Abstract:
North Carolinians speak a peculiar mix of southern and folk. The Tar Heel language, a reflection of a rural past, is dying under the growth of the New South. Guy Owen, however, is working to record the Tar Heel language through his writing. An author of several books, Owen sets his stories in rural North Carolina and includes old-time folk sayings. The Duke University Press is also preserving North Carolina's linguistic heritage in its Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore. Included in the article are many of the typical Tar Heel folk sayings.