The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-01-27
a kind heart is fountain OF
Il xlnincss, making everything in Its
vicinity TO frcshen Into sniilcs.-.
irving.
THE SPEECH or souTnERNERs.

a n --===-=======----------I
THE SPEECH or sOUTHERNEI,s.
southern dialect has. of course.
Issuffered much at the hands of current
N ana periodical literature. because 1t
4 has, unhappily, attracted the attention
OF writer's whose habitat is Massa-
ciiusetts, who have never been south
H OF the line which fixes tho great gulf.
n Ind who believe that the negro janitor
they occasionally converse with is a
perfect exponent Of the speech OF the
South. Misled by this conviction, they
& tfrow3 upon the printed page crazy
OF letters which sorely affront
tho, Southern eye. Mr.. owen Wister
lis wiser than these. In his charming
novel of South Carolina he acknowl-
edges his inability to portray to the
eye that treatment of novels and con-
sunants which his ear received with
pleasure. and he kindly permits his
characters to speak United States.
IA short story in Golfers Weekly
directs our attention to this theme
again. II Is from the pen of Mr.. Her
+ bert Quick. We have been unable to
place Mr. Quick. and therefore do not
know whether he comes from Boston
or1not The tale concerns Miss Roberta
Lee Frayn. of Tennessee. Roberta is
charming girl. Writers from all over
tho world agree in making the South
ern girl charming. Roherta's language
is even more typical. She says "At".
for 81, NAH. for my "foh'' for
for mo" for more" She uses no
..'r'' where 1t Is possible to avoid It.,
and no tinnl "s' under any circu,n-
stances. Among her other specialties
may be mentioned "regyahd." "youah"
6your). ..wheiah' twhere1, 'rasht
kahnd'' bright kindl. sub" "wo'thtn'-
ton (Worthinston). "igno'ant,"
..wohk,' etc, etc. BY substituting
.'at. for every 81" Gliding "g nhd ig-
1oring ..r." any school child can catch
the trick Of Roberta's larynx, and re-
prnduce Southern dialect as easily and
gracefully as does Mr.. Quick.
The first sentiment OF every Virginia
IL reader in perustng type displays OF thi:
sort Is one OF indignant resentment
He knows that educated Southern PEG.
Il PIE do not say mo-. and '.po'." HI
knows that they. very frequently con
meet with a .tcrminar'"ss," which thes,
dialecticians deny. and that they ar,
entire strangers 10 "iEno'ant' ant
'.wohk." He knows that such pro
nunciationH as "regyard" and "cyarn't
are fast, disappearing from anon.
them-a great pity. for no people eve
possessed more engaging provincial
isn-and that "raght' was neve
NH I;sS known to them. Finally, h. know
that. whatever the peculiarltles OF thei
where" for example, they can pro
e. y nounce 1t. which no living man can a
Y for AIR. Quick's ''wheiah.'
Absurdilies in this Southern Ian
guage OF modern story-writers are
g course. thicker than hops. Eut whe
ss ali is said and done, is It not a lttll
,Aahs closer to the original than most of
sS IRE willing to admit? Southerners {
tend to slur their ..r"s. They becon
conscious OF this when they meet Il
speech of Pittsburg and Ohio, and a
5 made glad by it. They like 81
better than a burr. When Northe
writers substitute an III" for an q
in the speech of Southerners, they a
|; merely trying to represent this a
ference between a slur and Blu
II Does not "pahty.' in fact, whether
like the look Of it or not, exactly re
resent the usual Virginia pronunc
tion Of party? Further. southe
people do tend to give an .'ah" sou
to- Tat least In contrast to
& crisp, flat. somewhat nasal effect Il
D D n Yankee can get out of that lett
Those who would dispute this shol
III h e. fry to surprise themselves sometin
Il when they are talking naturally q
off guard. Dsagreeahle as the
Election may be to US OF this part
rs X he world. probably NO sub" q
lAhn not coming represent Sou
10 erns pronunciation to Northern |
Western cars much moro closely Il
n III sssEs; would .No, sub and 's.Ahna."
M Nas Bat the real Elst OF the whole ma,
III III sSa !E I'll that phonetic spelling. under
Nm SSs HI Kulses. except the Intentionally co,
III 4sSpttensive to the refined eye. Il
II issnot the same as laugh no ma
Nc III the retormers tell us. Subtle
al Eauthcrn speech which fall al
nj singly upon the car are necessarily Z
hi dsmned to become impossible "
d fastened upon the nail OF cold p
gN #Ssssy IN print lis not meant for any
So nuIpose Type las Its byinus lin
stoRs. admitting that Northern \