How many languages do you speak?

[littlebittybobby]

okay---i speak AMERICAN, quite fluently. Also, I am well-versed in Foul Language, as well. Ha. How do you like that?

[bae]

I almost forgot, I am still reasonably fluent in the language of my people. When my uncle visited recently, after just 2-3 days we had both code-switched to this language, to the horror and amusement of other household members.

[catherine]

bae, can you give us a sentence or two? I'd love to hear a sample.

I'll trade you by giving you one of my favorite sentences my MIL said, which was in English, but I'm not sure anyone would have believed it if they heard her say it:

"Th' pair lassie was greetin' her een oot."

[bae]

bae, can you give us a sentence or two? I'd love to hear a sample.

It's tricky, but I'll give it a shot. It's best a spoken language, there are sound-shifts in the dialect, some grammatical changes, and of course the wonderful vocabulary. Rendering it into English text runs the danger of lampooning :-). My daughter's partner, who is a keen student of UK dialects, says it sounds to his ear a lot like Ulster Scots from the 1700s, which makes perfect sense considering migration patterns.

Let's see:

Now, I come from back yonder in the hills, where the ridges run higher’n your troubles and the folks talk slow ‘cause they already know what they’re fixin’ to say. Never figured I’d end up way out here on Orcas Island — big ol’ chunk of green floatin’ in the salt water like a misplaced mountain. But I took a notion one day, packed my gear, and here I’ve been since, watchin’ the fog roll in like it’s got secrets to tell. Got me a little house with a big yard, and a dog so lazy he makes moss look ambitious. But he’s loyal, bless him, and he don’t argue near as much as the commissioners.

Now I tell folks this place ain’t that different from home — just got more whales and fewer Baptists. Roads wind the same, rain falls sideways the same, and people know your business three days ‘fore you do. Power goes out soon as the clouds start thinkin’ about fightin’, but that’s fine — I got them fancy solar panels up there on the roof hummin’ away like a swarm of polite bees. Most days I take my walk, nod at the fire hall, jaw a bit with whoever’s loafin’ out front. You can learn more from the fellers at the coffee shop than you can from the county website — though accuracy’s about fifty-fifty either way.

Come evenin’, I’m on the porch with a glass of somethin’ civil, starin’ out toward Waldron where the sun melts down slow as molasses. Dog’s snorin’, frogs are tunin’ up, and I swear you can hear the whole island settlin’ in for the night. Ain’t a rush to it. Ain’t supposed to be. I been places that moved faster, talked louder, paid better — but none of ‘em felt half so right. This here’s good livin’, the kind that don’t brag on itself. Just sits quiet and waits for you to notice.

[catherine]

Wow, that's beautiful! It reminds me of one of my favorite books--The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow. It was also a movie with Jane Fonda. When I read what you wrote, I could hear the words in my head said the way the characters in the movie would say them.

https://www.tiktok.com/@janefonda_v/...70122806299909

[rosarugosa]

That was a really good book, Catherine, although it broke my heart a bit. I might have read it on your recommendation. I had tried to watch the movie online at one point, but it was such poor quality that I didn't stick with it.

DH and I adopted the useful concept of "fixin' to" a few years ago, although I don't quite remember from where, perhaps his cousin down south? Anyway, if we need to leave for somewhere at, let's say 9:00, we'll establish 8:50 at the "fixin' to go" time, when we get up, start gathering keys, handbag, wallet, etc. so that we can actually be out the door by 9:00.

[KayLR]

Now, I come from back yonder in the hills, where the ridges run higher’n your troubles and the folks talk slow ‘cause they already know what they’re fixin’ to say. Never figured I’d end up way out here on Orcas Island — big ol’ chunk of green floatin’ in the salt water like a misplaced mountain. But I took a notion

My late father-in-law spoke this way, although without the poetic similes. He was pretty stoic for a man from the NC hills. Might have been his Navy career that affected his speech pattern.

[Rogar]

I can get by as a tourist with Spanish, but have turned on the subtitles for things like All Creatures Great and Small. I'm amazed at people who can speak multiple languages. I think there is a critical time in ones early years when it comes easier.

[bae]

Something I have found very handy in the past several years is to find a decent series on your favorite streaming service, and watch it in the language you are trying to learn, with the subtitles (in that language, not in English) turned on. Nature documentaries, travel documentaries, cooking shows, lightweight dramas all seem to work well for this.

[HappyHiker]

It's tricky, but I'll give it a shot. It's best a spoken language, there are sound-shifts in the dialect, some grammatical changes, and of course the wonderful vocabulary. Rendering it into English text runs the danger of lampooning :-). My daughter's partner, who is a keen student of UK dialects, says it sounds to his ear a lot like Ulster Scots from the 1700s, which makes perfect sense considering migration patterns.

Let's see:

Now, I come from back yonder in the hills, where the ridges run higher’n your troubles and the folks talk slow ‘cause they already know what they’re fixin’ to say. Never figured I’d end up way out here on Orcas Island — big ol’ chunk of green floatin’ in the salt water like a misplaced mountain. But I took a notion one day, packed my gear, and here I’ve been since, watchin’ the fog roll in like it’s got secrets to tell. Got me a little house with a big yard, and a dog so lazy he makes moss look ambitious. But he’s loyal, bless him, and he don’t argue near as much as the commissioners.

Now I tell folks this place ain’t that different from home — just got more whales and fewer Baptists. Roads wind the same, rain falls sideways the same, and people know your business three days ‘fore you do. Power goes out soon as the clouds start thinkin’ about fightin’, but that’s fine — I got them fancy solar panels up there on the roof hummin’ away like a swarm of polite bees. Most days I take my walk, nod at the fire hall, jaw a bit with whoever’s loafin’ out front. You can learn more from the fellers at the coffee shop than you can from the county website — though accuracy’s about fifty-fifty either way.

Come evenin’, I’m on the porch with a glass of somethin’ civil, starin’ out toward Waldron where the sun melts down slow as molasses. Dog’s snorin’, frogs are tunin’ up, and I swear you can hear the whole island settlin’ in for the night. Ain’t a rush to it. Ain’t supposed to be. I been places that moved faster, talked louder, paid better — but none of ‘em felt half so right. This here’s good livin’, the kind that don’t brag on itself. Just sits quiet and waits for you to notice.

Bae, that's was awesome. You've a good ear for that dialect. We moved to NC from the West Coast and we've learned some new word usage we really enjoy. "bless your heart" "Fixin'--yep here that one quite a bit. "Young-uns" for children. "Shut the light" for turn off the light. "Dit-dot" and "ding-bats" for folks from "off" who don't know their rear from a hole in the ground....and feeling "mommicked" if being annoyed by something or somebody. If really, really pissed of by something, then you'd be "pure-T mommicked." There's quite a bit of archaic old English in some of our isolated NC "Downeast" fishing villages that were isolated for so long before bridges were built.