West Virginia One - Text
Recorded 10/23/2000 by Lynn Watson.
Subject is 70+ male, career army, retired at Master Sergeant. Grew up in the "coal camp" (as the company mining towns were called) of Pemberton, West Virginia. Lives in Crab Orchard, West Virginia, which was once a country area outside Beckley, West Virginia, but has been built up so that it is now more of a suburb. Subject talks about toy soldiers sparking his interest in joining the army and about a teenage job working at the railroad. (WV1, WV2 and WV3 are: father, mother and son, respectively.)
(Symbols based on SAMPA. For the SAMPA website click here) Lip rounding and oral space are diminished. Strong nasal resonance and strong "r-coloring" are characteristic of the dialect. Note that [I] shifts to [i] before [S], [tS] or a nasal consonant. This is one of the primary distinguishing features of the dialect. Note where the "short e" [E] is raised to [e], and [aI] shifts back towards [A], but more closed. Story notes: The final consonant is dropped from "molds" so it sounds like "moles." The idiosyncratic pronunciation used to point up the word "lead," where the vowel shifts to [ej] and the final consonant is forcefully exploded. General diphthongization and elongation of vowel sounds. [?] replaces medial consonant in "couldn't." Note consistent pronunciation of "cure" [kCU@r] in the three related West Virginia samples. Running time: 00:04:23
TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH
When I was a little boy, maybe seven or eight years old, we had little molds, that we made soldiers out of lead. An’ so (uh) I got attached to those in such a way that it (uh) caused me to think about the service, the Army. I couldn’ get into the Marines, I couldn’ get in the Navy when-- growing up, when I was become of age, so I decided to go Army. An’ I (uh) went in the Army, stayed 30 years, come out as a master sergeant. Now I’m retired for 30 years and have a good income. When I’s about 16 years ol’, they-- Virginia Railroad an’ the C&O Railroad crossed in our little town of Pemberton, West Virginia, and (uh) I thought...well, I wanted to be a railroad engineer. So I got a job (uh) night watchin’, or with a night watcher, at one of our (uh) side tracks there in Pemberton. An’ (uh) so I got attached to that engine, and (uh) don’t you know, I finally run that engine myself, when I was 18 years old?
UNSCRIPTED SPEECH TRANSCRIBED BY JACQUELINE BAKER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR TRANSCRIPTIONS, July 24, 2008