Муниципальное Автономное Общеобразовательное Учреждение

города Новосибирска
«Лицей № 9»

Секция
Лингвистика

ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКАЯ РАБОТА
ПО АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ

Lexical features of Southern American English

Выполнила: ученица 9М класса

Кудинова Юлия
Руководитель: Куцуренко Людмила Валерьевна
учитель английского языка

Новосибирск 2018
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….................3
CHAPTER1. SOUTHERN DIALECT OF AMERICAN ENGLISH …….………….4
1.1. The difference between accent and dialect ……………………………….4
1.2. Southern American English as a regional dialect …………………….......6
1.3. The story of the emergence and distribution of SAE …….........................7
1.4. The subdialects of Southern American English …………………………..8
CHAPTER 2. LEXICAL FEATURES OF SOUTHERN AMERICAN ENGLISH…9

2.1. Commonly used words and phrases ……………………............................9

2.2. The subdialects of Southern American English ………………………... 11

2.3. The most frequent shortened and modified phrases ……………………. 14

2.4. Idioms in SAE …………………………………………...........................15

2.5. Linguistic experiment ……………………………………………………17

2.6. Lexical units of Southern American English in the book “The cowboy and
the black-eyed pea” …………………………………………………………………22

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...25

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR APPLICATION OF THE RESULTS

OF THIS RESEARCH ……………………………………………………………...26

REFERENCE LITERATURE ...…………………………………………………….27

APPENDIX 1. The approximate extent of Southern American English……………28

APPENDIX 2. Using words referring to a group of 2 or more people …………….29

APPENDIX 3. Vocabulary ‘The British English vs. The South American English’.30

APPENDIX 4. Monologues of Southerners (CD) ………………………………….38

1
 INTRODUCTION

There are two types of English: British and American. They in turn include
many accents. Among them is the southern accent of American English. It differs
significantly from the language that we learn in school, namely from the standard
British. There are many differences between them: phonetic, grammatical, etc. In my
work, I want to consider the lexical features of the southern accent of American
English and compare it with British English.
I have a lot of friends living in the south of the USA with whom I sometimes
communicate via Skype. And, of course, I noticed differences in the pronunciation
and meaning of some words between me and my interlocutor. At first there was
almost nothing to be understood, and I had to constantly ask again. In the future, I am
going to go to the south of the United States, and in order to understand the speech of
the locals better so that there are no misunderstandings, I need to know the
peculiarities of the southern accent of American English. Based on this, I think this
topic is relevant. Therefore, in my work I do useful vocabulary, so that others also do
not have difficulties with differences in accents. This handbook will help me and
other people.
The aim of my research work is to study the lexical features of spoken English
in South America for successful communication with native speakers in comparison
with British English.
To accomplish this goal, I set the objectives in my work:
 to get acquainted with the history of the southern accent and the way of life of
the population of the southern part of America, since the formation of the
language occurs under the influence of many factors;
 to study the main lexical features of the accent;
 to compare the southern accent of American and British English on the
example of the most frequently used words and expressions in speech;
 to compile a useful vocabulary.
2
 The object of the study is living colloquial English, which is spoken by
residents of the south of America, and generally accepted British English, which is
studied in schools.
Subject of study: the lexical units which are most frequently used in everyday
speech.
Research methods: the study of information on this topic on the Internet and
from literary sources, interviewing native speakers, comparing and analyzing the data
obtained.

3
 CHAPTER 1. SOUTHERN DIALECT OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
1.1. The difference between accent and dialect

Standard English is the official language of Great Britain, which is studied in

schools and universities, is used by the press, radio and television, which is spoken by
educated people, it is a form of English that is literary and acceptable everywhere that
English is understood and spoken.
Not all people who speak a language speak it the same way. A language can be
subdivided into any number of dialects which vary in some way from the parent
language. Every country has its own linguistic diversity. In a multinational state
different languages are used and there are different dialects and accents. Take at least
Russia, where the language is simply replete with territorial differences.
The term, accent, is often incorrectly used in its place, but an accent refers only
to the way words are pronounced, while a dialect has its own grammar, vocabulary,
syntax, and common expressions as well as pronunciation rules that make it unique
from other dialects of the same language.
Three things are needed for a new dialect to develop:
 a group of people living in close proximity to each other;
 this group living in isolation (either geographically or socially) from other
groups;
 and the passage of time.
Given enough time, a dialect may evolve to the point that it becomes a
different language from the one it started as. English began existence as a Germanic
dialect called Anglo Saxon that was brought to England by invaders from Germany.
The Anglo Saxon peoples in England were now geographically isolated from their
cousins in Germany which allowed the dialects to evolve in different directions.
Other invaders would also influence the development of English with their languages
until the modern English we speak today has become so different from the modern
German spoken in Germany that a speaker of one cannot understand a speaker of the
4
other. Thus English and German are considered to be two distinct, though related,
languages. The other modern languages in this family are Dutch, Swedish, Danish,
Norwegian, and Icelandic.

5
 1.2. Southern American English as a regional dialect

American accent is a rather abstract concept, because over 5 thousand

kilometers from the East to the West Coast and 50 states from the border with Canada
to the border with Mexico, regional accents constantly change each other, strikingly
different in terms of intonation, melody, rhythm and characteristic features of
pronunciation individual sounds.
English is southern US or Southern American English dialects - a collective
name for dialects spoken throughout the southern United States.
In English, there are a huge variety of accents and dialects. Their number is
more than two hundred different variants of the English language.
Apparently, a dialect is a type of a language that differs from its other varieties
by grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. Dialects are used in a particular
area.
Accent is a special manner of pronunciation, which is typical for a group of
people in a particular locality. Regional accents are part of regional dialects. As a
rule, the name of the accent coincides with the name of the dialect to which it
belongs.
SAE is also the regional dialect that is most negatively evaluated.
In a recent study of folk beliefs about American dialects found that 90% of his
respondents from Michigan and Indiana and 96% of those from South Carolina
recognized SAE as a distinct variety of American English.
Both the Michigan and Indiana respondents evaluated SAE as the most
“incorrect” variety of American English (New York City speech was the only serious
competitor), and the South Carolina respondents were ambivalent about its
correctness as well.
In spite of its low status outside of the South and of standardizing forces such
as interregional migration and universal education that threaten many minority
languages and dialects, SAE continues to persist [13].
6
 1.3. The story of the emergence and distribution of SAE

Southern Accent in the USA is perhaps the most distinguished of all accents of
the white population of the country.
The southern dialects arose largely from a mixture of immigrants from the
British Isles who moved to the American south in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well
as the Creole or post-Creole speech of African slaves such as the Great Depression,
Dust Bowl and World War II led to the mass migration of those and other settlers
throughout the united states. [13]
During the last quarter of the 19th century the emergence of stores, villages,
and towns and the expansion of the rail system led to urbanization.
In 1860 less than one in ten Southerners lived in urban areas (communities
with populations of 2500 or more), and only 21 towns from Virginia westward
through Texas had populations of 5000 or more. By 1900 the urban population of the
South had doubled, and it doubled again by the onset of World War II.
Migration to towns and cities created contact among dialects that were
formerly local, and consequently, features that were restricted in occurrence began
either to spread out or disappear. The process of diffusion eliminated many local
vernaculars but at the same time gave rise to the larger regional dialect known today
as SAE. [13]
The linguistic region of the south includes Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee,
Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas, as well as most of
Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky and northern and central Florida.
Southern dialects can also be found in the southernmost parts of Missouri, Maryland,
Delaware, and Illinois (see Appendix 1).

7
 1.4. The subdialects of Southern American English

Each state has its own variation of the same emphasis, that is, South American
English as a regional dialect is divided into different subdialects. These dialects often
have specific features of pronunciation and idioms that make it easy to distinguish
them from English, which is spoken in other regions of the United States.
The dialects of the south are divided into:
 Midland
 South Midland
 Ozark
 Southern Appalachian
 Smoky Mountain English
 General Southern
 Virginia Piedmont
 Coastal Southern
 South Florida
 Ocracoke
 Gullah
 Gulf Southern
 Louisiana
 Texan
An interesting fact is that the southern dialects of American English are the
largest group of accents in the United States.
Accents of southern states very often appear in TV shows: the characters “True
Blood”, “True Detective”, “House of Cards”, the drama “The Help”, the comedy
melodrama "Sweet Home Alabama".

8
 CHAPTER 2. LEXICAL FEATURES OF SOUTHERN AMERICAN
ENGLISH
2.1. Commonly used words and phrases

Traditionally, SAE was different from other varieties of American English in

some of its lexical, grammatical and phonological features.
Doing the research, I came across some linguistic terms.
Linguistics – the study of the way in which language works [Collins Cobuild
English Language Dictionary, 1993: 846].
Lexical – means concerning the words or vocabulary of a language; a technical
term in linguistics [Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, 1993: 832].
Lexiсs - a collection of words of a language, part of a language, its vocabulary
[3]
Vocabulary is of the greatest importance, without it, no language is
unthinkable, it directly reflects all the diversity of social life. The vocabulary is the
most fluid, the most sensitive change in the language, these changes are associated
with the history of society, with the history of the people in different periods. English
is considered one of the richest languages in the world, as it has a huge number of
lexical units, allowing to make speech bright and diverse.
A lexical unit is a word, a stable phrase or other unit of a language capable of
representing objects, phenomena, their signs, etc. [Нелюбин, 2003]
For instance, younger Southerners are as likely to use green beans as snapbeans
and are more likely to use dragon fly than either snake doctor or mosquito hawk. Just
as these book terms have replaced the older folk terms with the advent of universal
education, a significant part of the regional vocabulary associated with farm life has
become obsolete as the artifacts to which they refer have disappeared. Few
Southerners under 50 know what a singletree is (it is the bar of wood on a wagon to
which the traces are attached) or have heard the term dogtrot used for a type of house
(usually a two room house with an open hall down the middle). Some of the
distinctive lexical features of SAE still persist, however [13].
9
 All lexical units are characterized by a certain specificity; they differ from each
other in origin, in the degree of their activity in the field of use and in their stylistic
affiliation.

10
 2.2. Lexical units in different subdialects
Texas
Rednecks - the slang for poorly educated people in the hinterland of the United
States. Basically, in the US, it is usually the name for the white inhabitants of
sparsely populated areas who work hard under the open sun. The name comes from
the "bullish" red neck with weathered skin, typical of people who have worked all
their lives in the field under the scorching sun.
Blue norther - sudden hurricane icy wind, catching huge black clouds, after
which it often pours rain.
South Florida
Haaz – house
Vibin – chill out, relax
Dawg – a friend (is said only by males to other males)
Coastal Southern
Catty-corner – diagonal
Rather, it stems from the word cater-corner. Cater is an English dialect word
meaning “to set or move diagonally.” It is derived from the French quatre, which
means “four” or “four-cornered.”
Dope – soda
Fussbox – fussy person
Louisiana (French-influenced vocabulary)
Allons! – let’s go!
Mo chagren – I’m sorry
Une piaster – a dollar
Virginia Piedmont (accent was influenced by English-speaking West
Africans)
Weskit – vest
Reckon – think
South Midland (similar to piedmont accent, but has preserved more elements
from the colonial era dialect than other region)
11
 Bodacious - very large or important, or something that people enjoy or admire
Smidgin - a very small amount
Southern Appalachian
Chancy – doubtful
Britches – pants (from word breeches)
Perhaps the most famous feature of the dialects of the southern United States is
the pronoun «y'all». Southerners speech is unthinkable without this phrase.
This term originated with the modern Southern dialect region and is not found
in older Southern dialects.
While "y'all" is actually a contraction for "you all" and is therefore technically
correct, it is most commonly used in place of the plural form of "you." The
apostrophe after the "y" represents the lost "ooo" sound from the letters O and U.
"you" is the second-person singular pronoun, while "y'all" is modern English's
answer to a second-person plural pronoun.
Also «y’all» can be used:
 When speaking to two or three people:
«Are y'all going to the theatre?»
 When speaking to several people:
«Are all y'all going to the theater?»
Things are further complicated when using the possessive form of the word.
For example:
"Is this y'all's car?"
"Is this all y'all's favorite color?"
Note, though, that there is some debate on the spelling of the possessive form
of "y'all" Some will spell it "y'all's" whereas others will spell it "y'alls". Because
there does not seem to be an official answer, it is a matter of personal preference.
Fixin’ to – is a multivalued verb, which is used very often in all meanings. The
main meaning is going to do something, be ready to do something. It often means to
cook, to make, to attach, to place, etc.

12
 Examples of the usage of this frequent verb from native speakers
 I’m fixin’ eggs.
 I’m fixin’ the picture on the wall.
 I can’t talk to you now. I’m fixin’ to leave.
 Fixin’ ahead over to = go somewhere

13
 2.3. The most frequent shortened and modified phrases
The most frequent phrases are shortened and modified (in standard British
English, such abbreviations are unacceptable, but is considered the norm in American
conversational speech):
• gimmi = give me
• wanna = want to
• gonna = going to
• lemme = let me
• Sho, 'nuff = sure enough
• Getty = get together
• Howdy? = How do you do?
• Wassup? = What’s up?
• Ain't = am not, is not, are not, have not, has not, etc.
Brief general questions also have their own interesting features:
• Dudnit = Doesn’t it?
• Idenit = Isn’t it?
• Wadnit = Wasn’t it?

In the United States, the following vocabulary is mostly unique to, or

best associated with, Southern U.S. English. After analyzing some lexical units, I
noticed that some southern terms have an equivalent word in British English, and
some words are explained only by a phrase, otherwise the full meaning of the word is
lost. For example, mosquito hawk in British means dragonfly; chilchipin in British
means pepper that used to make hot pepper seasoning:

Toro = bull Berm/parking = a grassy strip along

Sack  =  bag the curb
Tater = potato nose =  the end of a bread loaf
chowder = soup cliqua, clicka = group of friends
pesero = minibus
14
cagado = a funny situation or a funny
person
2.4. Idioms in SAE
In the course of my research, I discovered some southern idioms that belong
only to the southern dialect and that are incomprehensible to other native speakers of
English or cause difficulties in understanding. I compared these idioms with British
ones with similar meanings. Some of the southern idioms are conversational.

Table 1. British idioms vs. South American idioms

British idioms South American idioms Meaning
• You little cotton-picker
Gordon Bennett an exclamation of
• Well, slap my head and call me
surprise
silly!
 She gets my goose.
 That would make a bishop mad
enough to kick in stained glass
windows.
 She could make a preacher cuss!
 She could piss off the pope.
Stone the crows an exclamation of
 If you don't stop that crying, I'll
annoyance
give you something to cry about!
 She could start an argument in
an empty house.
 He's about as useless as a screen
door on a submarine/a trapdoor
on a canoe.
To be pissed He’s as drunk as Cooter Brown to be drunk

15
 • Hotter than blue blazes an unseasonably
Indian summer
• It's so dry the trees are bribing warm, dry and calm
the dogs. weather
Raining cats and
That rain was a real frogwash raining very heavily
dogs
Until hell freezes for an indefinitely
Til the cows come home
over long time

The next few idioms are purely southern in origin

“Live in high cotton” – feel particularly successful or wealthy. Cotton has
long been a key crop to the South’s economy, so every harvest farmers pray for tall
bushes loaded with white fluffy balls in their fields. Tall cotton bushes are easier to
pick and yield higher returns [15].
“Eat corn through a picket fence” – description of person with an unfortunate
set of buck teeth. They tend to stick up and outward, like a horse’s teeth. Imagine a
horse eating a carrot, and you’ll get the picture [15].
“Happy as a dead pig in the sunshine” – description of person who’s
blissfully ignorant of reality. When a pig dies, presumably in a sty outside, the sun
dries out its skin. This effect pulls the pig’s lips back to reveal a toothy “grin,”
making it look happy even though it’s dead [15].
“Finer than frog hair split four ways” – a person feels excellent or
something is very fine. Frogs don’t have hair, and the irony means to highlight just
how dandy you feel [15].
“Somebody thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow” – this phrase
about a narcissist arrogant person. On farms roosters usually crow when the sun rises.
An extremely cocky rooster might think the sun rises simply because he crows.
Similarly, an extremely cocky man might think the same when he speaks — and also
that everyone should listen to him [15].
“That is all catawampus” – catawampus (adj): askew, awry, cater-cornered.
[15]
16
 2.5. Linguistic experiment
In my work, I researched not only the live speech of native speakers, but also
on the advice of my acquaintances living in the south of America, listened to country
music that residents of the south like to listen to (Aaron Tippin “My blue angel”, Mel
McDaniel “Baby's got her blue jeans on”, Mel McDaniel “Baby's got her blue jeans
on”, John Conlee “Common Man”, Client Black “Walkin Away” and others) and read
the book “The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea”. I was interested in this book and I
read it completely. This book colourfully describes the colour and lifestyle of the
Texans, typical of the USA. It is felt that the vocabulary reflects the characters of
people living in the area. Reading the book, I noticed the following characteristic
features of the southerners, their temperament: it is simplicity, openness, and
slowness. To sum it up, the language is alive and it always reflects the life of people.
In the course of my research, I identified the most frequent lexical units. I
studied 10 monologues of native speakers, 10 country music lyrics and the fairy tale
“The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea”.
The most common lexical units in colloquial South American English
Fixin’ to - a multi-valued expression, very often used in all values. The main
meaning is to be going to do something (going to), to be ready to do something. It is
often used to mean to cook, to make, to attach, to place, etc. For example,

 I’m fixin’ eggs.

 I’m fixin’ the picture on the wall.
 I can’t talk to you now. I’m fixin’ to leave.
 Fixin’ ahead over to – направляться куда-либо

Howdy = How do you do?

17
 Ya’ll = You all

Okie-dokey = OK

Nope, nu-uh = NO

Yeah = yes

Place = an individual's farm or ranch.

Ball = usually means football.

Looker = a pretty girl

Go to the house = go in for dinner

Over yonder = over there

The most frequent phrases are shortened and modified

want to = wanna going to = gonna

let me = lemmi give me = gimmi

It is hard to imagine a conversation or song lyrics that do not have one of

these conversational options. The frequency of the usage of these lexical items is
represented in the diagram.

18
 Frequency of use of the most common
southern lexical units

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Y'all Howdy Colloquial Fixing to Shortened Ain't
contracted phrases -
forms gonna,
(ing→in) wonna…

The next step in the study was to create a dictionary with some common words
and expressions. For this, I conducted a linguistic experiment. With the help of
various sources of information, I made a comparative table: British English vs. South
American English, and then asked my friends and their relatives to comment on it. In
total, 10 native speakers participated in this survey.
    The purpose of this experiment is to find out the reaction of Southerners to
one or another word, an expression from British English, whether they understand it,
or misunderstand it, which can lead to a funny or awkward situation (see Appendix
3).
The most vivid examples from this table
If you tell a Southerner that you have rested in a sanatorium, he will
understand that you have been treated in a psychiatric hospital; instead of this word
you should use SPA.
• If you call the beetle the word beetle, a Southerner thinks you mean a
member of the Beatles group. You should use the word bug instead.

19
 • If you use the word flat for "apartment", then Southerners can understand that
you have a square, a plot of land on which the house is located and an apartment in
SAE is an apartment.
• If you say that you live on the ground floor using the British phrase ground
floor, then a Southerner thinks you live in a dungeon (from the underground), and the
first floor in SAE is the first floor.
• If you say that you had lunch at the school canteen, using the word canteen,
then Texans will be at a loss as this word means a flask. A dining room in school -
diner, dining hall, cafeteria.
• When I told my friend from Texas that we had bought a car using the word
car, he immediately clarified ‘Do you mean automobile?’ You should use the word
auto instead.
• If you ask the barbershop to cut the fringe, calling it a fringe, they won't
understand you, you need to use the word bangs.

Thus, in the course of the experiment, it turned out that 25 out of 65 British
English words and phrases are unfamiliar to Southerners, for example, lorry, plait,
porridge, fringe; in only five cases, both options (both American English and British
English) are used equally by Southerners: railway and railroad, pond and tank,
fridge and cooler, shopping center and mall, fridge and icebox. 35 words of the
British version are used by Southerners, but in quite different meanings, for example,
canteen - flask, tin – tin (a chemical element), stone - building material, etc. The
results of the linguistic experiment are illustrated in the table.

Table 2. The Results of the Linguistic Experiment

British and American English Usage in Southern American English

1 Both variants are acceptable 8%

2 British words – unknown in SAE 38%

3 British words – used in other 54%

20
 meanings
4 American words which are not used 11%
in SAE

After analyzing the results of the linguistic experiment, I found out that the
cases of using both variants (British English and American English) make up only
8% of the 65 words and phrases studied, British words unfamiliar to Southerners,
38%, and British words used in completely different meanings, 54%. The data of this
experiment confirm that SAE is very different from British English.
     American words not used in SAE make up 11%, which shows: SAE is a
little different from American English.
     So, the results of this linguistic experiment prove the uniqueness of SAE.
     Based on these data, it can be concluded that successful communication in
southern states of America requires further deeper study of the lexical features of
SAE. Therefore, my research will not be limited to the scope of this work, and the
dictionary will be updated, which will contribute to my language practice in the USA.
When communicating with Southerners, I will pay attention not only to the lexical
features of the dialect, but also to phonetic, as well as grammatical features that I
would like to reflect in my next research work.

21
 2.6. Lexical units of Southern American English in the book “The cowboy and
the black-eyed pea” by Tony Johnson
This book was published in 1992. It is an excellent retelling of Anderson’s
‘The Princess and the Pea’ set in the heart of Texas. In this zany version the wealthy
daughter of a Texas rancher devises a plan to find a real cowboy among her many
suitors with the help of ‘an itty-bitty black-eyed pea’.
I was advised to read this book because it is rich of Southern American
English. Therefore, the aim of my reading is to look for some words and phrases,
which are mostly used in Texas English. It is my hypothesis that there are many
frequent lexical items of Texas English in this fairytale.
I have found one of the most frequent verbs of Texas English ‘fixin’ in the
text. This is basically the state verb of Texas, which means that somebody is about to
do something.
 Her daddy was fixin to leave her all his worldly goods… [Johnson, 1992: 3].

22
 I have come across the favourite greeting of Texans ‘Howdy’, which is used
five times in the text. It is friendly and casual, and it works quite well with a ‘y’all’
at the end – howdy, y’all!
 ‘Howdy!’ he said attempting to smile [Johnson, 1992: 5].
 ‘Howdy’ said Farethee Well [Johnson, 1992: 5].
No doubt, there is a word ‘longhorn’ in this fairytale. The longhorn was an
important part of the development of Texas, and is now the official ‘large animal’ of
the US state of Texas.
 …a fine herd of longhorns… [Johnson, 1992: 3].
 …my longhorns don’t much like rain… [Johnson, 1992: 8].
 …then a boom of thunder spooked the longhorns… [Johnson, 1992: 11].
 …it’s not the rampaging longhorns would squash both man and horse…
[Johnson, 1992: 11].
 …she whipped sure enough those longhorns skedaddled … [Johnson, 1992:
12].
Texas English is full of Spanish borrowings because of the large amount of
Mexican immigrants. Undoubtedly, one of the borrowings is found in this text, the
word ‘Adios!’
 ‘Adios!’ Well, he had never been adiosed like that before [Johnson, 1992: 6].
 ‘I have my ways, ‘adios’ as well…’ [Johnson, 1992: 8].
 She never said ‘adios’ for soon they were married… [Johnson, 1992: 14].
I enjoy this creative retelling of “The Princess and the Pea”. It allowed me to
practice my Texan accent. In addition, I love the colourful language that describes
everything from the setting to the characters. It also includes some entertaining
similes.
 …men will flock here like flies to pralines seeking your hand in marriage
[Johnson, 1992: 3].
 …he’ll bruise like the petals of a desert rose [Johnson, 1992: 3].
 … fresh as a Texas morning [Johnson, 1992: 5].
23
  He was tall as a tree with a mustache as big as tarnation [Johnson, 1992: 6].
(‘What in tarnation!’ is an exclamatory phrase often utilized by those
originating in the Southern United States)
 …prideful as a rooster [Johnson, 1992: 6].
 …he hissed as a snake [Johnson, 1992: 6].
 …swelled with swagger like a horned toad [Johnson, 1992: 6].
 …look hard as petrified grits [Johnson, 1992: 6].
 …they set up a fearsome bawling and cut loose like a runaway locomotive
[Johnson, 1992: 14].
 …sitting on this saddle is like sitting on sheer stone [Johnson, 1992: 15].
The vivid language of this fairytale also includes alliteration. In this example
it is used to reinforce the emotions of the cowboy.
 …sitting on this saddle is like sitting on sheer stone [Johnson, 1992: 15].
I was impressed by this fairytale because of its original Southern American
English. The specific features of it are visible throughout the text. The actions take
place in Texas and the emphasis is on it. It can be illustrated by some examples from
the text.
 …the biggest spread in the great state of Texas … [Johnson, 1992: 3].
 …a full-blown Texas moon … [Johnson, 1992: 15].
 …a full-grown Texas mule … [Johnson, 1992: 15].
It feels like all the Texans are very patriotic and they are proud of their state,
and such phrases simultaneously heighten the story’s exaggerated humour.
Thus, my hypothesis was confirmed, the most common lexical items of
colloquial SAE are used in this book as a reflection of the specific lifestyle of
southerners.

24
 CONCLUSION
The results of my research
Summing up my research work, I would like to note that today the “southern”
accent is considered not prestigious, as it is associated with rednecks. Although
currently SAE is the largest group of accents. It is spoken by the population of the
southeast and south of the central part of the United States.
The speech of the inhabitants of the south is very different from the speech of
the inhabitants of the rest of America. Many distinctive lexical features even between
the states of the south. Native Texans sometimes have difficulty understanding their
opponents from Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina or Oklahoma. Since each has its
own lexical features. And so that there is no misunderstanding when communicating,
it is necessary to know the subtleties and peculiarities of the dialect of the area, with
whose inhabitants we want to communicate.

25
 In this paper, I looked at the main lexical features of South American English,
with a slight emphasis on Texan, since I am going to go to Texas the summer. I
would not like to have difficulties in communicating with my friends, whom I now
communicate on Skype. I will continue to replenish my vocabulary and study the
lexical features of various states in the southern United States, since in the future I
plan to visit not only Texas, but also other parts of the southern United States.
By the way, Southerners today are proud of their unusual pronunciation as a
sign of a unique regional affiliation and cultural heritage.
The speech of his “small motherland” is dear to every person. The most
important thing is that many perceive their pronunciation, as well as the language as a
whole, as a part of their “I”, an individual characteristic.
I hope that the work I have done will encourage and facilitate communication
with residents of the southern United States.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR APPLICATION OF THE RESULTS OF THIS

RESEARCH

• Since the southern accent is very different from British English, which is
studied in school, as well as from American English, this work can be used to study
the basic lexical features before traveling to the South of America, for example, to
Texas, Louisiana, or before communicating to native Southerners in order to avoid
misunderstandings and incidental situations.
• A vocabulary of frequently used words and expressions that I have developed
can be a practical tool for beginners to learn the southern accent of American English.
• I hope that my work will help encourage students of the lyceum to study
southern accent, and, possibly, other accents and dialects of American English, which
will further contribute to their successful communication with native speakers.

26
 REFERENCE LITERATURE

1. Иващенко, И.А. Учебник разговорного американского языка. США: работа и

путешествие. М., 2007 – 157 с.

2. Клименко, А.В. Ремесло перевода. М., 1999 – 139 с.

3. Мюллер, В.К. Англо-русский словарь – Москва, 1992 – 843 с.

4. Нелюбин, Л.Л. Толковый переводоведческий словарь. – M.: Наука, 2003 –

597c.

5. Ричард Спиерс. Так каждый день говорят американцы. М., 2000 – 187 с.

6. Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary – Harper Collins Publishers, 1993 –

1703 p.

27
7. Johnson T. The cowboy and the black-eyed pea – New York: Putnam’s, 1992 –
19p.
8. Kathy Di Santo “Texas Talk” [Электронный ресурс]URL:http//texuniversity.com

9. http://www.languages-study.com

10.http://www.english.language.ru

11. http://www.en.wikipedia.org

12. http://atleb.tripod.com

13. https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/sounds/

14. https://www.turkaramamotoru.com/en/southern-american-english-1376.html

15. https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/fin_enc/24622
16. https://hottytoddy.com/2014/05/19/13-southern-sayings-that-the-rest-of-america-
wont-understand/
APPENDIX 1

The approximate extent of Southern American English

28
APPENDIX 2

29
 APPENDIX 3
Comparative table-vocabulary

30
 The British English vs. The Southern American English
Southerners’
Russian British English SAE comments on British
words
Food, drinks
перец,
используемый
pepper used to chilchipin/chilly
для
make hot pepper peppers/jalapeño agreed
приготовления
seasoning peppers
острой перечной
приправы
more often green
green bean /snap
зеленая фасоль green bean bean, but you can
bean
meet the snap bean
еда food truck agreed
творог cottage cheese smearcase agreed
очень вкусное
very tasty milk butter milk agreed
молоко
помидор tomato mayter agreed
картофель potatoes tater agreed
суп soup chowder agreed
овощи зеленого
green vegetables greens agreed
цвета
капустный салат coleslaw slaw agreed
сладкий,
газированный sweet, carbonated coke (also
agreed
безалкогольный soft drink pop/soda)
напиток
длинные poor boys/po'
long sandwiches agreed
бутерброды boys
In Texas doughnuts
пончики doughnuts cookies and cookies –
different things

31
 the end of a bread
край хлеба nose agreed
loaf
porridge – they do not
овсянка porridge oatmeal
know
сrisps – they do not
чипсы crisps potato chips
know
сахарная вата candy floss cotton candy floss – silk thread
biscuit – a small flat
печенье biscuit cookie piece of baked cake
mixture
maize – grain but not
кукуруза maize corn
corn
Animals, plants
In Texas – don't know
теленок calf dogie
the word dogie
In Texas crawfish –
small crustaceans, one
рак crayfish crawfish
of the favorite Texan
dishes
хорек polecat skunk agreed
beetle - means only a
жук beetle bug member of «the
Beatles» group
светлячок fire-fly lightning bug fire-fly – never heard
In Texas ladybird -
божья коровка ladybird ladybug
bird
голубой люпин blue lupine bluebonnet agreed
шалфей sage teacup sage agreed
ёлка fir-tree pine tree fir-tree – never heard

People
руководитель на
rancher head caporal agreed
ранчо
неприятный
unpleasant person guey In Texas – shady guy
человек
32
владелец земель, landowner,
hidalgo In Texas - landowner
аристократ aristocrat
приятный,
nice, cute chido agreed
симпатичный
привлекательная
attractive woman looker agreed
женщина
группа друзей group of friends cliqua, clicka agreed
смешная funny
ситуация/ situation/funny cagado agreed
смешной человек person
демократ из Southern
dixiecrat agreed
южного штата Democrat
прижимистый
stingy man chinchy agreed
человек
девочка girl gull agreed
родственники kinfolk kin agreed
a friend (is said
dawg
друг only by males to agreed
other males)
суетливый
fussy person fussbox agreed
человек
больной ill sick ill – In Texas - bad
отличный / excellent/
замечательный / admirable/ bodacious agreed
привлекательный attractive
пожарный firefighter fireman agreed
Clothes, shoes, appearance
пуговицы-розетки buttons-sockets concho agreed
жилет vest weskit agreed
britches – more
spoken word
britches (from
Hold on to your
штаны pants word
britches - when they
breeches)/pants
say something
stunning
33
маскарадный
fancy dress costume agreed
костюм
pantyhose
колготы tights agreed
stockings
купальный халат dressing gown robe agreed
чёлка fringe bangs fringe – never heard
braid
коса plait plait - never heard

Transport, street
маршрутка minibus pesero agreed
underground –
dungeon, tube –
метро underground, tube subway
tunnel so you can not
call the subway
railroad/railway/
железная дорога railway both options are used
train tracks
lorry - they do not
грузовик lorry truck
know
дом-автоприцеп, caravan trailer, mobile caravan – camel
дом-автофургон home, mini van caravan
both options are used,
легковой but it is better to use the
car automobile (car)
автомобиль American version., as
car - railway carriage
вагон carriage car look above
такси taxi cab agreed
междугородный
coach greyhound agreed
автобус
petrol – there is no
бензин petrol gas (gasoline)
such word
engine – they do not
двигатель engine motor
know
тротуары sidewalks banquettes agreed
пешеходные pedestrian islands neutral ground agreed
острова и and median strips

34
срединные
полосы
перекрёсток crossroads four way agreed
пробка на дороге traffic jam jam agreed
рavement – they do
тротуар pavement sidewalk
not know
tarmac - they do not
асфальт tarmac blacktop
know
pedestrian
пешеходный pedestrian
crossing, zebra agreed
переход crossing
crossing
Building, room
дом house haaz agreed
flat – something plane
apartment
He has a big flat – He
IN US - a
has a large area, a plot
difference between
квартира of land on which he
flat house and lives, but not an
apartment( condo, apartment.
townhome) I got a flat TIRE – I
have a flat tire.
first floor ground floor –
первый этаж ground floor
underground floor
лифт lift elevator lift – raise something
столовая (в
diner, dining hall, canteen - In Texas -
учебном canteen
cafeteria flask
заведении)
the cinema – they do
кинотеатр the cinema the movies
not know
mall/ shopping
торговый центр shopping centre both options are used
centre
большое крытое
large, roofed porch veranda agreed
крыльцо
Natural phenomena, terrain
буря, гроза, storm, norther agreed
35
ураган thunderstorm,
hurricane
сильный
heavy rain frogstrangler agreed
проливной дождь
пляж beach playa agreed
холмистая
rolling hills rolling country agreed
местность
пруд pond tank also pond both options are used
наискосок, по located or placed
catty-corner agreed
диагонали diagonally
stone – in Texas it's
камень stone rock
smoking pot
Houseware
ведерко pail a bucket agreed
кухонная плита kitchen stove eye agreed
корзина shopping cart buggy agreed
телефон phone fon agreed
земляной горшок,
earthen pot/jug olla agreed
кувшин
luggage means
багаж luggage baggage
suitcase
mobile – used in the
мобильный meaning of "movable"
mobile cell phone, cell
телефон mobile home –
movable home
torch – they do not
фонарик torch flashlight
know
rucksack – military
рюкзак rucksack backpack
backpack
cooler, icebox
refrigerator, fridge – used
холодильник ( mini version) ,
fridge, coolbox frequently
fridge
Others
мурашки goose bumps chill bumps agreed
36
рассчитывать,
think/conclude reckon agreed
думать
переносить to carry tote agreed
сопровождать escort/accompany carry to agreed
отдохнуть chill out, relax vibin agreed
engage – is used when
hire they want to say that the
нанимать engage
boy and the girl are
betrothed
арендовать to hire to lease, to rent agreed
мыть посуду wash up do the dishes agreed
латиноамерикан-
hispanic pelado agreed
ский
сомнительный doubtful chancy agreed
очень highly right agreed
маленькая масса small body of
resaca agreed
воды water
небольшое
very small amount smidgin/itsy bitsy agreed
количество
кудахтанье clucking clook agreed
деньги США US money federal Green agreed
доллар a dollar une piaster agreed
привидение ghost haint agreed
слово,
произносимое
salutations abrazo agreed
при приветствии
или прощании
Прошу прощения I’m sorry mo chagren agreed
Пойдем! let’s go! allons! agreed
film – a very thin
layer of powder,
фильм film movie
liquid, or grease on the
surface of something
holiday – Public
отпуск holiday vacation
Holiday

37
почта post mail post – military post
can tin – element of the
консервная банка tin
periodic table
тележка
покупателя в trolley – they do not
trolley cart
универсальном know
магазине
билет в один
single ticket one way ticket agreed
конец
посылка parcel package agreed
мусор rubbish trash agreed
класс form grade agreed
bill – bank account,
счёт в ресторане bill check
credit account

38