Yat dialect

[Wilson Gray]

Thank you, but I'm more interested in the meaning of _Yat_ and what
typifies it, where is it spoken, how would I recognize it, if I read
it or heard it, that sort of thing. However, I realize that it can
take a while to figure that kind of stuff out.

I used to wonder why "none" sounded a lot more like "NIGH-un" or, when
emphasized, like "NIGH a wun," than like "nun" in my native dialect
(East TX). After I had moved away and heard other dialects, of course.
After about sixty years of wondering, my theory is that "none" doesn't
exist in that dialect. What people are using, instead, is "nary a
one," with the /r/ dropped, just as it is in, e.g. 'kigh" for "carry."

-Wilson

I'm a sort of linguist, but I nevertheless likewise use words
imprecisely. I can certainly relate to that!

On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 12:23 AM, Paul Frank <paulfrank at post.harvard.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Frank <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Yat dialect
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 22 May 2010 22:38, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
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>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: Yat dialect
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> What *is* the "Yat dialect," may one ask?
>>
>> -Wilson
>
> I'm not a linguist and I use words imprecisely. I meant the Yat accent
> of New Orleans. In my idiolect, a dialect is a form of a language that
> is peculiar to a particular region or social group. But I should have
> learned by now that the word dialect is to be used with caution. I've
> also heard, and tend to agree with, Max Weinreich's dictum about
> navies, armies, and dialects.
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Frank
> Translator
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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