BCFOL
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Board of Directors
    • Membership
    • Volunteering
    • Nutshell History
  • News
  • Programs
    • Book Discussion Group
    • Ex Libris Library Extension Program
    • Publications
    • Used Book Sale
  • Contribute
    • Join
    • Volunteer
    • Donate Funds
    • Donate Books
  • Contact

Southern Mountain English

Southern Mountain English - Prof. Emeritus Bethany Dumas (UTK)

References to cipherin’, revenuers and white lightnin’ were commonplace among the cast of the The Beverly Hillbillies, a popular American sitcom of the 1960s and ‘70s. No doubt confusing to some, it should come as no surprise that the mountain vocabulary was familiar to most East Tennesseans since Granny hailed from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Dr. Bethany DumasDr. Bethany Dumas, University of Tennessee Knoxville English Professor Emerita, will present Southern Mountain English, a Southern Appalachian Studies series program about the language of this area, on Monday, August 28, 2017 at 7 p.m., in Blount County Library’s Sharon Lawson Room.

Dumas will decipher the intriguing, and sometimes mystifying, language referred to as “Southern Mountain English” and share her interpretation of this variety of American English as a shaper of identity.

She will talk about how words like holler and winder evolved, and how some words became substitutes for other English expressions, such as liketa in, “I liketa never went to sleep last night.”

Clothes may make the man, but Dumas says, “Speech and dialect shape identity.”

Southern Appalachian Studies logoDumas specializes in Forensic Linguistics, Education Management, and Language Variation. She holds a B.A. from Lamar University, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee.

Dumas has received numerous awards and grants, including the National Endowment for the Humanities Younger Humanist Fellowship, the American Council of Learned Societies Travel Grant, and the Tennessee Bar Association Jury Reform Commission. She is a member of the Dictionary Society of North America and the Southeastern Conference on Linguistics.


Photo: Early Summer Landscape, East Tennessee © Jerry Waley / Shutterstock.

Open to the public, this program will be hosted by the Blount County Public Library, located at 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville. For further information about library programs or services, call the library at 982-0981 or visit the library website.

BCFOL eBay Store

The eBay Inc. logo is a trademark of eBay Inc. Used with permission.Find unique books at the BCFOL eBay Store. This sale is always on, with over 3,700 books of all types for gifts or your own collection.

Next Book Sale

Currently suspended: Date of next monthly sale TBA
2nd Saturday 10 to 4
Members only 10 to noon
(Join or renew here or at the Library)
Everyone welcome noon to 4

No appointments needed
Masks are required
►More info

50,000 Books! Build your own Library! Choose from a wide selection of used books in every category, many in mint condition. If you love to read, if you love books, don’t miss our book sale bargains!
►More Info    ►Map    ►Donate Books

Our Activities

  • Among Friends Newsletter
  • Book Discussion Group
  • Used Book Sale
  • Ex Libris Library Extension Program
  • Membership
  • Publications

Links

Related Informational Sites

Electronic Resources

Library eResources

Contact the Friends

Blount County Friends of the Library
508 N. Cusick Street
Maryville, TN 37804
Phone: (865) 982-0981
Fax: (865) 977-1142
Email: friendsbcpl@hotmail.com

Contact Form

Visit the Library

Current Open Hours
Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

Phone: (865) 982-0981

► Library website
► Map & Directions

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
Copyright © 2013–2021 Blount County Friends of the Library
Contact Webmaster