_Some place_ for _somewhere_ is not chargeable to Indiana alone, but this and the phrases _want on_ and _want off_ seem to be used chiefly in the West Central States, and they belong to the borderland between slang and dialect. It would seem a far cry from the Hoosier speech to the classic Greek, and yet Dr. H. W. Taylor has pursued this line of philological inquiry with astonishing results, tracing an analogy of sound and sense most ingeniously between Greek terms and words found in the American dialects.[24] In the speech of the illiterate, there is usually something of rhythm and cadence. All slang shares a feeling for the balance and nice adjustment of words, and slang phrases are rarely clumsy. The cry of a boy calling his mate has its peculiar crescendo, and pedlers the world over run the scale of human expression in pursuit of odd effects. The drawl of the Southerner and Southwesterner is not unmusical, though it may try the patience of the stranger. Even cultivated Indianians, particularly those of Southern antecedents, have the habit of clinging to their words; they do not bite them off sharply. _G_ performs its office as final consonant in _ing_ under many disadvantages; and it was long ignored, though the school-teachers have struggled nobly to restore it. The blending of words, which begins with childhood, is often carried into maturity by the Indianian; thus by a lazy elision “did you ever” is combined in _jever_, and “where did you get” becomes _wherjuget_. _Ju_ is, in fact, usual in the Ohio Valley. The history of the Italian _a_ in this country is in itself interesting. In New England and in Virginia it finds recognition, whereas in the intermediate region the narrower sound of the vowel prevails; and likewise the softening of _r_ is noted in New England and among the Virginians and other Southerners, while in the intermediate territory and at the West _r_ receives its full sound. The shrill nasal tone is still marked in the back country folk of New England, while the Southern and Southwestern farmer’s speech is fuller and more open-mouthed. Whether climatic influences have been potent in such matters remains a matter of speculation, but such theories are to be received with caution.