languagingHR – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 11: From Dogwoods to Diospyros: The Origins of Plant Names in Hampton Roads 

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: Nov. 30, 2024

Length: 36 min

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday (approx)  of each month

In this episode of Languaging Hampton Roads, we talk with three botanical experts about the origins of common and scientific names of plants and fungi that grow in the Hampton Roads area: Nicole Knudson is a botanist and owner of the Norfolk-based business Lady Fern’s Native Plants, 4900 Colley Ave, Norfolk;  ladyfernsnativeplants@cox.net; Vickie Shufer is a naturalist and herbalist and owner of Wild Woods Farm, Virginia Beach, https://wildwoodsfarm.us; and Sarah Winkowski, a Hampton Roads native who is a graduate student at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. 

Our experts take us on a journey from high among the trees to low on the woodland floor and finally under leaves and logs, as they explain the names of some of our iconic plants, such as the dogwood tree, the persimmon tree, Spanish moss, the Yaupon holly, and mushrooms such as chicken of the woods and the chanterelle.

 Our discussions also span history with commentary on how the common names of plants have evolved over the years, including the Native American origins of the English common name of the Yaupon holly; the medieval idea that plant shapes signified their medicinal use; and the prolific period of botany work in colonial Virginia and its connections to Carl Linnaeus. Listening to this episode is like exploring our native environment, a foray into the natural areas of Hampton Roads.

In this episode, we promised to provide a list of volunteer opportunities for those who want to get more involved in the area’s native plants:

Places to volunteer with native plants include the Norfolk Botanical Garden https://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org; the Elizabeth River Trail, https://elizabethrivertrail.org; the Elizabeth River Project, https://elizabethriver.org. 

 Also, check out Virginia’s Master Gardener organization to find your city’s chapter: https://mastergardener.ext.vt..edu.

Another Virginia Extension program is the Virginia Master Naturalist program; the Tidewater chapter, Tidewater Master Naturalists, https://tidewatermn.org is taking applications now through January for the 2025 volunteer training class.

Virginia Native Plant Society, https://vnps.org to find your local chapter.

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads Episode 10: The Ebb and Flow of Coastal Carolina Languages Hosts: Prue Salasky and Jill Winkowski Date: Oct. 31, 2024 Length: 34.15 min Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday (approx) of each month Co-hosts Prue Salasky and Jill Winkowski delve into the history and language of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, part of the Outer Banks, OBX, of North Carolina, our neighbors to the south and part of our geographical culture in Hampton Roads. They interview two experts on the region. Scott Dawson, whose family traces its roots back to the 1600s on Hatteras, has devoted countless hours to researching the language and culture of the Croatoan people and their early encounters with English settlers. An amateur archaeologist and historian, he has identified artifacts and produced word lists of the Carolina Algonquian spoken on Hatteras Island when the first English settlers arrived in the 16th century. (https://www.coastalcarolinaindians.com/category/research-databases/blair-a-rudes-indigenous-language-collection/). He credits the efforts of English scientist and polymath Thomas Harriot (Hariot) working with Croatoans Manteo and Wanchese for much of what’s known today about the indigenous residents, their culture and language. We also learn more about Thomas Harriot and his scientific accomplishments, among the greatest of his generation. Dawson is a founder of the Croatoan Archaeological Society (http://www.cashatteras.com) and also opened a museum on Hatteras to tell a different version of the “lost colony” of Roanoke Island (https://www.lostcolonymuseum.com). . Linguistically, sociolinguist Prof. Walt Wolfram, William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor at N.C. State, places the dialects spoken on the Outer Banks islands as part of the Tidewater diaspora. For example, the brogue spoken on Ocracoke, he says, is closer to that of Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay than to that of nearby mainland communities. A scholar of language variation, Wolfram contrasts the vibrancy of the distinctive English dialect of the Lumbee in Robeson County with the rapidly declining use of Ocracoke’s traditional dialect. He is also the director of the North Carolina Language and Life Project which documents dialects and speech variations. Listeners can find speech samples for the Lumbee, Ocracoke Islanders and many more by searching for The North Carolina Language and Life Project on YouTube. The changes in language use and dialect over 400 years in these coastal communities first tells the story of English settlement and its impact on indigenous communities. Then ongoing changes reveal shifting demographics and how geography intersects with language and identity.

In this first episode of Languaging Hampton Roads, co-hosts Jill Winkowski, a Tidewater native, and Prue Salasky, a UK native, introduce themselves, describe their background in linguistic studies, and explain their interest in the region’s life and language. 

Note: For the most part they use the terms Hampton Roads (a political designation) and Tidewater (a geographical designation) interchangeably to denote this corner of Southeastern Virginia that extends around the Chesapeake Bay and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

This episode focuses on the identifying characteristics of a Tidewater dialect and Tidewater Voices, an online archival collection of 300-plus stories collected from residents throughout the region. Students in the sociolinguistics classes of professor Dr. Bridget Anderson at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., have been collecting these stories since 2005. Thanks to a years-long effort by Languaging co-host Jill Winkowski and a team at the ODU library, the audio recordings and their transcripts became available to the public in late 2023 at 

https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/tidewatervoices/  or find it by searching Tidewater Voices in your browser. Soon, members of the community will be able to submit their own stories for review and publication.

In this episode Prue and Jill interview two ODU linguistics students who conducted interviews with their families for the Tidewater Voices project. One, Jennifer Williams, interviewed her grandmother who grew up during segregation; the other, Pettie Perkins, talked to her three children to illustrate contemporary and future issues, such as the role of social media and technology in their lives. Both paint a vivid picture of the area in their personal stories and both indicate how the study of linguistics expanded their understanding of their family history and identity. 

Finally, Jill poses a challenge to listeners: Explain the English present perfect and give an example to illustrate its use. Send it in an email to languaginghr@gmail.com and the winning entry will be featured in an upcoming episode of Languaging.

Send feedback, questions, topic suggestions, etc. to languaginghr@gmail.com

CREDITS: Original music by Skye Zentz; Languaging logo by Patty McDonald; technical help by Michael Lusby at the Sound Studio at Slover Library in Norfolk, Va.

Languaging Hampton Roads is written and produced by Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 9 : What It Takes to Raise Bilingual Children

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: Oct. 2, 2024

Length: 38.08 min

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday (approx)  of each month

Co-hosts Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky explore the topic of how best to raise bilingual children. It’s an endlessly complex topic with multiple angles. First, they share some of the changes in research that show the benefits of bilingualism and the study of languages on the physical structure of the brain. They also touch on the changes in attitude toward English variations fueled by demographics and a global economy and the subsequent status accorded to those proficient in more than one language.

To determine what it takes to raise children bilingual – and what fuels the drive on the part of parents – they talk to several foreign-born residents of Hampton Roads. These include university professor of language and art history, Rosa Motta, a native bilingual speaker of Italian and Sicilian; Silvina Bocca, a Spanish speaker from Argentina, an MD/PhD, an expert in infertility and in-vitro fertilization; Brenda Musto, a Spanish speaker from Argentina whose parents were native Italian speakers. She now runs a medical residency program at Eastern Virginia Medical School. They also talk to her daughter Bernie, a high school senior and dual bilingual in Spanish and English; to Yuliya Dobrydneva, who works in biomedical sciences, and her husband Boris Dobrydnev from Moscow, a physicist; and to Russian speakers Elena Chambers from Belarus and Natalya Peretyatko of Kazakhstan, founders of the Russian school in Newport News.

We learned how years of English study in their home countries prepared these parents to become bilingual but it wasn’t until they came to the U.S. and were immersed in an English-speaking environment that they reached fluency. They talk about their backgrounds and the intense efforts they put into raising their children as heritage speakers – and how success isn’t guaranteed. There’s ‘no recipe’ for success. The parents talk about the challenges and rewards of passing on their culture through language.

We end the show with reference to the huge growth of formal bilingual/foreign language education in Hampton Roads in the past decade: These include a Russian daycare in Virginia Beach; multiple preschools with  Spanish language options; dual immersion Spanish/English programs in the public schools in Virginia Beach and Newport News (the latter serves 600 students and has a waiting list);  weekend language enrichment programs in multiple languages; and the featured Russian school in Newport News. We also learned about the Seal of Biliteracy that high school students in Virginia can now earn as part of their high school diplomas for proficiency in a foreign language.

Send your questions and feedback to languaginghr@gmail com.

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 8 : Road Trip in Hampton Roads: Uncovering the Origins of Geographical Names

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: Sept. 5, 2024

Length: 31:45 min

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday (approx)  of each month

Co-hosts Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky take a road trip to the far corners of Hampton Roads in S.E. Va. They’re in search of the provenance of the names, Elephant’s Fork in Suffolk, Cuffeytown in Chesapeake, and Chic’s Beach in Virginia Beach, and what those names tell us about the history and culture of the region. 

The duo talk about toponymy, or the study of place names, and semiotics, the study of signs, and how those disciplines apply to their discoveries. 

They share the rules and regulations involved in the official naming process.

At the state level there’s the Virginia Board on Geographic Names: Senior Map Archivist, Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad St. Richmond, Va. 23219; 804-692-3617; vabgn@lva.virginia.gov.

Nationally, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, BGN, was fully established in 1947; its naming conventions include allowing only 5 places nationwide to have names that include an apostrophe (Martha’s Vineyard is one of them). The BGN works closely with state, tribal and local governments, as well as the general public.

At Elephant’s Fork the duo uncover a community recognition of the name but no understanding of how it came to be; subsequent research, including the use of the free digitized archive of Virginia newspapers, virginiachronicle.com, unearthed its origin in a giant tin elephant used to advertise the emporium of one H.J. Bowen in 1903.  Stories attached to the name included that of Mary Chapman, as recorded in Tidewater Voices,  https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/tidewatervoices, an ongoing digital archive project of Old Dominion University in Norfolk; and that of Angelo Scott, a current Suffolk resident, who recounted his perceived experience of abrupt integration as a 2nd-grader in 1971.

At Cuffeytown, a historic community in Chesapeake founded by free blacks in the 1700 they recount their difficulties in finding the historic Cuffeytown cemetery, the final resting place for the Cuffeytown 13. These were Civil War veterans who fought for the Union. Crops at peak growth prevented their access. They did visit the AME Zion Church, founded in 1866, and learned there the identities of the 13 veterans, almost half of them Cuffeys. (See the below list) 

5th USCT 

Pvt. Walter Smith, Co. I

10th USCT

Sgt. William Coffey, Co. G

Pvt. Bluet Cuffey, Co. H

Corp. Emerson Cuffey, Co. G

Pvt. Lemuel Cuffey, Co. F

Sgt. Wilson Cuffey, Co. H

Sgt. William Cuffey, Co. F

Corp. William Sevils, Co. H

Pvtd. Cornelius Smith, Co. F

Pvt. James W. Smith, Co. F

Pvt. Samuel Smith, Co. H

Pvt. John Whitehurst, Co. H

36th USCT

Sgt. Thomas Van, Co. C

From there the intrepid pair took the back roads to Chic’s Beach in Virginia Beach, whose recorded history dates back to Native Americans and then the earliest European settlers, but whose current nickname harks back to the mid-20th century. The bayfront neighborhood, officially called Chesapeake Beach, saw a flurry of real estate dealings in the early part of the 20th century and was built out by the 1960s. Local lore attributes the nickname that stuck, Chic’s Beach, to one Luther ‘Chic’ Ledington who operated a hot dog stand in a beachfront building until 1967. 

There’s so much to learn from the names we see around us daily! Send feedback and questions to languaginghr@gmail.com. 

Languaging Episode #7 Notes: July doldrums

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/languaginghr

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 7 : July doldrums

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: August 9, 2024

Length: 18:40

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday of each month

In this off-the-cuff mini-episode, hosts Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky give listeners information on the name and whereabouts of Hampton Roads, Virginia, and its “rival” Tidewater. They also reveal that the podcast’s title, languaging, “is a word” and divulge its meaning - to solve complex problems through the use of language.

In laid back summer mode, the duo reflect on their six prior episodes that started with a spotlight on Tidewater Voices in January 2024. The online archive, available at Tidewater Voices: Conversations in Southeastern Virginia | Old Dominion University Research

is an ongoing 20-year ethnographic project by Old Dominion University linguistics students, under the supervision of Dr. Bridget Anderson. That first episode focused on identifying a Tidewater accent and the history of the region. 

Jill and Prue go on to recount the scope of their episodes to date: an exploration of the roots of the word ‘menhaden’; learning about the work of a coalition of local tribes to revive the Algonquian language; raising awareness of research on patient/health provider interactions; a discussion of the development of sign language dialects; and, most recently, interviews with performers in the spoken word poetry scene in Hampton Roads. 

Finally, Jill answers her question about the role of the present perfect, while Prue poses a new question for listeners – is it true that the labio-dental fricative [v] is the only letter in the English alphabet that is never ‘silent,’ as in ‘g[h]ost, thum[b], etc.?

Send your answer and any feedback via email to languaginghr@gmail.com.

Listeners can also visit their new website, www.languaginghr.wordpress.com, with access to all episodes of languaginghr as well as full interviews with those featured on the podcast.

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 6: Creative Community: Spoken Word in Hampton Roads

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: June 30, 2024

Length: 35:59 minutes

In this sixth episode of our podcast, languagingHR, we explore the world of spoken word poetry in Hampton Roads. To understand when spoken word poetry is and its nuances, we interviewed three local poets, Tanya Cunningham, George Mendez, and Lacroy Nixon. We asked them questions such as: What is spoken word poetry?, How do you connect with your audience?, What do you love about the art form?, and What is SLAM poetry?

Each of the poets perform one of their pieces during this episode. Tanya performs “Bread,” George performs, “The Nature of Things,” and Lacroy performs “Play by Play.”

Spoken word poetry is the performance of original poetry in a spoken word community and sometime for competition. Poems are usually personal in nature and the performance of them is essential to the art form. The poets that we interviewed come to poetry with their unique perspectives and backgrounds.

George, who had his own hip-hop label in his teens, came to spoken word poetry through writing at a young age and journeying through music to the spoken word format. He had been the host of the open mic at The Venue on 35th Street for many years and is now artist-in-residence there.

Lacroy was encouraged to write by a high school teacher after she asked if she could read his work to the class. He had been focusing on mechanical engineering at that time and went on to compete in a national NAACP competition in the categories of poetry and, yes, mechanical engineering. Lacroy started and runs the nonprofit SLAM Connection in Williamsburg, which combines spoken word poetry events and workshops with service to the community. He is also a competing member of the SLAM team Verbbenders.

Tanya Cunningham was a writer early on and later took a creative writing class with Dr. Hollis Pruitt at Tidewater Community College. For the final project, the students read their work aloud. Dr. Pruitt invited guests to that reading and one of those guests was poet Ann Shalaski. Tanya kept reading at open mics to continue the connection with community that was fostered during that class. Tanya is co-editor with J. Scott Wilson of 757 Perspectives, an anthology of local poetry.

Although this podcast focused on more general language themes such as audience and language community, we did learn some new terms. We highlighted three of those during the episode: scheming, or the use of an underlying theme to foreground story; deep pockets, which is a term for a spoken word poet that has a number of poems (at least eight!) ready to perform at any time; and finally, the term calibration poet, which describes the poet that goes first in a SLAM competition.

Note: We referred to Joshua Bennett’s book Spoken Word: A Cultural History. Knopf, 2023.

757 Perspectives, Volumes I and II, eds, J Scott Wilson and Tanya Cunningham are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Information about the non-profit, SLAM Connection, is available online at https://slamconnection.my.canva.site/ and their email is Slamconnectionwbg@gmail.com

A few local open mics (correct as of June 28, 2024):

Where: The Venue at 35th St. (@thevenueon35th), 631 W. 35th St., Norfolk

When: Regular free events throughout the week

Where: Column 15 Cafe and Roastery, 701-R Merrimac Trail, Williamsburg

When: First Fridays Open Mic Nights; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Free

Hosted by Slam Connection (@slamconnection), slamconnectionwbg@gmail.com

Where: Cure Coffeehouse, 503 Botetourt St., Norfolk

When: First Thursdays, 6-7:30 p.m. Free

Where: Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center (www.downinggross.org), Newport News

When: Second Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Free

Where: The Muse Writers Center, 2200 Colonial Ave, #3, Norfolk; 757-818-9880 (the-muse.org)

When: Frequent events and performances

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/languaginghr

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 5: The Sound of Virginia: Awakening the Powhatan language

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: May 28, 2024

Length: 28 minutes

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday of each month

Worldwide, languages are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. While some are working to record endangered languages, here in Hampton Roads the Powhatan Algonquian Intertribal Roundtable, or PAIR, a consortium of eight sovereign nations, is working to bring the Powhatan language (also known as Virginia Algonquian) back to life after three centuries of dormancy. 

PAIR consists of representatives from the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Upper Mattaponi, Nansemond, Rappahannock, Pamunkey and Patawomeck tribes from the area between the James River and the Potomac River in Virginia, historically called Tsenocomoco and home to the Powhatan chiefdom. PAIR has secured a 3-year language preservation grant through 2026 from the Administration for Native Americans.

 This episode includes interviews with Lenora Adkins and Kayla Locklear of the Chickahominy (www.chickahominytribe.org), leaders of the language project Omisun ( waking oneself up); along with language specialists Dr. Stephanie Hasselbacher, PhD.(https://kenahconsulting.com) and Ian Custalow, both of whom are working with PAIR. Custalow, a gifted language speaker, is a member of the Mattaponi, and has been researching the Powhatan language for more than 20 years. We also tap into the expertise of Scott Dawson, a Hatteras Islander who has spent decades exploring the linguistic and archaeological heritage of Algonquian speakers.

We speak with Kole Matheson, an at-large member of the Cherokee Western Band, a Tidewater resident, and instructor at Old Dominion University, ODU. As one of four panelists at a symposium on Indigenous Language Preservation at ODU, organized by Applied Linguistics graduate student Sara Rose Hotaling, Matheson attested to the importance of preserving language in connecting to culture.  

The goals of PAIR are to create a 24-lesson curriculum for learning Powhatan, to make a dictionary of the language, and to complete a map with native place names. As Adkins says, “We want to learn it first!” And, “Check back in with us in 3 years!”

Send your comments, feedback and questions to languagingHR@gmail.com

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 4 : ‘How’re you doing?’: Diagnosing Health Talk

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: April 26, 2024

Length: 24:22

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday of each month

Conversations between medical providers and patients have their own special style and context-driven meaning. In this episode, co-hosts Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky explore the ways providers in Hampton Roads  implement patient-centered care through their choice of questions, framing, and expression of empathy.

They interview Dr. Staci Defibaugh, associate professor of linguistics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, whose research specialty is analyzing conversations between advanced practice providers – nurse practitioners, NPs, and physician’s assistants, PAs – and patients. They also talk to Temple West and Alison Schoew, educators in the simulation and standardized patient program at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, who give medical students the opportunity to practice their communication and diagnostic skills through role play. (According to West, who administers the program, they’re always looking for community members to participate in the standardized patient program. To learn more and to apply,  https://www.evms.edu/community/community_training/sentara_center_for_simulation_immersive_learning_a/capabilities/standardized_patients/)

 Additionally, LanguagingHR talked to Barb Morrison, a physician’s assistant at a Sentara Health internal medicine practice, who participated in Defibaugh’s most recent research project. And Dr. LaTonya Russell, MD, a pediatrician and medical director for Sentara’s community-based clinics statewide in Virginia, talked about the importance of listening to patients’ stories. 

Languaging Episode 3: Notes

Title: Languaging in Hampton Roads

Episode 3: What's in a Name?

Hosts: Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky

Date: March 22, 2024

Length: 21:19 minutes

Publication Frequency: Fourth Friday of each month

In this third episode of Languaging in Hampton Roads, co-hosts Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky explore how words get added to the English language and their discussion focuses primarily on the addition of words from the Algonquian family of languages.

Word origins can be murky business. Some of the earliest additions of Native American words into English came from the accounts of early settlers. Captain John Smith, the English soldier and explorer who became a colonial governor in Virginia, and Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, among many others, kept ethnographic accounts of the Native American language and culture.

The Native American language most local to us in Tidewater is Powhatan, an Eastern Algonquian language, and we learn from John Smith's accounts that words such as raccoon, possum, and persimmon entered English from that language.

To really get to the bottom of word origins, Prue and Jill go to sea to explore one word in particular, that is, the name of "the most important fish in the sea," the Atlantic menhaden.

While combing sources and knocking on the doors of experts to find out the origins of the name, they came across, as frequently happens when researching words, stories. Many stories. From the story of Roger Williams who wrote down the Narragansett name of a silver fish as munnawhatteaug to the accounts of the 19th century fish researcher G. Brown Goode, who, in addition to his scientific research, scoured the east coast for the myriad nicknames for the filter feeder. Other stories that emerged were those of the generations of the menhaden fishermen themselves and the current controversy around industrial menhaden fishing.

Nailing down the origins of the word menhaden, it turns out, is as slippery as the fish itself. They even sought out the advice of Smithsonian emeritus linguist Ives Goddard who consoled them that tracking down the origins of fish names are notoriously difficult.

While Jill and Prue had to settle for a probable origin of the word, the real lesson was in the journey. Language is constantly changing. That is part of its beauty, that it morphs with shifting demographics, cross cultural contact, and sometimes, just plain necessity.

Prue and Jill end the episode with an account of an emerging use of Native American language in archeaology, where Scott Dawson from Hatteras describes using Croatoan words for the artifacts they are excavating at their sites on the island.

Send feedback, questions, topic suggestions, etc. to languaginghr@gmail.com

CREDITS: Original music by Skye Zentz; Languaging logo by Patty McDonald; technical help by Michael Lusby at the Sound Studio at Slover Library in Norfolk, Va.

Languaging in Hampton Roads is written and produced by Jill Winkowski and Prue Salasky