MADAN FLORENTINA

SOUTHERN AMERICAN ENGLISH

Southern American English is a dialect of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from central Kentucky and northern Virginia to the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic coast to eastern Texas. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects, with speech differing between, for example, the Appalachian region and the coastal area around Charleston, South Carolina. The South Midlands dialect was influenced by the migration of Southern dialect speakers into the American West. The overall Southern dialect generally follows the borders of the Confederate states that broke from the United States during the American Civil War. The general southern dialect has its origins in the English immigrants who moved to the South in the 17th and 18th centuries, of whom most were of European Celtic origins. These immigrants brought with them a very distinct style of English speaking, which was then combined with the African languages spoken by the African Americans who were at this time slaves in the South. Like Australian English and English English, the English of the coastal Deep South is historically non-rhotic: it drops the sound of final r before a consonant or a word boundary, so

that guard sounds similar to god and sore like saw. Intrusive r, where an r sound is inserted between two vowel sounds is not a feature of coastal Southern American English, as it is in many other non-rhotic accents. Non-rhotic is rapidly disappearing from almost all Southern accents, to a greater degree than it has been lost in the other traditionally non-rhotic dialects of the East Coast such as New York and Boston. Lax and tense vowels often merge before l, making pairs like feel/fill and fail/fell homophones for speakers in some areas of the South. Some speakers may distinguish between the two sets of words by reversing the normal vowel sound. For instance, feel in Southern American English may sound like fill, and vice versa. Regardin grammar, the following features are characteristic of both older Southern American English, which underwent massive change during Reconstruction after the American Civil War, and is now largely rural and rarely used by those born after World War II, and newer Southern American English, encompasing rural and urban areas and used by those born after WWII. The use of (a-)fixin' to as an indicator of immediate future action. For example: "He's fixin' to eat," or "We're a-fixin' to go." Furthermore, the use of double modals (might could, might should, might would, used to could) and sometimes even triple modals that involve ought to (like might should ought to.) Moreover, deletion of have/had That school been there a long time. This have/had deletion seems to be related to a few other issues. Also, the use of done instead of have in perfect constructions (perfective done), as in "He done come up here" or "You done ate?" And the list of grammar features often associated with Southern American English continues. Regularization of negative past tense do to don't, or in other words using don't

for doesn't (he don't, she don't, it don't, John don't). What is more, existential It, as in "It's one lady that lives in town." Partial or total replacement of reflexive pronouns, "myself" becoming "me," "himself" becoming "him." For example, "I'm fixin' to paint me a picture," or "He's gonna catch him a big one." Regarding the Southern American English word use, there are also many things to mention. First of all the use of "over yonder" in place of "over there" or "in or at that indicated place," especially when being used to refer to a particularly different spot, such as in "the house over yonder." Second of all, the use of "to love on someone or something" in place of "to show affection to" or "be affectionate with someone or something." For example: "He was lovin' on his new kitten." Furthermore, a distinction between the words barbecue and grill. Barbecued chicken is different from grilled chicken, and so on. In conclusion, the Southern American English differs in many ways from literary English, not only in grammar but also in use of words.