LOC: American English dialects online

Subject: LOC: American English dialects online
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 12:13 PM

The American Folklife Center recently released an American Memory website featuring samples of North American English dialects: American English Dialect Recordings, The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection.

(Got the tip via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/americanfolklifecenter -- if you're on, this is a fun "friend" to have.)

Sure wish there was something comparable for the British Isles.

~ Becky in Long Beach

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 12:19 PM

(LOC, as in Library of Congress)

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 01:35 PM

THANK YOU! I am really enjoying listening to a fellah who sounds a lot like my dad, similar experiences, even. What a precious treasure!

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 02:47 PM

Becky,

Sure wish there was something comparable for the British Isles.

These may be of some interest:

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/europe/england/england.htm
http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_maps/europe.php


Gibb

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 02:53 PM

Great! Thanks, Gibb!

~ Becky in Long Beach

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 03:15 PM

How very neat, Gibb, thanks from me, too! I am definitely going to "Call Stella" with that shopping list!*smile*

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: Kent Davis
Date: 10 Sep 10 - 10:07 PM

Thank you, Desert Dancer, for the link.

As I browsed through the recordings, I was shocked to hear one of the subjects mention going coon hunting with two of my grandfather's friends, and going grouse hunting on my great-great-uncle's land. Some detective work confirmed that the anonymous subject was a man named Oke Mills, from Lashmeet, WV. He has been dead for about 25 years, as has my grandfather, but my mother remembers him and his family, and remembers the other men who went on the coon hunt. The recording is #13 here: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/afccalbib:@field(SUBJ+@od1(United+States+of+America--West+Virginia--))

You made our day and brought back a lot of memories. Thanks again.

Kent

P.S. The transcript of the interview has some misspelled names which would probably defeat any attempt by the the descendants of these men to use a search engine to find that site. For their sake, indulge me for including their correctly spelled names. The men were Jack Porter, Paul Snead, and E.S. Hurst. The community was Lashmeet (not Ashmeade), and my great-great-uncle was Conrad "Bud" Huffman. Thank you.

Subject: RE: LOC: American English dialects online
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Sep 10 - 10:51 PM

Wow, Kent, that is really neat! Talk about ghosts from the past!