Dialects

In Across Five Aprils, the author tries to give the reader an idea of how the characters in the novel speak by the way in which she writes the dialogue. The dialogue reflects the dialect of the characters in the novel.

A dialect is a variety of language that is specific to a group of people in a certain area. The Creighton family dialect is a mixture of the midwest and southern United States dialects of the mid-19th century.

Activities

Translate the following dialogue from Chapter 1 into the standard English of today.

1. “Sounds like a furriner.”
2. “Be you spent, Jethro?”
3. “No, I’m doin’ tol’able. I was jest thinkin’ about things.”
4. “You never need ary invitation to John’s home, Nancy. It’s yorn, too, and you’ll hev welcome any day.”
5. “The plantin’ won’t suffer overmuch if we spell ourselves a little.”

Rewrite the following lines of text into the dialect spoken by the Creighton family.

1. They said that soldiers up here can take the South by the pants and make it shout “Enough” quicker than it takes coffee to cool off enough to swallow.
2. I’m afraid of the time when I’ll have no boys left but you.
3. We have planting to do, Jeth.
4. You are a pretty good cook for your age.
5. It seems like a lot of potatoes.