Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-09-23
VIM Buren,. PA.

do now. 1t is not worth while for
me to tell Il man that | was born
aud brought up in Massachusetts,
or Connecticut until | quit ringing
the changes on the Africo.Ameri-
Can dialect and ending my SEN
fences with The drawing, sliding
diminishing emphasis peculiar to
the coltonfeld; nor is it possible
for a man brought up in different
section from me to persuade me
to think that he is n product of
"Alabam or Massasip or old Tenn.
essee." A mans speech indeed
tells on him.
There is a difference even in the
speech" of u Pennsylvania and
a Tennesseean, though they were
brought up ''not a thousand miles
apart.o For instance, the Tenn
esseean, who does thing 'in the
same way" inclines to emphasize
the word way, while his Pennsyl.
vania cousin let's the emphasis fall
on the word same. Asking the
question, "Are you going to town
todayW the Tennesseean ends
with q rising infection on the
word day, but the Pennsylvania
emphatically emphasizes the pro.
noun you; or, changing the ques-
ton slightly, the Pennsylvania
asks "are you going to town7n
with the accent distinctly on the
word going, while the rennesseean
drowls out the question with but
little emphasis anywhere. The
Tennesseean asks, "do you like
Pennsylvania with slight EN-.
phasis on the last word, but the
Pennsylvania comes down on the
word like with forty horsepower.
SIS that sop The Pennsylvania
dwells on the word is, puts all
possible emphasis on the word
that, and then prcnounces the
word so as quickly as possible,
with falling infexion. Write these
sentences, pronounce them in
your own way, and then practice
the Pennsylvania way, and you
get an idea of the difference in
speech that "bewayeth" these peo-
pie in a thousand instances. The
speech of a Pennsylvania sounds
funny to an unframed Tennesseean
and so the speech of a Tennessee
an to a Pennsylvania, but then
you know that every bird sings
the sweetest song, to his kind,
even the owl.
Pennsylvania people invariably
use two negatives where we use
one, and one position in asking a
question. The Tennesseean asks
you, "You don't like watermelons,
do you" but the Pennsylvania
asks, "You don't like watermel.
ons, don't you!" "YOu haven't
been well, haven't your "You
didn't go to town, didn't youp'
"You aren't coming over tomor.
row, aren't youm and so on to the
end Of the chapter. Who is cor.
r"ct2
When one goes into ~ section
that is new to him and tries to
bring the speech Of the commun.
ity up to his standard, it is not
long before he discovers that his
own speech has its peculiar crud.
tiles that might be left off.
Just why anyone should say,
GIVE done and done it," is not
clear even TO a Tennesscean, who
has "done and gone and done it,
all his life, unless it is used to
compliment our brother in black
But this is not so bad as the
speech of the duffer who says, ~
taken q notion" to do a thing
when he simply "took a notion
The fellow who "taken q paper
last year" ought actually to be
taken to the pigsty with a ring in
his snout and be fed with the
pigs on hard corn until he learns
at least the first principles of com
mon sense. "Taken a notion
"taken a paper" and SO on, is
simply butchery with a broad
bladed machete.
While even a Pennsylvania
child knows better than to say
"Me and John" went fishing, his
father will insist on saying "my
woman instead of my wife, OF
still better in saying Mrs. Brown
or Mrs. Jones, as the case may be
l don't mind hearing q man sa,
ray horse, or my cow, but ! dc
draw the line al my woman" ant
when the young unmarried woman
speaks of her sweetheart as I'm,
man" it simply gives me the jim
jams. The Tennessee girls I'm.
teller" is "rocky' enough, but TIL
Pennsylvania girls "my man" i
simply awful"
Two other common differences
are found in the uses of reckon
, and guess and remember ant
mind. The Tennesseean "reckons
on the future, but the Pennsyl
yanian simply "guesses" at it
while as to the past, the Tenn
esseean remembers" and tn
| Pennsylvania minds" Will
.k,,,