Posted by Ed Kiser on May 01, 2007 at 02:23:44 from 205.188.116.198 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: Quotation from S & A Series-"Well done" posted by Ed Kiser on April 26, 2007 at 13:56:12:
I have noticed Ransome's usage of the dialectic word, "Yin," as he puts this word into the speech of two distinct characters, Mrs. McGinty in Coot Club, and Jacky in Picts & Martyrs.
Mrs. McGinty is not local the the Broads area so her speech is not reflecting the standards of that part of the world.
Jacky seems to be speaking in such a different dialect from that of Nancy and Peggy, who are essentially living next door to him, so one might think that living that near to each other, their mode of speech would reasonably be expected to be quite similar, yet Jacky is quite different from the Amazons in his speech. We are not told of his origins, if he is not originally from that area, and thus would have a distinctive dialect. But he is relatively young, and gives the impression of having grown up there on that farm with his Mom and Dad. It is puzzling that his speech is so different, yet in his usage of this "yin" word, seems to be a bit like Mrs. McGinty, yet Ransome's writing of the "McGinty" dialect seems quite different from other Jacky sayings.
So my attention is to this one word, "Yin," as to how widespread is its usage, in what areas.
As for why are the Amazons and Jacky speaking so differently, perhaps this is yet another example of the "class differences" where the mode of speech reflects the class status - or is this pushing a touchy button...
Ransome gave us these examples of "yin". Remember the FIND output lists each line quite unrelated to the other lines in this listing as each line is taken quite out of context.
----------------start of quoted lines-----------------
---------- CCCH17.TXT
"Well, he's ta'en this yin to the telephone," said Mrs. McGinty,
---------- PMCH11.TXT
"Aye. Not this yin."
---------- PMCH13.TXT
"There' a big yin down yonder."
Let's see you get yin. There's aye a good yin under yon stone."
thick of him... Eh, but you lost a good yin there."
"Easy, that yin," he said.
He changed his mind. "Nay, you get this yin," he said. "Right
were thirteen. "Lisle yins," said Jacky, "but them's the sweetest."
------------------end of quotes-----------------
For me, the meaning of "Lisle yins" still escapes me. Actually, not all that sure what "yin" itself really means either. My 'Merican ears are not accustomed picking up some Ransome-ish expressions - which explains why I have to select ENGLISH SUBTITLES when watching my DVD of the Harry Potter movies so I can understand what those people are trying to say.
All the more to support the observation that the English and the Americans are "a common people, separated only by their common language."
Understanding these differences is quite a challenge and thus a reward for those persuing the study of All Things Ransome.
Ed Kiser, Kentucky (where "I'm tarred" means, "I am tired.")