LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.03.14 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Allison Turner-hansen <athansen at arches.uga.edu>
Subject: LL-L "Prepositions" 2003.03.13 (05) [E]

Dear Ron, Lowlanders,
The expression "wait on" in the sense of "wait for someone" came
as a surprise to me when I first heard it in childhood, though I'm
southern born and bred.  That's because it is from the upper south
dialect, which is indeed based on Appalachian speech (though much watered
down in most places), and my family speaks the lower south dialect.  It is
interesting to find that it is current in Scotland, Ireland and the north
of England, since the majority of the settlers of Appalachia hailed from
those places.  If it were a German expression, I would expect it to come
from Low Saxon and not Yiddish.  Low Saxon speakers settled Appalachia in
appreciable numbers.  Yiddish effects are seen in New York mostly, with a
few entering the mainstream via TV.
The upper south dialect has been spreading for many decades, and
continues to spread.  Oddly, (southern) California does show connections
with Appalachia in its folkways.  My cousins there told me clogging, a
folk dance from the Appalachians, is popular.  My mother-in-law, who is
from Los Angeles, prepares many southern dishes, such as hominy fried in
bacon fat.  I think the dust bowl sent a wave of people from Oklahoma to
California in the thirties, and this accounts for some of it.  There is
spreading to the whole country, of course.  Military bases might be part
of the explanation, since there are disproprtionate numbers of southerners
(mostly upper south dialect) in military service.  Grits are served on all
bases, and offered in the restaurants nearby, which is diagnostic of a
southern presence.   My own area, Atlanta, Georgia, has undergone a
change from the lower south (r-less) to the upper south (strong r) dialect
within my mother's lifetime.
"Believe on" might come directly from the bible.  Other
expressions seem to come from there.  The use of the genitive with sensory
verbs, like "I tasted of it", is seen in the King James bible, and is
common in southern speech.  My impression is that the King James bible
reflects the underlying Greek in this example, rather than archaic
English.  Please correct me if "taste of it" is a native Germanic thing.

Allison

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties

Allison:

> Oddly, (southern) California does show connections
> with Appalachia in its folkways.

> I think the dust bowl sent a wave of people from Oklahoma to
> California in the thirties, and this accounts for some of it.  There is
> spreading to the whole country, of course.  Military bases might be part
> of the explanation, since there are disproprtionate numbers of southerners
> (mostly upper south dialect) in military service.  Grits are served on all
> bases, and offered in the restaurants nearby, which is diagnostic of a
> southern presence.

Allison, I think you are right about the spreading of Southerners and with
them some linguistic and cultural features to many parts of the country.

Up here in the Seattle area I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who
are from the South or whose parents came from there.  Most have to various
degrees become acculturated but have retain certain parts of their heritage,
particularly foods.  Also, most have watered down their "accents" but will
still use Southern constructions here and there.  Not one of them has any
connection with the military, though I go along with your supposition that
military bases contribute to various spreading.  I just think that American
society has become so mobile in general that these things are to be
expected.

Also, you ought not forget that much of Southern culture and speech has been
spread all over the country by people of African slave descent, that the
various "Black" dialects of the Northern States are really very firmly
rooted in Southern dialects, and that much of this rubs off on other
Northerners by way of "Black" cultural influences and relationships.  Since
my household has managed to draw from all of its origins (and this includes
"(predominantly LL) German," "British," "Southern," "Black" and "Indian") as
well as from its many international sojourns (especially Australia, the
Middle East and Eastern Asia), I am very much used to grits, greens,
blackeyed peas and biscuits, also to gumbo and jambalaya (from Louisiana),
and I am told I prepare them to do any Southerner proud.  Whenever I cook
German food (which isn't very often) it's always a big hit especially among
Southerners or their descendants (more so Southern German food than Northern
foods, the latter of which tends to have more in common with "Dutch" and
Scandinavian cuisines).  At least grits and some other Southern foods can be
had in many eateries around here.

Why, I even say, "Now we're cookin' with grease" instead of the more
generally familiar version "Now we're cookin' with gas"!  (For those who
don't know: it means something like "Now we've figured it out and are doing
well.")

Cheers!
Reinhard/Ron

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