There was a time when Appalachian mountain language was heard only on the Beverly Hillbillies. Academics occasionally claim to have found people living in mountain hollows so isolated that the people there still speak Chaucerian English.
Professor Michael Montgomery, who is something of a “linguister” in his own right, goes a long way towards clearing away these cartoons and misconceptions. He has compiled Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English; carefully checking and re-checking definition and pronunciations that sometimes have him following the trail of words hundreds of years and thousands of miles back to their roots in Scotland and Ireland. The distinctive dialect of Appalachia reflects the history of the people and their own words for the natural world.
Guests:
Michael Montgomery, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of South Carolina
Chris Offutt, Kentucky-born writer, author of “No Heroes: A Memoir of Coming Home.”