dialect in novels

[ANNE V. GILBERT]

Bob and all:

> Thanks, Dennis, et al, for the explanation.  Can you folks think of any
> instance in which such eye-dialect flavor is not denigrating?

I didn't know what "eye dialect" was either.  I agree with Dennis, though,
that the use of "eye dialect" in most cases is denigrating the speaker of
the supposed dialect.  But it *can* be irresistible.  I'm writing a book(one
of the reasons, long and convoluted, why I ended up on this list), and there
is a child character in it who uses "gonna" and "gotta" a lot.  I did this(I
thought), not to denigrate the child, particularly, but to bring home to the
reader that the child is nine or ten years old. In this case, I'm not sure
it would be denigrating, since children grow up.  But I wouldn't use "eye
dialect" for much of anything else.
Anne G