INTRODUCTORY.
In his work on the classification of the English Dialects, as published by the English Dialect Society, Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte says:—"Southern characters I call: The use of I be, thou bist, he be, we be, you be, they be, for 'I am,' &c.; the periphrastic tenses replacing the simple, as I do love, for I love; the prefix a before the past participle, as I have aheard, for I have heard; the permutation of the initial f, s, sh, and thr, into v, z, zh, and dr; the broad pronunciation of the Italian ai, replacing the sound of the English ay, as in May, pronounced as the Italian adverb mai."
These characters appear in the Berkshire Dialect with modifications as follows: I be, thou bist, he be, we be, you be, they be, would run I be, thee bist or 's be, he be, we or us be, thee or 's be, thaay be or them is.
There is no replacing of simple tenses by periphrastic tenses, as I do love, for I love, generally in Berkshire; instead of I love her, a man would say I loves her, or emphatically I loves 'she.'
The prefix a takes place before the present participle as well as before the past participle, as a-goin', a-thinkin', a-callin', &c.
As regards the permutations of the specified initial letters, v is always substituted for f, z is substituted for s when the latter is followed by a vowel or w, and in many other cases also the sound given to the s is roughened almost to the sound of z; dr is used instead of thr.
The letter A is generally given the broad pronunciation of ai in the Italian mai. When the pronunciation is thus given, the English sound has been represented in the Glossary by aay, or by aai where the a precedes i
