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

NY Times ^ | RALPH BLUMENTHAL

[Old Professer]

Got past my deeper box, too.

[lavrenti]

http://www.geocities.com/melungeonheritage/faq.html

The "religion of peace" has to do with the origins of the name. Typical

[Old Professer]

I like all y'all; it means something like you and your kids are invited for dinner instead of just y'all.

[Old Professer]

"Their" was a slip of the finger; not into this, I guess.

Sorry.

[steplock]

Not really that bad, but good for "sticking-foot-in-mouth" disease !

NYDailyNews

Q: And what is Clark's reaction to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's pandering comment that that he, Dean, wants the votes of Southerners, i.e. "guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks"?

A: "Well, he shouldn't have said those things. I think all Americans - and this is a joke! - all Americans, even if they're from the South and 'stupid,' should be represented."

[GatekeeperBookman]

There was, some 10 or 20 years ago a Professor Tarply I think-at the then East Texas State Teacher's College-Commerce-who was expert in the details of these matters. He compiled great lists of defintitions & the manner of their pronunciation...

I could construct a map of perhaps six 'dialecticly' distinct regions within the state. A native, born & reared in a given region, preferrably over 60, would deliver very nice examples of unique dialect.

One of W's problems during the campaign was his pecular phrasing of any argument or idea ( GRAMMER, SYNTAX AND HIS ENTIRE THOUGHT PROCESS-though his manner of speaking is more art than science-more an affectation than a system of logic )-The Cowboy Way-a manner of inverse logic which led the uninformed to presume his brain was inserted backwards-they were entirely mistaken.

"The War does indeed have many facets; http://aztlan.net/ Look at your enemy."

[Servant of the 9]

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.

And Molly Ivins. Molly works hard, if not well, at sounding Staked Plains Rural when she is in fact from Houston, went to Prep School and had virtually no accent when she left for college.

So9

[FreedomCalls]

And North Carolina keeps the "r" (Scottish style) saying "cheer" for chair whereas north of them in Virginia and south of them in Georgia and South Carolina they say "chay-uh" instead dropping the "r" (English style). The North Carolina accent has some peculiarities possibly due to it being settled by Scotch-Irish (who pronounce "r" sounds) with the areas around it being more likely to have been settled by Englishmen (who usually drop "r" sounds). Tomatoes become "tuhmaters" or even shorted "maters" for real old rural folk. Potatoes become "puhtaters" or "taters" (everyone knows "Tater-Tots"). Unfortunately the word "Negro" mutated that way as well into the word which one cannot say.

[Allegra]

LOL! Ah alwaays lahked listnin' to Senatuh Phil Gramm m'self. Now thare's a Texan for ya!

I was enjoyng all the various Texas accents I heard on recorded campaign phone calls from Republican candidates around the state last fall. Part of Rick Perry's said:

...we've still got a lawng wuay da go. Please git out and vote...."

[Allegra]

"enjoyng" - "enjoying"

No, it was not vernacular.

My typing just sucks.

[IronJack]

what else would we expect from NYC/East Coast elites?

Southerners are always the butt of jokes from the pseudo-intellectual Establishment. Stereotypes abound, from the trailer-park-dwelling tramp to the redneck in a beatup pickup with a gun rack and a six-pack of cheap suds jacklighting 'coons for sport.

Which goes miles toward explaining why Ebola is more popular in the South than Democrats.

[Pharmboy]

"Staked plains rural." Wow--never heard that one before.

[Carolinamom]

Re #1 The ancestors of a lot of Texans came from North Carolina...via the Daniel Boone trail.

[stands2reason]

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. Folks east of that point say "warsh" (wash) and "naw" (no), and call iced tea "ahhs tay".

So is that where the "official south" begins? I knew the "Grits Line" was somewhere just east of Dallas, but I didn't know where. I call it the "Grits Line" cuz that's where grits are standard side order in diners.

[Servant of the 9]

"Staked plains rural." Wow--never heard that one before.

The small towns around Lubbock.

Texas Tech Agriculture Majors.

Goat Ropers.

So9

[stands2reason]

I say "you guys" prolly more than "y'all"---I was influenced by my non-Texan peers in Midland during the boom. I often speak in Ebonics, but that influence is from my father who used it as an affectation. In real life, he had the faintest East Tennessee accent.

Now my mother is South Lousinanan, and if I'm down theya foah moah thayun a week, I pick up the ax-sayunt.

[stands2reason]

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

They are getting better though. It used to be so bad---I'd cringe when a "Texas Awl Man" came out talkin' like he just came off a Georgia plantation. ("Now look heah")