Black Dialect of the Rural South
The objective of this lesson is to acquaint the students with the phonological deviations of the blacks living in the rural south.
Another objective is to have the students develop an appreciation and an acceptance of this dialect as a part of their rich cultural heritage.
I have noticed that, as I have been reading these folktales to my class this year my students are very uncomfortable with this dialect. They do not want to identify themselves with this dialect.
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1. Teach the phonological deviations of the speech of the characters in Zora Neale Hurston’s folktales.
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1. substitution of “d” sound for “th” sound
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2. substitution of “k” sound for “c” (kin)
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3. the double negative (“Ah know you can’t make none”)
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4. the inflection of strong verbs as if they were weak. (“throwed”)
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5. overinflection (“All turtles loves water”)
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6. variant use of pronouns (“and scratched he head”)
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2. Have students listen to one of Zora Neale Hurston’s folktales.
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3. Have them jot down all the instances of black dialect that they hear.
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4. Have the students discuss the words they have written down.