Okie Dialect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Okie Dialect is found mostly in rural Oklahoma, a subdialect of American English of the English language.
It is a byproduct of historic migration of settlers to the state from the Southeastern United States such as Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas with its' "country-western" sound in the late 19th century. There's a known Native American influence in the dialect by the state's over 50 federally recognized tribal groups, some of them maintained or revived its' own native languages to this day.
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[edit] Twang
The Okie Accent is largely characterized by a twang which is the pronunciation of a word with elongated vowels and adding of extra syllables to increase the length of the sound of the words which serve to create a drawl. i.e., the word "get" would be stretched out in a complex but subtle pronunciation of "gee-ut-ah", someone unfamiliar with the dialect or not listening closely would hear simply "git".
[edit] Lexicon
Some words used in rural Oklahoma but not in many other American English dialects (or with different meanings) are:
- tump or tip over a container to empty the contents, (tah-uum-pah)
- wallered-out or , increase of a circumference (wah'-lurd-ah a-yo-tah)
- pertneer or , almost, (purt-neer)
- dasent or , dare not
[edit] Well-known people with an Okie accent, all born in Oklahoma
- Reba McEntire, Country/rock music singer
- Will Rogers, world-famous stage cowboy/comedian
- Oral Roberts, Televangelist/minister
[edit] Recordings of the Okie accent
- Characters: Will Parker, Ado Annie, in the Movie Oklahoma
- Songs: Okie from Muskogee by Merle Haggard, a country single in the 1960s.
[edit] References
- [1](Okie Dictionary).
Okie dictionary, ISBN:0965387410, Authors:Stoney Hardcastle. Publisher:Indian Nations Pub, 1995
