Chapter 31 Further Reading: Language, Dialect, and the Politics of How You Sound

Wolfram, Walt, and Donna Christian. Appalachian Speech. Arlington, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1976. The foundational academic study of Appalachian English, written by two of the leading sociolinguists of their generation. Wolfram and Christian provide rigorous, data-driven descriptions of the phonological, grammatical, and lexical features of Appalachian speech, placing them in historical and social context. The book established the scientific case that Appalachian English is a legitimate, rule-governed dialect, and it remains essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the linguistic facts behind the cultural politics.

Montgomery, Michael. "The Scotch-Irish Element in Appalachian English: How Broad? How Deep?" In Ulster and North America: Transatlantic Perspectives on the Scotch-Irish, edited by H. Tyler Blethen and Curtis W. Wood Jr., 189-212. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997. A scholarly examination of the specific Scots-Irish linguistic features that have been preserved in Appalachian English, including double modals, vocabulary items, and phonological patterns. Montgomery is one of the foremost authorities on the relationship between Scots-Irish migration and Appalachian dialect, and this essay provides the historical linguistic evidence that Chapter 31 summarizes. Accessible to non-specialists with some linguistics background.

Montgomery, Michael, and Joseph S. Hall. Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004. A remarkable compendium of the vocabulary of the southern Appalachian mountains, based on decades of fieldwork by Joseph S. Hall (whose research began in the 1930s) and completed and edited by Michael Montgomery. The dictionary documents thousands of words and expressions, with citations from oral speech, historical sources, and comparative dialect materials. An indispensable reference for anyone interested in the richness of Appalachian vocabulary and the historical connections that underlie it.

Wolfram, Walt, and Natalie Schilling. American English: Dialects and Variation. 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. The standard textbook on American English dialect variation, co-authored by Walt Wolfram. Provides the theoretical framework for understanding what dialects are, how they form, and why some are stigmatized while others are not. Includes specific discussion of Appalachian English within the broader context of American dialect diversity. Essential for students who want to move from the specific Appalachian case to the general principles of sociolinguistics.

Lippi-Green, Rosina. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. A powerful and accessible analysis of how accent-based discrimination works in American society — in the courtroom, the classroom, the workplace, and the media. Lippi-Green demonstrates that linguistic discrimination is systematic, measurable, and consequential, and she provides the theoretical framework for understanding why it persists. Her analysis of how Disney films use accent to code characters as intelligent or stupid, trustworthy or villainous, is particularly memorable. Essential background for the accent-as-class-marker discussion in Chapter 31.

Hazen, Kirk, and Sarah Hamilton Fluharty. "Defining Appalachian English." In Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community, edited by Amy D. Clark and Nancy M. Hayward, 1-28. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. A concise, up-to-date overview of what linguists know about Appalachian English — its features, its historical roots, and its current status. Part of the excellent Talking Appalachian anthology, which collects scholarly and personal essays on language and identity in the Appalachian region. The anthology as a whole is the best single-volume introduction to the intersection of linguistics and Appalachian identity.

Clark, Amy D., and Nancy M. Hayward, eds. Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. An anthology that brings together linguists, educators, writers, and community members to explore the relationship between language and identity in Appalachia. Essays range from technical linguistic analysis to personal narratives of code-switching and language shame. Particularly valuable for its inclusion of voices from within the Appalachian community alongside academic analysis. The most comprehensive collection on the topic and an excellent companion to Chapter 31.

Dunaway, Wilma A. The First American Frontier: Transition to Capitalism in Southern Appalachia, 1700-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. While not primarily about language, Dunaway's study of the settlement and economic development of the Appalachian frontier provides essential historical context for understanding why the region developed distinctive speech patterns. Her account of settlement patterns, trade networks, and the relative isolation of mountain communities helps explain the conditions under which Scots-Irish linguistic features were preserved.

Labov, William. The Social Stratification of English in New York City. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Labov's landmark study of dialect variation in New York City is the foundational work of modern sociolinguistics. While focused on New York rather than Appalachia, the theoretical framework Labov developed — showing that dialect features are systematically correlated with social class, and that linguistic variation is not random but patterned — is directly relevant to understanding the social dynamics of Appalachian English. Essential background reading for the serious student.

Documentary: Mountain Talk. Directed by Neal Hutcheson. North Carolina Language and Life Project, 2004. A documentary produced by Walt Wolfram's North Carolina Language and Life Project that examines the dialects of the Appalachian mountains, combining linguistic analysis with the voices of mountain speakers talking about their own language. The film is a model of what Wolfram calls "sociolinguistic gratuity" — research that gives back to the community it studies. Engaging, informative, and respectful, it is an excellent companion to Chapter 31's discussion of Appalachian speech. Available through the Language and Life Project website (languageandlife.org).

Johnstone, Barbara. Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. A study of the dialect of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — a city at the northern edge of Appalachia whose speech patterns share some features with Appalachian English while diverging in others. Johnstone's analysis of how Pittsburghers relate to their own dialect — the pride, the shame, the commodification of "Pittsburghese" as a local brand — provides a useful comparative case for understanding the politics of dialect identity in the broader Appalachian region.

Preston, Dennis R. "Where the Worst English Is Spoken." In Focus on the USA, edited by Edgar W. Schneider, 297-360. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1996. Preston's influential study of Americans' perceptions of regional dialects demonstrates that Americans consistently rank Southern and Appalachian English as the "worst" or "most incorrect" varieties of English — even when they cannot explain what makes these varieties linguistically inferior. The study provides the empirical foundation for Chapter 31's argument that the stigma attached to Appalachian English is a social phenomenon, not a linguistic one.