• Texas is the second-largest state in the U.S.

• Area: almost 270.000 square miles

• Population: 24.7 million residents

• The dipthong /aɪ/ becomes monopthongized to /a:/: ride [ra:d], wide [wa:d]

• Southern drawl: breaking of the front vowels pat [pæjə], pet [pejə], pit [pɪjə]• /z/ becomes /d/ before /n/ wasn’t [wʌdnt], business [bɪdnɪs] exception: hasn’t [hæzənt]

• Drop /g/ in “ing” taking /teɪkɪŋ/, walking /wɔ:kɪŋ/

• Use of past participle in place of past simple. I only done what you done told me I seen her first• use of was in place of were. you was sittin’ on that chair• Use of double modals. he might could climb the top i used to could do that

• Use of ever instead of every. ever’where’s is the same place these days.

• Use of (a-) fixin’ to or fixin’ to with the meaning about to.

the plane’s fixin’ to land.

• Howdy: a general greeting. A shortened form of how do you do?

• Di’jeet’yet: did you eat yet?

• Ol’ boy: a good friend

• Looker: an atractive woman

• Y’all: you all • Over Yonder: analogous to “over there”

• Coke: Any flavor of soda.

• Conversion of one-syllable words into two-syllable words.

big: bee-yug. pen: pee-yun. cat: ca-yut.

• Conversion of “ing” into “ang” finger fanger sing sang things thangs

script

• “Amarillo, Texas. Ah, North Texas, up in the panhandle. Twenty-two. In Huntsville, Texas. I am going to Sam Houston State University. I’ll be starting my junior year in the fall. Yeah, I have a younger sister that’s nineteen, and a brother that’s twelve and a brother that’s six. And my parents are divorced, so I have lived with my mom and my dad, my step-dad since I was five. So I’m not very close to my real dad. Well my mom is white and my dad was Hispanic and since I didn’t really get to know him, I probably am the most whitest Mexican you’ve ever met in your life. No. No, I don’t even like Mexican food.”