Sounds of the Commonwealth
I spent the day out on the Mattaponi Indian Reservation repairing rotted walls and floor joists in the house of Chief Webster “Little Eagle” Custalow who passed away in 2003 (I think). It was a good day’s work and we got a lot done, but the subject of this post is not community service, rather, a wonderful immersion in regional dialects.
I’ve traveled the U.S. extensively, and I’m quite familiar with the broad speech patterns found throughout the land. But American dialects are so very diverse and rich, one doesn’t have to go far off the beaten path to hear the unusual — the good stuff! I’ve long been fascinated by language and the way people speak, and whenever I have the privilege to hear very localized regional dialects, I get all giddy (inside) and I make mental field notes as though I were an anthropologist or linguist. Today was one of those days!
On the work site, I met Chief Carl “Lone Eagle” Custalow and his brother Leon. Being new to the area, I can only presume these gentlemen were speaking what is known generally as the Tidewater dialect, which is quite similar to the Virginia Piedmont dialect. However, there was something noticeably different… an unusual blend like I’ve never heard. Interestingly, there were two other fellows, both native to the Virginia Peninsula region, who sounded as different from one another as they did from the Custalow brothers. What’s more, none of them sounded like any of the 5 speakers from Virginia on the International Dialects of English Archive ‘Twas a linguistic field day, to be sure! I could’ve sat and listened to those guys, especially the Custalow brothers, all day long ;o)>>>
Oh yeah, I just remembered, everyone smiles in the same language…
Technorati Tags: mattaponi, virginia peninsula, tidewater, piedmont, dialect, linguistics, idea, sonikcycle
February 5th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Great post, sir. It’s always nice to hear your thoughts on these subjects. When I was an undergrad anthropology/history major, I had the pleasure on several occasions of working with some local Monacan folks, and to hear their language was somehow fascinating and sad and an honor all at the same time.