My eastern N.C. relatives say "ain't," but most of the white southerners I know from Raleigh, Atlanta, etc., say "ant." -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of tim champlin Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 11:43 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [External] Re: How would Twain have pronounced "Aunt"? I come from the northern midwest, lived 4 yrs. in central Missouri. Also lived in TN and GA for over 60 years. The only ones I ever heard pronounce Aunt with the ah sound of ont or ontie were the older, genteel generation of blacks, many of whom I waited on when working at the VA in Tennessee. Tim Champlin > On October 10, 2019 at 9:38 AM "Bird, John C." <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > In the South, there is also sounds like “ain’t.” > > > > Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 > > > > From: Clay Shannon<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 9:21 AM > To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Subject: How would Twain have pronounced "Aunt"? > > > > Does anybody know, or have an educated guess, as to how Twain would have pronounced "Aunt"? > As one pronounces the name of the picnic-addicted insect, or as the first three letters of "Ontario"? > - B. Clay Shannon ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).