User:Tartcouplet/Lumbee English

Lumbee English is a dialect of American English associated with the Lumbee, a Native American group in the rural Southeast. The dialect was created from various English dialect sources and from innovation within the Lumbee community.

History

The Lumbee are the largest Native American group east of the Mississippi River. Over 55,000 members are now registered on the tribal rolls; however, they are a group exclusive to a relatively small area in Southeastern North Carolina. Over 45,000 Lumbee live in Robeson County, North Carolina, and they are its largest ethnic group. They account for approximately 40 percent of the tri-ethnic county's population (African-Americans make up 25 percent, and European Americans make up the other 35 percent). The county's tri-ethnicity has been maintained for several centuries, and ethnic segregation has existed since the early eighteenth century. ''De facto'' segregation is still evident. Therefore, three distinct varieties of English have developed in Robeson County.

The language roots of Lumbee English are a matter of speculation. There have not been any speakers of any Lumbee heritage language for five generations, and the evidence as to what their ancestral language or languages might have been is circumstantial at best. This is part of the reason that the Lumbees' Native American status has been questioned. If they could be linked through a common heritage language, they could more easily be recognized as an authentic Indian tribe.

The evidence that does exist suggests that the Lumbee came from a multi-tribal aggregate, with formative influence for their language or languages provided by Iroquoian (particularly Tuscarora), Siouan (particularly Cheraw), and Algonquian languages. The variety of English they have developed illustrates how an ethnic dialect can be constructed regardless of the level of language contact involving a heritage language.

Features of Lumbee English

Distinct Dialect Traits

• Retains an older use of be rather than the use of have in constructions such as I'm been to the store for I've been to the store.

• Regularizes to were rather than was in negative sentences such as I weren't there or she weren't here.

Features from Neighboring Dialects

Lumbee English marks ethnolinguistic distinctiveness by having adopted features from neighboring dialects and using them in unique ways. For example, the European American population in the rural South once used the finite be(s) in sentences such as I hope it bes a girl or They bes doing the right thing. This feature is now obsolescent among the younger generations of European American speakers, but Lumbee English adopted and has retained it. The neighboring African American community uses be to denote habitual aspect, such as in the sentence They always be playing. Older speakers of Lumbee English do not restrict finite be to habitual contexts, but younger speakers are increasingly adapting their use of be(s) to reflect increasing alignment with African American English. Simultaneously, the Lumbee continue to inflect be with -s, as in She bes doing it, even though African American speakers typically do not.

Phonological Features

Lumbee English has a set of phonological features that is seemingly composed of a unique mix of elements of Southern rural speech and some vowel traits similar to coastal speech. For example, older Lumbee speakers may produce the well-known pronunciation of the /ai/ vowel as more of an oy [ɔɪ] so that high sounds more like hoi. This reflects the distinct dialect of Ocracoke, North Carolina, famous for its brogue that produces the characteristic phrase "high tide" as "hoi toid".

Speakers of Lumbee English also reduce consonant clusters with greater frequency than neighboring Anglos.

Lumbee Lexicon

Shared Lexical Items

Items in Common with Southern American English

• aim to, fixin' to : To plan or intend to do something.

• carry : To take, bring; to escort, accompany.

• co-cola : A soft drink. Used for the trademark drink, Coca-Cola, or, by extension, for any carbonated drink.

• cut off/on : Switch, turn off or on.

• druthers : Preferences.

• hear tell : Heard.

• meddlin' : Interfering.

• reckon : To guess or suppose.

• right : Very, really. Intensifies the quality of an adjective or adverb.

• spider : Frying pan.

• tote : Carry.

• upside : On the side of, alongside.

• yonder : Being more distant, further.

Items in Common with Other Isolated Dialects

Lumbee English is similar in some ways to other isolated dialects in the country, such as the unique Outer Banks dialects (especially the Ocracoke brogue) and Appalachian English. Some examples of such words and phrases include:

• a- : Prefix that attaches to verbs or adverbs ending in -ing

• airish : Chilly and breezy.

• bate : A lot of food or drink; fed up or tired of.

• bog : A dish of chicken and rice.

• cam : Calm, still.

• catawampus : In a diagonal position, crooked, not square.

• chunk : To throw, particularly natural objects such as rocks or sticks.

• crotched up : Caught up.

• cuz : A term of address used in greeting a fellow Lumbee.

• Damn skippy : "Right!" An affirmative response to a speaker’s comment.

• dost : An amount of medicine; a large amount.

• everwho, everwhat, everhow, etc. : Whoever, whatever, however, etc.

• fetched (fotched) up: Raised or brought up.

• gaum : A mess, to mess up. Frequently occurs with the word up.

• a good piece : Far.

• Godat, Jack!/ Hoddah, Pappy! : An expression used to indicate strong refusal to perform some activity.

• haint : A ghost.

• headnes' : Worst.

• hope m' clare/ hope m' die" : Do declare.

• in the pines: Snobby, uppity.

• kin : Relatives.

• liketa : Almost.

• mommuck : A mess, to make a mess of.

• orta notta : Should not have.

• pyert : Lively, good.

• wrongsididas : Turned inside out.

• young 'uns: Young children.

• yurker : Mischievous child.

Unique Lexical Items

While most of the dialect lexicon is shared with other Southern rural dialects, Lumbee English does have a small set of unique lexical items.

• ellick: cup of coffee with cream

• on the swamp: neighborhood

• brickhouse Indian: high-status Lumbee

• Lum: A Lumbee.

• chauld: embarrassed

References

• Schilling-Estes, N.& Wolfram, W. American English, Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 206-209.

External Links

• Recording: Example of the Outer Banks Dialect
• Video: Excerpts from the film "Indian by Birth: The Lumbee Dialect" and "The Ocracoke Brogue"

Category:American English