Texas definition of "yankee" (West, Cove: bars, island, place)

[doctorjef]

Oh, and 31% on the test and 25% on the advanced test: thank goodness -- I don't want to speak in Dixie-isms, though it's fine for other people. I couldn't answer a couple of questions, however. On cakes, I'll probably use icing and frosting interchangeably, and I couldn't even find a proper phonetic pronunciation of "oil" amongst the choices offered.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Oh, and 31% on the test and 25% on the advanced test: thank goodness -- I don't want to speak in Dixie-isms, though it's fine for other people. I couldn't answer a couple of questions, however. On cakes, I'll probably use icing and frosting interchangeably, and I couldn't even find a proper phonetic pronunciation of "oil" amongst the choices offered.

The oil question was weird for sure. I have never heard anyone pronounce it like any of the choices given.

That's why this should all be taken as a grain of salt...and all in fun.

[doctorjef]

I have heard people say "all/awl" for "oil" but I did not see any spelling that matched with "oyl" which ishow I say it (same as if you pronounced it the way it's spelt).

Last week my partner and I were addressed as "y'all" by a young guy in Lower Delaware, although I detected no Southern accent on his part. I think y'all may be gradually expanding its territory, possibly due to the dispersion of Southern-derived African-American speech patterns into the general culture. Or it could be because "y'all" seems to have a native following in southern Delaware (known in this state as Slower Lower). I'm afraid I switched over to "you guys" even when we still lived in Texas.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

The oil question was weird for sure. I have never heard anyone pronounce it like any of the choices given.

That's why this should all be taken as a grain of salt...and all in fun.

Cathy sis? I defintely agree with you and DocJ on that one. But, the one I found most difficult was the (which ever it was! LOL) about pronouncing "on" more like "Don" or "dawn".

Actually, neither choice works. I pronounce "on" like "own". As in "I own this car"... just the same as in "I'll get right on it." LOL

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I have heard people say "all/awl" for "oil" but I did not see any spelling that matched with "oyl" which ishow I say it (same as if you pronounced it the way it's spelt).

Last week my partner and I were addressed as "y'all" by a young guy in Lower Delaware, although I detected no Southern accent on his part. I think y'all may be gradually expanding its territory, possibly due to the dispersion of Southern-derived African-American speech patterns into the general culture. Or it could be because "y'all" seems to have a native following in southern Delaware (known in this state as Slower Lower). I'm afraid I switched over to "you guys" even when we still lived in Texas.

I would faint dead away if I heard someone in the NE use "y'all" and they were very obviously not from Texas or the South.

I find myself using "you all" more here in NM, and I hear it more often than y'all......you guys sounds OK, but I cannot STAND to hear "youze/youse" or "youzeguys." UGH!!! You hear that occasionally from someone who is definitely from another part of the country, with the accent to go with it. I don't really know where it's common, but I'm going to assume the upper East Coast.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Cathy sis? I defintely agree with you and DocJ on that one. But, the one I found most difficult was the (which ever it was! LOL) about pronouncing "on" more like "Don" or "dawn".

Actually, neither choice works. I pronounce "on" like "own". As in "I own this car"... just the same as in "I'll get right on it." LOL

"On" and "own" sound the same to me, and that's how I prounounce it...and what I hear most often.

I pronounce "oil" with almost 3 syllables, and I don't know how to write it out, LOL!! I have NEVER said "awl" or heard anyone else say it like that, not even in Midland, where oil is king!

There were some other oddities, too, and some of the choices given that were listed as southern...I had never heard!

[doctorjef]

I actually hear "y'all" here in Delaware with some regularity although it is probably more common downstate than it is up here in Baja Philadelphia. "Youseguys" is not heard around here and I think of it as very working class/semi-illiterate in the same way as Texans who say "hisself". I expect you hear it in a certain Philly-North Jersey-Long Island demographic. I would not expect to hear it in the upper Northeast/New England, which is the one area of the country to which the term "Yankee" historically and correctly applies. Farther west in PA there is also supposed to be the second person plural form "yinze" though I have never actually heard it or even spoken with anyone familiar with it -- could be disappearing.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I have heard people say "all/awl" for "oil" but I did not see any spelling that matched with "oyl" which ishow I say it (same as if you pronounced it the way it's spelt).

Cathy wrote: I pronounce "oil" with almost 3 syllables, and I don't know how to write it out, LOL!! I have NEVER said "awl" or heard anyone else say it like that, not even in Midland, where oil is king!

THIS is interesting. I agree with you, Cathy! I KNOW how I say it...but it is EXTREMELY difficult for me to spell it out, phonetically. The closest I can come to is something like "ow'l" (short "o" sound). LOL

DocJ? You say "oyl"? Not trying to get too detailed, but in this case, are you using the "y" as a vowel? I was not sure. If you are, it comes across to me as "Oh-wee-ull". Is that correct...or is it more like "O-we -ull"?

Last week my partner and I were addressed as "y'all" by a young guy in Lower Delaware, although I detected no Southern accent on his part. I think y'all may be gradually expanding its territory, possibly due to the dispersion of Southern-derived African-American speech patterns into the general culture. Or it could be because "y'all" seems to have a native following in southern Delaware (known in this state as Slower Lower). I'm afraid I switched over to "you guys" even when we still lived in Texas.

I think you have a good point on this one. From things I have read on linguistic studies, it DOES indeed seem to be expanding out of Texas/South, a bit. Like you mention, probably lots has to do with the spread of African-American music and culture into states outside the generally recognized "Southern American English" speech zone.

Of course, lots of this is "chic" and "faddish" and not so much a natural part of the vocabulary as it is in Texas and the South in general -- that is, a traditional and completely established feature of our native idiom.

Here is a "cool" map of -- according to a Harvard dialect survey -- where is the predominant use of both "y'all" and "You All" (which really amount to the same thing!).


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Map.svg/800px

[TexasHorseLady]

I pronounce on to rhyme, more or less, with Don. But, as said, my pronunciation s a child was corrected based on the dictionary and it warped me. But, come to think of it, growing up in East Texas I never heard "on" pronounced to rhyme with "own" with its long o sound.

[doctorjef]

TexasReb, I try to say "oil" as a one-syllable word with an oi/oy diphthong, as in "Oy, you!".

When I hear young people around Delaware say "y'all", it sounds entirely unaffected, though isn't coupled with any strong Southern accent. It doesn't overtly come across as being "hip". The natives here have a very neutral (to my ears) sort of accent and you can readily hear intruders from North Jersey, Long Island, or the more ethnic/working class-influenced varieties of NYC or Eastern Pennsylvania speech. The young guy whom I cited in the earlier post looked to be about 20-22. I've also heard older and definitely not cool adults use "y'all" in Delaware, especially Lower Delaware (the more rural and agricultural southern 2/3's of the state). This could either be due to dialect spread or to DE's position as a border state.