The Stressed Vowels of the Speech of Tangier Island, Virginia

Stressed vowels in the English dialects of Tangier Island, Va, are described, & a brief sociological & historical description of the island is given. Data from naturalistic study indicate that the most distinctive feature of the dialect is the phonetic diversity of stressed vowels. Separate discussions of checked free & diphthong vowels are given. It is argued that several different Va dialects appear to have influenced Tangier Island English but that its distinctness derives largely from the isolation of the population. 11 References. B. Annesser Murray