the curious grammar of Ohio

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:50 AM -0700 10/27/04, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>from David Blaustein's review of Keith Banner's The Smallest People
>Alive, in the Lambda Book Report, August/September 2004, p. 25:
>-----
>Another unifying idea is simply the context of the book: The stories
>are all set in Ohio, where Banner lives.  Banner uses the curious
>grammar of the region to great effect throughout his book, employing a
>series of voices that may not come in for much attention by the
>publishing centers of this country, making a lie of that often repeated
>idea that regional differences are being subsumed into a standard (and
>presumably bland) way of life in this country.  Whether Banner is
>comfortable being labeled as a regional writer or not, he has produced
>a work that is wholly of a specific place and time.
>-----
>
>how frustrating is this?  what *part(s)* of Ohio?  (the state has one
>very big dialect-area split, and of course local varieties.)  i'm
>guessing the appalachian and ohio river valley east/south, on the basis
>that Banner is a West Virginia native and that the book was published
>by Carnegie Mellon University Press, but that's just a guess; we'll
>have to look at the book to find out.
>
>and *what* "curious grammar"?  this question really needs looked into.
>
need/want + P.Ppl., maybe?  (as in "The car needs washed").  Just an
uneducated guess, esp. if it's set in SE Ohio, as you surmise.  I
don't know of any Clevelandisms--or Cincinnatiisms, unless you count
"chili 6-way" and such as "curious grammar"...

L