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By LYT WOOD
Rappahannock N.-w« Special » rilcr
“You wasn’t skeered, was you?”
“Hit won’t make no nevermind to me.”
I have heard similar phrases many times in the Blue Ridge Mountains. These are examples of nonstandard English, unacceptable in the classroom and strange sounding to many of us.
At the same time, the Southern Appalachian manner of speaking is accurate, colorful and—in a sense—proper. “The worst you can say about it is that it’s antique," said Wylene Dial.
Mrs. Dial was our lecturer at Davis and Elkins College for part of the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop. Her lecture was a fascinating overview of the origins of Appalachian dialects and cultural traits. A long time resident of West Virginia mountain country, Mrs. Dial is a former schoolteacher and 4-H Agent, now employed by the West Virginia University.
“Appalachian speech did not originate here," she told us. “Our people are talkirv, the way they knew how to talk when they came here in the time of the settlements. Just about every., piece you can find of so-called bad grammar turns out to be perfectly acceptable Elizabethan grammar."
She cited George Washington as an example that brought things close to home for me. “Our only resident lord was Lord Fairfax,” she said. “Some of his kinfolk ran his estate here in this country. George Washington married one of his girls. He (Washington) felt comfortable with these people."
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