, 1886-04-01
AFEW S~0UTHERNISAS.
"
EXAMPLES OF oUAINT sAYihas ~
GEORGIA AND SOUTH cARoCiNA.

Peeuli.ritis- OF Pronunciation Held by
L the southern People 49, oia~7rhs
word "Tunhy" Used With startling Ef-
reet--"ro Gel 10 Go"-Exampfe@
Some iyearssago Richard fGrantl White
wrstee, BE kbtfudly interesting boil on
Amsri anis.ns. He might well have divided
the sat esls int two parts: Yankee IN
ard southsrnisms Absolnti GORE tness In
pro uSciAton. or In the form itioni Of som
tsnee-S is a most difficult accomplishment
and lew tne.e 2 be, either north or sou b.
who have reached such a degree OF le.fe,-
tioI taat no exception can be taken by
-eaIplng ritics' 70 their u~tterances In the
nnft-r o pronunciation the time , are
changing. and one can scarcely keep ia Q
with the Innovations being introdu ed by
the leading ortheopists
Ths purpose OF this paper il, however, To
present.. la a succins t way, a fsw OF ito
qnamtne.s's OF pronunciation AID tonstruc
ton hsld by the sout lsrn people as n class.
Among tn 50 tho first that CONES TO mind Is
the custom OF emitting the last two letters
OF such words n more" store" -four
which are pronounced mo-" fsto,N 10 81
W hst o'clock is it, you ask the Carolinian,
and ten TO on he tells you it's -hal.-pas'
To-, y IL In It happens TO oe the hour. n
Another ommon southernism is the US
OF like as IT,, or Ii -eT for the word, -as
IT, ~She ioosed lie she knew me-" Is a
common expression, or 'she looked as II
she'd die This is very common in Wah-
~ington, and in all the states south OF Mason
and Dixon $ line.
ONE usE or rHK WORD -FUrsY.HA
The word funny is frequently used, in
ste d OF strange, and sonnet mes with stIrt-
ling eifcctA A young southern girl was
Visiting Us once, and a caller was telling OF
the death II her mother through swallow
ing a fsh-i one. oh wasn't 1t ~funnyfT OK
claimed our visitor, at the close OF the mar
rativel u hink you mean strange" said
the caller, as soon as she recovered from her
astonishmsnt Our girl friend has never
used the word funny since. .-...a.HT
II you happen 10 hear anybody say rye
cheer" you may know it Is intended TO
mecn right here For i~nstances A South
C%arolinian viii says Where was he at last
nightfT and his fellow citizen will say, He
stool rye cheer with ma" D.ear-pro-
nouncsd in one syllabls--is not a Russian
word, ms might DO supposed; it means do
yor hear an is usually addressed to serv-
ants In this form: -You, JIM Bring in
To get to GO is essentially a Georgia
expression. Thy say, ado, don't fail to
cons tonight, and the reply Is, I've tried
10 get to ~ three we Ks now, 30 I reckon
Phi be there t'night7 The exprs sion ado
don't Il heard in Georgia and South Daro-
lima, but r4raly elsewhere One OF the most
~laughAble things you ever heard is the 10
culinr pronunciation OF the word about
IL Is impossible 10 express the South Caro-
linian 1ronuncint.o on. Theoretically. 1t
sounds like about pronounced very quickly
In three syliables. ~Quare,r for queer - 1.
another word The u . Of reckon for pre-
sumo is said to ha . been derived from the
Yankees, AS was the expression right
smart for The word much. a.n HlI
In initiation OF English, perhap,, Is the
custom OF saying I've got IT, for Il have
IL, and the general use OF the word got
where It Is quite unnecessary. Also King
lish is the use 0. obliged, as I'm oblig- d
To do it for u must d. it, he Is Obliged
to So for he must go. Ambiguity OF
sxpressio 1 Is too preva emit in Dixie and too
many people ,acrihee sense - sound
rKcuLGARIrEs or PRONUNCIATION.
IoW-couniry poo lie and the residsnts u
middle south Cal DINA Aay "ges-ardeni' for
garden. gee-yard for 7guard"-wi4h the
hard sound OF y 80, too, w.th such wo.ds
as acnrd, car and cart into which is
introduced the sound OF ~kee,r 10 take the
PAaNSP ~ mat NSA@ AAA ASo NV
-kee-ar," -kee-art
The use Of del htfuI for delicious, is such
II sent nee as: The ise-cream Is delightful
Ia We y common Pretty Is a word vsiy
often misuse1, for instance: isn't this a
pretty dayf'-and this error Is n very
general one. North Carolinians say the
scenery Is -pretty"-meaning picturesqu
the day is pretty -ineaning Fms; and that
a persons manners are "prettyH-meaning
WE'LL ed- d.
You all, p" Or, as It is abbrs waited, y 'all,"
is one OF the mo ridiculous OF all the
southernisms I can calf TO mind IL usu-
ally means tao or mo . persons, but it is at
tunes US d hen only one person Is meant.
Por Instance, u caller on Ia ling her depart
ure, sEys, YAH must come To ses us7 She
mea, s the lady upon whom she Is calling
and her husband may call
The an eei hh 9 quite as many ridicu-
ious figures OF speech rs those have men
toned as peculiarly southern, an It VIII b.
reserved for another paper to present the
oddities OF Yankee conversation In the
meantime every true-heartei southerner
who reads these ines will declare that he
never u el any Of these sJuthernians, anil
will be iu { AS hon 1t in his belief as the
charlestoniRn wh.n he VOWS that he never
says ~dh-a,wayH for this way, AMI data
vxatsu ~ nth.t xvu r-n4~fa