The main information about Southern and Northern American English

As you have noticed all dialect words have other value in the dialect and use, than in the general English language to which we have got used [6; 10].

2.2. Practical analysis of Southern American English

We found examples of the use of a Southern American English dialect in the book of the known modern writer and director Anne Rice with the name of this book "The Mummy or Ramses the Damned".

From the first pages of the novel we can see a lot of dialect words, on Northern American English dialect.

These words have absolutely other value and the use in original or general English, but in Southern American English dialect they mean and name usual things for given inhabitants. So, you can see it in  the following examples:

1. He could see the letters, but he couldn't make them out. – Он видел буквы, но мог их различить [7; 3].

This word has the same meaning as in the General English [9; 226], [12; 322].

2. Reluctantly Lawrence turned and saw that Samir's suspicion had turned to fear. -  Лоуренс неохотно обернулся и заметил, что подозрительность на лице Самира сменилась страхом [7; 3].

This word means “повернуться, ссылаться” in General English [9; 459], [12; 798].

3. The blood rushed to his face, and he had to cough again, as the press of reporters raised the dust in the passage. – Сердце билось слишком быстро, кровь прилила к лицу, он снова закашлялся [7; 4].

This word means “ нестись, торопиться” in General English [8; 302], [12; 554].

4. He was staring speechless at the thing which lay serenely in the very middle of his puzzling room, this study, this library, with its stacks of scrolls and its dust-covered writing table. – Он безмолвно смотрел на саркофаг, покоившийся в самом центре этого кабинета, этой библиотеки с грудами папирусных свитков и с запыленным письменным столом [7; 4].

This word means “ комната для замешательств” in General English [9; 305], [12; 534].

5. Lawrence had escaped to Egypt, back to the desert, the temples, to those clear star-filled nights. – Лоуренс сбежал в Египет, в пустыню, к храмам, к тем ясным звездным ночам [7; 5].

The word “had escaped to back to” means “вернуться, убежать” and the word “the temples” means “церковь, собор” and the word “star-filled” means “заполненный звездами” in General English.

6. "Get those workers in here to lift this lid at once." – Позови сюда тех рабочих, пусть немедленно снимут крышку [7; 6].
7. "Touch not the remains of Ramses the Great" Samir read. – «Не трогай останки Рамзеса Великого!» - прочитал Самир [7; 7].
8. "But this is no tomb!" he whispered. – «Но это не гробница!» - прошептал Лоуренс [7; 7].   
9. 'Keep back!'' he shouted crossly. – «Назад!» - сердито крикнул Лоуренс [7; 6].
10. What on earth could all this mean? – Что бы это все могло значить? [7; 8].
11. Sharp pain again as he missed Julie-his beloved daughter, who should have been here with him, and would have been if her young fiance hadn't persuaded her to stay at home. – И снова боль пронзила Лоуренса – так он скучал по своей Джулии, любимой дочери. Ей следовало находиться здесь, и она была бы здесь, если бы жених не уговорил Джулию остаться дома [7; 8].
12. Almost angrily, he pushed past the reporters who caught up with him now, and tried to block the way. – Разозленный, он прорвался сквозь толпу окружающих его репортеров [7; 5].
13. For a moment Lawrence was speechless, staring at the words he'd read. – Лоуренс молча вглядывался в надписи, снова и снова перечитывая их [7; 5].
14. Only vaguely did he hear Samir: - Он еле расслышал Самира: [7; 5].    
15. Lawrence hurried down the uneven path, twisting his ankle a little painfully, yet continuing, his eyes narrow as he looked beyond the flickering torches at the sombre beauty of the lighted tents under the violet evening sky. – Стратфорд поспешно спускался по неровной тропинке, то и дело подворачивая ногу, морщась от боли и с прищуром поглядывая вниз, поверх мерцающих фонарей, на мрачную красоту освещенных палаток под фиолетовым вечерним  небом [7; 7].
16. If only he could get the photographers away. – Как жаль, что он не может прогнать репортеров [7; 6].
17. But they had been at his side for months now-ever since the first artifacts had been found in these barren hills, south of Cairo. – Они толкутся возле него месяцами – с тех самых пор, когда среди этих унылых холмов к югу от Каира были обнаружены археологические находки [7; 9].                                          

As you have noticed all dialect words have other value in the dialect and use, than in the general English language to which we have got used.

2.3. Comparing

We can compare two main American English dialects from above resulted examples .

As we know from a course of Lexicology, that each dialect was formed historically and socially. Formation and occurrence of these dialects have been caused by huge resettlement of Spanish and Italian of the people to the South of the USA and the African and European people to the North of the USA. The first have formed modern Southern American English dialect, and the second Northern American English dialect.

These distinctions are observed in modern English language, at an action designation speaking, also in the name of buildings, subjects, about the description of emotions, sincere conditions and other. Also at instructions of rooms in inhabited a premise. If we speak about designations of archaeological monuments.

As in follow examples:

1. There's no reason for me to be upset and every reason for me to be happy, but… - Нет ни малейшего повода для расстройства, зато есть миллион причин для радости, и все же… and in Southern: He could see the letters, but he couldn't make them out. – Он видел буквы, но мог их различить.

Here we can notice that the word “ but” has different meaning in these dialects.

2. He was staring speechless at the thing which lay serenely in the very middle of his puzzling room, this study, this library, with its stacks of scrolls and its dust-covered writing table. – Он безмолвно смотрел на саркофаг, покоившийся в самом центре этого кабинета, этой библиотеки с грудами папирусных свитков и с запыленным письменным столом. And in the Northern: And when Aunt Judith unlocked the door I burst inside and just stood in the hallway listening, expecting to hear Mom coming down the stairs or Dad calling from the den. – Когда же тетя Джудит отперла ее, я буквально ворвалась внутрь и замерла в коридоре, кажется, я ждала, что сейчас мама спустится по лестнице, а папа позовет нас из кабинета.

In these dialects different words and words combinations reproduce their general meaning “кабинет”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coclusion

Early Americans had more sharply differentiated dialects than they do today. The Puritans in New England spoke the English East Anglia dialect, the Quakers in Pennsylvania spoke the English midland dialect, the Scotch-Irish in the Blue Ridge Mountains spoke the Ulster dialect, etc.—and they and their speech patterns were separated by wilderness, bad roads, and lack of communications. Then geographical and social mobility began to homogenize the language, with people from all regions moving to all others, people from all walks of life mixing and mingling. Better roads and wagons, trains, cars, moving vans, high-speed printing presses, the telegraph, the typewriter and teletype, telephones, record players, duplicating machines, radios, movies, and TV mixed and melded

Depending on how precise one need be, one can say that America has from three to a dozen dialects. There are three overall, major ones: the New England, the Southern, and the General American (sometimes erroneously called the Midwest or Western dialect). Here are brief descriptions of three major regional dialects:

New England dialect is spoken from rhe Connecticut River north and eastward through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. New England was nor misnamed: between 1620 and 1640, 200 ships brought 15,000 English colonists to the region, two-thirds of them from East Anglia, the Puritan stronghold. Those colonists from East Anglia, and other parts of southern and southeastern England, gave New England its distinct dialect, first called the New England dialect in 1788. It is still closer to English English than any other dialect of American English. Some of its characteristics are:

(1)  pronouncing such  words  as ask, brass, can't, class, fast, grass, half, last, and path somewhat like the broad a in father, and lengthening the a sound in such words as bar, dark, far, farm, and heart to a sound somewhat be tween the sound the rest of us pronounce in hat and father (this last a sound is also found in eastern Virginia and elsewhere in the tidewater region). Thus we tease Bostonians for saying "ahnt" (aunt) and "vahz" (vase).

(2)  pronouncing such words as box, hot, not, pot, and top with the lips rounded, forming an open o sound. The rest of us tend to pronounce this o more as the broad a sound of father.

(3)  omitting, slighting, or shortening some sounds, thus car, dear, and door sound like "cah," "deah," and "doah" to the rest of us. The broad a sound and the slighted r cause the rest of us to hear "pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd" (park the car in Harvard yard).

Southern dialect could be divided into separate dialects for the upper and lower South or into several smaller dialects, such as   the Virginia Tidewater, South Carolina Low Country, local dialects with Charleston and New Orleans as focal points, etc. In general, however, Southern dialect is used south and east of a line drawn along the northern boundary of Maryland and Virginia and the southern boundary of West Virginia, the southern part of Missouri and down through southeastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. It is characterized by:

(1)  the Southern drawl: a slower enunciation than used in the rest of the country, combined with a slow breaking, gliding, or diphthongization of stressed vowels. Thus to the rest of us the Southern class sounds like "clae-is"; yes like  "yea-is"  or   "yea-yis"; fine, I, ride, and time like "fi-ahn," "I-ah," "ri-ahd," anduti-ahm" (these all being long i sounds).

(2)  some of this slow dwelling on the vowel sounds weakens the following final consonants, especially d's, Vs, r's, and t's,   giving  southerners   such  pronunciations  as fin(d), he(l)p, se(l)f, flo(or), mo(re), po(or), yo(ur), bes(t), kep(t).  (3) using such terms as the stereotyped Southern honey-chil(d) and you all as well as bucket (for pail), heap (for very), raise (for rear, children), reckon (think, judge), right (for very), snap bean (string bean), spigot (for faucet) and tote (for carry).

In this work we distinguish two dialects and try to compare them. As to our tasks, aims, this work shows them widely and almost.