Re: CHAT: Ebonic Christmas

Padraic Brown wrote:

> It's one thing to alter "The Night Before Christmas" _artfully_ into
> dialect.
Dillard actually quotes the first few lines of such a translation.
Relying on memory, which may have mixed in some Standard E. here,
it was:

        It the night before Christmas,
        and all through our house,
        Nothing ain't stirring,
        not even no mouse.

Note that Dillard does not attempt to respell English to
represent AAVE phonology, any more than he respells English to
represent General American phonology.  Only grammar and
lexis are mirrored here.

--

Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis vom dies! || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau,  || http://www.reutershealth.com
Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau,           || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Und trank die Milch vom Paradies.            -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)