Do you say kitty-corner or catty-corner? Does the accent fall on the first or second syllable of insurance? When you say the word creek, does it sound like a step on the stairs or a pain in the neck?
These are among the 122 fascinating queries on North Carolina State University’s “Dialect Survey,” which asks Americans in every region how they pronounce or use certain words. As you might expect, the Bluegrass — once a western frontier and now a crossroad between North and South — is among the most diverse regions linguistically.
Take the word caramel. In the upper Midwest, 75 percent pronounce it with two syllables: car-ml. In the deep South, nearly two-thirds pronounce it with three: carr-a-mel. Here in Central Kentucky, it’s 40 percent one way, 40 percent the other; the rest use the two pronunciations interchangeably.
And what about really? In New England, 70 percent pronounce it reely. In Texas, the majority pronounce it rilly. Here in the Bluegrass? We’re split down the middle.
Some other dialect-ibles:
Catty-corner vs. kitty-corner: Most Kentuckians (54 percent) refer to something that’s diagonally across the street as catty-corner; in North Dakota and Upper Michigan, however, it’s kitty-corner 90 percent of the time.
INsurance vs. inSURance: 21 percent of Kentuckians put the accent on the first syllable. In Los Angeles, only 9 percent do that, and in parts of New England, it’s as low as 5 percent.
Creek vs. crick: Only 4 percent of Kentuckians use crick in speaking about a small river. In western Pennsylvania, 25 percent flow that way.
“I might could do that”: In California, only 5 percent say this phrase is acceptable, while in parts of Kentucky, more than 30 percent say it’s just fine.
Rilly?
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of FatherLoss and VoiceMale. The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or (859)254-4175.