The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-19

and gushing way to their parents, particu-
larly of white men. Such an outnreak
yo mouf, GAL or a Well-deliVered slap
that would have discouraged anything OF
the kind in future. Then, that word out
dacious" is one that cannot be handled too
carefully by negro dialect amateurs. 1t
may be used sometimes but cannot re-
member ever having heard it come from
the lips of a negro. The same remark APP
plies to the adjective powerful. l have
no idea how many times the word has been
dragged in where it should never have been
used. 1t is a mistake to suppose that ne
groes burden their conversation with com
paratiVeS and SuperlativeS anyway. For
instance, instead of one hearing Dat
powerful scanlus," he would hear, Dat 5
scanlus." They are expert at accents, and
that is one of the reasons why a steno-
graphic report of what negro says shows
up so poorly. 1t is also reason why, all
amateur makes such pitiful failure Wnen
he tries to write it.
Mr.. Julian Ralph took trip through
Dixie" few years ago, ana wrote a num- num-
Der of charming articles for Harper Mag
azine, all of which have since appeared IN
book form. In some of these articles Mr..
Ralph gives snatches OF negro conVe eISar
than anything else; for he makes no pre-
tense, of course, to being dialect writer
But he is well-trained newspaper man
and a close observer, and his mistakes show
how hard it is for one not born and bred
to the dialect to grapple with It's subtle
shades and half-shades.
Mr.. Ralph makes a negro barber say Eff
I doan' hab no stool" He should have made
him say, EFF l ain got no stool ana the
words lain and got" should be elided
and pronounced almost as though 1t was
"aingot.
And then he makes this same negro bar
Der say EFF l got reduced so | had to do
manual labor, I'd go to stealm TO Ia be
a rooster (roustabOut.) An old-time darky
of the Uncle Remqs" type, would nave nave
probably said EFF J. got so ha ter Wuk
wild my hans" etc.
SOME GOOD PHRASES.
There appeared a few years ago novel
of the "raw-head and bloody-bones" type,
by Mr.. Louis Pendleton, called Be
witched," which, while it has little else to
recommend it, contains some really excel
lent negro dialect. l made some notes of
sentences that struck me as being exact
The first was "Dah oman plum crazy you
see 'er So" l have heard that expression
thousand times. Put decided stress on
crazy" and pronounce the last four words
with a falling infection, and you have it
TO perfection. Uncle Remus could not
have done better. The expression you see
er So" or ''you see me SO, means nothing
whatever, and is a sort OF graJullous nSui I
of speech like the land, fellow ciuzenS
part of stump speaker. preamble Iney
lannyap), down in New Orleans that would
describe it exactly, as something thrown IN
for good measure. Negroes of all classes
tence so neatly. You meet an old mauma'
on the street on warm day. and ask her
how she feels, and ten to one she will re-
ply, ~ hot, boss, you see me So
But Mr.. Livingston is by no means in
fallible. He writes amt where he should
write ain" and won't where it would be
makes a negro say. Nice gal for true. :,
when he would most probably say, ''Sho' er
nice gal" and he employs an awkward
'Gatur dun been nab you
TO you git half way, when he should have
put it, "'Gatur nab you 10 you git half
way"
The tendency to make sentences compi-
Gated should be carefully avoided in writ
ing negro dialect. Depend upon it, when
ever a sentence strikes reader as being
and awkward it is not true to
is il it is supposed to come
from the lips of an old-ume plantation
darky.
There is much more that could be said
about negro dialect, but think | nave sue
ceeded in pointing out a few of the most
glazing defects, and that was my intention.
Those who really wish to be able to distIn-
guish the true from the false, however, had
better read the "Uncle Remus" tales ana
follow them up with some of Mr.. Thomas
Nelson Pages.