For many in the hills, the choice of vowel sound marks whether you're an insider or an outsider (see Anita Puckett's essay below). Another example is the state of Nevada: residents and natives say Ne-VAD-a, but almost everywhere else one hears Ne-VAH-da.

In other words, the pronunciation has become a modern-day shibboleth (for the origin of this term, see the Old Testament book Judges, chapter 12, verse 6). Photo Credit - David Tarasevich, Appalachian Trail Conservancy Sign found along the AT near Harper's Ferry, VA. It is an idea created by politicians and reporters' (see below for the entire piece, 'A Rose by Any Other Name').

The AppaLATCHans exist even AppaLATCHa exists.

At least, it doesn’t exist in the real world. In a short essay published 30 years ago in Appalachian Heritage, one Eastern Kentuckian wrote, 'What I finally came to understand is that AppaLAYcha does not exist. In fact, some people would say that, if you come to the region and say 'Ap-pa-LAY-cha,' you might as well turn around and make tracks to wherever you started from.

How to you pronounce plekanec