I'm curious about something you say above. "Code-switching" is a term which (as far as I know, at least) is typically used to talk about situations involving two languages that are distinct enough that speakers of the one can't automatically understand the other without deliberately studying it. I'm not from the South, and I can usually understand people who speak Southern English, so I'm surprised and fascinated by the idea that there might be a group of speakers of it somewhere with whom I couldn't communicate. Is your dialect really unintelligible to people who aren't familiar with it?
BTW, I'm not asking because I disbelieve you -- I'm just insatiably nerdy about this stuff.
warning: linguistics is my armchair hobby.
Date: 1 Feb 2011 07:35 pm (UTC)BTW, I'm not asking because I disbelieve you -- I'm just insatiably nerdy about this stuff.