You write: For example: How did they pronounce the word "de" as in "De Camptown Ladies sing dis song, doo-dah! doo-dah!" Was it with a long or a short "e"? If you mean by long e, the sound of bee, and by short e the sound of bet, it was most likely neither--it's the same "e" as in "the"-- a schwa. DF Coye The College of NJ