and the resistance in the ghetto as just a couple that come to mind. That's pure and absolute bravery. You should be proud. Your people didn't just roll over and take it like in some other countries, even in the face of overwhelming force and terror. I am sorry for what your people had to go through. What a horrible time in human history. I am from Appalachia and have since moved many times but still have my accent. People in the States have a hard time placing it. I lived in western Europe for a while and they knew I was obviously from the USA but they kept telling me that I spoke differently than other "Americans". The US slang is hard enough for most to get, much less Appalachian slang. It is a language all to itself. Peace. RB.
I'm what you would call a Yankee, but I am not a snob. I wish I could hear the way you talk with your father and friends. Do pass that on as it is a gift from history. How very sad only 12% were survivors of the war.
@@coldspring624 I was raised in rural SE Indiana. We weren't Yankees for sure. My people and many families in our community had moved from the VA mountains into KY. and then on into IN. My G-G-grandfather and grandmother came up to IN in 1819. We we share a lot of the same language patterns and social patterns as those shown in the film.
I've lived all my life in a little town in central Kentucky its one of the few places left in central Kentucky where we refuse to give up this way of life. To us its just an easier, simpler, friendlier way of living.
@@positivevibrations4382 The accents came from Ireland. These accents don't sound remotely like Scottish accents, Scottish rrrrroll their Rs and have long vowels like taaake and dooooooo. These accents Sound much more akin to Ulster Irish and even a few midland Irish accents.
Poke o chips Ower yonder lol Lot o similarities tae us, its funny how language evolves over years, totally different accent but some similar words that mean the same here 🏴
Coming from the Glasgow area in Scotland I can hear a lot of similarities and similar words “paper poke” is used very commonly used throughout Scotland and Ireland for one example.
Down here in Limerick, Ireland we still talk about buying 'a pig in a poke', meaning purchasing something without inspecting it first. Given the history of Ulster-Scots settlement in the Appalachians, it wouldn't be strange if some of the mountain words illustrated here had origins in lowlands and Ulster variants of English.
My Yankee neighbor from Maine that was about 40 said he had never heard the phrase “ fixin ta” in his whole life. It means about to do something. As in “ I’m fixin ta go to the store.
Except it’s usage is spreading as people begin to use words they’re families don’t traditionally use in order to get others to associate with the region
Watching this video sure makes me miss my grandparents an the old folks that have been dead an gone for a long time an the values they taught me when I was a little boy. I always tell people always remember what the old folks taught you years ago because there's a reason they told you what they did. An if you look around you nowdays were they laying to you folks . look at the mess everything's in nowdays a generation of people if you can call them that with no God upbringing morals or honor
Obscure aspects and cultures of Americana like this would get lost if people never put it online, or get lost in some archive where the magnetic tape would degrade over time. My ancestors were W.V. coal miners, so these are my roots in a way. Thanks for posting!
I know this comment comes late after yours but my father's people are also from WV. They lived aways back in the hills. I miss the language, the music, the folk remedies, the food, just everything about Appalachia.
I’m a West Virginia coal miner and my women is from Ireland her dad showed this to me and said this how I talk it sounds normal to me I’m honored to speak this way
Digital Shokunin. lost??? i guess reckon you aint livin in harlan county ky..lost??? ..hell son.this language aint lost..you just dont understand it.. its very much alive..
Please don't change. I love it. One thing about it they make fun of you, but you and all of you will survive to what is coming. You not IGNORANT. You are smart you are productive. I love you all
Airish, plumm crazy, gomb, over yarr, cloud comin up, i reckin so, aint nary one any good, yistiddy. My ancestors were from scotland and im glad they settled here in conway S.C. ( myrtle beach) David Dunn
Bracketville August if I had to choose between an Appalachian American or city folk to depend on during an apocalypse or something, dang Skippy I'm choosing to life with the Appalachian. They will surely survive when everyone else is gone
I love living in the Appalachia area. My descendants had to be from here. For me I have more fun and less stress closer to the mountains then in the big cities around here.
I agree. I was born in the Appalachia area. We moved all over NC, and I've been back here about 22 years. I don't like going to large cities now. It's odd how it all becomes part of you...
I grew up in Upper East Tennessee and I feel like a lot of the old language was preserved because so many people were very familiar and very respectful of the Bible, particularly the King James translation. I was surprised the documentary didn't go into much detail about how much the Bible contributed to the language and culture.
funny I come from an area where people will do anything to not work much and make the most money..neighbors are almost afraid to say hello to ya.....and you know what...they think happiness comes from the freedom of work and a load of money....I dont thibk so...who do you thibk is more at peace? I say the mountain people....if possible since im scotch irish id give it all up to move here and live on less and get blisters from some hard work job...and play country music sip moonshine but I dont think id be eatin squirrel lol lol great video...the music from the heart...the stories...this is life...real life God Bless the Mountain people
Ronald my parent are both from tenn near north carolina area and i was raised in the north but been down south quite a number of time. i guarantee if you ate my mommas squirrel gravy you would be totally surprised it has no wild taste to it at all , its simply delicious. it is really really good eating.
I have some to add to it. 1) Pert-n-ner-it. Means getting near or just about. 2) Yungins (means kids). 3) Over Yonder (means over there) 3) Reckin (used as the first word in a question 'Reckin it's gonna snow'?) 4) Fuller than a tick in a tar bucket (after you eat, you're done).
Nicest people I ever spent time with. Lots of hospitality and kindness. They will give you their last food. Complete strangers are always welcome at their table and can sleep on the couch.
We would never make you sleep in the couch. Most of us would give you our bed. Glad you enjoyed your visit. Come back any time. I’m from the mountains of NC. Come see us.
I'm born in Kentucky. I pick up the accent around my uncle, who still has a strong accent. It's not exact, but I pick up that fast pace of the speech and the twang. I still pronounce the words mostly the same, just with a twang. I say "ye" when I talk really fast instead of "you" and my uncle says "heya" (one syllable) instead of "here". I'd also say "flour" the same way as those people, too. I also pick up the accent when I'm ordering people around or upset.
2018... im 34 and from southern West Virginia... and I say a lot of these things!!!! People always commenting on my accent. Here it still varies from county to county. Im fine with my accent :)
I was born and raised in California but my parents are both from Kanawha county. My mom from Charleston and my Dad from Sissonville. My moms family scattered to California and Oregon and my Fathers is still Sissonville accept my uncle Bob and a couple cousins who landed in Florida. My Dad followed my mom. Less than 10 of us were born here in California myself amongst them and even less were born in Oregon. My childhood is riddled with hill culture and the Appalachian accent was my first accent. I didn't know California culture til I was in grade school and the other children were mean about the way I spoke until I learned partly through practice to change it. It took til 9th grade. I don't think my three brothers got the same treatment though. Probably because they were boys. I still remember my two much older brothers making fun of me and saying I talked like the queen of England when I was only a toddler. In hindsight they probably thought it was cute. People still ask where I'm from, my brothers too, and even my kids who were raised close to my parents. I don't get it and its vastly different from the way my family speaks but hearing the accent and speak is like coming home. Its incredibly comforting.
I grew up in Kansas, and I remember hearing the word "si-gogglin.'" I think Coke was called "dope" because in the early 1900s, it contained cocaine, and delivered a real boost.
Born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina in a little place called Jefferson. So proud of my heritage and saddened that a little piece of it disappears every day. The state of the world today makes me want to crawl back into the hollers back home. We all took care of each other back then and looked out for one another. Today the world done went plumb crazy. Love all my mountain brothers and sisters. Bless you all.
I've left Kentucky a while back, and I've come a long way in life, and earned a more prosperous living for my kids here in central MN, not saying better necessarily, but more prosperous, and will probably serve them better in many ways. I will never forget where my roots are though, and I will always admire these folks that came before me.
>Go up north >Waitress asks what you want to drink >Tell her you want a coke >She comes back with a Coca Cola WTF?! I said I wanted a coke and you didn't even ask what kind! I wanted a Dr. Pepper.
I’m from the southeastern Appalachian mountain of Hazard Ky . I’m a southern woman with a deep southern dialect. People may mistake my dialect for ignorance and I have to laugh at them because their very surprised when I tell them I have a Maters degree of education. Most southern people are survivors and very intelligent. Best people in the world the southern hospitality is just awesome. Here is where I wanted my children to be brought up and taught the Appalachian culture!
Love that part of North Carolina. It's beautiful and the people are great. Always enjoy exploring the little towns around there and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I'm from north Louisiana, and it's so interesting to me how familiar a lot of the words discussed are to me. Love stories like this about how language and culture disseminate and evolve over time!
My mommas people were mountain people. I've never been there but I hear I'm like them, and they were very talented people who raised gardens and play any musical instrument.
I from southern Ohio. Our cities are odd. A lot of people came here from Eastern Kentucky. (My family included). Our white sections of cities are like urban Appalachia. This doc reminds me of my neighborhood. Basically it’s like Appalachia with everyone on top of each other and a lot less hills. I routinely get asked if I’m from Kentucky cause of how I talk and act. It’s kinda funny.
I love these people , i feel kinda related to them some way though we don't even live on the same continent but still they are so familiar to me . Good people with good hearts and beautiful beautiful accent god bless them and bless Applachia
Brilliant, many thanks. Here in the UK luckily we still have a wide variety of regional accents (and separate languages - various forms of Gaelic, Scots, Iris Welsh, Cornish), the phrases of which and terms many of the participants in this documentary would recognise, particularly some of the Irish and Scots ways of expression, historically the same people manipulated by the English really!. Thankfully the notion that regional accents and different words for things is wrong and to be prohibited is losing ground.
I am living in North Georgia carrying on these same traditions and language today; working hard, being honest, and grateful. Still cannin' and puttin' up vegetables grown from the earth that has the ability to sustain life. I still prefer Bluegrass music and buck dancing to night clubbin'. Simple life does not mean easy life, or simple mind. Thank you Lord for planting me in these here hills. No matter where I my go, I will never outgrow my roots.
It would be so wonderful to be able to live among these people for a time. As the one gentleman said, long enough to know a little more about them. I doubt most Americans could survive what they have for the century/ies. What a people. To said to think that we may be losing part of the country that we really never knew we had. I hope to find other documentaries along this same line. I enjoyed it very much.
well i am from the north , born and raised here , but my mom and dad from tenn , very close to north carolina and i wouldn't trade a southerners little finger for a northerners , easterners or westerners whole body. best folk i have ever been around were all from the south.
I was born in California, but from parents of the Ozarks... ha ha ha, I have their accent, and people always ask me where I’m from!, I’m 61,so I don’t think I’ll ever get that ‘valley girl’ talk down,.,, oh well.
Hey Debra, I'm also 61! I lived in Cali for a while and the whole time I was kind of amazed at how well my accent (Kentucky) was received. Back in my home area anyone north of the Ohio river thought of us as sub human but the rest of the country doesn't still hold the Civil War grudge.
Christ, I know that, you know that, but most people in the U.S. lump all southerners into the same category because all they hear is the accent. If you are unaware of that it is almost certain you are not from the south.
The honesty in the music transcends mere words . That old lady at 35:27 sings as sweet as an angel . Thank you people for your generous and important contribution , that is EASILY as important as any genre , classical too . Just my opinion . Don't crucify me .
Some of the older people say "worsh" and "winder" (for window), and a lot of the stereotypical stuff to be honest. Some of the language is changing as the area is being modernized, but there's a lot of the old speech still thriving. I've got family that say poke for bag. "Taking a notion" is common in my area of the Appalachians, which basically means "if I feel like it", everyone says "I reckon" and kids are always "younguns". Good people, even if we sound a bit funny. I've lost a lot of my accent and dialect since we moved to south Ohio 20 years ago, but to most of the people around here, I sound as much like a hillbilly as anyone.
The best part is, the vast majority of people where I'm from CAN speak "proper" American English, but we'd rather speak a more relaxed, less formal version that we grew up with. Like one of the older men in this video said, it's more like singing than talking. It's a distinct rhythm that you won't find (definitely not in the States) almost anywhere. There is a cadence to it, and if it's worth saying, it's worth putting some soul into it. That's exactly what mountain talk is; soulful rhythmic speaking- my only living grandparent speaks almost illegibly to most people, but his rhythm and cadence is smooth and thoughtful. He puts a lot of effort into what he says, and when he says it, he means it. The owner of the company I work at is Nova Scotian, and he definitely has a distinct accent and dialect, though he's kind of Americanized after being here so long, I can still hear it, and I encourage him to speak as he would in Dartmouth. I can understand him. :D
very similar to my grandparents ,my nana was from Wales and Grandad from Lancershire they came from hug families and had to work hard really hard ,they imagrated to New Zealand but brought their culture with them its what i grew up with the singing and storytelling,grandad was a carpenter and was amazing ,nana made all her kids clothes and knitted jumpers for grandad out of huge spools of carpet wool ,i treasure my childhood with them x
great video..im from north east tenn..we talk just like this but it can change from one end of the creek to the other,or one holler to the next..people underestimate us & dont understand our way of life..they think because we talk slow we are slow minded..we definitely need more jobs but i hope most of our way of life stays the same..thanks for the video
I just posted this on FB. People come to see the leaves change and stay here because it's not as hot in the summer-- just a lot of tourists. They make fun of people around here. Pisses me off... My cousin has a sticker on his truck that reads "Since it's tourist season- Can we shoot 'em?" -- LOL....... I AM glad to see them go, mostly.
Maze In my 20s I spent a lot of time in Sumter, South Carolina (middle of nowhere). There are many differences compared to where I'm from- being NYS, but I think it's wonderful. I find the majority of southerners to be hard workers, intelligent and polite. I appreciate how they don't just throw away their heritage, traditions and culture. People in cities and suburbs around the country need to take note... slow down, enjoy life and be proud of your heritage. This is what makes tightknit communities where one doesn't have to lock their doors and worry about thieves, rapists and murderers.
I’m from Oklahoma, born and raised, and I lived in Floyd County Kentucky for a few years. I have nothing but love and respect for these people and their culture. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb while I was there, even though a lot of their expressions are used in Oklahoma as well. Decent, hard working, God fearing folks there. Much love to you all!
I love this 'homey' talk, and it is not just the Appalachians, I lived all my life in Oklahoma and some in Texas. When I moved north to Nebraska, and then onto Idaho, people kind of made fun of my accent and I thought they had a very cold, sparce speech. On my move back to Oklahoma, I picked up the first sounds of the friendly south on a Wichita, Kansas radio station and I knew I was close to home and my people again. Loved this documentary.
By idiots, maybe. Or people who only know the South through pop culture and bias. As a yankee, I have my opinion on the political and educational views, but person to person, you can't meet better or more real people than yours.
I've been to NYC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, and more but mostly people would say they liked my accent and asked where I was from. Some even got NC without me telling them, which surprised me.
I remember as a kid staying with my grandmother. She had no TV, radio or indoor plumbing. She did have a few electric ceiling lights and a couple electric kitchen things, a little refrigerator and a record player that was a gift. There was a long handle water pump a few feet from the back door. There was a coal stove in the living room that heated the entire house. Someone in the family replaced it with a fuel oil stove in the 60s. She loved records by the Chuck Wagon Gang. My dad was in the Army so I had lived all over the place. She talked a lot like the people on this show. I didn’t and neither did my parents. I was always intrigued by her country expressions. I really liked this program. It brought back good memories. Poke, tote, dope. I heard all those, but not at my own home.
You folks are my kind of people, I am from The Moutain State West Virginia and I hear a lot of folks around my area talk somewhat like you guys and I love it. I am just a simple God-fearing country girl from the hills of West Virginia, I was born that way and I will die that way. We have been called hillbillies rednecks ridge runners and I do not let those things bother me I am what Father God made me to be and that's just fine by me. Outsiders will never understand Mountain Folks.
I’m a mountain man from the hills of western NC. You are right. We are proud of our heritage and take all those so called “insults” as badges of honor. We will survive when others perish because we are independent and resourceful. Much love to you and yours.
this is how all my people talk and the guy at 3:52 is exactly how my aunt suzy talks w/ that same grin on her face! i was raised in the north but end up catching their accents whenever i'm around them.
Jenny Lee Im from Knox Co Ky and we sound real close to these folks. But, you can drive an hour in any direction and it sound different there. I moved to lexington years ago but even in the gettho they know by my sound im "country". Im okay with that too! I think highly of my peoples. We do have irish in us.
HI NESSA! Where are you, I live on Augusta off of Bryan Station. I have numerous kin that live all around the state. I'm happy to hear from you neighbor:)
Born and raised in Eastern NC. We also used many of the same words-carrying the same tones, inflections, and dialect. Of course we had other words (“nigh ‘bout” which means you are about to do something or as a reference to time. We do mostly pronounce the letter “I” which I never noticed until I moved to NW Georgia where the I is pronounced as a soft “a” (Ex. NC would say “whIte rIce”, Ga would say “what raaaaase.” Different parts of the county sounded a bit different. And a little farther away (about an hour from my home) -Harker’s Island has a truly interesting accent. It’s been said they speak “The Queens English.” I’ll have to search to see if they a video as well. The residents there are called High Tiders” (which is pronounced HOI Tiders) And NC locals eat: Nabs and Pepsi (and Pepsi products, we put peanuts in our Pepsi’s, suckers not lollipops, Moonpies and RC’s. Last, we eat chicken and pastry and collards with dumplings. The difference is pastry is made with flour and dumplings are made with cornmeal.
What part of Eastern NC? My family hails from near Kinston and pink hill area... Chicken and pastry with thin crispy cornbread will always be the best meal on earth!!
@Grayson Byrd , I once visited my friend's home in New Bern , N.C. where his mother proudly served boiled okra. EVERYTHING else was fried. Eating that okra was like trying to swallow snot ! My first and last time to ever eat okra . No ma'mam , I'm full . I don't need a second helping . I might have room for another piece of that fried chicken tho' .
I'm from Western NC. I make dumplings out of flour. When I was near Fayetteville, everyone would fix chicken and pastry...but chicken and pastry isn't mentioned often in the mountains
But it isn't just straight 'southern'. My grandmother's family is from very near Maggie Valley and I know this speech well and it is different from the way we all sound here now. Still southern, but unique too.
Thank you very much for this video. I use to study dialects when I was young and at college. In northern illinois where I grew up, you need only go a few miles north or south and could hear a difference in the way people speak. This was in the late 40's and 50's. Now, of course, the language has become all but completely homogenized. I miss the wonderful, colorful speech patterns and expressions of my grandparents and watching this story reminded me of theirs.
Thank you for posting this video. After my pepaw from Frank, WV died, I watch this movie every year or so just to hear his voice. None of his kids talk like he did.
I’d take good ol southern Mt folk any day over what I see up North and in the big cities. I fit right in being from central Alabama. Plus my family came from Scotland to Virginia, to Tennessee on to Alabama. I could tell you 80% of what they say.
I appreciate this video. it gives a nice clear picture of the differences in speech and why it came to be. I dated a person whose mother was from the mountains of Tennessee, she had a common sense type of wisdom instead of book smarts. His dad had a deep rich singing voices that reminded me of Elvis P . I have noticed southern and mountain speakers often have a very natural singing ability.
