Shh shh everybody, I’m watching my stories! Honestly, data collection and analysis is my favorite and I’m so glad VT collaborated to help make sense of it all!!
I grew up in Allegany County, MD; and I'm fascinated that it's like this little grey blob right on the edge of blue and brown zones. I live in Chicago now, and have some strong feelings about regional stereotypes, but it does feel like that spot is a weird little outlier in ways I can never quite put my finger on. I'm never quite sure how to explain my relationship to Appalachia to people because, franky, "it's complicated." Like I'm not really "rural" enough to be a proper Appalachian, but I'm close enough to pass for it to outsiders. And I have no idea where my weird, eliding high-speed twanging comes from, but it must've come from somewhere, right? A strange man from a strange place.
And to clarify, I'm quite sure I grew up on "lay" pronunciation. As an adult in Chicago, I've started sliding more into "latch" as a show of regional respect and solidarity, but it feels like an affectation because I do not recall using that pronunciation growing up.
I feel the same way, and I moved from northern to central Appalachia more than 2 decades ago! I do it because people here will run me out with pitchforks if I don't, but considering I've never lost many of my other pronunciations and Great Lakes-ish accent features, it feels weird
I remember hearing a wag in seminary (he was from TN) saying "If you call it Appa-LAY-sha we'll throw an apple atcha!" and I was a bit offended because I was still using the lay pronunciation and was reasonably persuaded that western Maryland was safely in bounds of Appalachia.
Since then I've gotten a bit more nuanced and, oddly, the "latch" pronunciation comes more naturally to me. I code switch unconsciously and don't have strong feelings about it. I think one rule for me is not to be a jerk to people over the way they pronounce words. And I think where I grew up was - obliviously - right on the bleeding edge of a border zone.
After hearing the word pronounced as locals would have it--latch--I've changed and so have my relatives. I'm in my late 70s and a 5th generation Seattle area Pac Northwesterner from a family of backwoods loggers. We didn't say "latch" but we didn't say "laysh" either. Our form, which goes back at least to 1881, was "laych." Like Apple lay chia, middle syllable emphasized.
PS--it annoys me when newbies try to correct my pronunciation of locally originated forms, too. For example, the name of the airplane company is Boeings. The name of the clothing store is Nordstrom's. The latter corp. (a Seattle native) even told local TV broadcasters to quit using the possessive or plural or whatever other reason we do that "s".
Checking in from Forsyth County, NC. From what I’d gather, the more urban counties of Appalachia have influx populations from outside of the Appalachia. That would skew the pronunciation to “Lay” — but I as a “native” to this area I will say “LATCHA” till my dying breath.
While reading this piece I used the “latch” pronunciation every time I saw the word, as I have done for years since I learned that was the pronunciation that was common in the area. However, when you mentioned the geography, I realized I still use “lay” when I talk about the trail. I’m a language nerd. I love these studies.
Born and raised in East Tennessee, bordered by VA and NC. I’ve been told by multiple ppl to “ never loose that accent” 😁 I’ve also been mistaken at least 3x as being from Australia…thinking that’s from living in SC for 13yrs. We say Latch in that lil area of TN
My family were among the original settlers in Valle Crucis, NC in the 1700s so I am one of those who has a very strong opinion about LATCH being the correct pronunciation. Plus, i can't imagine telling Appalachian State University with 20,000 students and 190 million in endowments that they dont know how to pronounce their own name correctly. Looking forward to the rest of the series and thank you for writing it!
Shh shh everybody, I’m watching my stories! Honestly, data collection and analysis is my favorite and I’m so glad VT collaborated to help make sense of it all!!
I thank you. Living in Ohio, coming from many places south and west, I smile every time someone comments on my accent. Hahahaha
I grew up in Allegany County, MD; and I'm fascinated that it's like this little grey blob right on the edge of blue and brown zones. I live in Chicago now, and have some strong feelings about regional stereotypes, but it does feel like that spot is a weird little outlier in ways I can never quite put my finger on. I'm never quite sure how to explain my relationship to Appalachia to people because, franky, "it's complicated." Like I'm not really "rural" enough to be a proper Appalachian, but I'm close enough to pass for it to outsiders. And I have no idea where my weird, eliding high-speed twanging comes from, but it must've come from somewhere, right? A strange man from a strange place.
And to clarify, I'm quite sure I grew up on "lay" pronunciation. As an adult in Chicago, I've started sliding more into "latch" as a show of regional respect and solidarity, but it feels like an affectation because I do not recall using that pronunciation growing up.
I feel the same way, and I moved from northern to central Appalachia more than 2 decades ago! I do it because people here will run me out with pitchforks if I don't, but considering I've never lost many of my other pronunciations and Great Lakes-ish accent features, it feels weird
I remember hearing a wag in seminary (he was from TN) saying "If you call it Appa-LAY-sha we'll throw an apple atcha!" and I was a bit offended because I was still using the lay pronunciation and was reasonably persuaded that western Maryland was safely in bounds of Appalachia.
Since then I've gotten a bit more nuanced and, oddly, the "latch" pronunciation comes more naturally to me. I code switch unconsciously and don't have strong feelings about it. I think one rule for me is not to be a jerk to people over the way they pronounce words. And I think where I grew up was - obliviously - right on the bleeding edge of a border zone.
"I think one rule for me is not to be a jerk to people over the way they pronounce words" -- well said!
After hearing the word pronounced as locals would have it--latch--I've changed and so have my relatives. I'm in my late 70s and a 5th generation Seattle area Pac Northwesterner from a family of backwoods loggers. We didn't say "latch" but we didn't say "laysh" either. Our form, which goes back at least to 1881, was "laych." Like Apple lay chia, middle syllable emphasized.
PS--it annoys me when newbies try to correct my pronunciation of locally originated forms, too. For example, the name of the airplane company is Boeings. The name of the clothing store is Nordstrom's. The latter corp. (a Seattle native) even told local TV broadcasters to quit using the possessive or plural or whatever other reason we do that "s".
Checking in from Forsyth County, NC. From what I’d gather, the more urban counties of Appalachia have influx populations from outside of the Appalachia. That would skew the pronunciation to “Lay” — but I as a “native” to this area I will say “LATCHA” till my dying breath.
While reading this piece I used the “latch” pronunciation every time I saw the word, as I have done for years since I learned that was the pronunciation that was common in the area. However, when you mentioned the geography, I realized I still use “lay” when I talk about the trail. I’m a language nerd. I love these studies.
part 2 will discuss how people pronounce the two differently! It’ll probably be our next week
Reading this and now I can't remember how I naturally pronounce Appalachia 🧍 Great work, this is really cool research!
(I pronounce it Appa-laych-uh. So somewhere weirdly in the middle?)
Being hatch and brung up in Central Massachusetts, and have been all over the East Coast, I say App•uh•lay•shuh.
Great work!
Born and raised in East Tennessee, bordered by VA and NC. I’ve been told by multiple ppl to “ never loose that accent” 😁 I’ve also been mistaken at least 3x as being from Australia…thinking that’s from living in SC for 13yrs. We say Latch in that lil area of TN
My family were among the original settlers in Valle Crucis, NC in the 1700s so I am one of those who has a very strong opinion about LATCH being the correct pronunciation. Plus, i can't imagine telling Appalachian State University with 20,000 students and 190 million in endowments that they dont know how to pronounce their own name correctly. Looking forward to the rest of the series and thank you for writing it!
Fascinating. I had only heard LAY until I started listening to folk music a few years ago.