Re: "I'm after ..." (Re: Maybe Spam? "Sorunsuz Yathamanýn Kefyi .. .")

John Cowan wrote:

> Keith Gaughan scripsit:
>
>>>>Well, there's one glaring one that shows that I'm from around the
>>>>border, and that is the use of the tag statement "so X
>>>>do/am/will/have/would/etc.". You should be more than familar with
>>>>that one from Father Ted. For shame, and you having lived there too!
>>>
>>>Ah, you see, I didn't count that - I use it too.
>>
>>You might have picked that up while you were living here. Everybody
>>seems to, and I have to resist the urge to write and say it while I'm
>>in Cork because people keep on picking up on it and slagging me about
>>it.
>
> Hmm.  I take it that what's dialectal about this is the tag use?
> I have no trouble with:
>
> 	My mother told me to always brush my teeth, and so I do.
>
> (where "so" = "therefore"), or with
>
> 	My mother told me if I didn't brush my teeth they'd rot,
> 		so I do.
>
> (where "so" = "consequently"), or even with
>
> 	A: It would help if you'd give less juvenile examples.
> 	B: So I will!
>
> (where "so"'s force is not clear to me).
>
> But none of these have the characteristic flat (in AmE) intonation
> of a tag.
Nope, that's a valid usage universally in English. The dialectical usage
I'm talking about is used as follows:

    1. I'm a software developer, so I am.
    2. I'll be off to Micromail to pick up that book, so I will.
    3. I've finished upgrading the backend to UDI, so I have.

It's more for emphasis, though it's used a bit to much to have quite
that much force.

>>Nope, actual dialectical feature, just like using "cat" for "awful" and
>>"tae" for "tea".
>
> All Ireland said /te/ for "tea" until the end of the 19th century or
> even later, which is why it's a feature of Stage Irish; it's probably
> reinforced in your area by Ulster Scots, though.
True. But then, Ulster Scots isn't a real language. <ducks> ;-D

But seriously, Ulster Scots isn't spoken anywhere near where I'm from.
It's move of an east NI thing than west.

>> Ok, I'll explain. That's the point: nobody lives there. The whole county
>> has about half the population per km of Sligo--16/km vs. 32/km. Kerry
>> gets slagged because because they're--or so it goes--born idiots, just
>> like Belgium and Austria get slagged in France and Germany. Tipperary
>> gets slagged because of the accent. And Dublin gets slagged because it's
>> full of Jackeens.
>
> Huh, you call those explanations?  Capital cities are always despised
> by the hinterland, and the only reason people don't slag Cork is because
> they're afraid to come up against the local penchant for homicidal mania.  :-)
That's true. But Dublin gets a particular slagging[1] because of what
happened when Queen Victoria came over to visit[1] the country. Despised
they may be, but I think it's tinged with a bit more ire than is usual.

K.

[1] http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63909
[2] http://indigo.ie/~kfinlay/General/victoria.htm
[3]

--
Keith Gaughan -- talideon.com
The man who removes a mountain begins
by carrying away small stones...
                          ...to make place for some really big nukes!