Dialects Of Virginia
The archive provides:
In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).
The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages, Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage), and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings), may be accessed from the menu bar to your right.
To access IDEA's sound files and documents, you will need an mp3 player, and Acrobat Reader, available free from Acrobat Reader.
If you are interested in specific information about the State of Virginia,
please go to its official website
at www.virginia.gov/cmsportal/
For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here
please go to
Other Dialect Services
Dialect Samples
To properly play a sound sample, you may first need to save it to your own computer. To do so, right-click on the desired sample and save it. A high-speed connection to the internet may allow you to play the file simply by clicking it.| Sound Sample | Basic Information | Text Files |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia One | Female, late 20's, careful cultivated speech | Virginia One |
| Virginia Two | White female, 20's, student from Norton, Virginia | Virginia Two |
| Virginia Three | Mature, white male, Southwest Virginia | Virginia Three |
| Virginia Four | Mature, white female, Southwest Virginia | Virginia Four |
| Virginia Five | white male, born 1979 and raised in Leesburg, Virginia | Virginia Five |