My Grandmother, Martha Liles Jacob, was born In Argo, Alabama - many years ago. She grew up in the Great Depression with nine brothers and sisters, her husband fought In World War II, and she was even a nurse at Charity Hospital (now destroyed by Hurricane Katrina). She lived a very secluded life, her father was one of the main leaders of a primarily Seventh Day Adventist community and all she knew was home, chores, and school.
After marrying into the military, Grandmother has traveled and lived in many places and continues to use many of the terms she has picked up along the way . The main thing that I am focusing on is the "standard" that she was required to learn. When she left her sheltered, country-farm home life, Grandmother had to adapt to her surroundings in order to fit in and communicate.
I am very close to my Grandmother. All conversations are loud, detailed and very casual. We would normally see each other on a day-to-day basis, so there are no awkward silences in this household. However, it was very interesting to see the change in my grandmother's presence when she started to speak into the microphone in this interview. She was trying to hide her accent, she changed the tone of her voice, spoke quietly; her whole aura changed. It was like I was a stranger interviewing her. Then she began to tell me about her life growing up, and all her travels in the nurse's training and the military and she began to relax and express more of her normal speech.
I have grown up listening to the words on these recordings, so I am now used to it and translate easily. On the other hand, newcomers and guests need moments of explanation. Almost every one of the "famous" terms recorded are so well known because there is an interesting story and explanation behind each one.
Obviously there are many different forms of a southern accent. Many times we tease my grandmother for words like "ice" because it sounds like "a$$" or when she gets words mixed up: saying "fizzy" for a girl who dresses like a "floozy." I think now in her golden years, she has decided that whatever she says goes. Even though she occasionally puts on a prestigious face and speech, mostly she winnows her way with her "little old country woman" profile.
Transcription
Selection1
Grandmother: Well the one thing that I remember that... um when I got away from home that... um people expressed themselves so different. Like... um... at home uh we call, we would say "ice cream", we would say "cream" ...we want some "cream" uh like and uh then I got away from home I realized you gotta say "ice cream" cause people would think I want the cream of milk. So that didn't jive like that.
Selection 2
Hannah: What's a straw called?
Grandmother: ...drinki' drinkin tube
Hannah: Drinkin tube, now where'd ya learn that one?
Grandmother: Well in Nurse's training uh they were called drinkin tubes. They were glass for the patients to drink their liquids through and we had to sterilize those so they were called drinkin tubes...
...yeh uh huh what we call "straws" today
...and uh one of the things too that - um I'm used to saying uhm "book satchels" and peop' the kids laugh at me because that's what I know what you call, what do you call 'em?
Hannah: book bag?
Grandmother: yeh "book bags" and I thought they were "book satchels"
Hannah: Now where'd ya learn "satchel"?
Grandmother: At - um...Growin Up!
...and then one of the things too, is uuum growin up I used to say... I would say a "sack," and now... we know 'em as a "bag". I need a paper bag eeer a plastic bag but I thought they were call...uh we call 'em "sacs".
Selection 3
Hannah: Anything else you wanna add?
Grandmother: You better get a hundred on this thing I can tell you that right now!
Analysis
As you have heard there are many interesting terms that may or may not be very straightforward at first. Terms like cream for "ice cream" and sack for a paper or plastic "bag"; these were things that she learned at home. These words are a definite validation for vertical transmission. Being around the parents and learning to speak how they speak. This limited knowledge of words also shows the definite possibility of isolation. It was not until my grandmother left home for Nurse's training that she realized that her speech was not like everyone else's. It wasn't until she left the realm of vertical transmission from her parents that she began transforming her speech.
Obviously, any person would change his or her speech patterns if no one could understand. To me, it is now interesting to hear the story of how my grandmother came to call "the restroom" the head. In the process of communication, though, it would be a nuisance to have to explain (and hear an explanation) for several words in a sentence. Honestly, if she had said to me ten years ago, "Hannah, go get the charge plate out of your book satchel so we can get some cream," it would've taken forever for me to receive the interpretation. Now, when she says, "Grab me a drinking tube," I automatically hand Grandmother a straw.
The South does not have just one accent, she said herself; coming from Alabama she had No idea what these people in North Carolina were saying. As a nurse, she dealt with people from every walk of life. She had to know in an instant what a person needed in any dialect or speech variation. Grandmother asked questions and learned the common dialect so she could communicate with the average person.
But here there is a controversy between what is "standard" and what is "common." Are the two terms interchangeable? In one aspect, the common may be standard in a certain area. Yet there is another argument on what standard may be. Google defines standard as a basis of comparison by which other things are evaluated. In Grandmother's case, I believe standard is simply the means of communication. The standard is not using perfect grammar, it is simply communicating with surrounding people for purposes of enjoyment and survival. It is being able to say something and it be understood and possibly answered with response.
The military life is full of moves and adaptation. From southern twang to broken Spanish and hand motions, Grandmother constantly had to revise her speech patterns. It is amazing to me that she was able to pick up so many things and adapt to her environments so well.
If there were one simple term to describe my Grandmother's transitions, I would say: meme. The formal definition of a meme is a "unit of imitation." According to what geographic area Grandmother was in, she changed. It was often repeated in this class, that if a meme were to lose its necessity or usage, it would die out. In each new place, Grandmother had to learn the standard memes in order to communicate.
One interesting thing to add here, is the title my object of this project holds. To me, she is Grandmother, not Meemaw or Grandma or Mama, or anything. I have never been permitted to call her anything but Grandmother. In this I think, it could be an issue of respect, (she calls her own mother "mother" and that may be her "standard" reference for that type of authoritative, parental figure) or perhaps it is the pursuance of the standard, prestige.
In conclusion, Grandmother adapted to her surroundings, learning the standard wherever she went in order to communicate. Lucky for her offspring - we get to hear all the interesting stories that come along with that!
Well, I think I almost have a hang of this technology stuff! So here goes, my first attempt to "post" something. I am from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Our growing town would be just a ghost town without Camp Lejeune right next door. I grew up in a small Christian school, and my first experience with a foreign language was French in the seventh grade. I really liked it at the time, but don't remember much. In the ninth grade I went to a private highschool in Morehead City and took Latin. I fell in love. The only bad thing is that when I transfered to a public highschool closer to home, no one offered the language. So that too has dwindled in my memory.
After four semesters of highschool Spanish, I thought knew everything there was to know about Spanish. Little did I know when I came to college, the teaching method is way different, and vocabulary lists are pointless! So I guess I am in this class to explore all the varieties of language, whether it be speech or through music. I am a singer, have always been in choirs at church and school. It is my outlet, the only thing that can calm me, comfort me, and make me happy. It is an expression of language unlike any other. Words can touch a heart, but when you add instruments and you play with the volume, it grabs a person's emotions like nothing else can. The sound of a certain tune can bring back memories almost better than a photo. That's what I love about music. Through it you can do amazing things. And so this is me. I may not think on an extraordinary level all the time, but I am working on that, and in the debate of music, you may get more comment out of me than you want! :)
It was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to do this project and record my grandmother. All the stories I had heard over the years and forgotten are now recorded and saved forever. It seems odd thanking a teacher for a project, but I really am glad to have done this. I have learned so much and can?t wait to hear what other people have learned during the course of these projects.
My Grandmother, Martha Liles Jacob, was born In Argo, Alabama - many years ago. She grew up in the Great Depression with nine brothers and sisters, her husband fought In World War II, and she was even a nurse at Charity Hospital (now destroyed by Hurricane Katrina). She lived a very secluded life, her father was one of the main leaders of a primarily Seventh Day Adventist community and all she knew was home, chores, and school. 
As you have heard there are many interesting terms that may or may not be very straightforward at first. Terms like cream for "ice cream" and sack for a paper or plastic "bag"; these were things that she learned at home. These words are a definite validation for vertical transmission. Being around the parents and learning to speak how they speak. This limited knowledge of words also shows the definite possibility of isolation. It was not until my grandmother left home for Nurse's training that she realized that her speech was not like everyone else's. It wasn't until she left the realm of vertical transmission from her parents that she began transforming her speech.