Talkin' brogue

Last Tuesday, linguist Walt Wolfram presented a Porch Talk at the OPS museum on the topic of the Ocracoke brogue. It was well attended by a group of interested folks, many of whom asked insightful questions. I found it fascinating, as I have always been interested in socio-linguistics (the study of language use in a social context - essentially it's the intersection of sociology and linguistics, which were two of my favorite classes in college). I'm actually a bit jealous of Walt Wolfram, who has been able to make studying how people use language his life's work. He said after the talk that people often ask him when he is going to retire. He usually answers them, "I love my work. Why would I retire?" Why, indeed.

Anyway, Walt works as an English professor at NC State, and heads up the North Carolina Language and Life Project which studies dialects around the state. (I told you he had a great job!) He and his field teams (generally, graduate students in the NCSU sociolinguistics program) have been visiting Ocracoke at least once annually for the past 15 years, interviewing and recording speakers of the brogue. During the porch talk, he played some samples of those recordings, and spoke about the changes observed in his research over the years. It was very interesting. Well, it was to me at least...

If you find this kind of thing interesting too, there are several ways to find out more about it:
- the NCLLP has produced compilations of those interviews in various forms: a CD called “Ocracoke Speaks”, a 162 page book with the title Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks, and the video “The Ocracoke Brogue” (which is played at the OPS Museum) - you can get these resources from their website, or the museum gift shop may have some or all of them (I don't know for sure)
- NCLLP has just released a DVD entitled “Carolina Brogue” which will be shown on UNC-TV and may also be regionally or nationally aired on other PBS stations, and is available for sale at the OPS Museum gift shop (this I do know for sure)
- Walt Wolfram will be the guest speaker at the annual Fall OPS membership meeting in November, so you could attend that (I'll post details - date, time, etc. - once I have them)

After the porch talk, I found myself behind Walt as he left the museum parking lot. His license plate made me laugh, and is perfect for him!