E1: Tidewater Voices

In this first episode of Languaging Hampton Roads, co-hosts Jill Winkowski, a Tidewater native, and Prue Salasky, a UK native, introduce themselves, describe their background in linguistic studies, and explain their interest in the region’s life and language. 

Note: For the most part they use the terms Hampton Roads (a political designation) and Tidewater (a geographical designation) interchangeably to denote this corner of Southeastern Virginia that extends around the Chesapeake Bay and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

This episode focuses on the identifying characteristics of a Tidewater dialect and Tidewater Voices, an online archival collection of 300-plus stories collected from residents throughout the region. Students in the sociolinguistics classes of professor Dr. Bridget Anderson at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., have been collecting these stories since 2005. Thanks to a years-long effort by Languaging co-host Jill Winkowski and a team at the ODU library, the audio recordings and their transcripts became available to the public in late 2023 at 

https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/tidewatervoices/  or find it by searching Tidewater Voices in your browser. Soon, members of the community will be able to submit their own stories for review and publication.

In this episode Prue and Jill interview two ODU linguistics students who conducted interviews with their families for the Tidewater Voices project. One, Jennifer Williams, interviewed her grandmother who grew up during segregation; the other, Pettie Perkins, talked to her three children to illustrate contemporary and future issues, such as the role of social media and technology in their lives. Both paint a vivid picture of the area in their personal stories and both indicate how the study of linguistics expanded their understanding of their family history and identity. 

Finally, Jill poses a challenge to listeners: Explain the English present perfect and give an example to illustrate its use. Send it in an email to [e-mail] and the winning entry will be featured in an upcoming episode of Languaging.

Send feedback, questions, topic suggestions, etc. to [e-mail]

CREDITS: Original music by Skye Zentz; Languaging logo by Patty McDonald; technical help by Michael Lusby at the Sound Studio at Slover Library in Norfolk, Va.

Languaging Hampton Roads is written and produced by Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky