prepstudinsc said:
Actually, words like victuals "vittles", are not misuses here in the South, Mr. Yankee-Diction-Police, but are actually remnants of early Colonial English that survives to this day in Appalchian dialect.
Well Mr. I-have- and-ax-to-grind-with-Stronzo
.. I'm only giving you the benefit of my experience. And several websites I've pulled up which support the contention. Here's one.
Glossary of quaint southerisms.
There have been many studies done of the people who live in the rural mountain areas of WV, NC, TN, KY and found that their dialect is a direct descendant of 17th century English as spoken in Britain by the people who had come to the colonies and settled in those regions. Because they were so isolated in those rural areas, their language was slow to change, unlike people who were living in the cities of the Thirteen colonies and later the United States. Many of the mountain people didn't have access to all the education, recordings, radio, etc. in later years, so whereas our language continued (and continues) to deveop, the dialect was stagnant.
Monty I did much of my graduate work in this language of ours and its etymology. I know about the archaic bits and pieces of earlier forms of this language which remain in rural pockets of our population. You needn't instruct me.
The same is often said of the Québecois in relation to their present-day French counterparts.
This is even true with the music. Bluegrass music is heavily influenced by early British and Celtic (many of the settlers were Scots-Irish) melodies and modes. Many of the mountain hymns are holdovers from early tunes influenced from this music, too.
NO! Not really!! You mean they didn't just sit there screwing their cousins and composing??
There is a lot of culture hidden up in "them thar hills..." One must know the story behind the story before the culture is judged, however. I'm so sick and tired of Southern culture being judged for being less than by Yankees.
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude. Not 'less than' ... just quaint. Your innate insecurity is showing. Hell we use "wicked" here in Boston to mean "very".
Mother to Stronzo? "dear? Did you have a nice time with your friends this evening?" Stronzo: "Wicked. Thanks mum."
They come down here and judge how we talk, what we eat, how we live, but they flock down here like the swalows flying to Capistrano, so it must not be too bad, even if we have wierd expressions (like y'all) and strange Elizabethan ways of pronouncing words. I use them often. (usually with a soft T--a glottal stop, if you will)
I wouldn't know. I've not been. I think the lilt to southern articulation has a certain cadence but I'd tire of it if it's all I heard. It's just my feeling on the matter. In some cases there's a false civility to much of it from what I've noted.
But I've heard many of you speak and I certainly get no indication of Elizabethan English and remember Monty I can recite Geoffrey Chaucer's
Whan that Aprille in Middle English with perfection. It was part of my master's extension work at Christ Church, Oxford.
Monty? You must try my New England clam chowder one day. It is, bar none, perfection supreme.
Beyond that I take no issue with southerners and their parlance per se. As I've explained I have some South Carolina ancestry. But I have a sense that some of the negative feelings which are transferred (by some) to those in your neck of the woods rather unfortunately come from the inundation of right wing religious zealots and absolutist politicians who often harken back to the rebel south. There appears to be a preponderance of fundies who speak that way. Guess it's just coincidence eh?
It appears the wounds of the War Between the States are still widely agape.
Now stop being an ass and personalizing the thread. State your case and show real examples of your contention that your 'quaintisms' have direct ties to 'Elizabethan English' and I'll consider your premise.
