Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"

Bill Palmer w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET
Sat Feb 21 01:34:55 UTC 2009


The "won't" that is articulated in eastern NC in the sense I have described
is clearly what most of us would interpret as the normal contraction of
"will not".  No "r" sound is discerned.

Bill P.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Mandel" <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:14 PM
Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 7:52 PM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net>
> wrote:
>>
>> Well, I appreciate that explanation.
>>
>> So let me move on to a question that I think this list is supposed to
>> address.  If not, then just slam-dunk me.
>>
>> In North Carolina, where I live, and particularly in the eastern part,
>> there
>> is a tendency to use "won't" to mean "was not" or "were not".
>> Ex:  Q: "Who ate that last piece of pie?"
>>       A: "It won't me".
>>
>> Does this practice exist anywhere else?  I have lived in and travelled
>> thru
>> much of the South, and don't recall hearing it anywhere else.
>>
>> Bill Palmer
>
> I can't reply knowledgeably, but let me assure you that in terms of
> appropriateness your question IS a slam-dunk.
>
> Is this the pronunciation I've seen written as "warn't" in the same
> sort of context? "about 198,000" rgh ("raw Google hits") for "warn't".
> The first page or so shows a few ringers, but most of them look real,
> such as
>
> - it warn't always like this [blog title]
> - What does 'there warn't much sand in my craw' mean?
> - Day 140: "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all.
> Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You
> feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."
> - And when it come to character, warn't it Compeyson as had been to
> the school, and warn't it his schoolfellows as was in this position
> and in that...
>
> Those last two are from Twain (Huckleberry Finn) and Dickens! (_Great
> Expectations_, in Google Book Search, http://tinyurl.com/d5qndc)
>
> Mark A. Mandel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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