Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (21) View all

Dialect

  • wcu_kephart-251.jpg
  • Research notes for ''Our Southern Highlanders.'' Referenced on page 353: ''The true mountain dialect is spoken consistently by only the old people, the penned-at-home women, and the illiterates in 'way-back' places. Schools are teaching modern speech to the children, although not abruptly, for the mountain school teachers, as a rule are poorly educated themselves.'' Referenced on page 353: ''Here is where dialect writers are prone to stumble: they make their characters use dialect too consistently.'' Referenced on page 350: ''`Why that feller don't know how to spell!'''