The Grammar Barrier

Now that the South has risen again as the hope of the future, we must expect its brand of English to emerge as an officially acknowledged language. Southern usage has long been established as the lingua franca of American folk music and entertainment. Uncultured adherents of the counterculture invariably follow Southern usage when they call a spade an unprintable spade. The accession of Jimmy Carter to the Presidency marks the final stage in this emergence of a new language.

The United States will soon face the prospect of being divided by a common language unless journalists, broadcasters, and educators address themselves to mastering Southern English usage. This is more easily said than done. Languages consist both of words and of grammar—the way words are put together to make sense. Words alone will not divide the United States, even though a skillet will continue to be a frying pari or a spider in some parts of the country.

RB

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Richard S. Barnett

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Now that the South has risen again as the hope of the future, we must expect its brand of English to emerge as an officially acknowledged language. Southern usage has long been established as the lingua franca of American folk music and entertainment. Uncultured adherents of the counterculture invariably follow Southern usage when they call a spade an unprintable spade. The accession of Jimmy Carter to the Presidency marks the final stage in this emergence of a new language.

The United States will soon face the prospect of being divided by a common language unless journalists, broadcasters, and educators address themselves to mastering Southern English usage. This is more easily said than done. Languages consist both of words and of grammar—the way words are put together to make sense. Words alone will not divide the United States, even though a skillet will continue to be a frying pari or a spider in some parts of the country.