LL-L "English" 2002.10.14 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 14.OCT.2001 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachian, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic, Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "English"

 > From: Randy Elzinga < frisiancow at HOTMAIL.COM
 > <mailto:frisiancow at HOTMAIL.COM> >
 > Subject: English
 >
 > What theory or phenomenon if any accounts for these differences?  Are the
 > North American dialects somehow based on extinct British English
dialects,
 > in the same way the modern Quebecois French is based on an extinct
dialect
 > of European French?  Are there any other influences on the language in
 > North America that would bring about this change?

General American English, Irish English and Newfoundland English
are all based, to varying extents, on the dialects of the
south-west of England (the "West Country"), which are quite
different from the dialects of the North and East.

One of the most noticeable similarities is the "unvoiced t" and
similar sounds of American English:

West Country      American      Standard British

liddle            li(tt)le      little
kiddle            ke(tt)le      kettle
tiddies           ta(t)ers      potatoes

Another characteristic is the "unturned diphthong" of the
American South in words like "bye", "sky" &c, which can be
heard in the English West Country.

The typically Appalachian "a-" verbal prefix is also a West
Country characteristic, although the usage seems to have
diverged.

Much characteristically "American" vocabulary actually
originates in the West Country of England, eg:

West Country      American       Standard British

perdy             pur(t)y        pretty
holly             holler         yell
fall              fall           autumn

I imagine this sort of speech went across with the Mayflower
and other ships going from Plymouth and Bristol. In
Newfoundland, however, the connection with West Country
speech seems much deeper, as if the entire community was set
up from West Country refugees or seafarers. The grammar of
"Newfie" still holds the characteristic three-gender system
of the English West Country. This involves the usual English
classification of nouns into "countable" (eg sheep, books,
clocks) which can be pluralised and "uncountable" (eg salt,
rain, wind), which can't, but further subdivides "countable"
nouns into nouns describing things that habitually move from
one place to another (animals, ships, cars) and those that
are normally stationary (clocks, books, houses).

"Uncountable" nouns are referred to as "it", "stationary"
nouns as "he" and "non-stationary" as "she". This gets a
bit confusing when referring to a male animal: is a tomcat
a "he" or a "she"? In this sort of case usage varies by
region. In Hampshire, for example a tomcat is _always_
referred to as "she" - which can seem peculiar to people
from other parts of the West Country!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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