Morning journal and courier., 1886-06-23
THE GEORGIA DIALECT.
CuriOsfties ofthe Language as Used i
 the Empire State of the South.

CuriosftIes of the Language as Used in
 the Empire State of the South.
 From the Atlanta Constitutional
 Among the peculiarities of our dialect is the putting of the defining word before the object defined as ''that 'ere man," for "that man there,' s'that 'ere book" for ''this book, hera" These expressions must sound strange in cultived ears, accustomed to Bos- sonian English, and yet there are several millions of people who use them constantly. Stop" for "leavs me alone" is perenptory, and conveys the exact meaning of the speaker. In the same way 'quit" or 'drop" pr 'let' are used. For instance, one will say 'tdrop it" or ''drap it," as the expres- sion is frequently used, meaning "say no more about it." "Hold on'' means to stay proceedings, and Ego it," with peculiar intonation, means Ego on in your own way, I have nothing more to say" "Get up" is understood as a demand to move along. "It's shore to be so" means that the assertion, or the existing circumstances are, beyond a doubt, exactly as stated. s'To put out" lamp does not mean to carry it outside, but to extinguish the light. To ''holler' is to cry aloud, and I think there is not more expressive word in the language. To tcry" in common parlance means ito weep" while according to the dictionaries it may mean a variety of sounds
 
 country people in any other sense than to weep. They have different word for other noises, yell, shrill cry; whoop, full sounded cry; holler, sort of cross between the two, as used in common with either words, &c. The rather pugnacious expression "beat him all holler," however, means that the one alluded to first is far superior to the other. Occasionally the rustic drifts into a redundancy of expression quite surprising: He says ''his'n, D s'her'n, D 'stheirn,' equiv alent to sshis own," "their own," instead of simple ''his," ''hers," "theirs" By this he seems to impress the idea of proprietorship by the addition of the word Gown" The word "split," to divide, is used "cut down. is to diminish or decrease. s'Tolera- ply well' means moderately we'll" These words and phrases are all good English to those who use them constantly, and you would be surprised to know just how many people use them constantly. There is one little remnant of coekneyism that is observ- able in the language of the common people This-the leaving off the aspirate. Besides ssI've,'' "w'eve" and they've," which hardly be placed in this class, because stI'll," "we'll" and "they'll'' show the contraction of the auxiliary verb in the same way, I have noticed thtt the pronouns suffer most from the process of decapitation. 'oIs," are examples. Another peculiar thing is the prefxing of "a" to active verbs-t tahuntin'," 7safishin'," starunnin'," Eawalkin'," :" and simi- lar instances. All these peculiarities are noticeable in southern dialect, and many of them are common to all English-speaking people. As for real, straightout dictionary English you will hunt a long time before you are able to secure enough strictly accur- ate speakers to make up snug dinner party, and when you have secured them you may safely address every one of them as Pro- lessor.