West Virginia 3

Listen to West Virginia 3, a man in his 50s from Crab Orchard, West Virginia, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

Both as a courtesy and to comply with copyright law, please remember to credit IDEA for direct or indirect use of samples.  IDEA is a free resource; please consider supporting us.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 50s

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 1940s

PLACE OF BIRTH: Crab Orchard, West Virginia

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: coal miner, auto sales

EDUCATION: high school

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject spent some time overseas during his father’s military assignments.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Lynn Watson

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2000

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

This is a story about when I first started in the coal mines. I was 18 years old, and I was excited about going in the coal mines. Because at the time, that was the biggest-paying job in that area, and I was excited about being one of the big wheels, making big money. That’s what they call, when you make a lot of money; they call it big money. So, I went in the coal mines, and it’s not like it is now where they they put in you have to have somebody with you all times. Then, they put you up in the face area, and they left you by yourself, and you had to shovel, and that was to prove to them that you could do the work. Well, I had never heard the top work or do what they call “bump”; that’s when the mountain settles and it just puts out a big bump; and about the third time I heard it, I had never seen anybody all night long. I went by the electricians; they said I was about two foot off the ground [laugh] when I run by ’em, I was goin’ so fast. But, it’s uhh, it was an experience; it started like in January 13, 1967, and I was in the coal mines until about six months ago, and this is 2000. So quite a time in the coal mines.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Toshimi Hironaka

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 03/2005

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The subject is the son of West Virginia 1 and West Virginia 2. Note [I] for [E]. [aI] shifts back towards [A] but is more closed. There is a general diphthongization of vowel sounds, [oU] to [@oU] and [O] to [AU]. Lip rounding and oral space are diminished, and there is a general centralization of vowels. Strong nasal resonance and strong “r-coloring” are characteristic of the dialect. Lastly, note some dropping of syllables and final consonants, e.g., “ole” for “old,” and “‘lectricians” for “electricians.”

COMMENTARY BY: Lynn Watson

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2000

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.
• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.
• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.
• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

 

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.