User:Bbaaspencer/sandbox

Tennessee English (lack of phonics)

Until the 1950's, Tennessee children attended school until they were physically able to work in the fields, then quit school before they ever graduated to help their families pick cotton or tobacco. This lack of education deprived them of mastering the skill of phonics. Because they never learned phonics, words were mispronounced and continued through generations until this very day. Examples are any words that end with "y" or  "ow" as it is pronounced with the letter "a" or the letter "a" pronounced as the letter "u". Maury County is now Murray County and yellow or window are now yella and winda. Other examples are any name of a city that ends with -ville as it is pronounced "vull", as in Nashville (Nashvull) or Knoxville (Knoxvull). Other odd pronunciations are Maryville (Marvull), Shelbyville (Shovelvull), school (sku) and Lebanon (Lebanin). Because words have been mispronounced for 100's of years, "locals" are resistant to teach their children words phonetically, even at an educational level.