Southern Style Analysis

Johnstone, B. (2003). Features and uses of southern style. In S. J. Nagle & S. L. Sanders, English in the Southern United States (pp.189-207). Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.
Barbara Johnstone begins her antidote about southern style English with the idea of the quintessential southern gentleman. A gentleman that is hard but loves God and is willing to express emotion. She goes on to identify the idea of the southern style of speech throughout the early years of the United States development. Barbara delves into the idea that southern like to talk, that they use evidential while communicating, the benefits of a southern drawl.
The concept of southerners enjoying conversation and storytelling may be true. When I was younger, I spent time with traditional southern elders.

I had not considered the concept of the negative evidential. Once they were identified in this article, I immediately thought “duh!”. I hear these phrases all the time, but never made the connection. I believe these phrases may be leaving the southern style of language as the population diversity increases in the south. A classic version of these evidential can be found in the movie, Steel Magnolias. The characters in this movie are truly classic southernism. I believe this movie represents my concept of the south perfectly.
The benefits of the southern style of communication or southern drawl made me smile. I believe the idea of the southern lady being soft and meek may be misunderstood. A classic southern lady in my opinion and speak softly and kill you with kindness while getting her point across, usually at the expense of their target. The colloquialisms, such as “bless their heart”, is not often meant as kind. If you are not from this area, you might hear concern in this particular phrase. I hear a polite way of saying, “that poor child does not know any better, because they lack