The Real West Virginia By Ashley Carroll And Ashley Hobbs

Some people that are not from WV may think that a hillbilly looks like this. very unkempt, drunken, and have constantly pregnant women

Others may think that we are stupid and ignorant.

Still others may identify a WV hillbilly with that of The Beverly Hillbillies. Non West Virginians think that we live in the past and have none of the normal commodities of a typical American.

However, “hillbillies” look just like you and me. We are all normal people who have normal lives just like the rest of the United States of America.

We also have normal schools and even institutions of higher education. Logan High School, a typical WV secondary school

Logo courtesy of

West Liberty State College courtesy of

courtesy of

We also have many cultural events that take place in WV which others may not have known about. These can include musicals and theatrical productions along with concerts and performances.

Logan High School’s performance of Grease

WV All State Chamber Choir annual performance a member of the nationally known American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) Here is a link to the site of the West Virginia chapter of ACDA at Here is a link to the site of the West Virginia chapter of ACDA at

Dialect is another unique feature of WV. The typical stereotype of West Virginia is that WV citizens all speak with the same “country” accent. Although many people do speak with an accent that is stereotypical to WV, not ALL West Virginians speak with this accent.

Different accents can be found in four different regions of West Virginia that have distinctly different accents. Variations still are found within these groups due to specific influences. The four regions can be seen in the following map.

Dialect Map of WV

Region 1 Region one is located in what West Virginians call the northern panhandle. This region’s dialect is nothing like the stereotypical dialect of a West Virginian. Instead the people of this region speak with an accent that is very similar to people who live in Ohio and Pennsylvania since it borders these states. Region one’s dialect is most familiar to that of persons living in the Pittsburg, PA vicinity since it is the closest metropolitan area.

Region 2 Region two is located in what is known as the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. This region’s dialect is very similar to region one’s dialect with a few minor variations. However, the main influence of their accent is that of peoples from northern Virginia and Maryland. Inhabitants of Region 2 can also be affiliated with the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since it is very near in distance.

Region 3 Region three is in the lower northern part of the state. Its accent is slightly more stereotypical in that it does include the pronunciation of words such as pen and pin along with ten and tin the same. The rest of their speech is more like that of regions one and two, though. Some areas of region three, however, sound more recognizable to that of Ohio if they live near the Ohio border.

Region 4 Region four is in the southern part of West Virginia. Its peoples speak the most stereotypical accent of the four regions. They pronounce words such as pen and pin along with ten and tin the same, and they practice a language change where different vowels in a word change. The vowels are either cut out to delete a known diphthong or different vowels are added in to add a diphthong. An example could be the word hit. Peoples of this region might add a diphthong in it to make it be pronounced like hi-ught. The diphthong in the word boil, however, is taken out in this dialect and is pronounced like bahl. One must keep in mind that not all of the peoples of this region talk like this. Residents that live in the Charleston and Huntington areas are less likely to talk this way due to the more urban environment. One could also say that the accents of region four are similar to that of their Virginian and Kentuckian neighbors.

A key factor to remember about WV dialect is that it is mainly influenced by its neighboring states. The trend also seems to be that the farther south one travels in WV the more “country” or stereotypical West Virginian the dialect seems to become. As the generations change, the people of WV have been steadily losing their native accent. This could be due to a greater access of outside media or other foreign influences.

We hope youlearned something! We hope you learned something!