tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post8277718757833447015..comments2023-12-06T19:46:26.522-05:00Comments on The Greenbelt: Tumbled?The Ridger, FCDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post-78568354373032837382011-06-08T23:39:27.187-04:002011-06-08T23:39:27.187-04:00A comment seems to have disappeared. Excuse me if ...A comment seems to have disappeared. Excuse me if this ends up being a double comment. I was trying to say that I realize that your question and the quote had to do with "tumbled grammar" rather than accent. The expression sounds normal to me, too. It might be used in the Columbus area, but it's certainly commonly used outside that area, too. Also, I have never heard anyone refer to the Piedmont area of Georgia as "the Piedmont." I associate that term with the Carolinas.Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post-10306197176132799412011-06-08T23:29:26.606-04:002011-06-08T23:29:26.606-04:00The construction "[W]hat is it [that...]?&quo...The construction "[W]hat is it [that...]?" brings to mind a literal translation of a similar inquiry in Portuguese and French (and, for all I know, other Romance languages):<br /><br />PORT: O que é que... ?<br /><br />FR: Qu'est-ce que c'est que...?<br /><br />Don't know if there's any significance to this, but just thought I'd toss it into the mix.Kathienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post-85104486600965403652011-06-08T21:23:59.679-04:002011-06-08T21:23:59.679-04:00I'm from Rome, in NW Georgia, where we probabl...I'm from Rome, in NW Georgia, where we probably talk close to the way you do, but I spent a few years in Augusta. Wikipedia places the Piedmont Plateau in north central Georgia, from the fall line up to the foothills. Augusta and Columbus are both on the fall line, the southern border of the Piedmont, so I am not certain that the Columbus accent would be particularly of the Piedmont. Not far south of that the accent is noticeably different, at least in the eastern part of Georgia. I didn't find much difference between Augusta and Rome, other than a perhaps flatter, more nasal accent in the Rome area. I have no idea what "tumbled" would mean. It suggests something more like what I might associate with speech of the coastal plain, which I find broader and less rhotic. In that sense, it seems tumbled, as if rough edges were worn off. I don't know how speech in Columbus would sound, but I suspect that it is now influenced by a less local population brought in by the presence of Fort Benning. If it's like other towns with military bases, there is probably a fairly significant population of military retirees from all over the country, and a fairly large population of non-transient military and civilian personnel as well.Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post-57795525449017406352011-06-08T20:27:01.702-04:002011-06-08T20:27:01.702-04:00"What is it (that)" is certainly an emph..."What is it (that)" is certainly an emphatic, focusing structure - shifting the conversation from "what high school did you go to?" and so on to the business at hand - but it doesn't strike me as "tumbled grammar" in any way.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26129073.post-47846714960744351992011-06-08T20:24:04.282-04:002011-06-08T20:24:04.282-04:00I wonder if it is the "is it" part of th...I wonder if it is the "is it" part of the sentence. When I first read it, the sentence seemed fine to me, but when I read it out loud, the "What is it" had a rude feeling to me with a natural pause before the rest. I think I'd normally just say "What can we do for you."AbbotOfUnreasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08484573287776114988noreply@blogger.com