A Manner of Speakin'

If you've ever been to the Green Mountain State, you know there is a distinct dialect and set of colloquialisms that have helped define Vermont. If you're a "flatlander" from "away," you might be completely baffled by these old-time speech patterns. Below you will find some excerpts from the Washington Post article written by Pamela Ferdinand, about Vermonters' concern about struggling to preserve their manner of speakin'.

"Sonny Davis is what folks heaah call a woodchuck."

"Born and raised a quarteh of a mile from whar he lives now. His voice full of ays and ebs and clipped endin's when he turns on the accent. An attitude less than welcomin' to the "flatlanders" takin' over his state."

"I kinda feel like a strange-uh in mah own town, I guess," said Davis. It's pretty sad, because we're goin' to sound like New Jersey."

"... But few people outside the Green Mountain State realize that Vermont is struggling to preserve its own subtle linguistic charm against an onslaught of outsiders. ...Locals believe more is at stake than their manner of speaking. Vermont expressions, like all dialects, are significant because they enshrine a way of life in a region known for its independent streak, dry wit and lean syntax."

"Features of the Vermont accent generally include: Dropping the "g" from "ing" and pronouncing the hard "i" as "oy." Expanding one-syllable words such as "cow" into "ka-ow." Swallowing words with "t," in what linguists call the glottal stop, to say kih'en instead of "kitten" and "nah" instead of "not."

Source: Pamela Ferdinand, "In a Manner of Speaking, State Mourns Its Past," The Washington Post, March 16,1998.