Re: [ADS-L] Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In addition, this has been discussed a great deal on this list, as I recall. 
The archives should convey a lot of information.

In a message dated 2/20/09 8:59:12 PM, GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU writes:


> Kirk Hazen studied this "wont" for his dissertation. He did field work in 
> Warren County, NC. It has historical connections to "wasn't" and maybe 
> "weren't" but functions as a separate lexical item in speakers' minds today 
> (according to Kirk's 2002 Language article). I don't know how widespread it is 
> outside of NC. If you're really interested, you might contact Kirk, who's in the 
> English Dept. at West Virginia Univ.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Bill Palmer
> Sent: Fri 2/20/2009 7:34 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
> 
> 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
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 




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