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The '''Tidewater accent''', also known as '''Tidewater English''', '''Tidewater Dialect''' or the '''Chesapeake Accent''', is a specific ] of ]. While the dialect is said to have roots up and down the eastern seaboard, it is primarily concentrated in the southeastern part of ], otherwise known as the ]. This region consists of the ], parts of the ] of ], and parts of the eastern shore of ], ], and Southern ]. |
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<ref></ref>The '''Tidewater accent''', also known as '''Tidewater English''', '''Tidewater Dialect''' or the '''Chesapeake Accent''', is a specific ] of ]. While the dialect is said to have roots up and down the eastern seaboard, it is primarily concentrated in the southeastern part of ], otherwise known as the ]. This region consists of the ], parts of the ] of ], and parts of the eastern shore of ], ], and Southern ]. |
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==History== |
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==History== |
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Another traditional feature of the area is the use of {{IPA-en|əʊ|}} for {{IPA-en|aʊ|}}.<ref name=Wolfram330>Wolfram (2006), p. 330</ref> For example, words such as "house" and "about" may be heard as "hoose" and "abote" respectively in the Tidewater area. Given that there are over 2.8 million people in the area,<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2012}}</ref> it is difficult to account for all variants. Also, the area is home to several large military bases such as ], Little Creek Amphibious Base, Oceana Naval Station, and Dam Neck Naval Base. Since a significant portion of the area's inhabitants are actually natives of other areas, there is constant linguistic exposure to other dialects. This exposure could be a reason why the younger generations do not exhibit as many of the traditional variants. These variants can, however, still be found in the youth of the more rural areas of Tidewater as well as many of the adults throughout the Tidewater region. |
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Another traditional feature of the area is the use of {{IPA-en|əʊ|}} for {{IPA-en|aʊ|}}.<ref name=Wolfram330>Wolfram (2006), p. 330</ref> For example, words such as "house" and "about" may be heard as "hoose" and "abote" respectively in the Tidewater area. Given that there are over 2.8 million people in the area,<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2012}}</ref> it is difficult to account for all variants. Also, the area is home to several large military bases such as ], Little Creek Amphibious Base, Oceana Naval Station, and Dam Neck Naval Base. Since a significant portion of the area's inhabitants are actually natives of other areas, there is constant linguistic exposure to other dialects. This exposure could be a reason why the younger generations do not exhibit as many of the traditional variants. These variants can, however, still be found in the youth of the more rural areas of Tidewater as well as many of the adults throughout the Tidewater region. |
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Recent Tidewater-originated terms include "wic spot" or "wikkies," referencing ] fast food chain. The linguistic history of these terms is complicated, but their origins are traced to "WacArnold's," from ], which gradually devolved into wic spot and, subsequently, wikkies. Other terms formulated and perfected by a former Tidewater resident include "clown" (used to describe not an actual ] but someone irritating, undesireable, or foolish. It can also be used to describe anyone in general for any reason) and "silly" (also "sills," used to describe something that's cool, a good idea, a good choice, somebody who's not a clown, and almost anything else that is positive). |
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<ref>Recent Tidewater-originated terms include "wic spot" or "wikkies," referencing ] fast food chain. The linguistic history of these terms is complicated, but their origins are traced to "WacArnold's," from ], which gradually devolved into wic spot and, subsequently, wikkies. Other terms formulated and perfected by a former Tidewater resident include "clown" (used to describe not an actual ] but someone irritating, undesireable, or foolish. It can also be used to describe anyone in general for any reason) and "silly" (also "sills," used to describe something that's cool, a good idea, a good choice, somebody who's not a clown, and almost anything else that is positive).<ref> |
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==Current projects== |
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==Current projects== |
This dialect of American English has evolved over a period of four hundred years from the English that was spoken by those who initially settled the area. Given that language is an entity that is constantly changing, it is accurate to say that the English of the colonists was much different than any variety of English being spoken today. The colonists who initially settled the Tidewater area spoke a variety of English known as Early Modern English. (This is not to be confused with the form of English spoken today known as Modern English or Present-Day English, or with the English of Chaucer, which is Middle English.) Even within Early Modern English, there was immense variation among its speakers. This variation could have been due to several factors such as geographic location, social class, age, race, etc. within England itself. (Think of comparing an urban speaker from the Bronx and a rural speaker from Alabama. Both are clearly from very different geographic locations with very different linguistic influences and thus will have very different linguistic properties in their speech.)
While the dialect of the region has evolved and changed over time, it is worth noting a distinct other in the group. The dialect of the small isolated island of Tangier in the Chesapeake Bay is significantly unique in that it seems relatively untouched by linguistic evolution. It has been hypothesized that this dialect is the closest resemblance there is to the dialect of the original colonists. Twelve miles from mainland Virginia, this tiny island was discovered in 1608 by Captain John Smith; the island has always had a very low population. In 1800, the island had 79 inhabitants. It ballooned to 411 by 1860. The population peaked in 1930 at 1190, but has since dwindled back down to 604 in the 2000 census Given the island's geographic isolation and the fact that the island's population never really grew to a large number, the community was able to retain a significant amount of its native dialect.
