Southern Accent · 6:58am Oct 14th, 2013
Ok, I've kept quiet about this for a while, but I really have to talk about the use of accents in dialogue. I'm fine with them really, but when someone not familiar with southern lingo takes a crack at it... Well, the results aren't always impressive. So, I thought I would lay some ground rules on this subject.
1. Y'all: a contraction of 'ye' and 'all'. Seriously, this is actually a really old word. It is plural. It is not appropriate to use it in place of the singular 'you'.
Wrong: Y'all get back here, Rainbow Dash.
Right: Y'all get off my lawn, you #$@@ kids.
2. Knocking the 'g' off of the end of a word: This is something that legitimately occurs, but it does not occur when the word is at the end of a sentence.
Wrong: What are you doin'?
Right: I'm goin' home.
3. Ain't: Very few people actually use this word, mostly just old people and young children. It is legitimately accepted as a word, but avoid it if you can.
4. Done: Can be used as an auxiliary verb, but only if you want the character to appear inbred. Use sparingly.
I just gave only a few examples, but trust me; don't use the accent unless you know what you're doing. There are multiple rules and sub-rules for every word I just listed. It is complicated.
Corollary: Go for folksy and rhythmic. If it doesn't flow, you wouldn't actually say it; it isn't like the accent enforcement bureau sends agents to sniff out people who don't follow the grammatical constructions inherent in Lower Appalachian English.
Addendum: Don't use Ah'm. We know that's how AJ says it. We know it because that's how it's said, sugarcube.
1419108
I saw somebody use "y'all" as singular. SINGULAR
1419110
Ya'll is a legitimate grammatical construct that fills a void left by 'you' becoming singular instead of just plural. Like most dialectal words, it's useful.
Using it as a singular simply reduces it to 'haha those rednecks, they sure do kiss their sisters, huh, and how about those funny words?'
1419123
It's like the Rouge Necks off of All That. You remember, that skit? HarHar, southern people have terrible teeth and funny accents. We can just be meaner to them because they're not as intelligent as the British.
1419129
Double relevant???
I will abuse the English language however I please, thank you very much!
But, thanks for correcting a foolish Russian writer! I will TRY to be better...after this story I've already started.
1419281
Abuse away.