2nd attempt re my Rejected posting to ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Bethany K. Dumas
dumasb at UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU
Tue Aug 20 20:20:47 UTC 2002
>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 the rejected
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list