Dennis Dover wrote: > > A question for our Dover cousins living in the South .... is > there anyway a southern accent can orally get pronounced > DOVER that gets written down as DEAVER? > > Deaver also equals DEVER and DEVER is a possible written > transcription error for DOVER. > > This has haunted me for a long time. > > Dennis > > Yes, I think it is quite possible, especially when one considers the lack of education of many census takers, and southerners as a general rule from long ago. (I mean no disrespect--I was born and bred in Georgia, and I was a census enumerator in 1970.) Considering the tremendous migration of folks from all over to the south, the southern accent has almost been lost, except in the rural areas. I now live in Forsyth County, the fastest growing county in the nation, but was until about 8 years ago rural. The local folk still have a "southern" accent. (Many times the newcomers need help with translation!) Barbara Dover Brown pbbrown@bellsouth.net