Knowledge

Eye dialect

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idioms and figures of speech, by the vocabulary indigenous to the locale". Other writers have noted that eye dialect has sometimes been used in derisive fashion toward ethnic or regional pronunciation, in particular by contrasting standard spelling with non-standard spelling to emphasize differences.
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points out that there are other ways to indicate speech variation such as altered syntax, punctuation, and colloquial or regional word choices. She observes that a reader must be prompted to access their memory of a given speech pattern and that non-orthographic signals that accomplish this may be
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In an article on written representations of speech in a non-literary context, such as transcription by sociolinguists, Denis R. Preston argued that such spellings serve mainly to "denigrate the speaker so represented by making him or her appear boorish, uneducated, rustic, gangsterish, and so on".
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in suggesting that writers avoid eye dialect; he argues that it is frequently pejorative, making a character seem stupid rather than regional, and is more distracting than helpful. Like Walpole, Dufresne suggests that dialect should be rendered by "rhythm of the prose, by the syntax, the diction,
390:, for example, has traditionally been depicted using "crusty" yellow speech balloons and dialogue heavily laced with ellipses, suggesting a gravelly voice that only speaks with great effort. Robotic and computer characters often use square speech balloons and angular fonts reminiscent of 53:), casual, foreign, or uneducated, often to be humorous. This form of nonstandard spelling differs from others in that a difference in spelling does not indicate a difference in pronunciation of a word. That is, it is dialect to the eye, rather than to the ear. 243:...there wos other genlmen come down Tom-all-Alone's a-prayin, but they all mostly sed as the t'other wuns prayed wrong, and all mostly sounded as to be a-talking to theirselves, or a-passing blame on the t'others, and not a-talkin to us. 61:
Most authors are likely to use eye dialect with restraint, sprinkling nonstandard misspelling here and there to serve as a cue to the reader about all of a character's speech, rather than as an accurate phonetic representation.
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Eye dialect, when consistently applied, may render a character's speech indecipherable. An attempt to accurately render nonstandard speech may also prove difficult to readers unfamiliar with a particular accent.
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the spelling is merely a friendly nudge to the reader, a knowing look which establishes a sympathetic sense of superiority between the author and reader as contrasted with the humble speaker of dialect.
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series of books, Terry Pratchett makes extensive use of eye dialect to extend the caricature of his characters, besides other visual devices such as changing the font used for certain dialogue.
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is a writer's use of deliberately nonstandard spelling either because they do not consider the standard spelling a good reflection of the pronunciation or because they are intending to portray
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in reference to the origins of the golem legend. Eye dialect is also used to establish a medieval setting, wherein many characters' grasp of spelling is heavily based on phonetics.
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deploys eye dialect on a handful of words for satirical effect; in this case the folly of the arresting police officers, who are made to seem like comic caricatures of themselves:
316:, which, as several commentators have noted, makes sense only when read aloud. In this case, Cummings's target was the attitudes of certain Americans to Japanese people following 125:
points out that use of eye dialect closely interacts with stereotypes about various groups, both relying on and reinforcing them in an attempt to efficiently characterize speech.
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in 1925. "The convention violated", he wrote, "is one of the eyes, not of the ear." According to Krapp, it was not used to indicate a real difference in pronunciation but
398:'s dialogue has routinely been written in an elegant font, implying his archaic vocabulary and pronunciation as a millennia-old god. After Thor passed the mantle to 117: 37:
to refer to a literary technique that implies the standard pronunciation of a given word that is not well-reflected by its standard spelling, such as
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Charles Dickens combined eye dialect with pronunciation spelling and nonstandard grammar in the speech of his uneducated characters. An example in
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a character (such as in a letter or diary entry), generally used to more overtly depict characters who are poorly educated or semi-literate.
968: 806: 470:), rather than the expected "что". The character is a delivery driver in Siberia and the eye dialect emphasizes his uneducated nature. 833: 356:. Only his rustic characters are given these spellings; for instance, the "overcivilized" Bounder J. Roundheels's dialogue contains 402:, her dialogue was written in the same font whenever she transformed into Thor, before reverting to normal when she did as well. 102:, that is, spellings of words that indicate that they are pronounced in a nonstandard way. For example, an author might write 870: 843: 816: 860: 601: 445:, the character Ogú replaces hard ⟨c⟩ with ⟨k⟩ (e.g. ⟨komida⟩ instead of ⟨comida⟩), to show that his accent is strange. 1375: 1256: 1201: 1113: 1093: 1030: 1006: 951: 475: 380:
Some cartoonists and comic book creators eschew phonetic eye dialects in favor of font changes or distinctive
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Bowdre, Paul H., Jr. (1971). Eye dialect as a literary device. In J. V. Williamson & V. M. Burke (Eds.),
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An extreme example of a poem written entirely in (visually barely decipherable) eye dialect is "YgUDuh" by
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that disregards almost all French spelling conventions, as the main viewpoint character is a young child.
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While mostly used in dialogue, eye dialect may appear in the narrative depiction of altered spelling made
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Macaulay, Ronald K. S. (1991). Coz It Izny Spelt When Then Say It: Displaying Dialect in Writing.
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Ives, Sumner. (1971). A theory of literary dialect. In J. V. Williamson & V. M. Burke (Eds.),
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is the following dialogue spoken by Jo, the miserable boy who sweeps a path across a street:
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Preston, Dennis R. (1982). Ritin' fowklower daun 'rong: Folklorists' failures in phonology.
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Fine, Elizabeth. (1983). In defense of literary dialect: A response to Dennis R. Preston.
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The Stuff of Literature: Physical Aspects of Texts and Their Relation to Literary Meaning
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Preston, Denis R. (1985). "The Li'l Abner Syndrome: Written Representations of Speech".
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Preston, Dennis R. (1985). The Li'l Abner syndrome: Written representations of speech.
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Nuessel, Frank H. Jr. (1982), "Eye Dialect in Spanish: Some Pedagogical Applications",
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Racism and Early Blackface Comic Traditions: From the Old World to the New
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as an attempt at accurate transcription of a nonstandard pronunciation of
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Huck Finn's "hidden" Lessons: Teaching and Learning Across the Color Line
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Walpole, Jane Raymond (1974), "Eye Dialect in Fictional dialogue",
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frequently combined eye dialect with pronunciation spelling in his
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Speech and Thought Presentation in French: Concepts and Strategies
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is spelled "што" (as it is pronounced in contemporary Russian, so
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to represent more accurately the typical English pronunciation of
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Preston, Dennis R. (1983). Mowr bayud spellin': A reply to Fine.
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Latinos Facing Racism: Discrimination, Resistance, and Endurance
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dialectal literature tends to spell ⟨zz⟩ instead of ⟨z⟩ (eg:
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is short for "Niggaz Wit Attitudes", which uses eye dialect.
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Krapp, George P. (1926). The psychology of dialect writing.
1304:(pp. 145–177). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 1275:(pp. 178–179). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 1128:
Malin, Stephen D. (1965), "Eye Dialect in "Li'l Abner"",
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The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction
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The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction
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Ives, Sumner. (1950). A theory of literary dialect.
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The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
452:, eye spelling is not uncommon. For example, in the 509:), actually reflecting the standard pronunciation. 1189: 923: 921: 903: 274:, who can communicate only by writing, resembles 16:Non-standard spelling emphasizing a pronunciation 1385: 1183: 943:The Undecidable: Jacques Derrida and Paul Howard 661: 1244:The Columbia Guide to Standard American English 138:The Columbia Guide to Standard American English 918: 430: 394:, suggesting a stilted, emotionless cadence. 350:correkt, feends, hed, introduckshun, leppard, 706: 704: 414:used eye dialect for the title of his movie 831: 98:The term is less commonly used to refer to 966: 865:. Rowman & Littlefield. p. xiii. 774: 302:We must ask yew tew leave with us quoietly 1101: 912: 701: 298:Mr. Woilde, we 'ave come for tew take yew 158:Some authors who use eye dialect include 1192:Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English. 1080: 1049: 1018: 804: 792: 718: 458:My son-in-law stole a carful of firewood 1209: 1155: 897: 891: 885: 832:Feagin, Joe R.; Cobas, José A. (2015). 780: 745: 695: 649: 521:The Erotic Confessions of the Bohemians 456:'s story "Мой зять украл машину дров" ( 1386: 1237: 939: 733: 148: 1212:College Composition and Communication 1127: 927: 719:Mcarthur, Tom (1998). "Eye dialect". 710: 465: 371:made extensive use of eye dialect in 31:informal or low-status language usage 1053:(Oct–Dec 1946), "Visual Morphemes", 858: 1196:, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1025:. John Benjamins. pp. 264–65. 676:"Eye Dialect in English Literature" 13: 1265: 255:indicate standard pronunciations. 14: 1420: 1363: 967:Thogmartin, Clyde (Spring 1982). 946:. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 300:Where felons and criminals dwell: 121:more effective than eye dialect. 1369: 1342:The Journal of American Folklore 1331:The Journal of American Folklore 1280:The Journal of American Folklore 673: 286:In his 1937 poem "The Arrest of 153: 1012: 991: 960: 933: 879: 852: 825: 805:Hornback, Robert (2018-07-19). 798: 786: 713:The English language in America 91:The English language in America 940:Gorman, Clare (June 1, 2015). 739: 727: 689: 667: 655: 643: 636:Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary 623: 594: 360:, while Li'l Abner's contains 346:lissen, aristocratick, mountin 1: 1374:The dictionary definition of 1102:Levenston, Edward A. (1992), 1088:, W.W. Norton & Company, 1043: 662:Rickford & Rickford (2000 523:(1893–1903), is written in a 405: 352:and perhaps the most common, 323: 7: 1001:, New York: Clarion Books, 530: 431:Examples in other languages 10: 1425: 723:. Oxford University Press. 270:, while the dialogue of a 18: 1291:Tulane Studies in English 1249:Columbia University Press 1019:Marnette, Sophie (2005). 956:– via Google Books. 838:. Routledge. p. 58. 811:. Springer. p. 239. 281: 266:, for example, speaks in 33:. The term was coined by 587: 19:Not to be confused with 997:Reef, Catherine (2006) 613:Oxford University Press 410:American film director 290:at the Cadogan Hotel", 100:pronunciation spellings 577:Spelling pronunciation 310: 245: 96: 56: 859:Rush, Sharon (2006). 609:UK English Dictionary 537:Apologetic apostrophe 527:form of eye dialect. 505:in place of standard 493:in place of standard 296: 241: 208:Harriet Beecher Stowe 82: 1409:Narrative techniques 1399:Nonstandard spelling 711:Krapp, G.P. (1925). 619:on October 27, 2020. 572:Sensational spelling 499:syntactic gemination 417:Inglourious Basterds 344:. Examples include 216:Maxine Beneba Clarke 192:James Whitcomb Riley 180:Joel Chandler Harris 118:Jane Raymond Walpole 1051:Bolinger, Dwight L. 567:Satiric misspelling 476:Zazie dans le Métro 308:the Cadogan Hotel. 149:Examples in English 78:George Philip Krapp 35:George Philip Krapp 1302:A various language 1273:A various language 1239:Wilson, Kenneth G. 639:. Merriam-Webster. 552:Inventive spelling 450:Russian literature 224:Finley Peter Dunne 76:was first used by 1186:Rickford, Russell 872:978-0-7425-4520-5 845:978-1-317-25695-3 818:978-3-319-78048-1 412:Quentin Tarantino 89:George P. Krapp, 1416: 1404:Linguistic error 1373: 1261: 1234: 1206: 1195: 1184:Rickford, John; 1180: 1152: 1124: 1123: 1122: 1098: 1077: 1037: 1036: 1016: 1010: 995: 989: 988: 986: 984: 973:Visible Language 964: 958: 957: 937: 931: 925: 916: 910: 901: 895: 889: 883: 877: 876: 856: 850: 849: 829: 823: 822: 802: 796: 790: 784: 778: 772: 771: 743: 737: 731: 725: 724: 716: 708: 699: 693: 687: 686: 684: 682: 671: 665: 659: 653: 647: 641: 640: 627: 621: 620: 615:. Archived from 598: 469: 454:Vasiliy Shukshin 448:In contemporary 168:William Faulkner 94: 1424: 1423: 1419: 1418: 1417: 1415: 1414: 1413: 1384: 1383: 1366: 1353:American Speech 1348:(381), 330–339. 1337:(377), 304–326. 1320:American Speech 1286:(381), 323–330. 1268: 1266:Further reading 1259: 1204: 1130:American Speech 1120: 1118: 1116: 1096: 1046: 1041: 1040: 1033: 1017: 1013: 996: 992: 982: 980: 965: 961: 954: 938: 934: 926: 919: 913:Levenston (1992 911: 904: 896: 892: 884: 880: 873: 857: 853: 846: 830: 826: 819: 803: 799: 791: 787: 779: 775: 748:American Speech 744: 740: 732: 728: 709: 702: 694: 690: 680: 678: 672: 668: 660: 656: 648: 644: 629: 628: 624: 600: 599: 595: 590: 547:Hypercorrection 533: 460:) the word for 433: 408: 382:speech balloons 326: 303: 301: 299: 284: 188:Terry Pratchett 164:Charles Dickens 156: 151: 95: 88: 59: 24: 17: 12: 11: 5: 1422: 1412: 1411: 1406: 1401: 1396: 1382: 1381: 1365: 1364:External links 1362: 1361: 1360: 1349: 1338: 1327: 1316: 1305: 1298: 1287: 1276: 1267: 1264: 1263: 1262: 1257: 1235: 1224:10.2307/357177 1218:(2): 191–196, 1207: 1202: 1181: 1170:10.2307/341268 1164:(3): 346–351, 1153: 1142:10.2307/454075 1136:(3): 229–232, 1125: 1114: 1108:, SUNY Press, 1099: 1094: 1082:Dufresne, John 1078: 1067:10.2307/409923 1061:(4): 333–340, 1045: 1042: 1039: 1038: 1031: 1011: 990: 959: 952: 932: 917: 902: 890: 878: 871: 851: 844: 824: 817: 797: 793:Dufresne (2003 785: 773: 760:10.2307/454910 754:(4): 328–336. 738: 726: 700: 688: 674:Cook, Vivian. 666: 654: 642: 622: 592: 591: 589: 586: 585: 584: 579: 574: 569: 564: 559: 554: 549: 544: 539: 532: 529: 479:is written in 432: 429: 423:Hip-hop group 407: 404: 325: 322: 314:E. E. Cummings 283: 280: 268:small capitals 247:In the above, 204:John Steinbeck 155: 152: 150: 147: 86: 58: 55: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1421: 1410: 1407: 1405: 1402: 1400: 1397: 1395: 1392: 1391: 1389: 1380:at Wiktionary 1379: 1378: 1372: 1368: 1367: 1359:(4), 328–336. 1358: 1354: 1350: 1347: 1343: 1339: 1336: 1332: 1328: 1326:(3), 280–291. 1325: 1321: 1317: 1314: 1310: 1306: 1303: 1299: 1296: 1292: 1288: 1285: 1281: 1277: 1274: 1270: 1269: 1260: 1258:0-231-06989-8 1254: 1250: 1246: 1245: 1240: 1236: 1233: 1229: 1225: 1221: 1217: 1213: 1208: 1205: 1203:0-471-39957-4 1199: 1194: 1193: 1187: 1182: 1179: 1175: 1171: 1167: 1163: 1159: 1154: 1151: 1147: 1143: 1139: 1135: 1131: 1126: 1117: 1115:0-7914-0889-2 1111: 1107: 1106: 1100: 1097: 1095:0-393-05751-8 1091: 1087: 1083: 1079: 1076: 1072: 1068: 1064: 1060: 1056: 1052: 1048: 1047: 1034: 1032:9789027253767 1028: 1024: 1023: 1015: 1008: 1007:9780618568499 1004: 1000: 999:E.E. Cummings 994: 978: 974: 970: 963: 955: 953:9781443883597 949: 945: 944: 936: 929: 924: 922: 914: 909: 907: 899: 898:Nuessel (1982 894: 887: 886:Walpole (1974 882: 874: 868: 864: 863: 855: 847: 841: 837: 836: 828: 820: 814: 810: 809: 801: 794: 789: 782: 781:Walpole (1974 777: 769: 765: 761: 757: 753: 749: 742: 735: 730: 722: 714: 707: 705: 697: 696:Nuessel (1982 692: 677: 670: 663: 658: 651: 650:Walpole (1974 646: 638: 637: 632: 631:"eye dialect" 626: 618: 614: 610: 608: 603: 602:"eye dialect" 597: 593: 583: 580: 578: 575: 573: 570: 568: 565: 563: 560: 558: 555: 553: 550: 548: 545: 543: 540: 538: 535: 534: 528: 526: 522: 518: 514: 510: 508: 504: 500: 496: 492: 488: 484: 482: 478: 477: 471: 468: 467:[ʂto] 463: 459: 455: 451: 446: 444: 443: 438: 428: 426: 421: 419: 418: 413: 403: 401: 397: 393: 389: 388: 383: 378: 376: 375: 370: 365: 363: 359: 355: 351: 347: 343: 342: 338: 334: 331: 321: 319: 315: 309: 307: 295: 293: 292:John Betjeman 289: 279: 277: 276:Hebrew script 273: 269: 265: 261: 256: 254: 250: 244: 240: 238: 237: 231: 229: 225: 221: 217: 213: 209: 205: 201: 197: 196:J. K. Rowling 193: 189: 185: 184:Russell Hoban 181: 177: 173: 169: 165: 161: 154:Prose fiction 146: 142: 139: 135: 134:John Dufresne 131: 126: 124: 123:Frank Nuessel 119: 115: 111: 109: 105: 101: 92: 85: 81: 79: 75: 70: 68: 63: 54: 52: 48: 44: 40: 36: 32: 28: 22: 1376: 1356: 1352: 1345: 1341: 1334: 1330: 1323: 1319: 1312: 1308: 1301: 1294: 1290: 1283: 1279: 1272: 1247:, New York: 1243: 1215: 1211: 1191: 1161: 1157: 1133: 1129: 1119:, retrieved 1104: 1085: 1058: 1054: 1021: 1014: 998: 993: 981:. Retrieved 976: 972: 962: 942: 935: 893: 881: 861: 854: 834: 827: 807: 800: 788: 776: 751: 747: 741: 734:Wilson (1993 729: 720: 712: 691: 679:. Retrieved 669: 657: 645: 634: 625: 617:the original 605: 596: 582:SMS language 520: 519:'s trilogy, 511: 506: 502: 494: 490: 485: 474: 472: 461: 457: 447: 440: 434: 422: 415: 409: 385: 379: 372: 366: 361: 357: 353: 349: 345: 339: 327: 318:World War II 311: 305: 297: 285: 257: 252: 248: 246: 242: 234: 232: 228:Irvine Welsh 200:Robert Ruark 172:Greer Gilman 160:Maya Angelou 157: 143: 137: 129: 127: 116: 112: 107: 103: 97: 90: 83: 73: 71: 66: 64: 60: 42: 38: 26: 25: 1394:Orthography 1377:eye dialect 1309:The Bookman 928:Malin (1965 400:Jane Foster 387:Swamp Thing 367:Cartoonist 337:comic strip 288:Oscar Wilde 236:Bleak House 220:Paul Howard 74:eye dialect 51:nonstandard 27:Eye dialect 1388:Categories 1315:, 522–527. 1297:, 137–182. 1121:2011-06-12 1044:References 717:quoted in 681:11 October 652::193, 195) 557:Mondegreen 517:Hans Jæger 491:posizzione 473:The novel 406:Other uses 369:Walt Kelly 341:Li'l Abner 330:cartoonist 212:Mark Twain 176:Alex Haley 47:vernacular 542:Eye rhyme 525:Norwegian 513:Norwegian 503:ho ffatto 495:posizione 328:American 324:In comics 304:For this 260:Discworld 249:wos, sed, 72:The term 1241:(1993), 1188:(2000), 1158:Hispania 1084:(2003), 1055:Language 1009:, p. 104 979:(2): 184 531:See also 507:ho fatto 362:goormays 358:gourmets 87:—  21:Idiolect 983:June 7, 515:author 487:Italian 442:Mampato 437:Chilean 435:In the 333:Al Capp 258:In his 1255:  1232:357177 1230:  1200:  1178:341268 1176:  1150:454075 1148:  1112:  1092:  1075:409923 1073:  1029:  1005:  950:  869:  842:  815:  768:454910 766:  607:Lexico 562:Preved 497:) and 481:French 439:comic 282:Poetry 226:, and 136:cites 93:(1925) 39:wimmin 1228:JSTOR 1174:JSTOR 1146:JSTOR 1071:JSTOR 930::230) 900::346) 888::194) 795::200) 783::195) 764:JSTOR 736::186) 698::349) 588:Notes 501:(eg: 425:N.W.A 392:OCR-A 354:enuff 272:golem 264:Death 43:women 1253:ISBN 1198:ISBN 1110:ISBN 1090:ISBN 1027:ISBN 1003:ISBN 985:2021 948:ISBN 915::56) 867:ISBN 840:ISBN 813:ISBN 683:2018 664::23) 462:what 396:Thor 374:Pogo 253:wuns 251:and 108:that 1220:doi 1166:doi 1138:doi 1063:doi 756:doi 230:. 128:In 104:dat 57:Use 1390:: 1357:60 1355:, 1346:96 1344:, 1335:95 1333:, 1324:66 1322:, 1313:63 1311:, 1293:, 1284:96 1282:, 1251:, 1226:, 1216:25 1214:, 1172:, 1162:65 1160:, 1144:, 1134:40 1132:, 1069:, 1059:22 1057:, 977:16 975:. 971:. 920:^ 905:^ 762:. 752:60 750:. 703:^ 633:. 611:. 604:. 420:. 384:. 364:. 348:, 320:. 306:is 222:, 218:, 214:, 210:, 206:, 202:, 198:, 194:, 190:, 186:, 182:, 178:, 174:, 170:, 166:, 162:, 132:, 110:. 67:by 1295:2 1222:: 1168:: 1140:: 1065:: 1035:. 987:. 875:. 848:. 821:. 770:. 758:: 685:. 49:( 23:.

Index

Idiolect
informal or low-status language usage
George Philip Krapp
vernacular
nonstandard
George Philip Krapp
pronunciation spellings
Jane Raymond Walpole
Frank Nuessel
John Dufresne
Maya Angelou
Charles Dickens
William Faulkner
Greer Gilman
Alex Haley
Joel Chandler Harris
Russell Hoban
Terry Pratchett
James Whitcomb Riley
J. K. Rowling
Robert Ruark
John Steinbeck
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Mark Twain
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Paul Howard
Finley Peter Dunne
Irvine Welsh
Bleak House
Discworld

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