(Esther/Hester) - Dialect (General)

by tkjensen , Laramie, Wyoming, USA, Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 15:40 (3653 days ago) @ MPGriffiths

I think that my great-grandmother only emphasized the "H" in Hester so we would know the family given name changed from Hester to Esther at some point along the line (Esther, Esther, Esther, HESTER). (Esther broke the chain by naming her first daughter Ruby but was disappointed when Ruby didn't name her oldest daughter--my mom--Esther!)

One of Esther's funny little sayings was: "I'm goin' to 'it you over the 'ead with an 'ickory 'ammer 'andle." It seemed like she added "hs" too ("Hit's time to go."). She was proud of her Forest background and enjoyed when people would comment on her accent.

I would love seeing the link on Forest dialect. I've read Winifred Foley's Forest Trilogy, and definitely puzzled over the meaning and pronunciation of some of the words! It's hard to keep the Hesters and Esthers straight when they are pronounced the same...the difference only being in the spelling?