Cynthia, DD, et al.:
When people say "Southern," they can mean any of several dialects that
are quite different from each other in a number of ways. Broadly
speaking, Coastal Southern (think "Scahlet O'hara") drops -r after
vowels, while South Midland (the dialect most modern Country singers
seem to try to emulate) keeps the -r. Many speakers in the southern
Midwest have South Midland-ish characteristics, but speakers from the
Applachians and the foothills (northern Alabama, etc.) speak the dialect
too -- "Southern Coastal" really does mean "coastal," and dialects
aren't limited to confining themselves neatly to state lines.
At least in my native area (northernish Alabama), there were some social
class connotations to the dialects, partly because people had moved
south from the foothills to get factory jobs during the depression and
WWII. What DD is calling "gentry" really did *sound* like gentry to us
-- that r-dropping was characteristic of people whose families had been
in the area for a very long time, as opposed to us second- and
third-generation "hillbillies." To me, the start of "ornery" has an 'r',
and sounds roughly like the last part of 'corn.'
Bill Spruiell
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DD Farms
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 3:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Feb 2008 to 10 Feb 2008 (#2008-31)
At 09:33 PM 2/14/2008, Cynthia Baird wrote:
>Since we were on the subject of geographical pronunciations, would
>anyone like to take on the pronunciation of "ornery"? I am from the
>southern Midwest and always heard the word pronounced as or-nry. My
>husband is from the South and hates my pronunciation--he says ah-nry. .
. .
DD: I am from the South, too. Aged decayed Southron (sic) Gentry. I
say or-nry. The more correct way appears to be, awr-nuh-ree, but
that's then Damn Yankees for you.
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