What are some examples of Southern dialect and colloquialisms that Jem Finch would use in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Let's review what a dialect is and what colloquialisms
are. That will help you understand the answer and you can apply it throughout the
book.

A dialect, from the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "a
regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and
pronunciation from other regional varieties." It's the way people speak in an area,
including the way they say it and what they say. People in New York speak English
differently than people in London or people in Atlanta. It's not just pronunciation;
that would be called an accent. It's also the vocabulary and the
grammar.

A colloquialism, again from Merriam Webster, is "a
local or regional dialect expression." It's a word or phrase commonly used in an area.
It's also usually used in everyday speech, not necessarily in formal situations. Sounds
similar to a dialect doesn't it? Remember, a dialect includes pronunciation and grammar
as well as vocabulary. The colloquialism is mostly about
vocabulary.

Let's now look at one quote of Jem's and see
what we can find. This is from Part 1, Chapter 1 and is on page 5 of my version. Jem is
describing Boo Radley to Dill:

"Jem said, “He
goes out, all right, when it’s pitch dark. Miss Stephanie Crawford said she woke up in
the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her…
said his head was like a skull lookin‘ at her. Ain’t you ever waked up at night and
heard him, Dill? He walks like this-” Jem slid his feet through the gravel. “Why do you
think Miss Rachel locks up so tight at night? I’ve seen his tracks in our back yard many
a mornin’, and one night I heard him scratching on the back screen, but he was gone time
Atticus got there.”

Harper Lee writes the dialogue in
Southern American English. I'm a Southerner myself, so I am am well acquainted with the
dialect and colloquialisms.

Let's look at pronunciation
first. Jem uses the words "lookin'" and "mornin'" in the quotation. That is common to
Southern American English; we drop the pronunciation of the final "g" in words. But
notice that the "g" is not dropped on scratching; many times Southerners will pronounce
the "g" for emphasis; sounds a bit like "scratch-ING."

Now
let's look at vocabulary. Jem says "Ain't" (instead of "Haven't"), and "all right" (not
meaning "all is fine," but "indeed"). He adds several adjectives and adverbs for
emphasis. He says "pitch dark" instead of simply "dark" and ""straight through" instead
of simply "through." These additions add color to his language and are common Southern
phrases.

Finally, let's look at grammar. There are three
excellent examples in this passage of dialectical grammar. Jem says "many a mornin'"
adding the article "a" to the phrase. In standard English, it would be grammatically
correct to say "many mornings." He also says "he was gone time Atticus got there,"
shortening the phrase "by the time" to simply "time." Finally, Jem also says "waked up"
instead of the grammatically correct "woken up" or
"awoken."

Anytime you see Jem speak, he will be
using Southern American English as his dialect. You can take any of Jem's quotations and
analyze them in this same way. You might also find it helpful to read those quotes out
loud. If you stumble on a word or phrase, that's probably where the dialect or
colloquialism is unfamiliar to you.