Most of its approximately 700 residents earn their living from the water, and there are few cars on the island. A boat travels to Crisfield, Md., each day to pick up mail. According to Shores, Tangier's isolation has kept its residents' speech from evolving. The distinctive, old-fashioned accent that visitors hear is often mistaken for British. Shores also notes that this isolation has kept the islanders' distinctive pronunciations intact, especially when it comes to saying vowels.
Islanders often draw out their vowels or drop the beginning syllables of some words.
It's the intensity of the intonation pattern that changes the meaning. It's much different from plain sarcasm and irony. Backward talk has been around a long time in Tangier speech, he added. Despite the island's remoteness, Shores said variations in its language have changed over time. Most tourists and newcomers have little or no difficulty understanding the natives' unique pronunciations.