Help with NC study project (King, Harkers Island: to live in, military, versus)

[studyNC]

Hi everyone,


I need your help with a project of mine: I am from Germany studying English and at the moment I am writing my thesis.


I used to live in North Carolina for a year and since then I've been there quite often. I really loved being there, still do, that's why I decided to use North Carolina for my study project. My thesis is about regional dialects. I want to compare the language from Texas and North Carolina and therfore I am looking for a few people to fill out a questionnaire.


The questionnaire is 4 pages long and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. It's about the gut feeling and no grammar test. Especially, I am looking for people who live in the mountains or in the coastal area. I managed to get in contact with a lot of people from the Piedmont area, but if you are interested, your help is more than welcome.


If you're interested just send me a message. Thank you so much for your help!

[macjr82]

I'd help yo outbut I don't think my accent is pure Carolina. Though I lived in coastal NC for most of ym life, I have spent 3 years in Portland, Oregon, 3 years in Fredericksburg, VA, and a year in Alabama. Also the area of the coast I grew up on from has a high transplant population due to the military.

One thing I have noticed, about the dialect on the coast versus the ones further west is how fast we talk. People on the coast of NC tend talk to real fast with the worst ones sounding like boomhauer off King of the Hill. The piedmont, accent aside, cadence is more standard. While out west towards the mountains you more often find the typical drawn out southern drawl.

There's even pockets of other dialects:
Harkers Island, North Carolina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linguists recognize about 5 dialects in NC

[Francois]

Originally Posted by macjr82

While out west towards the mountains you more often find the typical drawn out southern drawl.

Actually the mountain accent is an "Appalachian" accent, not at all like a "typical Southern 'drawl'" (though I find 'drawl' derogatory). Mountain talk is "hillbilly" (to use more derogatory slang) that still retains a lot of Scottish influence, while what's known as the "drawl" is a flatlander dialect.

[macjr82]

The people I know from the asheville area, seem to draw out there words more, compared to people from the piedmont and definitely the coast. To me it sounds like people from Tennessee and Georgia.

[Southlander]

Lots of Texans are descended from North Carolinians who migrated there.

[studyNC]

Hey,

And thanks for all the replies. North Carolina is really interesting when it comes to dialects. I am hoping to contribute something, but that really depends on my project.