More on Southern Speak

I received a few phone calls about my blog about southern dialect. This is an important topic, because I write and edit books using dialect. A close friend, also an author, addressed me (her opinion) that writing in dialect is akin to making fun of culture.

"Not at all," I said. "Using dialect is a celebration--a preservation of the south or of any area--of culture--of tradition. For if  authors don't write in dialect, nuances of speech may be erased. Part of southern history will be lost.

When I wrote the first Jack tale book, I begged for the addition of more dialect. However, New York editors were more tuned in to the Chicago Manual of Style and Webster's dictionary. (Note" second Jack tale book due for release in Sept. 2008.)

Then when "Voices of the North Carolina Mountains" was in copy editing (see book tab for description), the editor called to say that I had words in the document that were not in Webster's. "Of course," I said. "There are many southern mountain words that are not in the dictionary."

"Sorry," responded the editor, "if the word is not in the dictionary, you can't use it in your document. Now let me know when you come up with a substitute word for 'sprangle'."

"But, it will take all the flavor and history out of the text," I said. "The dialect and old expressions are the heart of the book."

There was no winning or losing. I got lucky when my editor in Charleston realized the copy editor in Massachusetts didn't understand the purpose of the book--to capture southern history. Lesson learned. But "sprangled" stayed in.

 

The average person probably thinks that southerners only use expressions such as "ya'll", "over yonder," "happy as a clam,"sick as a dog," "stickin' your foot in your mouth," "down the road a piece." However, I recently heard some that I've never heard before even though I've spent my entire life in South Carolina, North Carolina, or Florida. (I'm not counting the year I spent in Portland, Oregon.) The following are the sayin's that my mother would have said are "dillies."

all vine and no tater-- meaning superficial

kettle-bellied--overweight

organ recital--growling stomach

three pickles shy of a barrel--dumb

purse proud--cheap or stingy

"There must be a "blue million" ways to say things southern," Miss Nettie Murrill of Morehead City, North Carolina once said. And she knew at least half a million. She also said "cattywampus" instead of "crooked" and "mommicked" when she was aggravated in the worst way.

In his book, "If This Ain't True, Grits Ain't Groceries," Glenn put it in the proper context. He said, "All my life I've been told I talk funny cause I shorten some words when I speak. But when I was young, everybody around talked the same. Now we're told we have an Appalachian accent. It came to me that such a way of speaking needs to be preserved as part of mountain history."

And, he's right. Language has to be preserved.

In fact,

Comments

[Nneoma]

I agree, language has to be preserved. I am a Nigerian and I know I have an accent but I do not really care neither do I try to pretend about it or try to speak to impress other people. What matters to me is that I have a language which I am proud of and I speak it with my friends, famliy and any one who understands. I think the same should apply to everyone. My eight year old daughter speaks my language as well (though she does not have an accent when she speaks English). But hey, think about it, every one has an accent even the English people.
One day at the airport, when my daughter was about three years old, we were sitting in the waiting area before boarding the aircraft, I was having a little conversation with her in my language, a lady sitting next to us was listening in on our conversation. She tuned to us and commended me and was very impressed on how my daughter was responding to me in our native tongue. She was a Nigerian as well and had a then four old child who she said could only speak English. She wanted to know how I was able to get my child to speak my language, because she thought it was a very difficult thing to achieve especially as we are not living in our country.
Then, I told her that there was nothing to it. As long as her husband speaks the same language, they should make it the only thing spoken at home and to other people who understand it. The secret is, to tell your child that once she comes back from school, to drop English language at the doorstep before she comes into the house, and once inside the house, you develop deaf ears anytime she speaks English to you, that way, she will be left with no option than to communicate with you in your native tongue.
I also told her that I enforced this becacuse, I do not want my child to loose touch with where she is from and she will use the language to identify herself with her people. Again, I would not be happy if she ever feels left out from her relatives whenever we visit NIgeria because of communication problem, that could be frustrating for her and I do not want that to happen, so I am keeping my language (native tongue) alive in my home.

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