The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Understanding Dialect
Name _________________________
Twain uses the regional dialects of the Mississippi River area and the African-American slave language in order to create realistic characters in his novel. At times, the dialect can be a barrier to complete comprehension of the novel. Learning to understand the structure of the dialect is the first step in obtaining the deeper meaning of the story.
Carefully read the following passage from Huck Finn. Translate Jim’s speech into your own language on the lines provided.
“Yo’ ole father doan’ know yit what he’s a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he’ll go ‘way, en den ag’in he spec he’ll stay. De bes’ way is to res’ easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey’s two angels hoverin’ roun’ ‘bout him. One uv ‘em is white en shiny, en t’other one is black. De white one gits him to go right a little while, den de black one sail in en bust it all up. A body can’t tell yit which one gwyne to fetch him at de las’. But you is all right. You gywne to git sick; but every time you’s gwyne to get well ag’in.”
--from pg. 18, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 1985.
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Answer the following questions about how Twain creates this regional language.
1. How does Twain tweak the spelling of words to create dialect?
2. Look at the length of words. How does Twain change them from the original to create dialect?
3. What role does slang or colloquial expressions play in Twain’s attempt to recreate the authentic language of people of this time?
Your Turn
Write at least three sentences of dialogue of a conversation you might overhear in the halls of our school. First write the sentences in standard English. Then tweak the language to make them represent the regional dialect of this area.
Standard English Version
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Regional Dialect Version
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