Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1937 A Historical and Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect. T. Earl Pardoe Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Pardoe, T. Earl, "A Historical and Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect." (1937). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7790. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7790 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Historioal and phonetic Study of Negro Dialect* A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Dootor of Philosophy in Louisiana State University* By T. Earl pardoe 1937 UMI Number: DP69168 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69168 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProOuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Acknowledgement fit writer expresses hie appreciation to til tieat who hate assisted la this study* He la indebted particularly to Br* tiles W* Gray* Dr* Claude JS* Aaatner tad Br* Joseph Tiff la for help with analysis of the sound patterns; and to &r* f# Aynn Smith and Dr* Melville P* Herskevits for aid with the sociological aspects of the study* The deepest gratitude Is expressed to Br« C* M* Wise* who motivated the work from its formative period and whose general reading and phone tie criticisms made this thesis possible*, ™ 346U4S / A Historical ai Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect, This th$ fl*8 *s a sp000*1 i*k0 southern Negro# It v represents a ohronological record of more than 160 self '®*ions Negro-Snglish dialect in orthographies, * a phonetic transcription of portions of these and of 0, arreut selections from Negro speech. It undertakes to show that Negro dialect is the produot of the teachings of former English-speaking overseers, British and American, modified by native African phonetic patterns. A brief history of the coming of the Negroes to America is accompanied by a presentation of general West African language characteristics. These African language elements later are compared to Negro speech characteristics as revealed by phonetic and phonelescopie analysis of Negro voices. A representative vocabulary gleaned from the best writers and more than 200 Louisiana Negroes is given in orthographic and in phonetic transcription, followed by numerous interlinear transcriptions of Negro speech recorded from personal interviews. A comprehensive analysis of the phonetic structure of Negro dialects is made from the best orthographic representations and from interviews with Negroes in Louisiana, especially within the environs of Baton Houge* This thesis gives a record of orthographic Ifegro- English dialects from 1776 to the present; it dndeavors to show that the speech of the isolated Negro in the South still ooutains phonetic elements of African languages, and that the "southern drawl" is a resultant product of the Hegro1a native speech habits adapted to English language forms, Finally, it undertakes to establish a technique for the study of a dialeot. 3 A Historical and Phonetic Study of Hegro Dialect H A Historical aad phonetic Study of Negro Dialeot I Introduction II History of the Negro: A Preparation for the Understanding of the Negro-English Dialect III Dialeot writings in Orthographies from Various Authors, Arranged Chronologically IV The Phonetic Alphabet: Chart, Hey and Diacritics V Vocabulary and Glossary: Standard, Orthographic-Dialectic and Phonetic VI Phonetic Structure of the Negro Dialect: Brief Discussion with Illustrations; The Louisiana Negro Dialect (English Influence Only) VII Interlinear Transcriptions VIII Phonographic Records, with Transcriptions IX Instrumental Analysis for Frequency, Pitch °atterns and Rate X Conclusion Bibliography of Related Subjects of Value for Dialect Studies 5 MANUSCRIPT THESES Unpublished theses submitted for the master’s and doctor’s degrees and deposited in the Louisiana State University Library are available for inspection* Use of any thesis is limited by the rights of the author* Bibliographical references may be noted* but passages may not be copied unless the author has given permission* Credit must be given in subsequent written or published work# A library which borrows this thesis for use by its clientele is expected to make sure that the borrower is aware of the above restrictions* LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 119-a s I Introduction I A Historical aad Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect I — Introduction — This thesis is a study of the speech of the Southern Negro. It represents a chronological record of Negro-Kngllsh dialects in orthographies and a phonetic transcription of portions of these and of current selections from Negro speech. It undertakes to show that Negro dialeot is the product of the teachings of former English-speaking overseers, British and American, modified by native African phonetic patterns. It includes phonophotographio studies of samplings of colloquial Negro speech. The method followed in this study establishes a technique for the study of a dialect. The Negroes of the southern portion of the United States have been selected for this study because of the abundance of available material, the wide interest in their history, the extensive use of Negro characters in modern fiction and drama, and the rich variety of speech adjustments used by Negroes in their attempts to communicate in the English language. The literary data used In this thesis represent, of course, the gleanings of a lifetime, focused and organized during the two and one-half years of developing this study. The phonetic data have been gathered over a period between June, 1934, and January, 1937, particularly during the summers of 1934, 1935 and 1936, and the first school semester of 1937. 7 During this time the investigator interviewed upward® of 800 iiidividual Degrees, mainly in the followlng-n&med Louisiana communities and their neighborhoods! Baton Kougc, Hew iioads, at* Prnuaisvllle, whit© Castle, PXaquemiue, Opelousas, at* U&rtinville, itew iberia, Crowley, Lake Charles, LeConpte, Alexandria, Winfield, Arcadia, ttustoa, ?'ouroe, and Columbia, and the Hew Orleans docks* Thee© interview© wore productive of eudlsas notes, vocabulary lists and fugitive phonetic transcrip­ tions, and of an inproved understanding of negro ways, thought and living, folk-lore, vocal quality, intonation, *uid mn;/ less tangible things* Out of the large number interviewed, about twelve persons, consisting principally of residents of the Baton Itouge area* became the major sources of information* 7roa these twelve, phonograph recordings were made of a selected four, Albert Jenkins being used as principal subject. The recording and reproducing instrument first used was of the type commercially known as the A.jpliou; later, duplicates were made on the iJidelitone* Kleveu of these records are filed with the LouiBl&iia ntate University Department of Speech ao accompaniment of this thesis* The frequency graphs used in the later part of the study were made from a phono photographic set-up adapted to a phoie lo­ se op ic technique* It will aid in the understanding of the Itogro to #«kjw his designated racial classification and to recognise the characteristics ascribed to that race. To grin op those, we must know something of the African continent and its peoples* History reveals that slave-trading within African tribes was centuries old when the first Ugroos were brought to s America, and that whole villages, with their kings and lords, priests and workers, were enslaved for the American trade* The Negroes who were brought to the United States as slaves had no written languages* Indeed, many African dialects existed near each other without the people?being able to understand each other* (Excerpts from some of their orthographioally recorded languages are included within this study to reveal the# great dissimilarities*) Many of the speech habits and language forms of Africa were transplanted to America by the Negroes during their period of acquisition of the New World speech* The great majority of the Negroes imported to the United States came from districts and tribes of the Niger and Congo rivers; this fact aids us in the study of their original language and social habits* Much native folk-lore and many folk-habite have been kept alive and have become traditional in the Carolina fields or along the Louisiana bayous* The 1930 census of the p|j>ulation of the United states shows that there is a decided migration of the Negroes from the farm to the city and from the South to the North* This evident population change suggests the need of recording