Language and Life on Ocracoke

Approx. 296 pp., 5.5 x 8.5, 28 halftones, 2 maps, index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-8529-8
Published: May 2025

Paperback Available May 2025, but pre-order your copy today!

Buy this Book

Paperback $25.00

To purchase online via an independent bookstore, visit Bookshop.org

In this follow-up to the celebrated Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks, Jeffrey Reaser, Walt Wolfram, and Candy Gaskill have produced the most comprehensive linguistic look at Ocracoke yet. Many visitors are drawn to Ocracoke’s natural beauty and fascinating dialect, known as the Ocracoke Brogue. During the summer on the island, despite the required ferry ride to even set foot there, tourists (or as the locals might call them, dingbatters or tourons) can easily outnumber residents fifteen to one. Though small in number, O’Cockers remain as iconic as the lighthouse.

The authors have continued to study Ocracoke and the Ocracoke Brogue while also participating in and partnering with the community itself. Building on the legacy of Hoi Toide, this book includes 120 new interviews with Ocracokers, documenting their evolving language and culture. With this prolonged and comprehensive approach to the region, the authors document the island’s changes, providing readers with a deeply researched, empathetic, and engagingly written snapshot of one of North Carolina’s most cherished places, one with a linguistic heritage worth celebrating.

About the Authors

Jeffrey Reaser is professor of English at North Carolina State University.
For more information about Jeffrey Reaser, visit the Author Page.

Walt Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of English at North Carolina State University. His books include Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks: The Story of the Ocracoke Brogue and Talkin’ Tar Heel: How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina.
For more information about Walt Wolfram, visit the Author Page.

Candy Gaskill is a board member of the Ocracoke Preservation Society and a fourth-generation resident of Ocracoke.
For more information about Candy Gaskill, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

“A full portrait of life, voice, and work in a colorful, in many ways unique community. What makes this study so interesting, entertaining, and valuable is the way that it successfully combines history, linguistics, social and cultural analysis, and the drama of local characters. The book feeds the natural human curiosity we all have about how and why people speak the way that they do.”—Lucinda H. MacKethan, North Carolina State University

“The authors explored nearly every facet of the island’s life and language to present a picture that captures not only the interesting features that linguists will appreciate but also a vision of people, of tradition, and of culture that attempts to pay back the locals for sharing their language. They do so in a way that is accessible and enjoyable to read.”—Jennifer Cramer, University of Kentucky