On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Bob Whitmire <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Aye, and in coastal North Carolina, along the Outer Banks, as well as
> the extreme western part of the state. I'm told there are places in
> Maine as well, but I haven't heard it.
>
> On a different but oh so slightly related subject: A waitress in a
> small sandwich shop I frequented for lunch many years ago used to send
> her patrons off with a hearty "Caio, y'uns!" God Bless Diversity. <g>
That's a great story, Bob.
On my dad's side my ancestors were pure English -- direct, no-nonsense
folk. There was mention of a coat of arms in a genealogy written by a
great aunt, but she allowed herself the editorial remark that she "had
no faith in it." Heraldry is an industry in the UK, so I don't have
any faith in it either.
Anyway, my grandmother was not a great talker -- kind of quiet and
sweet. She would often put an "a" before participles: "The cow was
a-bellowing." "The cat was a-hissing and a-spitting." If she said it
and you had asked her to write it, she would have written "The cow was
bellowing," "The cat was hissing," etc.
My two aunts (her daughters) sometimes speak this way, usually as a
tone of annoyance or complaint enters into the thought it is meant to
express. It seems old, possibly related to the "y" before verbs and
participles: "Summer is ycummen in."
Or:
A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde,.
Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine ...
In any case, I hold on to the memory of its sound as I don't hear
people speak that way anymore.
Joel W.
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