Chapter D: DA’/DAT--that

DAA’K--dark.

DAA’KY--darken, darkens, darkened, darkening.

DAA’TUH--daughter, daughters.

DA’ DEY--that there.

DAINJUS--dangerous.

DAMIDGE--(n. and v.) damage, damages, damaged, damaging.

DAY-BRUK--day-break, day has broken.

DAYCLEAN--broad daylight.

DEAD--dead; die, dies, died, dying.

DEBBLE’UB’UH--devil of a.

DECEMBUH--December.

DEEF--deaf.

DEEPO’--depot, railway station.

DEESTRUSS--distress. (See “distruss”).

DEESTUNT--decent, respectable.

DEM--them, they, those, their, theirs. Also used for “and
them,” as “Sancho dem,” meaning Sancho and his
companions.

DEM’OWN--theirs, their own.

DEMSELF--them, they, themselves.

DEN--then, than.

DEN--(v.) to den, stay in a den.

’DENTICUL--identical.

DE ROCK--the “Rock,” or phosphate mines near Charleston.

DES’--just, as “des’ so,” just so. (See also “jis’”).

DESE--these.

DESEYUH--these here.

DESSO/DISSO--just so. (See “jesso”).

DE’T’--death.

DEY--they.

DEY--there.

DEY DEY--there, there; right there; a repetition for greater
emphasis.

DEYFO’--therefore.

DIBE--dive, dives, dived, dove, diving.

DICTATE--dictate, dictates, dictated, dictating; giving orders,
overseeing; sometimes for explaining.

DIFFUH/DIFFUNCE--differ, difference.

DIMMYCRACK--Democrat, Democrats, Democratic.

DINNUH--dinner, dinners.

DIS’--this; just. (See “jis’”).

DISAPP’INT--(n. and v.) disappoint, disappoints, disappointed,
disappointing, disappointment, disappointments.

DISGUS’--disgust, disgusts, disgusted, disgusting.

DISGUSTUSS--disgusting.

DISHYUH--this, this here.

DISTRUS’--distrust, distrusts, distrusted, distrusting.

DISTRUSS--distress. (See “deestruss”).

DISTUNT--distant, distance.

DO--do, does, did, doing.

DO’--door, doors.

’DO’--though, although. (See “alldo’”).

DOCTUH--doctor, doctors.

DOG--(n. and v.) dog, dogs, dogged, dogging.

DON’--don’t, doesn’t.

DONE--done, did, already, has, finish, finished, as: “W’en
you gwine done da’ t’ing?”--when are you going
to finish that thing? “Uh done’um,” or “Uh done-done’um”--I
have done or finished it.

DONE FUH--done for--meaning excessively, as: “Da’ ’ooman
done fuh fat”--that woman is excessively or very
fat.

DONE DONE’UM/DONE DO’UM--did it, finished the job.

DONE’UM--did it.

DO’STEP--doorstep, doorsteps.

DO’UM--do it, does it, did it, doing it.

DRAP--(n. and v.) drop, drops, dropped, dropping.

DREEN--(n. and v.) drain, drains, drained, draining.

DRIBE--drive, drives, drove, driven, driving.

DRIBE--(n.) a run, cover, or section of woods where certain
game is found or hunted.

DROBE--(n.) drove, droves, as of animals.

DROUGHT--drought, droughts; “dry drought,” protracted
drought.

DROWNDID--drown, drowns, drowned, drowning.

DRY-BONE--dry-boned--thin, lean, often applied to dusky
ladies who do not incline to _embonpoint_.

DRY SO--just so.

DUB--dove, doves.

DUH--do, does; in, to, toward. Thus “duh paat’,” means
going in the path, walking in the path; “duh ribbuh,”
going to the river, going on the river; “duh fiah,”
going to the fire; “duh ’ood,” going to the woods,
going in or through the woods; “duh Sunday,” on
Sunday; “duh weekyday,” on a week day, week days;
“duh summuh,” summer, or in the summer; “duh
wintuh,” winter, or in the winter.

DUNKYUH--don’t care, doesn’t care, didn’t care.

DUNNO--don’t know, doesn’t know, didn’t know.

DU’T--dirt, earth.

DU’TTY--dirty, soiled.

E

’E--he, she, it.

EART’--earth, world, or soil, ground. (See “ye’t” and “yu’t”).

EBBRUM--Abraham, Abram.

EBBUH--ever.

EBBUHLASTIN’--everlasting.

EBE--Eve, woman’s name; also eaves.

EBENIN’--evening, evenings; “good evening,” a salutation.

EB’N--even.

EB’NSO--even so.

EB’RY--every.

EB’RYT’ING--everything.

EB’RYWEH--everywhere.

ECKNOWLEDGE--knowledge, ability, understanding.

EDDYCASHUN--education.

EEDUH--either.

EEDUHSO--either so, either, else, or.

EEGNUNT--ignorant.

EEN--in.

EENBITE--(also eenwite) invite, invites, invited, inviting.

EENFAWM--inform, informs, informed, informing.

EENHABIT--inhabit, inhabits, inhabited, inhabiting.

EENJINE--engine, engines. (See “injine”).

EENJININ’--adjoining.

EENJURIN’/ENJURIN’--enduring, during.

EENJY--enjoy, enjoys, enjoyed, enjoying; experience; as:
“Uh eenjy uh berry oncomfuhtubble night’ res’”--I
had or experienced a very uncomfortable night’s
rest.

EENSIDE--inside.

EENSULT--(n. and v.) insult, insults, insulted, insulting.

EENTITLE--entitle, entitles, entitled, entitling.

EENTITLEMENT--entitlement, “title;” as “Mr. Chizzum,” “Mis’
Wineglass.”

EENTRUSS--interest.

EENTUHFAYRE--interfere, interferes, interfered, interfering.

EF--if.

EH, EH!--an exclamation.

ELSESO--else, unless; either.

ELLYFUNT--elephant, elephants.

ELLYMENT--element, air, sky.

EN’--end, ends, and.

ENNY--any.

ENT--(also yent) ain’t, are not, is not, isn’t.

EN’ T’ING’--and things, and everything.

ENTY--ain’t it, isn’t it, are they not, etc.

ENT WUT’--isn’t worth, meaning totally worthless, of no
account.

EPPRULL--April.

’ESE’F--himself, herself, itself.

’E STAN’ SO--it, he or she, stands so, it is so, it looks so, etc.

EXCEED--succeed, succeeds, succeeded, succeeding.

EXCUSIN’--excusing, except, excepting. (See “’scusin’”).

EXWANCE--advance, advances, advanced, advancing.

EXWANTIDGE--advantage, advantages.

EXWICE--advice.

EXWISE--advise, advises, advised, advising.

EZ--as.

F

FABUH--(n. and v.) favor, favors, favored, favoring.

’F’AID--afraid, afraid of.

FAIT’--faith.

FAIT’FUL--faithful, earnest.

FAITFULES’--faithfulest.

FAMBLY--family, families; family’s, families’.

FANNUH--a wide, shallow basket used for winnowing beaten
rice or separating the corn husks from grist after
grinding.

FARRUH--father, fathers.

FARRUHLAW--father-in-law, fathers-in-law.

FAS’--fast.

FASHI’N--fashion, like, resemblance.

FAST’N--fasten, fastens, fastened, fastening.

FAU’T--fault, faults.

FAWK--(n. and v.) fork, forks, forked, forking.

FAWM--(n. and v.) form, forms, formed, forming.

FAWTY--forty.

FAWWU’D--forward.

FEBUH--fever, fevers.

FEBBYWERRY/FIBBYWERRY--February.

FEDDUH--feather, feathers.

FEED’UM--feed, feeds, fed, feeding him, her, it, them.

’FEESHUN’--Ephesians--Paul’s Epistle to.

FEET--frequently used for foot; as: “Snake bite da’ gal ’pun
’e lef han’ feet”--The snake bit that girl on her left
foot.

FELLUH--fellow, fellows.

’FEN’--fend, defend. (See “refen’”).

FENCH--(n. and v.) fence, fences, fenced, fencing.

FIAH--(n. and v.) fire, fires, fired, firing.

FIBE/FI’--five; “fibe dolluh en’ seb’nty-fi’ cent’.”

FIDDLUH--fiddler, fiddlers; violinists and fiddler crabs.

FIEL’--field, fields.

FIEL’HAN’--field hand, field hands.

FIEL’NIGGUH--a laborer in the fields--the “peasant” of the
plantation.

FIGHT--fight, fights, fought, fighting.

FILFIL--fulfill, fulfills, fulfilled, fulfilling; also fill, as
to fill a pulpit.

FIN’--find, finds, found, finding; also to find, found, in the
sense of furnishing or supplying rations.

FIN’LLY AT LAS’--meaning at last, finally.

FIN’UM--find, finds, found, finding him, her, it, them.

FISHPON’--fishpond, fishponds.

FISHPUN--Fishburne--name of a low country family.

FITZSIMMUN--FitzSimons--a low-country family name.

FLABUH--(n. and v.) flavor, flavors, flavored, flavoring; as:
“Da’ buckruh’ hogmeat flabuh me mout’ ’tell uh done
fuhgit uh hab sin fuh kill’um”--That white man’s
pork flavored my mouth so that I forgot the sin I
committed in killing the hog.

FLATFAWM--platform, platforms.

FLEW--fly, flies, flew, flying.

FLO’--floor, floors, floored, flooring.

FLY--flies, flew, flying.

FO’--four.

’FO’--before. (See “befo’”).

FO’CE--force, forces, forced, forcing.

FODDUH--fodder, used only for cured corn-blades.

FOLLUH--follow, follows, followed, following.

FOOT--foot, almost universally used for feet; also for leg.

FO’PUNCE--four pence. Used universally to indicate size of
chickens sold for four pence before the Revolution,
when British money was the currency of the Colonies.
See, also, “seb’npunce,” which was used in a
similar way.

FORRUD--forehead, foreheads.

FO’TEEN--fourteen.

FOWL--fowl, fowls; chicken, chickens.

FRAIL--to whip or lash.

FRAJUH--Fraser, Frazier--a low-country family name.

FRAZZLE--(n. and v.) frazzle, fray, etc.

FREEDMUN--freedman, freedmen.

FREEDMUN’ BRURO--Freedman’s Bureau.

FREEDUM--freedom.

FREEHAN’--freehanded, generous, liberal.

FREEMALE--female, females.

FR’EN’--friend, friends.

FRIZZLE--frizzle, frizzles, frizzled, frizzling.

FROS’--frost.

FRUM/F’UM--from.

FRY-BAKIN--fried bacon.

FRY-BAKIN FROG--the small pond frogs, whose constant cry
is interpreted by the Negroes as “fry-bacon, tea-table;
fry-bacon, tea-table.”

FUDDUH--far, farther, farthest; further.

FUH--for, for to.

FUHGIT--forget, forgets, forgot, forgetting, forgotten.

FUH HAB--for have: “One dance bin fuh hab deepo’ las’
night”--a dance was to have been had at the depot
last night.

FUHR’EBBUH--forever, always, all the time.

FUHR’UM--for him, her, it, them.

FUH SOWL--for truth, truly, used as emphasis; as: “’E fat
fuh sowl”--He, she, it or they is, was, were or are
very fat. “Sowl” is perhaps from the Irish pronunciation
of soul; as in “upon me sowl!”

FUH SUTT’N--for certain, sure.

FUH TRUE--in truth, for truth, it is so.

FU’LHAWK--fowlhawk, fowlhawks.

FU’LHUS’--fowl-house, fowl-houses.

FULL--fill, fills, filled, filling.

FULL’UP--filled up, as a hive with honey, or a lady with
wrath.

FUN’RUL--funeral, funerals.

FUS’--first.

FUS’ DAA’K/FUS’ DUS’--first dark, dusk, twilight in the evening.

FUS’ FOWL CROW--first fowl crow--midnight, or soon thereafter.

FUS’ GWININ’ OFF--first going off, at the beginning.

G

GABRULL--Angel Gabriel--he of the horn.

’GAGE--engage, engages, engaged, engaging; hire, hired, etc.

GAL--girl, girls; girl’s, girls’. Also used familiarly in
addressing women.

’GATUH--alligator, alligators. (See “alligettuh”).

GAWD--God, Gods, God’s.

GEDDUH--gather, gathers, gathered, gathering.

GELT/GIRT’--girth, girths.

G’EM--give, gives, gave, giving him, her, it, them.

’GEN--again.

’GENSE--against.

GI’/GIB’--give, gives, gave, giving.

GIMME--give me, gives me, gave me, giving me.

GINJUH--ginger.

GIN’NLLY--generally, in general.

GIN’UL--general.

GIT--get, gets, getting, got.

GITTA--get a (See “gittuh”).

GITT’RU--get through, got through; finish, finished.

GITTUH--get a (See “gitta”).

GIT’WAY--get, gets, getting, got away.

GI’WE--give us, gives us, gave us, giving us.

’GLEC’--neglect, neglects, neglected, neglecting.

GLUB--glove, gloves.

GO--go, goes, going, gone, went.

GOL’--gold, golden.

GONE--go, goes, going, gone; “time fuh gone”--time for me
to go.

GONE’WAY--go away, goes away, gone away, went away.

GONNIL--gunwale, gunwales.

GOOD-FASHI’N--good fashion--well, thoroughly; as: “Uh lick
da’ gal good-fashi’n”--I gave that girl a thorough
whipping.

GOT/GOTS--get, gets, have, had; also, has got to.

GO’WAY--go away! get out!

GRABBLE--(n. and v.) gravel, gravels, graveled, graveling.

GRABE--grave, graves.

GRAFF--grab, grabs, grabbed, grabbing; grasp, seize, seized.

GRAMMA--grandmother. (See “grumma”).

GRAN’--grand--grandchild, grandson, or anyone in such
relationships of “grand”.

GRAN’MAAMY--grandmother.

GRANNY--grandmother, but used for any old Negro woman,
whether related or not.

GRANO--guano, phosphate, commercial fertilizers.

GRAN’PUH--grandfather. (See “grumpa,” “grumpuh”).

’GREE--agree, agrees, agreed, agreeing.

’GREEMENT--agreement, agreements.

GREESE--(n. and v.) grease: “greese ’e mout’,” to feed with
fatness, as with bacon.

GREESY--greasy.

GRIN’SALT--“grinding salt,” said of a hawk or vulture circling
aloft.

GRITCH--grist, grits.

GROUN’--ground, land, piece of land.

GRUMMA--grandma.

GRUMMOLE/GRU’MOLE--ground-mole, ground-moles.

GRUM’PA/GRUM’PUH--grandpa, grandfather.

GRUNNOT/GRUNNUT--groundnut, groundnuts, peanuts. (See
“pinduh”).

GUBNUH--governor, governors.

GUNJUH--the scalloped molasses cakes sold in Southern
country stores and commissaries.

GWI’/GWINE--going, going to.

GWININ’ EN’ GWININ’--goings and goings on. Usually characterizing
the light conduct of idle or irresponsible
persons.

GYAA’D--(n. and v.) guard, guards, guarded, guarding.

GYAA’D’N--garden, gardens.

GYAP--gap, gaps, as in a fence or hedge.

GYAP--gape, gapes, gaped, gaping; also for speech, as: “’E
nebbuh gyap”--she never opened her mouth.

H

HAA’BIS’--harvest.

HAA’BIS’-FLOW--harvest-flow, or last irrigation of the ricefields
preceding the harvest.

HAA’D--hard.

HAA’D-HEAD--hard-head, hard-headed.

HAA’KEE--hark you or ye, hear.

HAA’NESS--(n. and v.) harness, harnesses, harnessed, harnessing.

HAANT--haunt, haunts; apparition; ghost, ghosts.

H’AA’T--heart, hearts.

H’AA’T’--hearth, hearths.

HAB--have, has, had, having.

HACK’LUS--Hercules.

HAFFUH--have to, had to.

HAIR RIZ’--hair rose (with fright). An expression adopted
from the whites, as upon the kinky heads of the
coast Negroes there is nothing that even fright
could cause to rise.

HALF-ACRE--half acre--210 feet square--a measure of distance
or area.

HAN’--(n. and v.) hand, hands, handed, handing.

HANCH--haunch, haunches, hind quarters.

HANKUH--hanker, long, longs, longed, longing for; desire,
desired, desiring.

HAPP’N--happen, happens, happened, happening.

HARRICANE--hurricane, hurricanes; “harricane tree,” one
thrown down by storm.

HARRUH--(n. and v.) harrow, harrows, harrowed, harrowing.

HATCHITCH--hatchet, hatchets.

HAWN--horn, horns.

HAWN’OWL--the great horned owl.

HAWSS--horse, horses.

HEAD--(n. and v.) head, heads; head, heads, headed, heading
off.

HEAD’UM--get, gets, got, getting ahead of him, her, it, them.

HEBBY--heavy, great; as: “uh hebby cumplain’”--a great
outcry.

HE’LT’--health.

HE’LT’Y--healthy.

HENDUH--hinder, hinders, hindered, hindering.

HENG--hang, hangs, hanged, hung, hanging.

HENGKITCHUH--handkerchief, handkerchiefs.

HICE--hoist, hoists, hoisted, hoisting.

HICE DE CHUNE--hoist or raise the tune.

HIGGUHRI-HEE--the great horned owl. (See “hawn-owl”).

HIM--he, she, it, his, her’s, its.

HIM’OWN--his, her’s, his own, her own, its own.

HIN’/HINE--hind, behind; as, “hine foot”--hind feet.

HISTORICUSS--historic, historical.

HITCH--hitch, hitches, hitched, hitching; also for marry,
marrying.

HOL’--(n. and v.) hold, holds, held, holding.

HOL’FAS’--Hold Fast--a favorite dog name.

HOLLUH--(n. and v.) hollow, hollows, hollowed, hollowing.

HOLLUH--halloo, halloos, hallooed, hallooing.

HOM’NY--hominy.

HONGRY--hungry, hunger.

HOONUH--you, ye. (See “oonuh” and “wunnuh”).

HOT--heat, heats, heated, heating.

HUCCOME/HUKKUH--how come, how came; how does or did it
come; how came it?

HUDDY--howdy, how do you do?--“tell’um heap’uh huddy.”

HUMMUCH--how much, or how many.

HUND’UD--hundred, hundreds.

HU’T/HO’T--(n. and v.) hurt, hurts, hurting.