Language of Our Ancestors...

​(Unpublished article; published to WINDOW TO THE PAST website, February, 2014)​

​This page contains some thoughts and reminiscing by Peggy Smith Hake on the language of the Ozark people of Missouri.
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• ​​​​​​So many of the oldtimers pronounced names so strangely! I have heard Ruah spoken as being 'Ruhey' often. When the settlers came from the east and the south they brought there customs with them. I had ancestors who once lived in Barren Co., KY and on my great, great grandfather's death records it states he was born in "Barn Co., KY"...they settled in Miller County not far from the Barren Fork creek and all my life that creek has been pronounced as the "Barn Fork" ! ! I guess you have to be born in the area to understand the language. My aunt always said 'down yander'; my grandmother spoke of being in the hospital at 'Columbuuah' (Columbia, MO). I've heard some say they 'retched up' which actually meant they 'reached up' to pick apples or peaches!!!! I loved to hear them talk but I can't be too judgmental in my thoughts because when I left Missouri and moved to southern California in the 1950s, they called me an "Oakie".....I informed them I was from Missouri, not Oklahoma and the response was..."same difference!"  

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• ​I love the language of the Missourians and other southerners....Probably one of the most famous sayings is "youns" for you....and replaces the southern "you all".....To this day, I still say 'youns' and I have lived in Missouri, Illinois, California, and Kansas----carried it with me wherever I lived! On Facebook there is a site called "You know you grew up in Iberia, Missouri if....."and there has been many conversations concerning the word 'youns'.......very delighful memories. My mother and her sisters would always say, "Aw-Swan" when they were surprised about something.....I don't even know how to spell it ! ! ! 

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​A Forum conversation from momiller@rootsweb.com - September 26, 2011​:​

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• ​​Alice: Did your Miller County relatives say "Aint" for Aunt? Aint Suzy Aint Lizzie I think that is in my "Queen's English" booklet too.

• Peggy: ​​Yes, they did and I still catch myself talking and remembering my 'Aint' Gladys, Florence, Netta, Tressie, Idolia (who I called Doe-Doe when a child), Dorothy, Sylvia/Sylvie, Fannie, Carrie, and many other ladies who weren't my aunts but we still called them either "Aint" or "Grandma".......My grandmothers were Lizzie (Elizabeth) and Lizee (Eliza). 

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Here are a few "Old Time Occupations" I ran across and the terms used by our ancestors in describing them: