Every once in awhile magazine like “The Smithsonian” has an article about
the “English Langauge” of hundreds of years ago only now exists in
isolated places in Appalachia.
Myself, I smile a bit when I hear Senator Shelby say “beels”
for what most Americans call “bills”.
Interestingly, the pronunciation of “beels” is common to both whites
and “African-Americans” (trying to be sensitive here) in southern states.
Yes and no. Many features of Appalachian English are old, certainly, but not as old as some think. Attributions claiming that Appalachian English is "Elizabethan" or "Shakespearean" are erroneous. The strongest dialectical influences can be traced to Scottish English and to Irish, especially Northern Ireland where the Scots settled in the 17th century (Scotch Irish, Ulster Scots, Scots-Irish as the immigrants to America are called). The dialect of South England made a contribution, but a relatively minor one, and it was the Southern English dialect of the 17th and 18th centuries -- not of Shakespeare or Queen Elizabeth I. There are many Appalachianisms which are still used in Scotland and Ireland.
just said this to someone else and that is I have a manchester English accent and having been to the mountains I can honestly say that many words and how they are said are very much alike.
When I went up north it was just so differently but I suppose it was because the English, scots irish etc moved south when the mass immigrations happened into the north east