HIDDEN PEOPLE OF THE MOUNTAINS - THE MELUNGEON GENETIC MYSTERY

Melungeons were a distinct, endogamous Appalachian people (especially in Hawkins Co., TN; SW Virginia; eastern Kentucky) with European, African, and Native American ancestry. \t•\tBecause Melungeons were mixed-ancestry and lived outside clear racial categories, census takers often labeled them as “mulatto,” “free people of color,” “Indian,” or even “white”—sometimes changing labels from one census to the next.#melungeon #americas #history #genology

Here’s another Southern/Appalachian dialect test—listen closely and see if you can understand how this common word sounds in my accent before checking the answer. Answer: winner / winter Pronunciation in the video: “wehnner.” In Southern and Appalachian speech, certain vowel sounds can merge, causing words that are spelled differently to sound very similar or even identical in casual speech. This kind of vowel shift and sound blending is a common feature of regional dialects, where pronunciation