University of South Carolina Libraries
Linguis By Nancy Coleman OamtcNfe Staff WrHtr The first Installment of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States, a project hnilOAfi on/l k?? 4k* *T?! Ji uvuovu nuu aiucu ujf lllC UIUVCTHliy of South Carolina since 1974, will be published this summer. USC professor Raymond O'Cain and three full-time student researchers have conducted most oi me researcn under the direction of Dr. Raven McDavid, a native of Greenville, S.C., and professor at the University of Chicago. Field workers have interviewed 1,216 informants in 518 communities from southern Ontario to northeastern Florida and from the Atlantic Ocean west to eastern Ohio and Kentucky since the project's inception in 1933. Representatives from almost every county in South Carolina were interviewed. Interviewing is now complete, but McDavid estimates it will take 15 more years to edit and publish the remaining infnrmflHnr* uHth fV?*? n?H M1V VU1 I Vlll OMU> ACCORDING TO O'Cain, the university has aided the project not only with funds but also with office space, release time and recording equipment. The National Endowment of the Humanities has also given the project a three-year grant and the American Council of Learned Societies, original sponsor oi uie project, has continued with some support. Enrollment p< despite natio By Mary Jean Gamtcock Stall Student enrollment at USC is at 73 p while other colleges throughout the student shortages. "We usually enroll 66-68 percent," director of admissions, "and our ci favorably with some of the highest yic Qt af iof i r?0 fnt* 1 {V7Q baam ^ umuuuvo tv* i<nu occill IU UC IOIH plications running three and one-half freshmen and 10 percent ahead on trai But university officials aren't being They point out that declining enrol recruiters to scurry to South Carolina leave here and go to their state to attei But the South Carolina Commission increase in the prospective college stu "It's not going to be as bad right ? other places," West said. "But as out see our high student population, it's 01 and try to recruit those students." Large college recruiting day prog already attracting recruiters from Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabarr are less available, he said. WITH INFLATION like we have i staying home and going to school are ? The 65 separate colleges, universi state must all get a share of the state's the ones that can stress economic adv A hard-sell approach hasn't becom according to officials, the school is i quotas. "it ttie public is knowledgeable abc The trick is getting the information to "THE ATTITUDE of the facult; ministration in recruiting students is according to West. Faculty depar meetings for student groups, bringing tics resej I The research fills 15 filing cabinets, O'Cain said, and the finished atlas will hold about 66 installments for a total of 8,000 ru)0PS r?f AHnnHn booKaob/1 r ?0 W- > >viM?viv Ubttuuniu opccvil patterns. Although primarily a technical study for linguistic researchers, the project is the most thorough of its kind. O'Cain said he thinks many laymen will be interested if their enthusiasm upon being interviewed is any indication. AN ELDERLY, local, rustic person and a younger, more educated person were interviewed in each community. In every fifth community, O'Cain said, a more cultured, wealthy person was sought. Interviews took about eight hours, but were usually done in several sittings. Questions were designed to get informants to say 800 target words. Field workers wrote the target words down in phonetic symbols, recording them exactly as they were pronounced. They also noted different words for the same object and grammatical usage. Results of the interviews, some million and a half words and phrases written phonetically, are contained in notebooks housed in Thomas Cooper Library. O'Cain said 65 percent of the material is taken from the years 1933 to 1941, 25 percent from the late 1940s to 1950 and five percent from 1965 to 1974. 3r cent age up nwide trend i Baxley I Writer ercent of those students it accepts, nation are feeling the effects of according to Arthur West, USC's iirrent 73 percent rate compares slds in the country." >wing the upward trend with appercent ahead of last year among nsfer students. West said. deceived by the present statistics, lment in other states will cause i to try to convince our students to nd college. i on Higher Education predicts an dent population through 1985. iway in South Carolina as it is in -of-state colleges and universities tily logical they are going to come rams at state high schools are inGtitllfinriC ir? fllMirrti r? Mn*4V> III V4VVI glU , ill/i U1 ia and other states where students now, the economic advantages of i valid argument," West said. ties and technical schools in the i student population to survive and antages will surely do so , he said, te necessary at USC yet because, not simply seeking bodies to fill >ut USC, the school can sell itself, the public," West said. y in cooperating with the adanother reason for our success," tments sponsor workshops and ua|wv.uvc aiuuenus 10 uot, i rcVi USCproject'/ "SOUTH CAROLINA'S contribution to regional speech study "Not to respect the differences in speech is to imply disrespect for the person who uses them" ? Raymond O'Cain, linguistics researcher is equaled only by that of Brown University, Yale University, the /*V W Js>econb 2011 DEVINE STREET FI PH. 771-4794 HA | THIS WE TRACTORS jm JULY 11 ROB CROSB 12 CAROL BRC 13 JOHNNY HI 14 & 15 SOUTHEKNj 18 ROB CROSB 19 BILL KOPE1 20, 21, 22 BILL HANE TUESDAYS VODKA &T DRINKS LADIES nost thorough University of Michigan and the University of Chicago," O'Cain said. "The only university in the Southeast that rivals the work done here is Emory." Dialect hoiinrtnrioci #**11 Aiir ? ~ XVU AVllVn migration routes and not state boundaries, O'Cain said. In South Carolina, the Low Country dialect is that of the coastal plantations, j largely dominated by Charleston's j influence. The Up Country dialect | was influenced by the migration of j people from Pennsylvania and ? lit A. If? " * wesi Virginia aown tnrough the j mountains of Virginia, North t Carolina and northern South Carolina. _ Speech reflects the total life experience, O'Cain said, and is an integral part of a person's identity. Studies have even shown correlations between voting patterns and speech or between the way barns are built and speech. CONCERNING correctness in speech, O'Cain said the word is seldom used among linguists. "We simply draw out that there may be a correlation between social class, culture or education and speech," he said. "There is a great deal of variety in pronunciation among even the very cultured. There are very distinct traditions in every group ? in Charleston, Boston, New York, everywhere ? none are superior." "HIS AIN'T I NO ? MICKEY MOUSE AD iel VE POINTS IN COLUMBIA iDDV UATTI1 A r? u i i uuua 1-/ EKEND IN BLOOM iz ! Y >WN LTON \IHE I Y l j Y & THE ZASSOFF BOYS SPECIAL | j Pr?T TTT A ! $1.30 FREE I I i ? I I i of its kind9 O'Cain said Southerners are on the negative end of a stereotype * concerning speech. "Not to respect the differences in speech is to imply disrespect for the person who uses them," he said. "These factors simply represent opportunities and experiences of people." The professor said he tries to nstill in his linguistics students the dea that the way they speak is a egitimate reflection of their )ackground ? and that they should eel proud of themselves if idiculed because of their superior olerance for cultural differences. / PHONE 799-159# SUMTER * PENDCETM STS. COLUMBIA, S.C A $ $ $ WE CASH PERSONAL CHECKS - BRING STUDENT I.D. CARD $ $ $ Ill SCHOOL SUPPLIES... Pens & Pencils Notebooks & Paper GROCERIES... Bread Milk Beer j and more! COSMETICS.. Rev Ion j Maybelline Charlie & Jontue __________________________ j FILM DEVELOPING Fast & Cheap CI 26-20, C110-20 -3.49 CI 35-24 - 3.89 C110-12, CI 26-12 - 2.49 WE CASH CHECKS OPEN 7AM-9PM a * r 5^5? 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