Spirited Sons - Various Things Language

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Schooling two active boys has never been more... interesting. That's the word I'm looking for! I love my boys! God has given them the blessing of strong, active bodies and minds. We continually pray the first will remain intact, and the second will remain engaged with Him first, and then the school work. You'll meet my sweet sons, both entirely different, but both loving God to the best of their ability in the way He made them. I lovingly refer to them as my Bell Pepper Boy and my Habanero or Hambone. That should say it all! This blog is an eclectic mix. The events, conversations, and the thoughts behind it all will be in here. Every once in a while I'll try to capture something I don't want to forget. I hope you find things you enjoy. Please let me know if you do! Blessings!

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Various Things Language

Posted in Mom Things

I've been thinking about language things for some reason this week. In all of my deep contemplations, I've come to two conclusions. Let me 'splain.

The first conclusion I've come to is that we have habits we form in language, and some are little oddities I haven't quite grasped. You know them when you hear them. It's a certain way things are said that catches your attention. With your children, you might even make a mental note or a verbal correction.

My example today is from my son who says, consistently, "Lawn the mow." Yes, that's how he says it nearly every time the first time. Sometimes he switches it, but most times he doesn't.

"Mom, is Dad gonna lawn the mow?"
"Did we get a warning because we didn't lawn the mow?" (That's another story.)
"I'll go pick up the stuff in the yard so we can lawn the mow."

Okay, sweetie.

My second casual contemplation included accents. My dear friends have been kind enough to gently inform me that I (li'l old me) has an accent. While I have no knowledge of said accent, it did make me think for just a moment.

From a teaching perspective, I wondered if accents are the product of phonics confusion. Worse, what would happen to the children in New York, Boston, Oklahoma City, and Chicago, for instance, as they were working through their phonics instruction? Goodness gracious! Some southern words have extra syllables (as in "Yes, ma'am"). Bostonians apparently have liberty in words ending in "a" and words containing "ar" in the middle ("Park the car in Harvard yard" or the name Rebeccar). New York children must have some confusion when it comes to words like "youths" (as evidenced in a film made years ago). No, clearly the Chicago "accent" if you could call it that was the sound in mind when phonics was created. Right?

Now, you all know I'm kidding. And I am, to a degree, but . . . .

"Things that make you go, 'Hmmmmm. . . .'" ~ Arsenio Hall

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>

Posted by sixfolks

Two of the first words our kids learn to spell are cat and dog. Here in the South, we have to explain that dog is not d-a-w-g.
Corey

Edited by sixfolks on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 6:23 PM

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Arby

Yes, we, the clear speaking Americans who hail from the windy city, are the linguistic basis for phonics instruction. Especially the south siders, who cheer for Da Bears (and oh, how I hate that old comedy routine). We are also the people who regularly end their sentences with prepositions. "What is that made of?" Quite a few of us randomly pluralize the names of major grocery chains, as in, "I'm going to Jewels." My favorite Chicago phrase came into play when one of us would miss a catch and the ball would roll down the alley. We'd look for a passing pedestrian and yell, "Hey! Ball up!"

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by MayTheyBeMightyMen

Oh, that must be a "southern" thing (south side). ;')

I have never said "Da" anything, that I can remember. I always wondered where they even got that reference. Perhaps you have to go to a game to experience it. ;')

The prepositions I am keenly aware of. ;') That, however, is unrelated to phonics. *giggle*

I'm not even sure why I needed to post this in the first place. I should have mentioned my pondering was likely after 8:30 PM, which would be exact time my brain is hard-wired to disengage.

I suppose I must have succumbed to Da Silliness! :'D

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by kellieann

Actually, I've thought about these things too....especially the accent thing. As a person who has lived all over the US, I don't think I have any defining accent, yet I occasionally get asked if I speak Spanish (but I think this has more to do with my looks than anything else).

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by barrellfullofmonkeys

What a funny post :) We are Michiganians transplanted Southern Indiana. There are heavy accents here because of nearby Kentucky. Our kids are picking up a couple of things: "pin" for "pen", "irn" for "iron". As long as they don't pick up "hisself", as in "he's going to do it hisself". That one drives me bonkers!!!

Oh, and I'm guilty of adding "s" to a store name! I've been doing it since I was a kid. I've been trying to break myself of that habit, though.

I'm going to put the Star Wars party stuff in a blog post. I'm hoping to have it up by tomorrow. Your little boy will absolutely LOVE it!!!

Kathy D.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Too funny!!!

Posted by kympossible

One of my boys used to talk about the "mow-lawner" all the time. LOL

As a western Canadian who has lived in central Canada, New Jersey, and now rural Maryland - yeah, I notice "accents" and what I like to call "localisms" I lived in Jersey long enough, and have been here long enough, that I mimic and pick up a lot of the localisms, so I have a real hodge-podge. Even so, people very often ask me where I'm from because they hear the Canadian in my "accent" mostly when I say words like "house" or "about" I can't hear the difference unless someone purposedly exaggerates it. LOL

fun post. I'm glad I'm not the only one that ponders things that make me go "hmmmmm...."

Blessings,
Kym

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by icecastle

Funny! We need to lawn our own mow, right about now.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Hi!!!

Posted by lovemy4babies

Hey there! I was just going to go update my blog, but I had to stop over here first and just thank you for being so faithful in checking in with me! I really appreciate it!
On the accent note... As a Tennessean living in PA, married to a New Yorker.... I can confidently say that the only place I have ever lived where the folks didnt have a definable accent was Colorado... and I think that was because they were just mottled mid-west accents. Most of the people where we lived were not originally from there anyway! PA folks talk funny... but the funniest part was when I met my in laws for the first time. They had spoken with me on the phone and I think they were expecting someone wearing overalls, no shoes, a hat made of straw and perhaps chewing some also. My new sister and brothers-in-law just kept making me say stuff. I know what 3 year olds feel like now. "Say dog!", "Dawg.". "Say milk!" "Me-ilk". "What do you call the thing you put your groceries in while you are shopping?" "A buggy." Ensuing laughter....

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by socalval

So funny. Kids sure make good posting subjects. lol. I had the roughest day today - come on by and see what happened. It's crazy. You'll understand when you read the post!!! Yikes!

Valerie

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Thursday, June 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by blessed with two angels

Hey, Jen! I'm to lazy to log in, but you are right about those accents. People all around the world have figured out I am from the south. : )
Only what, six months to AI? hehe
Pam

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Friday, June 27, 2008 - Hey..............

Posted by ilovemy3angelbabies

I dunno whut yor tawkin about, Jen! I aint got no speech prahblum or no acksent!

SHEESH!

Luv yuh!

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Friday, June 27, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by MayTheyBeMightyMen

You crack me up, Laura! Your accent was TOTALLY not what I expected! A New Yawker that far south?

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Friday, June 27, 2008 - Hi!

Posted by SuzyScribbles

Hey, thanks for stopping by my chat box. My "plate" has been a little overloaded the past couple of weeks, so I've not gotten around nor visited the Lounge lately. Such a slacker I am!

I love this language/accent post. I have to tell you some interesting things about this very subject. First of all, you DO know that we out here in the West are considered (seriously!) to have "no" accent. LOL When I listen to the nat'l news, guess what! They sound just like me. No accents. Anyway, on to the interesting stuff:

1) We used ACE Paces in our little Christian school and some in my homeschool for many years. They come from Texas. Yep. The vocabulary words had phonetic markings on them, of course. However, sometimes the word examples they used for a certain vowel sound were NOT correct for our part of the country. LOL So I told the kids to ignore how the word is being shown to be pronounced and just read it like it should be read. Like the word: "route." EVERYbody knows it's pronounced "route" like "ow!" and not "route" like the "root" of a carrot. :-)

2) My son Andrew, when we did an alt. ed program at the local school district for a few years, was told he had a speech problem, so he had an IEP for speech for a semester in the 8th grade. Here's the bare truth: We were told that if he lived back East (in Boston) he would not be considered to have a speech problem! He pronounced his "a"s and "r"s like a Bostonian. I guess he needed speech to "correct" it? Is that an insult to folks in Boston?ROTFL

I love to hear all the accents and dialects. My DD, on the other hand, did not like the slow, drawling speech of NC. However, when I went to visit her for 2 weeks, I found myself slipping into it without conscious thought. It's so easy to speak like that, and it sounds so nice. I could listen to Scarlett O'Hara forever! It's such a friendly kind of speech. Sure wish you and I could sit a spell and just chat--just so I could listen to you talk! :-)

Oh, in my Archives there is a "Which part of the country are you from?" post. You take a "speech" test and they peg you for New England, the South, the Great Lakes (Chicago?), the West, etc. I was pegged exactly right---99% West.

I'll try to find the post because it would be a fun follow-up to your post here.

Edited by SuzyScribbles on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 10:10 AM

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