I grew up with books. Every night I was lulled to sleep by a bedtime story. They were usually read to me by my mother. It was very common to receive books for gifts whether it was a birthday or Christmas. For some reason I loved books on etymology. I also recall receiving one birthday a large brightly colored book on the secret world of the oceans invertebrates.
Once my family moved to New Jersey, I was just starting elementary school. It was a small affluent town. The high light of my day was to ride my bike to the local library. My mother helped me secure a library card. From that point on I was a member of the library's book club. I even remember one of the first times I skipped class in the first grade. I slipped out of class and spent the day in the schools library. Once the principle noticed that I had spent several class periods sitting in a chair reading, he went in search of my teacher to find out why. I got in trouble of course, but looking back... I'm sure sure she got an earful too!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Appalachian English
In 1991 I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It took six months. During my adventure I wandered through the heart of the Appalachian mountains. The people I met left a major impact on me. One aspect of my experience, which always made me chuckle was the back woods country dialect of Appalachian English. Without having a background in English Literature i was unable to appreciate the the linguistic structure of what I was listening to.
When I began to research various sources for this project certain vocabulary words began to surface which were quite familiar to me. For example a bald is a mountain that is void of trees. I had heard the term in my hike such as various balds in Tennessee or Brasstown Bald which is the highest point in Georgia. The term Hollow was another such term. Again my mind raced back to the homestead of an old hill billy that I stayed with for over a week. He called his property Rusty's Hardtime Hollow. of course the Hollow was actually pronounced Holler'.
As a student in the modern world I was very much aware of how language evolves and changes. Examples exist around us everyday. it never really occurred to me until this assignment how a language could become isolated and cut off from the rest of the population. This is what happened to the native speakers of Appalachian English. Some sources suggest that Appalachian English is a direct link to Elizabethan English, it was through their remote isolation that the pockets of this spoken language were able to flourish into the modern day.
When I began to research various sources for this project certain vocabulary words began to surface which were quite familiar to me. For example a bald is a mountain that is void of trees. I had heard the term in my hike such as various balds in Tennessee or Brasstown Bald which is the highest point in Georgia. The term Hollow was another such term. Again my mind raced back to the homestead of an old hill billy that I stayed with for over a week. He called his property Rusty's Hardtime Hollow. of course the Hollow was actually pronounced Holler'.
As a student in the modern world I was very much aware of how language evolves and changes. Examples exist around us everyday. it never really occurred to me until this assignment how a language could become isolated and cut off from the rest of the population. This is what happened to the native speakers of Appalachian English. Some sources suggest that Appalachian English is a direct link to Elizabethan English, it was through their remote isolation that the pockets of this spoken language were able to flourish into the modern day.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Lacking the dummy 'do' auxiliary
While reading the the the article on Bidialecticism in the classroom, the question which arose in my mind was concerning the written syntax when expressing "lacking the dummy 'do' auxiliary" or "the frequent absence of /s/ inflection for the positive plural." which is present in AAE. The examples given in the article piqued my curiosity concerning not only the grammatical constructs concerning these variations, but I was also drawn to wonder why these examples use the underscore as part of the lexical syntax. It seems this technique was part of the written exercise on the work sheet handed out the other day. I found my self asking a similar question. In class discussion this had slipped my mind. Seeing once again this variation in print form in this essay rekindled my curiosity. If anyone may know more concerning this use of the underscore I would be interested to receiving an explanation.
The examples used in the article were:
‘The hospital seem_ nice’,
typical syntax from black teenage characters in June Jordan’s (1971, p. 10) novel.
‘My momma _ name is Annie’
(Labov, 1982, p. 170)
The examples used in the article were:
‘The hospital seem_ nice’,
typical syntax from black teenage characters in June Jordan’s (1971, p. 10) novel.
‘My momma _ name is Annie’
(Labov, 1982, p. 170)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
My Introduction
Hi,
My name is Doug Fejes and I live in Livingston, MT. I am currently enrolled at MSU in hopes of obtaining my teaching certification. I graduated from MSU in 2011 with Bachelor of Arts in English. I was a lit major.
I am uncertain if I will attend graduate school or simply attempt to find a job after my certification.
Friday I turn 40. I have been happily married for eight years, and also have a four year old daughter. My wife is from Germany and my daughter is lucky enough to have a dual citizenship. I have lived in Montana since 1993. I own two horses, a mare and a foal. The mare was a rescue horse. My wife and I train them in our spare time. I have a chocolate lab, a British tortoise shell cat. I also have four rabbits, a guinea pig, six chickens and a rooster. Don't forget the ever changing number of guppies.
I look forward to this semester and it is refreshing to be surrounded by a fresh group of students, since those in my class have all moved on and graduated. There is something about class blogs that help provide a certain personal extension to class room setting. This augmentation of our class should be allot of fun.
My name is Doug Fejes and I live in Livingston, MT. I am currently enrolled at MSU in hopes of obtaining my teaching certification. I graduated from MSU in 2011 with Bachelor of Arts in English. I was a lit major.
I am uncertain if I will attend graduate school or simply attempt to find a job after my certification.
Friday I turn 40. I have been happily married for eight years, and also have a four year old daughter. My wife is from Germany and my daughter is lucky enough to have a dual citizenship. I have lived in Montana since 1993. I own two horses, a mare and a foal. The mare was a rescue horse. My wife and I train them in our spare time. I have a chocolate lab, a British tortoise shell cat. I also have four rabbits, a guinea pig, six chickens and a rooster. Don't forget the ever changing number of guppies.
I look forward to this semester and it is refreshing to be surrounded by a fresh group of students, since those in my class have all moved on and graduated. There is something about class blogs that help provide a certain personal extension to class room setting. This augmentation of our class should be allot of fun.
My daughter Sophia and our foal Chile
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