Endangered Languages Profile: Ocracoke Brogue

Figure 1: Map of Ocracoke Islands (Source: Wolfram, 2008)

 

Language endangerment is not a new topic addressed on this blog.  Language is a key aspect of culture and cultural identity, so the loss of a language signals the end of the culture attached to it.  Several endangered languages have been previously discussed on this blog (e.g., N||ng, Basque, and Louisiana Creole, to name a few), but what has not been explored previously is the loss of a specific dialect.  Today’s blog post seeks to remedy that by addressing the endangerment of Ocracoke Brogue, an unique dialect of English spoken in a small area of the United States.

 

Ocracoke Brogue (also known as Ocracoke English, Hoi Toider Speech, or Banker Speech) is a dialect of English spoken exclusively by the descendant populations of Ocracoke Island, an island located along the outer banks of North Carolina (Figure 1).  This island was originally colonized by British and a few Irish families in the 1700s.  Due to environmental conditions that made navigating the waters between the North Carolina mainland and the island treacherous the Ocracoke Island residents were isolated for just over two and a half centuries. 

 

They maintained a successful economic and social life on the island, having limited contact from the outside world.  This resulted in a distinctive Ocracoke Islander dialect of English, which was derived from Old English and elements of 18^th century Irish, as well as the production of new words that met the occupational and social needs of the islanders.  Ocracoke Brogue is characterized by specific linguistic features, which include but are not limited to the inclusion of an a-prefix to verbs, the exclusion of the s to pluralize weight and measurement nouns, the use of a singular verb with a plural noun, different phonological sounds when pronouncing specific words, and more.  There are also specific words employed within this dialect that are not used elsewhere (as they were conceived and continue to be used to embody the social identity of the Ocracoke Islanders).  This language is coupled a culture that emphasized group unity, fishing, and various other elements specific to the Ocracoke Island residents.    

 

All of this changed just after World War II when the United States built a highway and instituted regular ferry service to the island.  The pristine beaches of the island, which are protected by the U.S. government, as well as the quaint way of speaking among the Ocracoke Island residents led to an influx of tourism and eventually residency by mainland Americans.  This eventually led to the changes to the linguistic and cultural elements that defined Ocracoke Islanders, causing some sociolinguistic scholars to raise alarms.  They noted that typically dialects of “safe languages”, meaning languages not in danger of disappearing or going extinct, are not considered an area of study, but they should be since these dialects can provide insights into language change and evolution.  Additionally, the loss of a specific dialect, such as Ocracoke Brogue, demonstrates a loss of language variety and culture.

 

The reasons for the loss of Ocracoke Brogue are no different than the reasons for language loss and extinction elsewhere in the world.  Ocracoke Brogue is seldom spoken by younger generations, many of whom are taught by mainland teachers who do not speak this specific dialect and therefore cannot teach or replicate it through their various lessons.  Furthermore, through increased tourism and mischaracterizations of this dialect many younger generations learn that Ocracoke Brogue is a “quaint” language, which often carries with it negative associations.  This leads many to opt not to pick up the dialect, instead taking on the mainland dialect that is viewed more favorably.  Older generations of original Ocracoke Island residents, however, appear to be clinging to the dialect, forcefully using it as a means of maintaining their identity but also to placate tourists to whom they rely on for making money.  This also leads to a mischaracterization of the dialect as solely performative and not something to spoken in everyday conversation.

 

There are ongoing initiatives to attempt to save and revive the dialect, but there are others who feel that the dialect is not being lost but evolving as people adopt new cultural ways of life.  This makes for a hard predicament to address.  There are those who believe the Ocracoke Islanders are adopting and assimilating to mainland ways of life, therefore modernizing to the 21^st century.  They are also inadvertently advocating for the loss of the dialect and its associated culture.  Then there are those who seek to preserve the dialect and culture at the risk of keeping the residents frozen in time.  Ultimately, it is up to the Ocracoke Island residents to make the decision to preserve their dialect and culture, while sociolinguists document and preserve this dialect during these transitionary times.

 

More about the Ocracoke Brogue dialect can be learned here in this video.

 

Works Cited

Schilling-Estes, Natalie. "Investigating "Self-Conscious" Speech: The Performance Register in Ocracoke English." Language in Society (1998): 53-83. Print.

Wolfram, Walt and Natalie Schilling-Estes. "Moribund Dialects and the Endangerment Canon: The Case of the Ocracoke Brogue." Language (1995): 696-721. Print.

Wolfram, Walt. "When Islands Lose Dialects: The Case of the Ocracoke Brogue." Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures (2008): 1-13. Print.