I speak Southern.

There is a discussion over at Yahoo Group's Category Romance group about southern characters and how to write them. I'm from Virginia and have a few Virginian characters so I have found this discussion interesting.

The thing about the southern language is that it's not the same everywhere in the south. In Virginia alone, there are 4 or more different accents. The only thing that seem to be constant through all the south (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), is the use of the word, "y'all", a slang contraction of "you all". But, did you know that there are rules to using it? According to The Grits Guide to Life (Girls Raised In The South):

Y'all is singular
All y'all is plural
All y'alls is plural possessive

But, like most rules of language, not everyone follows theses. Two Texas women on the Yahoo romance group indicate they only hear "Y'all" and even write "yall". Here in central Virginia, I hear "y'all" most. But I also hear "y'alls" which isn't even on the list. Occasionally, I'll hear "all y'all" which also isn't on the list.

There are some other great differences to the language spoken where I live that is more than accent. For example, people here cut the grass instead of mowing the lawn. They cut off (or on) the light instead of turning it off. It's your go not your turn when playing a game. People come up not grow up.

Here is another great piece of information, in many places, the southern dialect or accent is very close to the British accent. I haven't been there to see for myself, but I have heard that in Charleston, South Carolina, some locals are mistaken as being British or Scottish.

If you want to have some fun learning about southern expressions, check out Whistlin' Dixie by Robert Hendrickson, The Dixie Dictionary by Thomas Howard, and The Grits Guide to Life by Deborah Ford and Edie Hand.

Jenna