"gwine" : another two cents

[Jonathan Lighter]

Maybe I'll start saying it, in the spirit of preservation. Getting people to follow my lead may be tough one though.

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: "gwine" : another two cents
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree completely, Jon. I'm a convert, remember? We converts tend to
be truer believers that those who've grown up in a creed. ;-)

FWIW, Hubert Sumlin, the only gwine-speaker that I've heard say it in
real time - "They was gwine broke!" - was born 16 November 1931 in
Greenwood, MS. As far as I can tell w/o doing serious research, i.e.
looking beyond the first Googlit ;-) - he's still alive. You know, he
may very well be the last gwine-speaker in the continental United
States! ;-)

-Wilson

On 3/18/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> Subject: Re: "gwine" : another two cents
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Net tells me that Memphis Minnie grew up near Algiers, La., and in northern Mississippi. This too suggests that "gwine" was once rather widespread, as formerly assumed.
>
> JL
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: "gwine" : another two cents
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm not sure that I understand you're getting at, Jon, but *Memphis
> Minnie*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis+Minnie>=97
> Date of Birth: 3 June 1897 =97 was a "gwine" speaker. You can hear
> snatches
> of her idiolect at the iTunes store, Tower Records, etc.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 3/18/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> > Subject: Re: "gwine" : another two cents
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> > While listening serendipitously to Blind Boy Fuller's 1940 recording of
> > "Worn Out Engine Blues," I noticed that he utters an unmistakable / gwaIn=
> /
> > right here :
> >
> > I'm gwine take a trip over to Chiny, Great God,
> > See if I can find my gal over there.
> >
> > Though some doubt appears to exist regarding Fuller's date of birth,
> > this site http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/piedmontblues/fuller.htmlspec=
> ifies July 10, 1907, in Wadesboro, NC (Anson Co.).
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > Yahoo! Mail
> > Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Mail
> Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail
Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail  makes sharing a breeze.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org