, 1886-07-07
THE o r DIALECT.
CuriosIties Of the Language as Used In the
Empire State of tho South.

Curiosities of the Language as Used In the
EmpIre State of tho South
Among the peculiarities of our dialect
is the putting OF the defining word before
the object defined, as "that ERE man" for
athat man. there that ERE book for
"this book, here" These expressions must
sound strange in cultivated ears, accus-
toned to Bostonian English, and yet there
are several million people who use them
constantly. stop" for "leave me alone"
is peremptory, and conveys the exact
meaning OF the speaker. In the same way
quit" or drop" or @let" are used. For in
stance, one will say drop itT or "drap it,"
as the expression is frequently used,
meaning SAY no more about it." Hold
on" means to stay proceedings, and Ego it,"
with n peculiar information, means Ego on
in your W way, l have nothing more to
say
SECT up is understood as q demand to
move along. ats shore to be so" means
that the assertion, or the existing circum-
stances are, beyond a doubt, exactly as
stated. "To put out" a lamp does not mean
to carry it outside, but to extinguish the
light. To "hollerv is to cry aloud, and /
think there is not a more expressive word
in the language. To cry in common
parlance means ito weep" while according
~ ~ AA@J AAtoA q ~
OF sounds of the voice. 1t is never used
among the country people in any other
Ssense than to weep. They have a different
word for other noises, as yell, a shrill cry;
whoop, a ~full-sounded cry; holler, a sort
of cross between the two, as used in com-
mon with either word, etc. The rather
pugnacious expression @beat him all hol-
Ter" however, means that the one alluded
to first is far superior to the other. Occa-
s~ionally the rustic drifts into a redundancy
of expression quite surprising. He says
"his'n," "her'n." "their'n," equivalent to
"his own, y their own" instead OF simply
"his, u "hers," "theirs.p BY this seems to
impress the idea of proprietorship by the
addition of the word "own." The word
split" to divide, is used as "cut down. is
to diminish or decrease. "Tolerably we'll"
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 cockneyism
that is observable in the language of the
common people. Thistle leaving Off the
aspirate. Besides ave" we've" and
they've" which can hardly be placed in
this class, because "Ill," WELL" and
they'll" show the contraction of the
auxiliary verb in the same way. have
noticed that the p%ronouns suffer most
from the process of decapitation. "Is'
"im," and "e," for "his, " "him," and She"
are examples. Another peculiar thing is
the prehxing Of "a" to active verbs
"ahuntin',' or %@aflshin'," "arunnin',"
"awalkin'." and similar instances. All
these peculiarities are noticeable in spntt---
ern dialect, and many OF them ss
mon to all ERglish-speaking people. AS
for real straightout dictionary English
you will hum a long time before you are
able to secure enough strictly accurate
speakers to make up a snug dinner party,
and when you have secured them you
may safely address every one of them as
professor Atlanta Constitution.