Scholars of Twang Track All the 'Y'Alls' in Texas

NY Times ^ | RALPH BLUMENTHAL

[mtbopfuyn]

You're the only other person I've seen write about the Melungeons outside of a genealogical site. Have they figured (now that's a good Texan word) out where they originated? One family surname group was doing DNA testing with some ideas they may have been middle eastern but hadn't heard results in the last couple years. Freepmail me.

Aha, Jim's spell check is lacking "Melungeon".

[EagleMamaMT]

Read later.

[Servant of the 9]

Absolutely the best woman's accent is the high class south Alabama/Georgia one. It's like getting an audible massage when you listen to it. So soft and sultry.

Best man's accent too.
Think "Randolph Scott"

So9

[mtbopfuyn]

Read somewhere Tom Hanks is a Melungeon too.

[Pharmboy]

Perhaps this is the FIRST time I have EVER defended the NY Times: I think this was written with a scholarly bent to it and an appreciative tone. The fact that an academic Texan was the one profiled for the interview says it all, IMO.

Many Yankees (like me) love to hear a good, syrupy drawl from the South; only the ignorant ones disparage our country's great dialects.

Dundee makes an interesting point above about the lack of dialects in Aussie land.

[Pharmboy]

...and Clark is from Arkansas!

[Pharmboy]

I have heard from a friend in Tennessee that many Southerners agree that South Carolinians speak the best; but ahm a Yankee, what the h*ll do ah know 'bout this?

[mtbopfuyn]

When I stayed in England many years ago I was always introduced by my host as being from Texas as opposed to the United States. Everyone around the world knows about Texas apparently.

When I was in Scandinavia back in the 70s, they weren't so excited we were from the US but that we were from TX. They thought every Texan was a rich cattle baron and refused to think otherwise. We also ventured into Russia along about that time too when they only had one US tourist coordinator. The Russians were leary of Americans but were thrilled with Texans. Proves the saying, "Texas is a whole 'nuther country." Per the article - Ain't it sad them big city folks up in Dallas and Houston are startin' to tawlk lak damn Yankees. Lol, I never knew there was a difference in "pin" and "pen" and still can't hear it. There is also a huge difference between "dawg" and "da-awww-o-g" as in, "She's a real da-awww-o-g." Something I can't stand is folks mispronouncing "pecan". Texas, being the pecan capital of the world, pronounces it "pa-con" not "pee-can." A pee can is something one takes on a long car ride, certainly not something I'd want to eat. Another word I enjoy is "figure" as in, "Didja figure it out?"

[Liberal Classic]

Funny, I've never thought of it but I do say 'pin' for 'pen' with a short e. I don't have much of an accent, but I do use yall. When I was a kid I was accused of talking like a yankee because I talked so fast.

[DallasMike]

Why city Texans, more than country folk, should disdain to write with a "pin" is not clear, although it seems that some pronunciations carry a stigma of unsophistication while others do not.

My first college roommate -- a truly great guy who was originally from New Jersey -- made it clear to me that his name was "Ken" and not "Kin."

[DallasMike]

That is why Southerners and Texans almost always laugh at movie accents.

No kidding! When Meryl Streep was all the rage because of her ability to "capture accents," I was gagging. Her southern and Texas accents sounded like nothing I had ever heard.

Then there are phony Texans, like Ann Richards, who think that her exaggerated Texas accent plays well amongst the rural folk. In fact, her phoniness is one reason that she's out of a job.

[DallasMike]

The border between east Texas (where the Dixie dialect of Texan is spoken) and north Texas (where the Midwest dialect reigns) is at the junction of I-30E and the I-635 loop in Mesquite, Texas, immediately east of Dallas.

You've got that nailed down. I grew up 5 miles west of that intersection, just a few blocks off I-30, and I thank the Lord that I did. Like it or not, it's a fact that an east Texas accent is considered a liability in the big cities.

[Allegra]

We Texans don't have any accents.

It's all y'all other people who talk funny.

[Allegra]

A Yankees-think-we-talk-funny PING.

[Mrs.Liberty]

Did the Barracks Emperor really say this?

[mikegi]

It's funny. I've always thought "pin" and "pen" were pronounced the same, too. And "pee-can" is just disgusting. When I went to the Boston area for a business trip one time the locals got a kick out of my pronunciation of "Worchester". How would you pronounce it???

[Old Professer]

Afterward, Ms. Aguilar and Ms. Earheardt said that Mr. Greer, though white, employed some noticeable African-American and Deep South speech patterns. There were also Spanish influences, common in Texas, where Spanish was widely spoken for nearly a hundred years before English.

Ah mahta knowed, they's fixin' ta blame this on tha thievin' whaht folk.

[Old Professer]

I spent a little time in Martinsburg, Wv which is right between Maryland and Virginia; people up there go home to "rust" when their "tarred."

[Old Professer]

I thought the Melongeons were blue.

[lavrenti]

There are multiple origins to this group (it's debatable if they should ever be classified as an ethinc group). This is due to history, the fact was so many of the Turkish/Converso/Rom settlers were scattered, mixed and were so protective of their identity.

There is a school of thought that the Northern Florida/so. Alabaman Melungeons are more Turkish (my father's family--my daughter is blond, but olive skinned). Probably came through Spanish Florida.

The Virginian and Penn. Meungeons were likely more Rom in origin. Then you have the crew in New Jersey and the Ohio River valley.

Finally, a story about Elvis. Much of his behavior traits he inherited from his mother. He even continued certain Rom tribal traditions!

Another man with likely Melungeon blood was Johnny Cash. Put a kurta and a Nehru cap on the man, and is as home in Jaipur (in Rajastan the homeland of the Rom) as he was in his native Missouri.

I sometimes smirk when I hear Yankees trash the South. Uh, many of us are "white"--sort of. We've a mixing pot spicer than those peasants in the North East.