"di?nt" (with glottal stop)

[Wilson Gray]

On Nov 16, 2004, at 11:45 AM, James A. Landau wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "James A. Landau" <JJJRLandau at AOL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "di?nt" (with glottal stop)
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> --------
>
> In a message dated  Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:31:21 -0500,  Wilson Gray
> <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> writes:
>
>>  Until ca.1961, I never heard the glottal stop used by anyone, black
>> or
>>  white, except in British movies.
>
> Di?nt you ever hear anyone say "uh-oh" when something went wrong or use
> "uh-uh" (sometimes spelt "unh-uh") as a negative mumble?  MWCD10 has
> "uh-oh" dated
> with a surprisingly late 1971

1971?! Must be a typo.

>  as pronounced "usu with strong glottal stops
> before the vowels) and "uh-uh" dated as "ca. 1924" as pronounced "two
> [nasal] m's
> or two [nasal] n's preceded by glottal stops".

In the 'hood, if someone answers "Uh-uh" to a greeting, - e.g. "Ssup?"
"Uh-uh!" - it's roughly equivalent to Jewish "Don't ask!"

Of course I'm used to hearing that and more. But if I could end the
occurrence of glottal stops in those places in which I'm *not*
accustomed to hearing them, e.g. glo?al  ge?in  di?n't, etc. I would.
But this attitude is stereotypical from generation to generation. My
grandparents went to their graves saying "wheel," though all around
them people of my generation were saying "bicycle" or simply "bike." If
the old folk even had a word for "motorcycle," I never heard it. Are
you familiar with the song, "Cool for Cats"? The first time that I
heard it, it sounded like an unending stream of glottal stops. But,
after I became accustomed to hearing it, I found that I had to listen
quite carefully to hear the few glottal stops that actually occur.
Perhaps the use of glottal stops in the new environments will die out.
If not, I'm certain that I will.

>
> English, the only Indo-European language to have dispensed with
> gutturals in
> recorded history, is also the first Indo-European language to introduce
> glottal stops!
>
>> I first noted its use by kids in Roxbury (the
>>  Harlem of Boston, as it were) about ten years ago.
>
> "How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea/ or my cousin in
> Rox-bur-ee?"
> so Charlie on the MTA was African-American?

The areas in which blacks are required/permitted to live shift over
time in any large city.  At one time, Beacon Hill, currently the most
elite area of the city of Boston, was the colored part of town. That's
how the oldest standing African-American house of worship came to be
located on Beacon Hill. And it's also the reason that the Roxbury Latin
School, an elite prep school, is no longer actually located in Roxbury.

>
>>  one of my own brothers, a Federal judge in California.
>
> an ambiguity here: is the Honorable Judge the son of your father and/or
> mother?

The son of my mother. [Oh. Okay, I got it. Jim, you sly devil, you!]

>
> (can't find the reference): I don't doubt your are right about
> Frederick Law
> Olmstead.  I have not read any of his work, and I could not remember
> when
> mentioning him whether he was considered an Abolitionist or merely a
> reporter.

As I recall, he merely reported what he saw, without going all
abolitionist about it. (In the late '70's, I believe it was, he
suddenly became hip and that's when I read his stuff.) If you have any
spare time, read him. He's almost on a level with Mark Twain in his
ability to make things that he merely observed riveting.

>
> An interesting rumor I heard yesterday:  Cheney is going to resign as
> Vice
> President and Bush is going to appoint Colin Powell in his place.
> Highly
> unlikely, I think

I agree, but it is interesting to contemplate for a plethora of reasons.

-Wilson Gray

> ---had Powell been interested in elective office, he would have run
> for something back in the 1990's.  I must say that Powell would make a
> better
> President than either Bush II or Kerry.
>
>         - James A. Landau
>