Language of the Southern Highlanders
by Josiah Combs
PMLA, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Dec., 1931), pp. 1302-1322
LXXIII
LANGUAGE OF THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS
THE region inhabited by the Southern Highlanders has been called the Southern Mountains, Appalachian America, Elizabethan America, Shakespearian America, and so on. Its inhabitants have been referred to as "our contemporary ancestors." The language of these people has been labeled Old English, Early English, Elizabethan English, Scottish, Irish, Scotch-Irish. Roughly speaking, the region extends from Maryland to northern Alabama, including parts of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Its area is about that of the British Isles, and its population around five millions.
Our study can not therefore be complete or exhaustive. The investigation is made more difficult by the fact that the highlander's language varies in different sections of the highlands, and frequently even in the same community. In West Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia numerous Scottish survivals are found; further south they are not common.
Thus one meets with different types of dialect in the novels of Charles Egbert Craddock, for Tennessee, Will N. Harben, for Georgia, John Fox, Jr., for Kentucky and Virginia, and Lucy Furman, for Kentucky. The language of Percy McKaye's plays is
in no way similar to that of any section of the Southern highlands. The linguistic peculiarities noted in this study have been picked up here and there over the highland section during the past twenty years; as a highlander from Kentucky, I had heard many of them myself from childhood.
Brevity is the soul of the highlander's language. He prefers it to clearness and to grammatical accuracy. In most of the rural schools over this "far country" the teaching of grammar exercises almost no influence upon everyday speech. The pupils are not taught to discard their dialect and their grammatical irregularities, because their teachers employ so much of it themselves. However, when a boy or girl goes away to school to be "taught up," he usually returns with a different manner of speech.
The highlander is slow to adopt anything foreign into his speech. English, with its early survivals, and a touch here and there of Irish and Scottish, are the predominant elements. Very few words related to French or German have been found, except in parts of Virginia and West Virginia. In the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina a band of Cherokee Indians lived for along time among the highlanders; today there is scarcely a trace of their language left in the Smokies. Negro speech has had far more influence upon the language of the Southern lowlanders than it has had upon that of the highlanders, for the reason that negroes are more or less rare in the highlands. Tens of thousands of highland white children have never seen a negro. The attitude of the highlander toward the negro is similar to that of the average Southern lowlander. This may seem odd, since the highlanders almost as a unit fought in the Union armies during the Civil War; but this decision was more the result of their opposition to the disruption of the Union than of their antagonism to slavery. A few words of more or less Scottish tincture follow:
bonnie nee(d) cessity
cadgy (pron. caigy), wanton, lustful. sick (sech) an' sich (also Elizabethan)
fernent (ferninst), near, or just beyond. trollop
gin, if.
Negro influence has crept in in such words as:
Baptis' 'mos', almost.
chillun, children. nuss, nurse.
gal passel ("A whole passel"), much, or a
g'long, go along, get away. lot. Not parcell
gwine, going. pusson, person.
he'p, help. se'f, self.
Such clipped forms as do' (door), co'te (court), flo' (floor), and yo' (your) are rare. Be it remembered that mammy and pappy are British in origin, and not negro.[1]
IDIOMS
The language of primitive Baptist sermons has had some influence on highland speech. The delivery of these sermons, often by preachers who are totally illiterate, has no parallel in the English-speaking world. A sentence from one of Craddock's stories may be recalled: "He 'lowed (allowed) to me ez how he hev been giv' to see strange sights a-many a-time in them fogs an' sich." (That is, he had seen visions, and was therefore qualified to join the church.) Intensely hortatory and polemic, the
preacher's words are spoken rapidly and often incoherently. In a singsong fashion,-ah is added at the end of most clauses and sentences. Many formal words and terms are used glibly, thus influencing everyday speech. Note the following:
My brethering, (or breethren), I feel impressed to tell ye the truth.
It has everly been the custom.
By the inward e nlightenment I b egin to discern t he true meaning, a nd will now expose it to you.
The following glib usage is expressive:
That cow has turned roguish, and is up to meanness. (A 'roguish' cow is one
that jumps fences, etc.)
That machine navigates by the might uv hits maneuvres.
Tutor hit up jist right, this old Ned (bacon) orter last a good span.
The elements looks threatenin, (It may rain, or snow.)
That gal of Zeke's is shorely dilitary.
Shucks (pshaw), I wouldn't cavil about that.
Wall (well), that exceeds the measure (That's too much).
Ole Shade's nearly blind, but he can discern the bulk of a person.
He proffered to go to mill fer me.
Samp's Bob got hisself cracked on the noggin (head) in the fray yistiddy.
Yer plum' bereftl
I suspect Hence wuz knowin' to the sarcumstance?
My nose informs me hit's time to stick my feet under the dinner table.
I hain't never had a boy I couldn't conquer (control).
I feel to know that hit's true.
He tuk umbrage at what I said to him.
Highland speech is rich and expressive in figures. The following list is
noted:
Steve ups and runs like a bat shot outn hell.
The dog tuk out after him, an' he lit a rag fer home.
I didn't know him from Adam's off-ox.
When the doctor looked at him he batted his eyes like a toad in a hail storm.
Mace went at Pete like a bitin' sow.
The gimpson weeds in that'ere gant-lot air ez thick ez redheads (woodpeckers)
in a dead'nin' (clearing).
He come as nigh as a p gittin' thar.
'Mos' (Demosthenes!) bolted in 'bout that time.
He wuz ez drunk as a biled owl, er a fiddler's bitch.
This 'ere beef is as tough as a saddle-skirt (or "whang-leather").
Yore face is as black as a back (in a fire-place).
Listen at that bread wagon (thunder).
Jedging from them mare's-tails (small streaks of white clouds), hit looks like
warm weather.
That room's a pyore (pure) hurrah's nest (in bad order).
You can hear that feller preach from mountaintop to mountaintop. (He is
therefore a big preacher.)
That's a quare (queer) knife. (A very good one.)
He's not exactly a damned fool. (Very shrewd, clever.)
He made hisself a bow-an'-spike (bow and arrow).
Highland speech is rich in idioms. Here the novelist has not used his
opportunities to the best advantage. He has only too often availed him-
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Josiah Combs 1305
self of mere dialect lists. These idioms are spicy and pungent, forming an
even more interesting study than any word-lists. In his idiomatic usage
the highlander often goes astray from his accustomed brevity.
That boy's got lots o' sand in his gizzard.
I cain't take ye cow, ye ca'f's lousy. (A refusal to agree to one's terms in a
trade.)
Ole Spence'sh ead is a-blossomin'f er the grave.
Hit would be a rat's tail in a meal barrel. (A very small matter, of no consequence.)
It wuz about a week ago, er sich a matter.
I aim to foal that mare, come grass (in the spring).
Hit's right at a smidgin (mile) to Uncle Boone's.
Buck greened-out (outwitted) that Ashley feller in the trade.
I'll throw ye down and take yer terbacker frum ye, an' throw yer hat in the
river. (I'll whip you. A hillsman is in dire straits without his chewing tobacco
and a hat !)
Hell's broke loose in Georgy! (A fight has commenced.)
Hit's nary a thing but a tale-idle. (A false report.)
I know in reason he's right about it.
She's got the mullygrubs about them doin's.
If ye ax (ask) me on it I'll tell ye fer why.
What did ye say ye call yeself, stranger? (You had not previously told him,
nor had he asked you.)
Who got to beat (won) in that deal?
Nance's Liz' has jist turned sixteen.
I had in head to plow to-day, but hit come on rain.
I've laid off an' laid off to dig that well.
He'll name it (mention) to Jones, if so be he's there.
Ye cain't handily blame him fer it.
How come it wuz this-a-way: he done me dirt.
I hain't a-carin' effn (if) ye do do it.
She hain't a-carin' which ner whuther about it.
I'd do it if I had my druthers ("rathers," my own way).
Jerry went to Sam's or Billy's, one.
He tuk his foot in his hand an' lit out fer home.
Ole Towser ken p'intedly git up an' fly. (Old Towser can run very fast).
'T ain't powerful' long to dinner, I don't reckon.
Quit that'ere 'rectin' me; I'll let ye know I ain't no grammatical! (Quit correcting
me; I'm weak on grammar!)
Fight, dogs, y'aint no kin; if ye kill one (an)other 't ain't no sin! (Often said
when two persons begin to fight.)
He made a bee-line (went directly) fer home.
Belly-to-the-groundt,h at boss was a-flyin'o ffn the face o' th' yearth!
That feller don't know enough to come in outn the rain.
He couldn't pour water outn a boot an' the directions on the heel.
Language of the Southern Highlanders
Split beans an' coffee, hit's all the same to him.
Kindly crazy-like; he ain't nothin' above his eyes.
I dare ye to cross that line! I c'n whup ye on a sheepskin! (Often a boy will
draw a line on the ground, which is a challenge to another boy to fight).
Pole dirtied Lem's back (threw him) fernent the barn-lot.
Well, I'm fexatially (or fexatiously) whipped out. (That is, completely surprised,
or astonished.)
Git up an' try it ag'in, boys; that was a dog-fall. (In wrestling the one thrown
to the ground first loses; if they hit the ground at the same time, it is a tie, or
'dog-fall.')
Quit feistin' aroun' me; I'll slap the taste outn ye mouth.
I've been a-schoolin' Bole jist three month, an' he's a pyore (pure, sure)
scholar.
Teach him up jist right, an' he'll make a knowin' man.
Cass hollered out 'School butter!' an' got ducked. (In the rural schools it has
'everly' been the custom for the "scholars" to duck anybody who cries out
'School butter,' whether he be pupil or passerby.)
Sis has been a-sangin' (hunting ginseng) all day.
There come a fine-haired (blond) furriner up the road about sun-up.
Git the almanick an' we'll see when that feller'l full. (Said of any one who is
a glutton at the table.)
He come back down 'long in the shank o' the evenin'.
Shug sent up an' ordered her a bottle of Pee-runy.
Babe sot up (courted) till chicken-crow with ole Rance's Peggy.
Gabe's boy don't fancy that 'ere Hicks gal.
Hit is six o'clock a-goin' on seven.
Well, Hen, air ye about done layin'-by? (Have you cultivated your crop the
last time?)
No, I'm jist outn the first-weeds. (He has just worked it the first time.)
Ed, go out an' snake a back-log an' a fore-stick in. (That is, for the fire-place.)
Stop plowin', an' let them horses blow a spell.
Silas' boys scraped the new-groun'. (That is, hoed out the corn on the newly
cleared hillside.)
Ed'ard's Mary Ann giv it out to each and every(one) that Dock's Becky orter
wed.
That MacDuff boy'd fight a circle saw! (He is not afraid.)
Who're you (in contempt)? I'm the feller that butted the bull off of the bridge!
He's as slick (shrewd) as a granny-hatchet (lizard); that's no dam' lie.
Nance is a-laughin' fit to kill herself.
Stranger, what mought be your name?
Don't go out in the rain, ye mought git wet. Well, I ain't salt, sugar, nor
nobody's honey.
He knows how to look over the sights of a gun. (He is a good shot.)
It's a sight in the world how she tuk on (grieved) about it.
I'd a heap sight ruther have me a great big groun'-hog.
He's been a-livin' here these six weeks an' better.
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Josiah Combs
Stranger, I have a call to preach the gospel.
That brat's five year old a-risin' six.
Shucks! I wouldn't addle my brain (worry) about that.
Git down an' stay all night with us, stranger.
I b'leve I'll lie down (retire).
Yander comes the boys back, a-suckin' the barrel. (Empty handed after a
hunt.)
I'm 'most done (tired out).
Quit hectorin' that feist, or ye'l git bit.
I don't want none of ye saft-sawder (nonsense).
Jude sot a heap o' store by (thought much of) her.
He kep' a backin' an' a-forthin' all day.
Have a drink. Don't keer ef I do. (He is willing!)
It's a right sharp (long) time till dark.
Brice's jest a-honin' (honeying?) to go.
He come out o' the leetle eend o' the horn. (Unsuccessful in a trade.)
Go back and lick your calf over. (Do the job over.)
Who are you? One of the Sextons (none of your business).
He got hit in the rump with a rotten apple (got drunk).
Maggie's been called to straw. (She is pregnant.)
That wuz away back in his gum-and-sheepskin (childhood) days.
Dry that up (stop crying) right now!
I won't do it nary a-step!
Tech yer beauty-spot an' ye'll go abroad (away from home) to-mor(row).
(Said while pointing to a black or dirty spot on one's face.)
She's on the old horse again (or "riding the old mare," pouting).
The old woman's a-losin' her feathers. (Snow is falling.)
The old woman's a-pickin' her geese. (Snow is falling.)
The devil's apron-string broke here. (Referring to a rough, rocky place.)
That feller ought to be bored fer the hollerhorn. (He does not have good sense,
or something is wrong with him. Hollerhorn is a disease common in cattle.)
He lives on the head of Bad Creek. (The further up one goes the worse the
people are, and he lives on the head!)
I'm the best whistler that ever curled (or twisted, or puckered) a lip.
He cut his foot (stepped in excrement) behind the barn.
Come right in, and make yourself pleasant (at home).
Have ye come to borry far (fire) that ye're in sech a hurry?
Hit don't take a big seed to hurt a sore tooth. (Said of one who has acute disinclination
to work.)
He's got so little that all he'll have to do when he moves will be to put out the
fire and whistle up the dog.
Cicero cut slip and jounced (whipped) Ike.
Git out o' my face, or I'll slap ye into the middle of next week!
It's now one o'clock. (A polite warning to one that his trousers are unbuttoned.)
She ain't got sense enough to grease a gimlet.
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Language of the Southern Highlanders
He puts me in the mind of (reminds) his pappy.
That kid's the very spit-an'-imageo f his daddy.
Hit's a spittin' rain, right smartn (or right smart and grain).
Josh ain't no sarcumstancet o Bud. (Josh can't be comparedt o Bud.)
That boy's turned fifty leaves. (That is, he has got over as much as a hundred
pages in his book.)
Highland speech, contrary to oft repeated assertions, is full of slang,
very little of which is imported. Much of it is Elizabethan in. origin, and
even a little Early and Old English. "What in the nation are you doing!"
recalls a line in Beowulf. (Cf. also the Latin Ubi in orbe terrarum.) As
would be expected, many terms for fussing, fighting, and killing abound.
And so: to "feed one hot lead," to shoot; to "stop one's eating," to kill;
likewise, to "lay one on the cooling-board"; "whale the life out of"; to
"feather into one" means to attack him violently; to "crack one's noggin,"
to hit one in the head; to "hit with the bald-headed end of the
broom," to hit with the handle; to "knock one stem-winding," or "send
one bug-hunting," to hit one hard; a "shootin'-arn (iron)" is a revolver.
To be sent to the penitentiary in the Kentucky highlands is to "ride the
Frankfort train."
"Cuss-words," expressions of surprise and intense expressions are numerous,
as one might expect. A few of them follow:
Hell's banger!
I (by) God!
By crackies!
Lordy mercy! (Scot., Lord, hae mercy!)
Land warm it!
Dadburn it!
Consarn it (or you)!
God save (curse) you!
Gee-minyl
I niggle-doubled are you!
You're mighty right I'm a-goin'!
He's fexatiously beat!
In purgatory, or some other unhealthy
spot!
Hell shot a buck rabbit!
Gosh (A)lmighty!
By grab!
I (by) gonnies!
By juckers!
Jesus H Christ!
Confound it (or you)!
Dad limmit!
Dab gan it!
A-law!
Gee-miny-crimminy!
I'd tell a man it's so!
You've p(l)ime-blank got it to do!"
I jist p'intedly must tell ye!
I'm wore finatially to death!
In terms of disparagement or contempt, the words "that," "little"
(with no reference to size), and "pretty" are commonly used. E.g., "That
Stallard boy"; "that little Curt Jett"; "you're a pretty thing!" "hell's
in your collar-bone!" A family that is disliked is referred to as a "set," as
in "that Jones set." Other expressions: "heller," "hellion," "hell-hag,"
"hair-brained," "whomper-jawed," "mealy-mouthed," "measly," "mal-
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Josiah Combs
ungeon," "auger-eyed," "gimlet-eyed," "chisel-faced," "grass-gutted,"
"ben-hickey-my-funker," "raw-eyed."
Some terms of asseveration follow:
God help (curse) my soul if he ain't
dead!
I'll eat hell by the square acre if he
didn't do it!
I'll be dogged! etc.
I'll be jum-be-jobbed!e tc.
I'll cross hell on a rotten log! etc.
Fad die (if I had to die)! etc.
Had die (if I had to die)! etc.
Pon (or pom) my honor (upon my
honor)! etc.
Pom my word, deed and honor! etc.!
Dog my cats! etc.
I'll be cow-kicked! etc.
Wish I may sink in hell! etc.
Wish to-my-never! etc.
I'll sink in my tracks! etc.
The ancient code of hospitality prevails in the highlands, and even an
outlaw is not turned away from the highlander's table, or from his bed,
for the stranger who calls may have news, or stories from a different part
of the country, or the world; and this is always welcome in an isolated
country. In such a case the highlander usually departs from the reticence
and the phlegm which he ordinarily exhibits toward strangers. Whenever
he is hailed concerning his health, he seldom answers "Fine," "very
well," etc. In highland speech "very" has lost its superlative significance,
and means "ordinarily" in the expression "very well." The highlander
never "feels like a bull-moose," or "ready to tussle a tiger." His
replies usually run something like these:
'S well's common, I reckon. (Not even
sure of that, is he!)
Jist tol'able only.
Only middlin', I guess.
Jest middlin to fair.
Jist a-battin' about (or aroun').
A moseyin' aroun'.
Able to be about (or movin', or stirrin'
about).
Ty-rollickin' (tolerable).
Jist a-potterin' about.
Jest doddlin.
Jist jo-bunction (tolerable).
Moderate only.
Perusin' about.
I ain't much, I reckon.
I'm no 'count. (If he is really not very
well.)
Hell-rollickin (very well!).
Our highlander does not hesitate to coin words upon occasion. Two
doughty politicians were locked in joint dee-bate, when one of them arose
to interrupt his opponent (who, he thought, had offended him) with:
"Look here, Jim do you intend to recronicate upon my migosity?" (That
is, "Do you intend to cast reflections upon my integrity?") "Why, not in
the least, Bob." "All right," replied Jim, "in that case we bury the hatchet."
An herb doctor of the highlands, upon discovering the efficacy of an
herb whose name he did not know, dubbed itfunkum-borum.
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Language of the Southern Highlanders
The following conversation may easily take place whenever a highlander
rides up in front of a cabin and hails another highlander:
'Howdy, Hence (Henderson)?'
'Howdy, Jonce (Johnson)?'
'Wont ye g'down awhile?'
'Cain't, I reckon; got to be gittin' on down.'
"Light an' show ye saddle.'
'Hain't got time, I guess.'
'Ye mought as well a-stopped.
"D like to, but guess I'd better not; won't ye g'long down?'
'Couldn't, I reckon.'
(Looking upward) 'B'lieve we're goin' to have a little rain.' (This as he rides
away.)
'Wouldn'tb e surprisedi f we didn't.'
'Fix to bring the ole woman down and stay a week with us.'
'Been a-layin'off to come, a good spell. You come up an' stay awhile with us.'
'I will, you come.'
'All right, you come.'
As in slang, many words have taken on new meanings, several of which
are the exact antitheses to each other. Thus "sight" means not only a
"great deal," as in "I love you a sight," or, "It's one sight to know!"
etc.; it means also a "short distance," as in "It's just a sight up to where
the road forks." "Spell" means on occasion a "short time," as in "Stop
ploughing an' let them horses blow a 'spell'." It means also a "long time,"
as in "He's had a 'spell' o' the fever." "Quair" (queer) means both "demented,"
or "unbalanced," as in "Here lately she acts 'quair,' "and
"large," or "unusual," as in "My feller! that's a 'quair' piece of horseflesh!"
Other noteworthy changes are: "starving" means "hungry." A
man who swears is "wicked." "Stout"means strong (in physique). "Best"
means strongest (in physique). "Plague" (a like ai in "air") means to
embarrass. "Pretty" means "nice," "obedient," as in "You're a'pretty'
child if you let me comb your hair"; used ironically it also means "disobedient,"
as in "You're a 'pretty' thing, to treat your mother that-away!"
"Proud" means "glad," in "I'm 'proud' to see ye back again."
A "hardness" toward one is a dislike, or misunderstanding of one.
"Roughness" is hay, or fodder. To be "worried" is to be tired, or fatigued.
An "ambitious" horse is an unruly horse. A "j'int" is a length between
two joints. "Evening" may mean any time after 12:00 o'clock,
noon. "Afternoon" is seldom heard. To "favor" one means to resemble
one in appearance. A "magazine" (periodical) is referred to as a "book."
There is considerable fondness for the Old English or Teutonic compound.
This has been treated in my study in Dialect Notes, ante. Some
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Josiah Combs
noun compounds (which appear to be the most common) not listed in
that study are offered:
biscuit-bread
sticking-stuff (mucilage, etc.)
preacher-man
granny-woman (midwife)
store-teeth (false teeth)
beetle-bug (any sort of beetle)
hist'ry-book
flour-bread
rock-cliff
pot-vessel (any pot)
gal-folks (girls)
tooth-dentist
reader-book
Bible-reader (preacher)
Pleonasm is often employed, for the sake of emphasis and terseness.
Many of the compounds, the noun compounds in particular, are pleonastic.
One hears for example:
During the while.
In this day and time.
He tuk a nap o' sleep.
That's a good meal o' victuals.
I thought he would surely, undoubtedly
be here.
Hit wuz a small, little bitsy rabbit.
Ole Bringe was a tol'able big, large
fleshy man.
I gin'rally usually takes a dram o'
mornin's.
Them fields stands might nigh't
straight up an' down, perpendic'lar,
as the feller says.
Raleigh town, Richmond town, Lynchburg
town, etc.
Much of highland nomenclature is conformable to the highlander's
usual fondness for brevity. Most names are clipped, abbreviated, or shortened
in one way or another. Names of streams, roads, hills, postoffices
and mountains are elemental and simple, showing the result of the hillsman's
close contact with nature and the soil. In Letcher County, Kentucky,
there is a creek named "Cow"; a few miles farther, another one
named "Bull"; and a little farther on, "Calf"! Some bizarre and original
place-names follow:
Harlan Co., Ky.
Hell-fer-Sartain
Johnson Co., Ky.
Bristle Buck
Grab Nickel
Knott Co., Ky.
Wolf Pen
Troublesome
Rowdy
Saltlick
Stillhouse Branch
Frogtown
Pizen Gulch
Henclip
Dog Slaughter Creek
Raw Dough
Fighting Creek
Shooting Creek
Seldom Seen Hollow
Stretch-yer-Neck
Shake-a-Rag
No Business Knob (NoMan'sLand?!)
Scataway
Broke Jug Creek
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Language of the Southern Highlanders
Betty's Troublesome
Turkey Trot
Possum Trot
Knott and Breathitt Cos., Ky.
Buckhorn
Letcher Co., Ky.
Kingdom Come
Leatherwood
Leslie Co., Ky.
Cutshin
Pike Co., Ky.
Big Mud
Little Mud
Brandy Keg
Western North Carolina
Old Nell Knob
Daddy Creek
Suck Creek
Calf-Killer Run
Granny's Branch
Mammy Creek
Pinch Gut
Barren She Mountain
Tears Breeches Ridge
Thunderhead
Rip-Shin Thicket
Sildom (Seldom) Greasy
Lick Log
Keerless Knob
Naked Place
Broken Leg
Burnt Pone
Sandy Mush
Four-Killer
Jerkem Tight
Big Bugaboo Creek
Frog Level
Chunky Gal
Go Forth Creek
How Come You Creek
Little Fork of Sugar Fork of Hazel
Creek (!)
Dog-Hobble Ridge
Devil's Racepath
Western Virginia
Lonesome
First or given names are usually clipped or abbreviated. Biblical and
Hebraic names, and names common to ancient, mediaeval, and modern
history predominate. The highlander reads more history and biography
than anything else (whenever he has a tendency to indulge in this luxury
at all), and will often begin an illustration with "Now, hist'ry says," etc.
As a result, one encounters such first names as: Cicero, Camillus, 'Nando
(Ferdinand), Columbus, Martin Luther, Achilles, Vergil, Octavia, Christina,
Clementina, Napoleon Bonaparte, El Caney, Valentine. Of course,
these names are curtailed into various forms. I remember a boy in our
community who managed to struggle along under the grandiloquent
first name of Cecil Calvert Lord Baltimore- and his surname was
"Noble!" The boys dubbed him "Cecil Calvert Lord Jesus Christ God-
'l-Mighty." He had a brother called Mos (Demosthenes!). Names of
military heroes of American history are common; but the titles of General,
Major, Captain, etc., become the sole first names, and we have
"General" Calhoun, "Captain" Hays, and so on. These first names may
even become cognomens, in everyday parlance. For example, in one of
the early wars a man whose surname was Branham became a major. One
branch of his descendants, named Smith, goes to this day by the surname
of Major. They are known as "B" (Branham) Smiths, and the
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Josiah Combs
initial B is always written prefixed to their names. Similar first names are
usually differentiated by some physical peculiarity, the name of the
stream on which they live, or by the familiar patronymic. Thus we find:
Bald Jerry Tate, Red Bill Combs, Taller (Tallow) Dick Vance, Ball's
Fork Aut. (Austin), John's Jake, Long John Grigsby, Black Rob. Sometimes
other characteristics enter, and we notice: Dude Hill Smith, Devil
Anse (Anderson) Hatfield, Fox-Catcher Thomas, Bad Tom Ashley,
Tight Jerry Slone. One "set" of Combses has long been known for curly
hair; they always go by the name of Curly. A family of Pridemores was
once nicknamed "Tad"; they have since been known by that name. The
words Junior and Senior sometimes become surnames, and we find John
Junior (Stacy) and John Senior (Stacy).
The highlanders are excessively fond of pet names, diminutives, nicknames
and clipped forms. Diminutives appear to be most common among
the "women-folks." Any highlander is lucky if he escapes with his original,
first name. Some examples are noted:
Ad-Adam
Babe (used for any male name).
Bud(die)-any boy
Cal-Calloway
Cece-Cecil
Am-Ambrose
Aus (Aut)-Austin
Barb-Barbara
Bert-Bertram, Burton
Cat-Catherine, Caroline
Clem-Clement
Chris-Christopher
Cord-Cordelia
Em-Emma, Amos
Hen-Henry
Hence-Henderson
Herb-Herbert
Jace-Jason
Mace-Mason
Killis-Achilles
Lem-Lemuel
Marg-Margaret
Lihu-Elihu
Lonm-Columbus
Nando-Fernando
Mart-Martin
Millie-Milicent, Mildred, Amelia
Newt-Newton
Phronie-Sophronia, etc.
Samp-Sam(p)son
Sim-Simon, Simeon
Suke, Sukey-Susan
Tavia-Octavia
Tina-Clementina
Tint (long i)-Lizzie
Vic-Victor, Victoria
Val, Vol-Valentine
France-Francis
Gid-Gideon
Hill-Hillard
Hub (Huck)-Hubert
Jonce-Johnson
Jas-Jasper
Kell-Kelley
Leth(e)-Alethia
Lige-Elijah
Lish-Elisha
Lysses-Ulysses
Lando-Orlando
Marth-Martha
Morg-Morgan
Mos-Demosthenes
Nelia-Cornelia
Quin-Quinley
1313
Language of the Southern Highlanders
Rance-Ransom Tish-Letitia
S(h)ug (used for any female name). Ves(t)-Sylvester
Tildy-Matilda Zach-Zachariah
Tine-Valentine
In highland speech "Madam" may be used for "Miss," which is good
Elizabethan; "Miss" may be used for "Madam", or "Mrs." "Sis" is a
pet name for a girl, and may be used even in addressing strangers.
PRONUNCIATION
Three kinds of pronunciation may be said to prevail in highland
speech: (1) That of everyday speech; (2) That employed in primitive
Baptist sermons; (3) That employed in singing the folk-song.2 The following
observations deal with highland speech in every day conversation.
The highlander in much cheap fiction au rabais is represented as
speaking with a drawl. In reality he speaks more rapidly than is generally
supposed. The Elizabethans, it is believed, spoke more rapidly than we
do, and our "contemporary ancestors" may not have departed far in
this respect from their Elizabethan forbears. Highland pronunciation is
more rapid than lowland speech in the South. The hillsman has little
notion however of vowel quantities, nor does he speak clearly and distinctly.
As to stress, or accent, a possible French influence survives in many
words. A final syllable is frequently stressed, and we find: "settlement,"
or "settlemint," "cowardice," "easement," "judgement" or "judgemint,"
and many others. The tendency to stress all syllables in a word is not
uncommon, and a list of such words would be lengthy. Note: "debate,"
"defalcation" (pro. "dee-fal-ca-tion"), "forbears," "success." it is sometimes
contended that the stressing of the final syllable of the final word
in many folk-song lines, as in such words as "lady," "baby," etc. is due to
French influence. Such stress is due, most likely, to the demands of meter
and rhyme.
Elizabethan survivals of stress may be noted in the following words,
which are only a few of a large number:
"char-ac-ter": "And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou characterG. ive thy thoughtsn o tongue."
-Ham. I, 3, 59.
"con-tra-ry": "Ourw ills and fates do so contraryr un."
-Ham. III, 2, 221.
"de-test-able"" And I will kiss thy detestablbe ones."
-King John II, 4, 29.
2 See my paper in Dialect Notes, Vol. iv, Part v.
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Josiah Combs
"pur-vey-or":" To be his purveyorh; e rides well."
-Macb. I, 6, 22.
"se-pul-chre":" Banish'dt his frail sepulchreo f our flesh."
-Rich. II, I, 3, 194.
There appears to be a tendency to stress most prefixes, and especially deand
dis-.
VowELS.-In general, most vowels may be used interchangeably.
Most vowels may replace e, i and u. 0 is more constant, yet drop becomes
drap, and soft becomes saft, close sometimes becomes cluz. Euphony
has some influence, and often determines, with respect to both
vowels and consonants, what letter may be used.
A short, becomes (1) short e, as in "beck" (back,v.), "hev" (have). (2)
like o in "pomper" (pamper). (3) like o, as in "job," v., and "stob."
A, broad, or Italian: (1) ai (the sound of ai in air), as in "ah," "jar,"
"pasnip," (parsnip), and "star." (2) y, (in duty), as in "Alabamy," "commy,"
"Iowy," "stanzy." As to a final, this rule is constant. (4) Rarely -er.
Yet, "Bere-er" (as in Bere-er College), and "ide-er" (rare). This can hardly
be traced to any English influence, but seems rather the outcome of the
highlander's struggle with r, or his fondness for the use of it. This excrescent
r, final, is rare in highland speech.
A, long becomes short e sometimes, as in "kem" (came), and "tek"
(take). Short i, as in "grit," (grate). Like i in machine, as in "Jeemes"
(James). Long o, as in "toper" (taper).
A, in such words as past, last, fast, never has the English, or New England
sound, but is nearly always like ai in air. This pronunciation is of
course not wholly confined to highland speech. Sometimes this ai sound
becomes like short e, as in "kerry" (carry), and like broad a, as in "arr"
(arrow).
A, (with the sound of a in wall) sometimes broad, as in "warnet" (walnut).
E, short, becomes highland a in past, as in "bag," v., "kag," and "lag,"
also as in "frash" (or "fraish"), and "flash" (flesh). Like short i, as in
"chist" (O.E.), " 'stid of" (instead of), "stid" (in bedstead), and "ricollect."
Like i in machine, as in "ree-collect" (recollect).
E (with the sound of e in certain) often broad, as in: "consarn," (concern),
"Sartain" (certain), "marchant," "marcy," "sarve," "sarvice
(berry)," "tarpin" (terrapin), and "tairpin" is also heard), "yarb"
(herb). "Massy" is also heard for mercy. This is of course as early as
Chaucer. Cf. mod. Eng. (in England) "darby" (derby), etc.
E, mute, is frequently sounded, as in such words as "saf-e-ty," "tastes"
(tastes).
1315
Language of the Southern Highlanders
I, short, becomes short e, in many words: "(w)rench" (rinse), "hender,"
"sperrit" (spirit), "resk" (risk). Sometimes like ai in air, as in
"mairacle," "spairit,"(w)rainch" (rinse). Also like long ee, as in "seel"
(sill, as of a house). Like long i, as in "cowardice," "civilization," "destined."
I, long, becomes like ou in out, as in "mought" (might), and like i in
machine, as in "obleege." Like ai in air, as in "squair" (squire). Broad a,
as in "farr" (fire), "warr" (wire), "arrn" (iron).
I (with the sound heard in sir) becomes short u, as in "fust" (first,
probably negro influence). This sound also common is "wuss," (worst),
"nuss" (nurse). Obversely we find "furse" forfuss.
The i is excrescent in many words: "favior," "mountainious," "stupendious,"
etc.
0 (as in onion) becomes short in "engern" (sometimes "ingern").
0 preceding r in many proper names becomes the sound of i in bird:
"Flerence," "Flerida," "Jerdan," and the familiar "ferriner." Highland
pronunciation of o in such words as hog, dog, log, and a few other words, is
short, usually, and not "hawg," "dawg," and "lawg," which latter
sound is probably not Elizabethan.
0, short, becomes something like short a, as in: "crap," v. and n.,
"drap," "draps" (tablets), and "drapsy."
U, short, becomes like the highland sound of a in past, supra, as in
"brash" (brush). Like short e, as in: "bresh" (brush), "gredge," "jestice,"
"sech," "-trest" (as in "intrest," interest), and "sheffle" ("sheffle the
kyards"). This short sound of u is common in: "gut" (got), "sunt"
(sent), "whuch" (which), "whut" (what). Sometimes short i, as in
"sich" (such) Like aw, as in "hawngry" (hungry). Fuss often becomes
"furse."
U (as in monument) worries the highlander. In this word it becomes
short i. From mixture, "mixtry" is evolved. We also find: "nater" (nature),
"picter" (picture), and "legislater" (legislature). And "pyore"
(pure), "shore" (sure).
Y, long, sometimes becomes short e, as in "denamite" (dynamite).
Ai, The English sound prevails in again, when it is not "agin."
Au (like aw) becomes long a, as in "kaze" (because, cause, v. and n.)
"Kazen," v. and n. is also heard. "Sasser" (highland a in past is commonly
heard for saucer.
Ai (as in air) becomes like ea in hear: "Cheer" (chair), "Cheerman";
"chere" and "chereman" are also heard.
Ea in measure becomes like highland a in past. Cf. also "pleasure" and
"treasure" of like sound, but which sound is more or less common over
1316
Josiah Combs
the United States in these two words. Ea as in rear sometimes becomes
highland a in past: e.g., "rare" (rear).
Oi becomes long i in many words, such as "boil," "point" "quoil," "rejoice,"
and final, in "enjoy." Oil is usually "awl." In general, diphthongs
are a source of worry to the highlander.
Ou (as in country) sometimes becomes short e, e.g., "kentry." An extra
syllable is found in "counteree," due possibly to ballad, or Scot. influence.
Ow final becomes er, or y, or else is dropped entirely. Thus for borrow:
"borr," "borrer," "borry." Cf. "wheelbarr" (wheelbarrow). Also:
"harr(ow)," "narr(ow)," "sparr(ow)," etc. Often er, as in "shadder,"
"winder," "holler."
Breaking and palatal influence are found in many words: "yearth"
(earth), "yearn" (earn), also "yearnt" (p.p.), "kyard," (card, v. and n.),
"gyarden," "gyard" (guard), "yerb" (herb). "Yarb" is common.
CONSONANTS.-In brief, consonants are frequently used interchangeably,
and are often excrescent. "Cockney" English is almost unknown.
R is pronounced distinctly, and never trilled. Metathesis of r with vowels
is common: "aggervate," "perfessor," "pertect," "pertend," "Amborse,"
"catrige" (cartridge), and "hunderd."
D becomes voiceless t in: "ahint" (behind), "behint," "ballet" (ballad),
"diamont," "eent" (end), "shet" (shut), and "wisht" (pres. tense of
wish, 1 pers.). Final, it is often clipped: "Lor.," "lan.," etc. due probably
to negro influence. Excrescent in various forms of woman: "dumern"
(sound of oo in look, sing. and plu.), and "dumerns" and "dumerenses."
Sound ofj in: "juel" (duel), "jue" (dew). Internal, as in "idjit" (idiot),
and "tejious" (tedious).
B, is sometimes supplanted by v: "gravel," v. (grabble), "marvel"
(marble).
F, before t sometimes becomes t, as in "atter," (after). "Arter" is also
heard. In the days when the fascinator was d la mode, "vascinator" was
common. From whence the highland slang, "fashionableator."
G, becomes b in a few words: "sobby" (soggy).
H, is sometimes excrescent, and sometimes a survival of earlier English
forms: "hit" (it), "hah!" (ah), "hout" (out, as in "houtrun").
K, becomes t in "rist" or "rest" (risk).
MAi;s sometimes dropped, as in "scrabble."
N, becomes I in "chim(b)ley." It is sometimes excrescent, as in:
"nunited," "nuniteder," "nunitedest," "lessn" (unless, unless than?),
"'thoutn" (without).
P, becomes t in: "strain," and "stringhalt" (which is perhaps the correct
form, historically). It becomes b in "Babtis(t)."
Q, Equal becomes "ekal," equality becomes "ekality."
1317
Language of the Southern Highlanders
R, save in negro and lowland influence, is never dropped. It is frequently
excrescent: "wimmern" (women, also "womern": cf. "dumern,"
etc. above), "furse" (fuss), "urs" (us), "murd," "purdle" (puddle), "darter"
(daughter), "torp," "storp," "purp," "warnet" (walnut), "aguer"
(ague), "hursh."
S, is used excessively. It is excrescent in "Laws-amassy!" (Lord have
mercy!), and in "squench." In measure we find sometimes a pronunciation
like "majur."
T is often excrescent, due largely, in verb forms, to earlier English. It is
supplanted by k in some words: "adzackly" or "exackly." Excrescent
forms: "onct," "twict," "clifft," "doste." It becomes d in "affidavid."
Print (impression) becomes "printh." Tune becomes "chune." Turtle becomes
"turkle." Poppet becomes "poppy." Petty becomes "pettit," as in
"pettit jury." It is sometimes dropped: "le's" (let's), "dremp" (dreampt,
or dreamed), "Babtis'." We find "brickle" for brittle.
W, is elided in several words: "awkard," "Edard," "backards," "upards,"
"inard," "oman." It is excrescent in a number of words: "swinge"
(certainly as old as Spenser), and "twang" (of taste).
Intitial y appears in some words as excrescent, or rather to form
"breaking," as in "yearth," "yerb" or "yarb" (herb). Internal, in "villyain."
SYNTAX
NUMBER.-The singular is used for the plural: "Two foot deep." "A
three year old (horse)." "These six year and more." "Three pound o'
coffee." (Cf. Ger. drei Pfund Kaffee).
The plural of nouns is used excessively and indiscriminately. Dishes
at the table are often pluralized: "Pass the cabbages, please." A sort of
ancient syllabic plural occurs in many words, for the sake of euphony:
"beasties," "posties," "nesties." Whenever there is more than one room
in a dwelling house, it is "houses." The less pretentious mountain cabin
is still composed of one room. Singular cognomens are often pronounced
in the plural: "Lyons," "Griffiths," "Salyers." There is a sort of double
plural form in many words: "folkses," "galses" (gals), "dumerenses"
(women), "Tom'ses" ('although singular, as in "Tom'ses hat.") "Salmmonses"
(salmon) and "baking powders" are heard; powder (except gunpowder)
is often pluralized.
THE VERB.-There is great confusion in the use of the verb in highland
speech, and more irregularities incident to the use of it may be
noted than for any other part of speech. The most common irregularity
is perhaps the use of singular forms for plural forms. This is not due to
negro influence. Use of plural for singular forms is not common, but it is
1318
Josiah Combs
sometimes heard in primitive Baptist sermons: "He were said to be," etc.
(Cf. Fr. patois, "J'allons chez Rabut," and "J'avons pris," etc., forms
heard in France in Moliere's time, and today.) The highlander, even
when he is totally unlettered, senses that the plural forms somehow or
other sound "different," or "proper."
The following are examples of the verb used as a noun :
Hit don't make no differ.
Efn (if) I had my ruthers (or "druthers,"r ather).
I heerd no give-out (announcement)a t the meetin' (church).
There is one more gittin' o' wood up there.
That'ere big cove is a plum' shut-in.
The boys had a big to-do last night.
The present participle frequently is used as an adjective: "He's a
mighty knowin' little man." "She's a managin' wife." "He's the shootin'-
est man in these parts."
The strong preterite with change of vowel is common: "bruk" (broke),
"brung" (brought), "friz," or "fruz" (froze), "roke," or "ruck" (raked),
"shet" or "shot" (shut), "sont" (sent), "shuck" (shook), "thunk,"
"squez" (squeezed), "streck" (struck), "cluz" (closed). One hears "jangled"
for jingled, and "retched" for reached.
Other peculiarities: The transitive is sometimes used intransitively,
as in: "This meat eats fine." "A squirrel uses in that tree." Cf. Beaumont
and Fletcher: "No fish that useth in the mud." "The moon's agoin'
to full soon." "Git the almanick and see when that feller'll full."
(At the table!) "She kep' on denouncin' (weeping) all night." "That
corn is damagin' fer the want o'rain." "It uster war (were)" means
"It used to be." The participial ending -ing is sometimes used, due to
primitive Baptist sermons, in: "seving" (seven), "(e)leving." "Gwine,"
and "a-gwine" do not necessarily derive from negro speech, and belong
to earlier English speech. They are common enough among the illiterate.
THE ADVERB.-The adverb is often used as a noun: "Nance cut a big
through at the meetin'." (That is, she got to shouting at church). "Do
you like up there?"
As an adjective: "I'm as gaily as a gal, but not half so pretty." (Answer
to a salutation). "He feels (or is) weakly after that spell o' the
rheumatiz." "Git up early, so's we can git a soon start." (Thus does
Shakspere use the word, in Antony and Cleopatra).
Frequently as a verb: "He's been a-backin' an a-forthin' to town all
day."
3 For other examples see my article, "Elizabethan English," Dialect Notes, Vol, iv,
Part iv.
1319
Language of the Southern Highlanders
Ellipses occur in the use of adverbs and other parts of speech: "I'll do
that or somethin' (else.)" "I saw him or John, one (or the other)." These
forms are common: "somehows," "some'eres," "anywheres," "nowheres,"
"nohows," due to fondness for the s. "Foreshortly" means
soon, immediately. Very has lost its superlative significance, and means
ordinarily, etc. "Always ago" (long ago) is corrupted into "allus ago," or
"allers (sharp s) ago."
THE NOUN.-Nouns are most commonly used as verbs, a tendency
which is more or less popular elsewhere over the country.
This hog'U meat us a month.
They churched Nath fer tale-bearin'.
Quit that'ere faultin' me!
Sis has a fashion of blousin' her waist.
Bud book-kep' (kept books) all summer.
Dude Hillard choirs (sings) fine.
I won't bed it (lie in bed) no longer.
Muscle that log up, Mace.
I won't pleasure ye that much.
Big Jim won't confidence preacher-men.
The road turkey-trails up the creek.
Pore Polly's a sorrowin'a right smartng rain (very much).
As an adjective: "He's too faulted to clark (clerk) fer me." "She was
thoughted enough fer to tell the truth."
THE PRoNouN.-The pronoun is omitted, but infrequently. "He give
it out to each and every (one)." (That is, announced). Even the relative
is sometimes omitted: "Them's the only men is men!" And this,
seen over the crude gateway of a lonely graveyard on the top of a mountain
in Knott County, Kentucky: "GOD BLESS THOSE SLEEPS HERE."
"As" is still used (like swa in old English) as a relative pronoun: "The
man as you saw."
Which is sometimes excrescent, or used without construction, due to
primitive Baptist sermons: "Which I hope that he'll do this."
It is unnecessary to comment on the well-known forms: "his'n" (his
one, or own), "hern," "yourn," "theirn," "theirsefs." And "we-all,"
"you-all," "they-all," the second of which expressions Northerners persist
in misunderstanding among Southerners. It is never used when addressing
one person, except occasionally among the negroes, and even
then the family of the person addressed is included, as in: "You-all
come to see us." As to "we-all," "we-uns," etc., cf.: Fr. nous autres; Sp.
nosotros; It. noi altri. But look at these forms!: "we-erunses" and "youerunses."
1320
Josiah Combs
She has inherited something as old as allegory itself. Musical instruments,
fire-arms, watches, clocks, and even knives are feminine. She is
also used in slang expressions: "She's hog-wild!" (Meaning, "He is all
'likered-up'.") Also, referring to a stranger (man), "Who is she?"
THE ADJECTIVE.-Adjectives are freely formed from verbs: "Chairbottomin'
is easy settin'-down work." "When my young'n' thar was a
leetle set-along (sit alone) brat." "It's the tore-downdest place about.
"Pete's the disablest one o' the fambly." "To hell with that fotched on
kraut what comes on in cans!"
Adjectives may be used as verbs: "Contrary that dog and watch him
fight." "Child, that engern (onion) '11 strong ye." "He fell down and
benastied hisself." "I disgust (from a noun, however) them store teeth."
Sometimes asnouns: "Them antymars (pissmires),the little hate-fuls."
The cbmparative and superlative endings are freely added to words
that do not permit them: "I feel resteder now." "It's (she's) the shootin'-
est gun in town." "It's the loudest-ringin'est bell in the valley." "That's
the melodiousest fiddle in the party." "Kiah is the pistol-totin'est man
you ever saw." Remark also the redundant superlative in: "She was the
onliest one there."
Notice the forms ending in -ified: "Sal went down on her bendified
knees." "He acted like he was fitified." (Given to fits). "Don't touch her,
she's techified (not to be touched)."
ARTICLES.-An is rarely employed, even before words beginning with
a vowel. Thus it is difficult to explain "noyster" (oyster). The resembles
French usage in many ways, and is commoner in highland speech than
elsewhere. It always precedes the names of diseases, as in "the fever,"
"the rheumatism," etc. "He's gone to the Oklahome (Oklahoma)."
PREPOSITIONS.-A is found for on sometimes, as in: "A-top o' the
barn."
But, like the German past participle, sometimes loses its bearings, and
brings up the rear: "That's jist what we ain't got nothin' else of but."
Of is used for with in: "What's the matter of you?" Corrupted to n in:
"Come outn there!" But how explain "aboutn?" "Sti(e)ddier" means
instead of.
On is used for of in: "Not that I know on." For about, in: "I don't
know nothin' on that."
To is used for at in: "He broke out all to onct." "Mr. Jones is up to
home."
CONJUCTIONS.-Ifis frequently dropped: "See won't that oxen (ox)
pull harder." "I'm a-goin', so be he's there."
As is often redundant: "He told me as how he done it." (Or is as an
adverb here?)
1321
Language of the Southern Highlanders
"Whenst" often supplants when, while, whilst.
THE PREFIX.-There is a fondness for the Germanic and earlier English
inseparable prefix be-. "Besmear," "bes--t," "benasty," etc.
Ap-, com-, and cor- are often dropped, as in: " 'proach," " 'mence,"
"'rect."
Ad-, de-, pre- offer confusion, and are used indiscriminately, as in:
"adzackly" (exactly), "dezackly," and "prezackly."
Sometimes the prefix is transposed, for emphasis, as in "The superdamned-
intendent!"
THE EXPLETIVE.-They supplants there in: "They come a man on a
bald-faced nag up the road 'long in the shank o' the evenin'." "They ain't
no more taters in that hole." It also supplants there: "It ain't nary
grain o' corn left." "Hit come on rain afore we left."
See-see (with stress on the second see) often begins a sentence, in
spirited narrative: "See-see, John ups and knocks him down," etc.
S 'I (said I) loses its usual significance, and is used in a manner similar
to "see-see." So common is it that it is not confined to narration: "S'I
hit's a-goin' to rain." "S'I what do you call your name?"
OTHER PECULIARITIES.-The syllables of some words become variously
transposed, sometimes jocularly: "antigod(g)lin" (oblique, slanting),
"antisigodlin," "siantigodlin," "layway," "bassack'ard" (vulg.,
"a-backward"). Such words as "bull," "boar," "stud," etc. are inelegant
in highland speech also "rump steak." "Male" is used for "bull"
and "boar," or "boar-hog." "Pregnant" also falls under the index expurgatorius,
"in a family way" supplanting it. "Tread" is also a dangerous
word in highland speech, meaning to cohabit. As to profanity and vulgarity
in general, the highlander is as prone to their use as are people in
other sections of the country. But the highlander is always careful not to
offend the sensibilities of an outsider by their use.
JOSIAH COMBS
Texas Christian University
1. For a study o f earlier E nglish s urvivals among t he highlanders, see my "Old, Early, and E lizabethan English in the Southern M ountains," Di alect Notes, Vol. IV, Part iv.