Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
21-4-2017 1:30 PM
End Date
21-4-2017 2:45 PM
Keywords
Accent, Appalachia, language
Biography
My name is Taylor Grimmett and I am twenty-one years old. I am the oldest of three siblings and the first one in my family to graduate college. I work at Outback Steakhouse in Ashland, where I now live. I love to laugh and enjoy making people laugh. I lived in Pikeville, Kentucky and attended the University of Pikeville before transferring here where I now feel that my degree is getting put to use. I am known all around for my accent so that is what inspired me to do this project.
Major
Sociology
Advisor for this project
Marty Laubach
Abstract
My project is centered around Appalachian Dialect and how "outsiders" tend to judge people from the area, no matter what their degree may be in or what they have accomplished in their lives based on how they sound when they talk. Colloquialisms come into play here, along with accents, vocabulary choice, everything comes into play when considering what makes one area different than another, but why individuals feel the need to comment on it is what interests me the most. The interviews that I have performed so far have showed me that some people tend to be ruthless with their answers, while others are in the same boat as the rest of Appalachia and are ridiculed for it themselves. Even if someone from Appalachia did go out and get the bachelors, masters, or even doctorate degree and even move out of the area, their accent leaves a big enough mark on people for them to just assume that they will never be anything "better than a hillbilly". I performed this project to get the perspective of that hick that is just trying to get through college and make something of themselves, yet their accent could be the reason they do not get a specific job that they dreamed of having one day.
Appalachian Dialect
My project is centered around Appalachian Dialect and how "outsiders" tend to judge people from the area, no matter what their degree may be in or what they have accomplished in their lives based on how they sound when they talk. Colloquialisms come into play here, along with accents, vocabulary choice, everything comes into play when considering what makes one area different than another, but why individuals feel the need to comment on it is what interests me the most. The interviews that I have performed so far have showed me that some people tend to be ruthless with their answers, while others are in the same boat as the rest of Appalachia and are ridiculed for it themselves. Even if someone from Appalachia did go out and get the bachelors, masters, or even doctorate degree and even move out of the area, their accent leaves a big enough mark on people for them to just assume that they will never be anything "better than a hillbilly". I performed this project to get the perspective of that hick that is just trying to get through college and make something of themselves, yet their accent could be the reason they do not get a specific job that they dreamed of having one day.
