[projectaon] Re: 01hh outstanding issues
- From: "James Murray" <barefootjimmy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:02:07 -0500
> (er) 170: a' skirtin' -> a-skirtin' [??]
> [jb: I'm not positive what a' is short for, but it seems to read better with
> the
> apostrophe than with a hyphen.]
>
> I read it to be related to "a-plenty" or "a-piece" (as used in a couple of
> other
> books).
The 'a' in this case is different from that in aplenty or apiece, both
of which are distinct words in SAE (Southern American English). The
'a' in the passage above needs to be seen in context, that is: "be a'
skirtin'" to make sense. What's actually happening here is JD is
trying to represent a Southern Drawl, where certain vowel sounds
(especially in short words) can glide from their starting positions
through a "y" sound ('j' in IPA) and end in a schwa (the short 'a'
sound you use when you say the word "a" but don't use a long A sound).
So basically, the long "E" sound in "be" becomes something like
"beeya" (IPA bɪjə), and to people not used to this type of speech it
sounds like they've inserted the word "a" between "be" and "skirtin".
Given that, I'd recommend the apostrophe rather than the hyphen.
Other related posts:
