And neither Southern vs. Yankee (or British vs. American) can be said to be more “correct” than the other. It is simply a difference in dialect and/or accent.
Just a linguistic note:
An accent refers to the influence of another language on the speaker’s pronunciation. Example: the speaker for whom Yiddish is the mamaloshen who speaks English with a Yiddish accent. This is not a technical explanation, but it seems to be more of a pronunciation issue, that the person cannot replicate the sounds of the second language as a native speaker would. While I have a good ear for languages, and am told my accent is “mitsuyan,” I cannot pronounce the Sephardic “ayin” as a native Hebrew speaker. And hubby left England 25 years ago but to our ears sounds like he just stepped off the plane. Some people just cannot replicate the precise way the language is spoken elsewhere. Many children raised in bilingual homes (example: my Dominican neighbors) can switch pronunciations easily, speaking English with no Spanish accent.
A dialect is a regional variation of a language, hence Southern American vs. British vs. Aussie, etc. This includes variations in vocabulary (truck/lorry), phrasing (Hi how are you/G’day mate), and specific regionalisms. Example: for “You” plural there’s “y’all” in the South, and “you lot” in England [PLUS: in Pittsburgh, people will say “yinz” or “yunz”]. Dialects can vary within a relatively small geographical area. Examples: how the “a” is pronounced in “wAter.” Pittsburgh- “a” as in “fAther” or “o” as in “cot,” New York- “a” as in “sAw” or “o” as in “office,” Philly- “oo” as in “foot.” I think this is the basis of the “chOlam” vs. “chOYlam” controversy.
Also: I don’t know whether Black American speech is a different accent or dialect! Remember “Ebonics”?
More to the point:
It is
- sad and shameful
that Jews ridicule or trivialize other Jews based on accent or dialect. Don’t think it doesn’t happen. I think G-d hears us however we speak to Him. We need to speak together to Him, am echad v’lev echad.
End of lecture and end of sermon.