Comments for Matilda's English

Comment on About me. by margaret

margaret — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:36:19 +0000

just discovered you on the “a mind for madness” website. keep up the good work!

Comment on About me. by margaret

margaret — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:34:46 +0000

just discovered you on the ‘a mind for madness’ site (which i also just discovered.) intriguing; have bookmarked you for a treat later in the day. really look forward to reading more of what you have to say. thanks m

Comment on “My heart was literally beating out of my chest.” by Norman Dale

Norman Dale — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:03 +0000

That you might be able to say this from the virtualy highest point in creation! I recently heard a supposedly literate radio commentator speak of how a particular subject was “literally” driving her crazy. I considered that if it were true it could be used as basically an insanity plea in defense against the charges that could be brought for misusage.

Comment on A quick checklist for your proofreading enjoyment. by ian

ian — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:30:45 +0000

This would have been helpful about 28 months ago!!! I also decided that I needed 3 exclamation points. (lol) very good information. Much appreciated!

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by matildalee

matildalee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:02:14 +0000

That’s very interesting. To me, there is no difference between the vowel sounds in father/bother, lot/cloth, and cot/caught (as well as pool/pull). Perhaps I’ll ask my teacher if he can demonstrate the difference for me when the semester starts. I’d also like to know if I’d be able to hear it, or learn to hear it, over time.

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by hilbertthm90

hilbertthm90 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:41:56 +0000

I think this does the best explanation. See the part on the cot-caught merger. If you grew up thinking that they have the same sound, then the difference is subtle enough that even with someone saying and stressing the difference to try to get you to hear it wouldn't help. I am curious if someone could learn to hear it with practice, though, or if it is one of those language things that settle at an early age and can't be learned.

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by matildalee

matildalee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:14:01 +0000

There’s a difference between “cot” and “caught”? This is highly intriguing. I wonder, could you explain the difference in writing? Or is it something that’d I’d have to hear? Or, if you said it, would I hear it at all?

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by hilbertthm90

hilbertthm90 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:37:09 +0000

Youngstown State is where I went to undergrad, so this is where I heard this. Also, I knew people from further south that you refer to, so I may have been assuming their dialect was the same as the Youngstown area.

Yes, pull and pool is a good example, but there was one that absolutely drove people crazy when I brought it up. I wish I could remember. I used to do it sort of as a trick. My friend (who could hear the difference) and I would write a list alternating randomly the two words, and one of us would say it and the other would say which one it was. It would freak people out that didn’t realize there was a difference.

Ah. I just thought of it. People can’t hear the difference between “cot” and “caught”.

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by matildalee

matildalee — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:46:37 +0000

It’s difficult to say where the Ohio Valley begins and ends. It consists of several counties in Eastern Ohio and Northern West Virginia. Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont, and Harrison counties in Ohio, and Hancock, Brooke, and Ohio counties in West Virginia would be included in this area. It is not the entire Ohio River Valley, although we do live on the river.

Is the Mahoning Valley near Youngstown? If so, that would indeed be very close to our dialect, but not exactly the same. A dialect from that area would be more heavily influenced by the Midland Dialect, and less by the the Appalachian Dialect (these two, along with the Pittsburgh Dialect, make up the Ohio Valley Dialect, but Appalachian has the biggest influence on the way we speak).

The things you’ve noticed do occur in my dialect. “The door needs opened,” and phrases like it are quite common. In fact, I never knew it was wrong until just a few years ago, and I have since been trying to change my brother’s habit of saying things in this manner.

I have heard of Ohio Valley speakers being unable to distinguish between the sounds in certain words, such as “pull” and “pool.” However, as a native speaker, I haven’t a clue as to what this could mean, because they sound exactly the same to me. I guess that just proves the point, doesn’t it?

I’m glad you commented. It’s always very interesting to discuss dialects.

Comment on I feel a little bit slighted. by hilbertthm90

hilbertthm90 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:05:26 +0000

May I inquire about the region in which the “Ohio Valley Dialect” is referring? It doesn’t happen to be the Mahoning Valley, does it?

I went to school there, and was not a native. The dialect was quite strange. In fact, at first I didn’t realize that it sounded natural to them. I thought it was just a mistake. Then when I started getting used to it, I would conduct my own experiments and point it out. I’m quite curious about it. I’ve come to many conclusions and would like to know if they are the same.

Some examples: People drop infinitives. “The door needs opened,” sounds natural there. Also, there are certain sound distinctions that people can’t make, but I don’t remember what they are now. I’ll think of them and post later, though.