Localisms in the Spoken English of the Cattle Industry of Santa Cruz County, Arizona
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Localisms in the spoken English of the cattle industry of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Seibold, Doris Katherine, 1911- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 04:59:45 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553693 LOCALISMS IN THE SPOKEN ENGLISH OF THE CATTLE INDUSTRY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA by Doris K. Seibold A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the' Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate College University of Arizona 19 4 6 Approved: £5"rTW V - .?• ' /&- TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER _ • PASS I. INTRODUCTION . ............... 1 Statement of the problem ........ 1 Physical background . .............. 7 II . THE IMPORTANCE OF SPANISH IN THE VOCABULARY -OF THE RANCHER ...... 14 History of Spanish-speaking Inhabitants 14 Speech of border Mexicans ............ 31 Influence of Spanish on local speech • . 33 III. ENGLISH IN LOCALISES ........... 42 History of English-speaking inhabitants 42 English of cattle growers ....... 51 IV. RECENT CHANGES IN SPEECH ......... 68 Influence of schools • . 7 2 . Dude-isms ............... 77 V. CONCLUSIONS ............................. 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY . ............ 87 GLOSSARY . ;. ..... 95 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The problem in this thesis was to collect all words and phrases in the speech of Santa Cruz County ranchers that may be classified as localisms and to trace, as far as possible, these words and expressions to their origins. Standard words and expressions which have acquired a pecul iar and localized meaning have been included. Spanish words which have been accepted in local English usage also were included. The actual collecting of localisms began long be fore its value as a thesis subject was determined. The list grew, and with its growth cams the evidence that it contained material suitable for systematic research. This fact, plus the realization that Santa Cruz County ranchers retained in their speech many expressions that either have never been recorded, or else have been published without 1 analytical approach, seemed to justify the study. High on the list of reasons for this research is the fact that although all three of the chief dialects of Ramon F. Adams, Western Words. A Dictionary of the Range. Cow Camp, and Trail. (Norman? University of UElahomaPr e s s, 1 % 4 )” This took contains many words and expressions which had not been recorded before. 2 America are represented in the local speech, it can not be described as entirely Southern, New England, or General 2 American. The pronunciation and words peculiar to each of these dialects exist in Santa Cruz County and, while this section is geographically in General American, Southern pronunciation and vocabulary and New England words and expressions are found in oral communication of the fixed population. As time passes, marked differences of speech habits become less noticeable, but for the present they do exist and this fact will have a distinct bearing on the future speech habits of the community. And as time passes, many localisms will drop out of the speech, early settlers will have died, and certain phases of the research will become more difficult. These reasons established in the mind of the writer the importance of the study. A localism, as used in this thesis, is a word or expression used by ranchers of Santa Cruz County. It may be a word that is used only in this section, or it may be a word or expression that has been brought in from some 2 These classifications of American dialects are the ones given by such accepted authorities as George Knapp in his English Language in America, and Henry Mencken in his xhe^Iinerlcan Language. 3 other part of the United States and has remained In the local speech. A localism may be a coined word. Often it is a variation of a standard word. In some cases it is a word that arrived in America with the English colonists and is now retained only in the speech of the western cattleman. Above all else, a localism is a word that is peculiar to the ranching industry; and if it has been noted in conversation in Santa Cruz County, it has been recorded in this thesis. The major phase of the problem was the checking t)f informal conversation to find out how extensively and fre quently words already listed were used, and to add new words or expressions as they were heard. Characteristic speech habits also were noted, but the emphasis was placed on listing words that were used by ranchers and, were generally unknown to persons not in the industry. The spoken idiom is the best source for localisms, but the ranchers * trade journals contributed words and expressions which were known to be part of the everyday language of the cattlemen in this country. These are next to oral language in importance. The trade journals yielded many more localisms than did the county newspapers. This fact is not strange if one remembers that the cattle man's news letters and magazines are written by members of the industry on problems and conditions that can best 4 be expressed in the vocabulary of the range. The trade magazines are important in a study of 3 this kind. Of the nine major trade journals, two or three are found in almost every rancher’s home. Usually he takes one general magazine and another which concerns a particular branch of the Industry. In reading these trade journals in the search for localisms, one becomes aware of the fact that although many of them have been in existence for a number of years, their spelling and use of terms have not become standard ized. Tet these publications have played their part in keeping the rancher’s language a specialized one, and undoubtedly have made many of the terms a part of the general vocabulary of a rancher whether he lives on the Mexican border or in one of the northern cattle states. One of the most difficult phases of the problem was the tracing of words to their points of origin. For the most part the origins were obscure. Sometimes con jecture on the part of the writer may have placed a word in a wrong category. Some words were coined, and others 3 The nine major trade journals are: Western Livestock Journal, The Cattle Producer, Arizona Cattle Growers News Letter, The Arizona Stockman, hoofs andHToms, The Cattleman, American Hereford Journal? New Mexico Stockman. and Western Horseman. 5 seemed to be variations or Mendings of standard words. A few were found in dialect dictionaries of the English language of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Available dictionaries, word lists, and other sources were checked. When these failed to give a word or phrase, or gave a definition not in use locally, a definition was made which seemed to conform with the local meaning. A standard never has been set for most of the ex pressions in current usage. To decide upon the spelling of localisms, both English and Spanish, was more of a problem than deciding upon the local meaning of words. Written expression is unimportant in the lives of ranching people and meaning, through oral circulation, becomes more uniform than spelling. When an occasion arises that re quires a written version, the writer manages to spell the word in some fashion. Perhaps the universal difficulty of applying spell ing rules to the English language has some bearing on the matter, but another very likely reason for this lack of standardization in spelling is that no one group within the industry as yet has set itself up as an authority. Few of these words have reached the vocabulary of American dictionaries. The writers in the trade journals usually spell by ear, and the results are not uniform. The commonplace 6 expression for an unbroken horse Is spelled "bronk” or 4 "bronc" In the same issue of a magazine. And one may sometimes also find the Spanish form broneo. Established writers of western,books do not always use a uniform spelling either. Therefore, the spelling in this thesis followed what seemed to be the best written source. When there was no written source, sound deter mined the spelling. The glossary of the thesis gives for each word a meaning, an origin if possible, examples of its use and, in a few cases, any peculiarity of pronunciation that has been noted. After the master list of words was compiled, the next task was the segregation of the Spanish words and ex pressions, and-the determining of their type and importance in the spoken language of the cattleman. As these words proved to be a distinguishing feature of the localisms, a chapter was written on the importance of the use of Spanish. The survey of the origins of the early settlers completed the groundwork. In a thesis of this kind racial origins, national origins, and regional origins seemed to 4 Hoofs and Horns (Tucson, Arizona: official rodeo magazine). 7 be an important, phase of the research, and.accordingly pains were taken to record this material. There were no written data that gave these facts. Courthouse records of deeds and early elections did not have the necessary information* In order to find out the origins of the early ranchers, old-timers still living in the community were interviewed. At least twenty-five persons living in the community were interviewed and some of these filled in a written questionnaire.