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mean – crowds of ‗em would come if Raleigh was to hold up his finger.‘
5b.1 Orthography
Elision ‗em (marked by apostrophe)
Respelling gals
Eye dialect wimmin
5b.2 Grammar
Non standard subjunctive if Raleigh was to hold up
5b.3 Vocabulary
Mostly slang: swell, thou,
5c. Dialect area(s) represented
Cockney
5d. Density of dialect representation
Lightly marked.
5e. Location of dialect
Variety occurs only in dialogue
5f. Characteristics of dialect speakers
Male, servant aspiring to master‘s lifestyle, peripheral character.
5g. Consistency of representation
No overt evidence of code-switching
6. Narrative comments on dialects and varieties
Iden‘s code-switching is extensively commented on in the early part of the narrative.
For example:
‘Ah, yes,‘ said Iden, putting his left hand to his chin, a habit of his when
thinking, and suddenly quite altering his pronunciation from that of the
country folk and labourers amongst whom he dwelt to the correct accent of
education. ‗Ah, yes; the daffodil was your great-uncle‘s favourite flower‘. [p.
204]
The more she showed her irritation at his speech or ways, the more he
accentuated both language and manner. [p. 211]
[…] suddenly changing his pronunciation as he became interested in his
subject and forgot the shafts of irritation shot at him by his wife [ p. 211]
Occasional comments explaining local variety:
―Better drow that there fool stuff in the vire, and zee if you can‘t help your
mother. Better do zummat to be some use on. Pity as you wasn‘t a boy chap
to go out an yarn summar. Humph! humph!!‖ growl, mutter, growl. ―Drow‖
was local for throw, ―summat‖ for something, ―yarn‖ for earn. Unless I give you
a vocabulary you may not be able to follow him. [p. 302]
7. Other points of interest
Iden code-switches, but his daughter Amaryllis and wife consistently use standard
English.
Amaryllis mocks John Duck‘s ―broad pronunciation‖ with the word ―‘Marning.‖ p.
235]
http://librarysupport.shef.ac.uk /bullough.pdf
Copyright © 2007, The University of Sheffield
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