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―So help me God, gemmen, you no gemmen. You make wish me dead, dat you do. I
tak obeah water some day. I not live like this,‖ said Mammy Crissobella. ―I take
pepper-pot – I kill myself.‖ [p. 319]
―Dat all very well, gemmen; you say dat and laugh – but I no slave. ‗Pose I not get you
out my house, I ab vengeance, now I tell you, so you look to that. Yes,‖ continued
Mammy Crisobella, striking the table with her fist, ―I ab revenge.‖ [p. 319]
―Gemmen, I got a little speech to make – I very sorry dat I not drink your health; but it
is no use – dat why you see me drink; I tell plenty time you make me mad – you make
me drink obeah water – make me kill myself. Now I ab done it – I drink pison water
just now. In two hour I dead woman.‖ [p. 321]
5b.1 Orthography
Elision gemmen, ‗pose, tak
ab for have
Respelling pison for poison
[d] for [th] e.g. dat
5b.2 Grammar
Loss of some grammatical words you no gemmen; you make wish me dead, I no
slave
5b.3 Vocabulary
obeah, plenty time
5c. Dialect area represented
South American of some sort (possibly Cuba). General non-native.
5d. Density of dialect representation
Heavily marked
5e. Location of dialect
In dialogue
5f. Characteristics of dialect speakers
Owner of an exclusive hotel,
5g. Consistency of representation
Reasonably consistent, no evidence of code-switching.
6. Narrative comments on dialects and varieties
Narrative comments on language:
Captain Delmar was, to use a sailor‘s term, completely taken aback; indeed he
was nearly capsized by the unexpected assault. [p. 53]
Explanation of background of the pirate crew:
Now it appeared, that the vessel had changed masters; the crew were chiefly
Spanish negroes, or other negroes who spoke Spanish, but some of them
spke English, and a few words of Spanish; these I presumed were American or
English runaways. But the captain – his language was as correct as my own;
Spanish he spoke fluently, for I heard him givin orders int hat language while I
was in the cabin; neither was he flat-nosed like the majority. Had he been
white, his features would have been considered regular, although there was a
fierceness about them at times, which was terrible to look at. [p. 146]
7. Other points of interest
not all characters who might be expected to speak with a dialect do so, e.g.
alcoholic bumboat woman, Peggy Pearson, does not speak dialect at all (see
75
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