Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 08:53:15 EST

From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: s/sh, ethical dative, and songs



s/sh



There is a retracted /s/ that sounds like /S/ is central Texas. You could

here it in LBJ's pronunciation. It also appeared in the speech of one of

my brothers when he became a licensed pipe fitter in San Antonio in the

early seventies. A curious thing to me (and a counterexample to some

claims made in lectures about clusters in English) is the central Georgia

/sr/ in _shrimp_, a mark of low caste to some natives.



ethical dative



Don't forget:



I'm gonna hire me a wino

To decorate our home

So you'll feel more at ease, dear,

And you won't have to roam.



The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down



I listened to the Band recording over and over again when I tried to learn

the song as a college student. The first problem was the bad quality of

the recording. At any rate, I ended up not singing the song much because

the people who hated hearing it told me so a lot. I always sang "Till

Stoleman's cavalry came/ And tore up the tracks again." By the way, what

does it mean "to drive old Dixie down"? And why are the bells ringing and

the people singing "Na, na, . . . "?



I always have a hard time figuring out what songs say and am always

impressed by people who claim to know what the words are supposed to be. I

think that I give them more credit than they deserve. But when you sing

the "wrong" words, people let you know.





Wayne Glowka

Professor of English

Director of Research and Graduate Student Services

Georgia College

Milledgeville, GA 31061

912-453-4222

wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu

BITNET Address: Wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]USCN