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Irish Influence on Appalachian English “Dialects significantly influenced Appalachian English, retaining archaic words and grammatical structures no longer widely used in American or British English. Features like double modals (“might could”) and the use of “done” as an auxiliary verb (“He done gone to the store”) are hallmarks of this influence. While some similarities to Irish Gaelic syntax exist, they are largely attributed to the Scots-Irish dialects, rather than Gaelic itself. The language, preserved in isolated rural areas, carries with it traces of the original dialects spoken by early settlers.”