Harrington1 Zachary Harrington Professor Alicia Bolton English 101 September 12 2013 Southern but Proper In this day

and age, there are many different forms of English. The differences are more evident in the southern part of the United States, where there a mosh pit of different races and backgrounds are found. Which can range from Gullah, in the Coastal Islands, to Charleston brogue? Most people have a southern drawl, which can be heard at all time. The differences in English come when addressing Elders, Friends, and young people. One variety of English comes when addressing elders. In American culture we are taught to show our elders a certain degree of respect, through word choice. I was always taught to show respect. I was expected to say yes maam and yes sir, and maintain eye contact and proper posture. One of my mothers pet peeves has always been when I dont pronounce all of the letters in a word, for example I might say Momma, im going to go huntin tomorrow morning. And she will always corr ect my saying You mean you are going hunting? But these incidents dont happen often because of my respect for her. Most of my morning before school go like this: Momma, when are you leaving for work this morning? Shed say, Around 8 oclock, is there anything I can help you with? Do you need anything for school or baseball? Id respond with, No maam. Thank you for asking though. You wouldnt happen to have any loose change I could get for gas today, would you? Yeah, Sweetie, there is some money in my car. If youd go down and get it I would appreciate it. Momma would say

Harrington2 Yes maam, Im going to go get the money right now, Thank you momma. Have a ni ce day at work. Thank you again Id say. The proper dialogue and word use is very evident through the Yes maam and the Thank you. Thought the use of proper English I illustrate respect for my elders. Talking to friends lends itself to a completely different form of the English language. When Im addressing to my friends I use, slang and words like ya know and whatcha mean, bo? One thing that I notice when Im talking to my friends is my use of bo and bubba. There are also more filler words and sayings. Another change is in my body language. I am more relaxed and comfortable when im addressing someone my age. A typical conversation between a friend and I would go like this, Ayye bo what you doing? Id say, nothin much, whatta bout you? Hed say, aint shit, we bout to go to Mcdonalds, you coming? Nah, I gotta go back to the house, I got work to do Id reject Then hed say ite, hit me up tomorrow I respond like ite, bo take it easy As you can tell, this dialogue is a lot more casual. There are shortened words, whereas alright turns into ite and got to turns to gotta. The word choice and nonchalant tone of the conversation shows that I am addressing someone my own age. Another form of English is when Im taking to my baby boy, Prestyn. When Im talking to Prestyn I use small words, such as da da and momma. Since my boy cant talk yet he usually just blurts out screeches and new sounds he figured out how to make. I use simple sentences to help him make noises and build on the words he hears. The only word he can really say, da da which he certainly uses a lot. Whenever I talk to Prestyn it usually goes something like this: Heyy boy!

Harrington3 Hed holler, da da da da Id respond, Da Da got the baby pap pap or does the baby want his bop As you can tell this conversation is mostly one sided, but there is a abundance of what I call baby words like pap pap is pacifier and bop means bottle. The tone is still very relaxed like when talking to friends, but the structure is a lot simpler. Babies usually receive this simple repetitive form of English. In summary, the form of English varies depending on who I am addressing, which ranges from elders, to friends, to babies. A change in our English is almost unavoidable, depending on the person you are conversing with. In the southern states, these differences in English are very easy to spot in this day and age.