inquiry

[Bethany K. Dumas]

>I have long wondered about the origin of a word that is routinely used in
>Eastern Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia. The word is nean or neen, I
>am not sure of the spelling, but it rhymes with mean. An example of the
>usage is "Lynn, you nean to think you can get away with that. Does anyone
>have any ideas about the origin of this word?

And that reminds me of the very first interview I did in Newton County,
Arkansas, in 1970. My first informant spent a long time telling me about
what he called "bywords" - special words used by <oldtimers>. His favorite
was sigh - he described it as a word used by storytellers introducing
dialogues. He would tell of a speaker saying, "So, I said sigh ....."

He was hearing a contracted form of "says I" = s'I.

Bethany