sannih claw; was Re: vowel raising/fronting

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 12/13/06, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at umr.edu> wrote:
>
> [Wilson:]
> > When I was a child, I was under the impression that the name of the
> > right jolly old elf, to coin a phrase, was "Sannih Claw." In some
> > Southern dialects of BE, this pronunciation has come to mean
> > "Christmas gift." The Other Sonny Boy Richardson has a Christmas blues
> > song about trying to find his "sanih claw," the context making it
> > clear that he's looking for his Christmas gift. The exact form that
> > this gift will take is left as an exercise for the listener.
>
> "San(n)ih claw" = Christmas gift.  Is this recorded anywhere other than
> Wilson's message below and the blues song he mentions?

I assume Wilson means (the other) Sonny Boy Williamson, not
Richardson. Here's one transcription of his song "Santa Claus":

-----
http://www.harptab.com/lyrics/ly4930.shtml
Santa Claus
by
Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller)
recording of 19
from
The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson (Chess/MCA 9343)
My baby went shoppin' yesterday,
said "I'm gonna buy what you need for Santa Claus"
My baby went shoppin' yesterday,
said "I'm gonna buy what you need for Santa Claus,
I'm gonna take mine with me,
but I'll leave yours in my dresser drawer"
So that started me to ramblin'
lookin' in all of my baby's dresser drawers
Whoa, that started me to ramblin',
lookin' all in my baby's dresser drawers
Tryin' to find out,
what did she bought me for Santa Claus
When I pulled out the bottom dresser drawer,
the landlady got mad and called the law
When I pulled out the bottom dresser drawer,
the landlady got mad and called the law
I was just tryin' to find,
what did she bought me for Santa Claus
The police walked in and tapped me on the shoulder,
"What you doing with your hand in that woman's dresser drawer?"
I hand the police a letter my baby wrote me,
showin' where I should find my Santa Claus
I just kept on pullin' out all of my baby's dresser drawers
I walked out and left the police and the landlady arguin',
said, "Look at the man done pull out all the lady's dresser drawers"
Yes, I walked out and left the police and the landlady arguin',
said, "Look at the man done pull out all the lady's dresser drawers"
But he said, "I got the letter and show the judge
The boy just tryin to find his Santa Claus"
Oh yeah
-----


--Ben Zimmer

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