Moribund Dialects and The Endangerment canon: The Case of the Ocracoke Brogue

Moribund dialects threatened by the encroachment of healthy varieties of the same language have been overlooked in establishing the language endangerment canon. Endangered varieties of languages as safe as even English exhibit structures not found in mainstream language varieties and so are an invaluable resource to scholars of language variation—and, indeed, of language patterning in general. Further, the insights into language variation and change that we gain from studying moribund dialects inform our study of the types of changes that characterize endangered and dying languages. Our arguments are based on the examination of Ocracoke English, a dialect of American English which is spoken on Ocracoke Island, located off the coast of North Carolina and inhabited by about 600 year-round residents. This dialect developed in relative isolation from mainstream varieties of American English but is now threatened by encroachment from mainland dialects as the island becomes more accessible to the outside world. Using the case of the Ocracoke production of the /ay/ diphthong as , we present linguistic and sociolinguistic evidence that Ocracoke English is indeed an endangered dialect. We also describe the development of a community-based preservation program that parallels the type of proactive programs that have been implemented thus far only for endangered language situations.