Faith , Hi John! How are you?
John , Hi Faith! I’m great! What have you been up to?
Faith , I just got back from my hometown, the place where I was born and grew up.
John , Oh, where is that?
Faith , A town in the US state of West Virginia. Do you know where that is?
John , Yeah, I think so. Just a few hours from Washington, D.C?
Faith , Yes! It is actually the only state that is completely in the Appalachian Mountain range!
John , The applewhat?
Faith , The Appalachian Mountains! One of the oldest mountain ranges in the world! That reminds me of what we can talk about for our lesson today! Language variation or dialects! A dialect or variation of a language is the nonstandard way people speak in a particular region or area in a country.
John , That’s right. We learn standard English in school, but many people in their daily life speak a variation of English. This includes different vocabulary, pronunciation, and sometimes grammar. But Faith, what do dialects have to do with the Appalachian Mountains?
Faith , Many people who live in West Virginia and other parts of the Appalachian Mountains talk differently than people from other parts of the US because of the mountains. It’s called Appalachian English. Do you want to hear some examples?
John , Sure!
Faith , Great! We have different vocabulary. We have the word “pop.” This is actually soda or a soft drink. It’s the sound the bubbles make when you open a can of soda. We also have a word for a special insect that flies at night and has a light on its belly. Do you know what that is John?
John , A firefly?
Faith , Yes! Same insect, but we call it a “lightning bug!” We also have different pronunciation! For example instead of the long /ee/ sound as in “creek” some people in Appalachia pronounce this word as “creek” with an /i/ sound as in the word “tip.”
John , Wow, thanks for teaching me a little bit about Appalachian English, Faith!
Faith , You’re welcome, John! And that’s Everyday Grammar.
Originally published at https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...