Lower Alabama Linguistics

Language observations from the land of kudzu and red dirt.

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Still making the Abbeville Herald!

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Southern Women & Profanity

If a southern woman cusses in public, she has more than likely plotted someone's death.

Now, I am not calling these women murderers, but I am saying they're the kind of people you do not want to cross. You see, the pressure on women in the South to be pleasant and appropriate is part of the region's social agreement, so all bets are off if she is cursing in public. I'm not talking about damn, hell, ass, or even shit. But if she is saying f-u-c-k... You should be terrified. She means business and she is unconcerned with what you think of her. And a Southern woman with disregard for pleasantries is a powerful force in the world.

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“I Understand”

As in, a response to almost any admission. Examples: “I was late to work today because the dog got out.” “I had to put off college because my father got sick.” “I make this casserole to remember my granny.” 

This brief phrase is neutral yet engaged. Depending on the tone, it can mean deeply engaged. It’s clear communication that places the speaker of the phrase firmly in the role of listener and genuinely recognizes the topic of conversation as an “idea.”  The words imply thought and processing with empathy. The phrase allows the speaker to proceed to anything on the approval-to-disapproval spectrum, agreement-to-disagreement. Establishing common ground is the basis of negotiating, and these folks do it with two words. It’s economical and effective; I would call it genius, but that is against the egalitarian spirit in which the words are used.

It’s usually a genuinely nice phrase and can come from a person who is deeply concerned with well-being. Good listeners use it. People who remember when your grandma is having tests done or when you are planning on trying a new dessert recipe. They will follow-up. They bring you a biscuit for breakfast. They let you know when they have extra corn or okra of figs for you to come and get.

I stand by an earlier statement (on another blog) that lifelong relationships lead to what some people consider a gossipy or two-faced nature of the South. Essentially, if you know you have to work with someone, or go to church with them, or see them socially for the rest of your life, you are inclined to not make enemies of them. This means that a person’s family, or social circle, or sometimes the public knows what you like or dislike about an individual, as in “so-and-so is great with kids, but don’t trust them with anything financial.” There is an honesty to these admissions that I admire. The phrase “I understand” comes out of this tradition and places the speaker outside the all-to-typical modern binary of “speaker” and “waiting to be speaker.” These words allow us to be listeners again.

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Reblog for a kick in my pants.

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On Singular Verb Use

Many of my students, and Southerners in general, use the singular verb form for plural nouns, as in, “We decided we wasn’t going to the game after all.” 

While grammatically non-standard, there is something democratizing and efficient about using one verb form for both. It’s still clear and understandable. With a Southern accent, I find it particularly charming. Is this my infantilization of the usage? My over-optimism? 

What if we could let go of “correctness”? Would this create more of a gap between the seemingly educated and uneducated?

[loweralabamalinguistics]

“I Understand”

As in, a response to almost any admission. Examples: “I was late to work today because the dog got out.” “I had to put off college because my father got sick.” “I make this casserole to remember my granny.” 

This brief phrase is neutral yet engaged. Depending on the tone, it can mean deeply engaged. It’s clear communication that places the speaker of the phrase firmly in the role of listener and genuinely recognizes the topic of conversation as an “idea.”  The words imply thought and processing with empathy. The phrase allows the speaker to proceed to anything on the approval-to-disapproval spectrum, agreement-to-disagreement. Establishing common ground is the basis of negotiating, and these folks do it with two words. It’s economical and effective; I would call it genius, but that is against the egalitarian spirit in which the words are used.

It’s usually a genuinely nice phrase and can come from a person who is deeply concerned with well-being. Good listeners use it. People who remember when your grandma is having tests done or when you are planning on trying a new dessert recipe. They will follow-up. They bring you a biscuit for breakfast. They let you know when they have extra corn or okra of figs for you to come and get.

I stand by an earlier statement (on another blog) that lifelong relationships lead to what some people consider a gossipy or two-faced nature of the South. Essentially, if you know you have to work with someone, or go to church with them, or see them socially for the rest of your life, you are inclined to not make enemies of them. This means that a person’s family, or social circle, or sometimes the public knows what you like or dislike about an individual, as in “so-and-so is great with kids, but don’t trust them with anything financial.” There is an honesty to these admissions that I admire. The phrase “I understand” comes out of this tradition and places the speaker outside the all-to-typical modern binary of “speaker” and “waiting to be speaker.” These words allow us to be listeners again.

[loweralabamalinguistics]

Welcome and Y’all Come Back

Welcome to my new blog, Lower Alabama Linguistics. I’ll be posting casual observations about the quirks of language here in South Alabama. I am not a professional in this field, but I am a Southerner and a linguistics enthusiast. 

After spending years away from Lower Alabama, I am delighted, touched, and sometimes dismayed by language in this part of the country. Read on as I try to wrap my head around the subtleties and strangeness of the South.