Since the 1930s, a lot of research has been done to figure out where the dialect came from. One theory is that the dialect is a remnant of Elizabethan (or Shakespearean) English that had been preserved by the region's isolation. Another theory suggests that the dialect developed out of the Scots-Irish and Anglo-Scottish border dialects brought to the region by some of its earliest British Isles settlers, who were from the border of Scotland and England.
s ɪ n s WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY θ ɜː t i WORD_BOUNDARY z WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY l ɑ t WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ s ɜː t̠ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY h æ z b iː n WORD_BOUNDARY d ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY f ɪ ɡ j ə ɹ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY aʊ t WORD_BOUNDARY w ɛ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY d aɪ ə l ɛ k t WORD_BOUNDARY k eɪ m WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ʌ m WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY θ iə ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY ð æ t ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY d aɪ ə l ɛ k t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɛ m n ə n t WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ l ɪ z ʌ b ɛ θ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY ɔ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ʃ eɪ k s p ɪ ɹ iə n WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ ŋ ɡ l ɪ ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY ð æ t WORD_BOUNDARY h ʌ d b ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY p ɹ ɪ z ɜː v d WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ iː d̠ʒ ə n z WORD_BOUNDARY aɪ s ə l eɪ ʃ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ n ʌ ð ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY θ iə ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY s ə d̠ʒ ɛ s t s WORD_BOUNDARY ð æ t ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY d aɪ ə l ɛ k t WORD_BOUNDARY d ɪ v ɛ l ə p t WORD_BOUNDARY aʊ t ə v WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY s k ɑ t s aɪ ɹ ɪ ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY æ ŋ ɡ l oʊ s k ɑ t ɪ ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY b ɔ ɹ d ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY d aɪ ə l ɛ k t s WORD_BOUNDARY b ɹ ɔ t WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ iː d̠ʒ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY s ʌ m WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ t s WORD_BOUNDARY ɜː l ɪ ɪ s t WORD_BOUNDARY b ɹ ɪ t ɪ ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY aɪ ə l z WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ t l ə ɹ z WORD_BOUNDARY h uː WORD_BOUNDARY w ɜː WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ʌ m ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY b ɔ ɹ d ə ɹ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY s k ɑ t l ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ ŋ ɡ l ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY