Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:26:57 -0800

From: Dan Moonhawk Alford dalford[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]S1.CSUHAYWARD.EDU

Subject: Re: hella hawkin'



Legacy quotes are getting difficult to attribute properly now, so --



Not entirely sure; it depends on how accurate the

transcription is. "Hella-" is an intensive prefix like

"mega-," that has been in use at least since the late

'80s.



I agree about the accuracy; I'll ask my student to say it for me. Re:

below, yes -- this is Northern California data, where what is "hella-"

here is often "hecka-" in LA. An emergent dialect split along the lines

of "101" vs "the 101".



I've never heard "hawkin'" before, but I have

(rarely) encounted "honkin'" meaning roughly "exciting;

jammin', etc." Perhaps these are different realizations

of the same word.



As in "He was really honkin'" for me, describing a person rather than an

event, for instance. Yes, that's certainly a possibility I hadn't thought

of. Thanks.



I'd be interested in knowing where you've heard "hella." As far as I

can tell it's restricted to Northern California, esp. the Bay Area--does

that fit your own observations?