Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1954 A Study of the Speech of the Nanticoke Indians of Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware. Mary Braeme Parker 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 Parker, Mary Braeme, "A Study of the Speech of the Nanticoke Indians of Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware." (1954). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 8122. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/8122 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]. MANUSCRIPT THESES Unpublished theses submitted for the masters and doctorTs degrees and deposited in the Louisiana State University Library are available for inspection.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 A S T U M OP TM , JpiSHGh OF THE NAMTICOKE INDIA'S OF INDIAN lilVEu JUNDHzlD, SUSSEX COUNTY', DELAWARE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In The Department of Speech by Mary-Braeme Parker B, Am$ University of Delaware, 192^ ii. A*, Columbia University, 1931 August, 1953 UMI Number: DP69500 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 DP69500 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 ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express her sincere appreciatio; to Dr* Claude h. Wise for his guidance and encouragement in the preparation of this study. 3 ??- 76 A ?3&<£ / TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -jl ABSTRACT iV INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I The Nanticoke Community of Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware 9 II Biographies of Informants 36 III Workbooks of Three Nanticoke Informants 59 IV Tabulation of Data 233 V Phonetic Features of Nanticoke Speech 259 VI Lexical Features of Nanticoke Speech 3°? BIBLIOGRAPHY 328 BIOGRAPHY 330 H i ABSTRACT The purpose of this study has been to make an analy­ sis of the phonetic and lexical features of the speech of the Nanticoke Indians of Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware* The media of investigation have been (1) the 19?1 edition of The Work Sheets for the Linguistic Atlas of the U»S«A. and Canada and Associated Projects: (2) the unpub­ lished phonetic transcription of the speech of three Sussex County white informants recorded by Guy S. Lowman, Jr*, for Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada: and (3) A Word Geography of the Eastern States by Hans Kurach, University of Michigan Press, 19^9• Six informants representative of local speech were selected* three Nanticoke Indians, one mixed-blood "Moor," and two Negroes* Three workbooks transcribed by Dr* Lowman were made available by Dr* Hans Kurath* The six informants selected by the writer were inter­ viewed. Responses were phonetically transcribed in symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet« Prom the nine workbooks a tabulation of words listed according to phonemes was made* Nanticoke pronunciation was then compared with Negro and white pronunciation* iv Nanticoke vocabulary was compared with white vocabulary as shown by the lexical evidence of the Linguistic Atlas, Summary of conclusions? Nanticoke pronunciation is, in almost all phonetic respects, like Negro pronunciation. The chief differences between Nanticoke and Negro pronunciation and that of the whites are the following| 1, The extravagant use of the off-glide [a] in the drawled pronunciation of the whites, 2, The lengthening of [i] and [u] to an extreme degree in the pronunciation of the whites, 3, The use of [e*i], [se*u], ], feu] and [oi] for [ei], [au], [ai], [ouj, ana [oi], respec­ tively, in the speech of the whites. With the exception of the frequent substitution of [ai] for [oi], as in spoil [spail], the diphthongs are usually standard in the speech of Negroes and Nanticokes, The sporadic use of [a ] by Nanticokes and Negroes, ?» The extremely dark [1] after vowels in the speech of the whites; its frequent dis­ appearance as in hel p myself [hs^p m0se°f]. Pronunciations occurring in all three groups which are most likely to strike the ear of an "outsider" are? 1, The substitution of [o] or [ o] for [a] pre­ ceding [r] in barn, car* garden, yard, 2, The substitution of [a] for [o] in cornt storm, 3, The very tense [i] approaching [i] in dishf fish, b 0 The substitution of [a], [o]f or [ o] for [ai] in lire, iroS, fire. v 5, The extremely versatile use of the central retroflex f sL which substitutes for [xr] in ear [J»]f for [ur] in your [js], for far! in fa,r Lfsji for [erl in Maryland j>3rt,an]f and for T®r] in Delaware [Uela*w^ ], In general it may be said that the vocabulary of the Nanticokes conforms to the lexical findings of the Limyuipti Atlas in its regional distribution. It is strongly local in character. Of the differences or variations which occur, few are unique with the Nanticokes, Careful inquiry dis­ covers that they are used by other simple folk in Sussex County, both white and Negro, vi INTRODUCTION The community of mixed-blood people living on the shores of Indian River in Sussex County, Delaware, consti­ tutes a folk group which for many years has Interested ethnologists, sociologists, and those Interested In local dialect ^ Frequent notes on words and expressions In the speech of this people have appeared in the pages of the Delaware Folklore Bulletin, published for the Delaware Folklore Society by the Institute of Delaware History and Culture of the University of Delaware, The speech of white Informants of the region has been studied and is Incorporated in the work of the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada, but no systematic study has been done of the speech of the Negro and mixed-blood inhabitants of the same region. As long ago as 189?, In response to many inquiries concerning this people of endogaraous tendencies, who at that time called themselves Moors, Judge George P, Fisher pub­ lished a paper describing them as he knew them through having l long been a neighbor of theirs. Further reference concernin •^George P, Fisher, The So-Called Moors of Delaware, (Milford Herald, June 1?, 189?), Mimeographed copy in Wilmington Institute Free Library, Wilmington, Delaware, 1 the content of Judge Fisher*s article is made later on in this study. In 1915 the Heye Foundation published a study of the Nanticoke community written by Frank G. Speck, a professor in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania who spent periods of time in the homes of these people from 1911*1915.2 Concerning the local dialect of the people, Dr. Speck made the following remark: Since, at the instance of Dr. Boas, studies of folk communities in various parts of America are beginning to be considered of importance to ethnology, I shall append a list of vernac­ ular terms in use among these people. There are, of course, many more idiomatic forms of speech than I could record. The dialect In general has so many local peculiarities that people from other parts of the Middle States often find it difficult at first to comprehend. The white people of Sussex County, moreover, do not have the same Idiosyncrasies, as I have taken pains to observe, although those born in the immediate neighborhood do,3 Dr. Speck does so record a list of about 60 such expressions as he thought peculiar to the region, including items such as k i w e r for to cover, to Hear u p for to harness, to chunk for to throw, and lust like as if, for .just as thoughJ* It is not within the province of this study to prove or disprove Dr. Speck*s statement that many of these 2Frank G. Speck, The Nanticoke Community of Delaware (New York, The Museum of the American Indian, Heye Founda­ tion, 10 Bast Thirty Street, 1915)* 3Ibld.. p. 1*0 . Ibid., pp. *+0-1+3. words and expressions are unique to the community. It Is sufficiently interesting to observe that an "outsider” thought the local flavor of the dialect worthy of remark as long ago as kO years. A number of the words, it may be added, were recorded in phonetic characters recommended at that time for American ethnologists by the Committee on Phonetics of the American Anthropological Association* But not only to ethnologists has the study of the dialect of folk groups seemed of importance.