Southern language & grammar

As this writer points out, there is a difference between using Southern language (our accent, words, pronunciations, etc.) and just down-right murdering the English language. Our manner of speaking is part of the English language, though distinct from other forms of English used in different parts of the world – including right here in North America. I have personally made an effort to correct certain grammatical mistakes I used to commonly make (which became quite obvious to me during my four years of teaching English in Europe), while trying to hold onto my native dialect. There’s nothing that sounds worse to me than the so-called “standard American English” which is completely lacking any local or regional flavour.

A reader contacted me recently in response to a column I wrote defending Southern culture.

His complaint about Southerners is this: so many of us seem to use – and tolerate – bad grammar.

This reader was careful to point out that there is a difference between dialect, which includes colloquialisms like “y’all” and the drawl that goes with them, and the use of bad grammar – subjects and verbs that don’t agree (he don’t), contractions that don’t really exist (ain’t), and prepositions at the end of a sentence (where is it at?).