As I no longer write such papers, I pass the following observation along in
case someone else might find it useful.

In Chapter 11 of James Fenimore Cooper's 1821 *The Spy*, an uneducated
housekeeper and a physician try to discuss the arrangements for a departed
neighbor, but Cooper has some fun pointing out the difficulty the two have
understanding each other. I thought of "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral," of Twain's
well-known awareness of, if distaste for, Cooper, and thought this might be
the seed for a study.

Wes Britton