SmithIsland

Smith Island

A group of closely placed islands in southern Chesapeake Bay on the Maryland-Virginia border. Settled in the mid-17th century, the islands are the site of several small fishing villages.

 

Our Living Language Residents of Smith Island speak a variety of American English unlike any other, fostered in long-standing isolation from other varieties. This unique dialect has its roots in the British dialects of the latter half of the 1600s, when the first English speakers set up residence on this group of islands. It is characterized by the retention of a number of older language features, including the use of hit for it, the use of an a- prefix on -ing verbs, and the use of phrases such as of a night for at night. A number of its most distinctive features do not represent retentions of Elizabethan English but actually arose in the latter half of the 20th century. For example, the pronunciation of (ī) as (əē)—as in (səēd) for side—is comparatively new, as is the pronunciation of (ou) as something like (ā) or (ī), which makes brown sound almost like brain or brine.·The Smith Island dialect is also unique in that it actually seems to be getting more distinctive rather than less so, despite the fact that increased channels of communication and improved methods of transportation are inevitably bringing its speakers into closer contact with mainland dialects. Ironically, even as the Smith Island dialect gains in strength, it is rapidly losing speakers. The crabbing industry—the backbone of the economy—is faltering, and the islands have lost more than a third of their population in the past several decades; today only about 450 residents remain. The remaining Smith Islanders may be intensifying the distinctiveness of their dialect because of a desire to cling to their traditional lifestyle. See note at a-². See note at it. See note at of.

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