Dialect and Spelling

I've been thinking about our conversation on the use of dialect and regional speech. I wonder how long it would take a non-Southerner to figure out that cud'n = cousin. In other words, if you haven't HEARD it before (or thought about it phonetically), you would have to decode the letters and then match it to something that you do know. I agree with Beverly that Dot's use of language is powerful and that is what makes the writing come alive. I guess we all are bilingual in English, just like Ben Aaron.