INDIAN vs. INJUN

[Dennis R. Preston]

>This is a really interesting observation. It would appear that the
>fast (allegro) speech pronunciation (not "dialect" I suspect) form
>of "Indian" has given rise to a new "ordinary" (i.e., non-allegro)
>form (which has become pejorative). Dialect forms which have had a
>similar fate (but which better fit the definition suggested here)
>would include Jimmy Carter's EYE-talian, for example.


dInIs





>On Tue, 9 Jan 2001 21:19:25 EST RonButters at AOL.COM writes:
>
>>  Yes, INJUN has indeed a long history as a slur. I'd say that INJUN :
>>  INDIAN =
>>  NIGGER : NEGRO
>
>Might it be more like Nigra:Negro, i.e., a non-pejorative (given the
>contingencies of time and place) dialect difference?

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736