The N-word at the time of Huck Finn

Thu Mar 12 03:46:04 UTC 2009

I should say that I have not tried to analyze these quotations
myself.  I am just offering them as one body of evidence, and if more
context is desired one can go to the sources.

For favorable senses, again only from the noun, and ignoring things
like "1. A dark-skinned person of sub-Saharan African origin or
descent; = NEGRO n. 1a.". Also, not including quotations from the 20th century.

1.a. Used by whites or other non-blacks as a relatively neutral (or
occas. positive) term, with no specifically hostile intent.
   Quots. 1608, 1788, etc., expressing patronizing views, reflect
underlying attitudes rather than a hostile use of the word itself.

1574 E. HELLOWES tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (1584) 389 The
Massgets bordering upon the Indians, and the Nigers of Aethiop [Sp.
los negros en Ethiopia], bearing witnes. 1584 R. SCOT Discouerie
Witchcraft VII. xv. 153 A skin like a Niger. 1608 A. MARLOWE Let. 22
June in E. India Co. Factory Rec. (1896) I. 10 The King and People
[of 'Serro Leona'] Niggers, simple and harmless. 1636 W. PITT & J.
DOWNHAM Let. 16 Sept. in Eng. Factories in India 1634-6 (1911) 292
Have granted passages to a Moor and three 'nigors'. 1656 DUCHESS OF
NEWCASTLE Assaulted & Pursued Chastity 237 The Priest which came to
fetch him forth, saw him thus drest, never seeing hair before, for
they had none but wooll, and very short as Nigers have. 1676 S.
SEWALL Diary 1 July, Jethro, his Niger, was then taken. a1704 T.
BROWN Lett. from Dead in Wks. (1707) II. ii. 121 A manner that
discover'd he had an ascendency over the rest of the immortal Nigres.
1760 G. WALLACE Princ. Law Scotl. in Ann. Reg. (1760) II. 265/1 Set
the Nigers free, and, in a few generations, this vast and fertile
continent would be crouded with inhabitants. 1786 R. BURNS Ordination
iv, in Poems & Songs (1971) 171 How graceless Ham leugh at his Dad,
Which made Canaan a niger [rhyme vigour, rigour, tiger]. 1788 S. LOW
Politician Out-witted III. i. 27 Toupee. By gar, I get de
satisfaction! Humphry. He talks as crooked as a Guinea niger. 1833 C.
WILLIAMS Fall River 184 Some say poor niger hab no shoule. Vel dat I
dont know, but dis I know, I got something in my body make me feel
tumfortable. 1867 H. LATHAM Black & White 127 Niggers (they are not
'coloured persons' yet in the South) are most artful flatterers. 1897
Outing 29 333/1 What is wanted is a genuine nigger{em}not a colored person.

[I would add that the previous is the sense I generally get from
reading 17th and 18th century texts -- in particular, without
hostility, although often with deprecation (blacks were not equal to
whites), up until the start of "scientific racism" at the end of the
18th century, I think.  But Barbara is asking about mid-19th century.]

c. Used by blacks as a neutral or favourable term.  [Sent in my
previous message.]

4. Now chiefly in African-American usage: a person, a fellow
(regardless of skin colour).
   Recent use has developed from a conscious, politically motivated
reclamation of the term among black Americans, and as such does not
usually carry negative connotations, although it may be considered
offensive when used by whites in imitation of this usage.
   The following examples show use of the word in reference to white
people; examples showing neutral or positive use in reference to
black people are at senses A. 1a , A. 1c.

a1848 G. F. RUXTON Life in Far West 166 What does the niggur say?
1850 L. H. GARRARD Wah-to-Yah 161 They..pick up a beaver trap to ask
what it is{em}just shows whar the niggurs had their bringin' up. 1851
M. REID Scalp-hunters 108 Oncet upon a time, this niggur [sc. the
speaker] chawed a varmint that wan't much sweeter.

  5. In African-American usage: (with possessive adjective) a close
(usually black) friend, a comrade, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a spouse.
[1884 J. C. HARRIS in Cent. Mag. Nov. 121/1, I say ter myse'f, maybe
my nigger man mought be some'rs 'roun'.] 1884 J. A. HARRISON Negro
Eng. in Anglia 7 266 To tu'n er nigger right loose, to give a man free play.

And some very recent senses, 1963, 1965, and later (omitting the
quotations themselves):

6. Esp. U.S. A person who is socially, politically, or economically
disadvantaged or exploited; a victim of prejudice likened to that
endured by African-Americans.
   In this use usually with awareness of the word's offensive
connotations, but without intention to cause offence, to identify a
group regarded as similarly disadvantaged or exploited.
   In quot. 1963, the editor explains:1997 D. BRINKLEY in H. S.
Thompson Proud Highway 411 (note) After reading Norman Mailer's The
White Negro, Thompson developed a theory that all working-class
people were niggers.

7. U.S. Any person who behaves in a manner associated with urban
African-Americans; a person who identifies with urban
African-American culture as opposed to middle-class white culture.

Other senses are specific or technical -- e.g., a kind of fish in
Australia, etc.

Joel

At 3/11/2009 10:21 PM, Barbara Need wrote:
>Thanx, Joel. No, at this moment I don't have access to the OED on line
>(alas).
>
>I confess I'm not entirely convinced that the I.1.b citations for
>1775, 1811 or even the 1818 uses represent contempt or abuse. In the
>first one it follows "pious wretch"; I would like to see more context
>for the second; and the third, well, "bad conduct and inferior nature"
>show contempt, but that doesn't mean "nigger" does? Or am I missing
>something?
>
>But I do see 19th century uses that are neutral (though the OED says
>those are only used by other blacks). I don't see Huck's use as
>contemptuous, and neither do my black students (they both were trying
>to contrast Huck's neutral use with regular, abusive use of the times).
>
>What kind of dates are found for favorable uses?
>
>Barbara
>
>On 11 Mar 2009, at 9:04 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
>>Barbara, if you don't have quick access to the on-line OED the
>>following might help---or not!  It seems terribly complex.  [I've
>>omitted most of the 20th-century quotations.]
>>
>>Draft revision Mar. 2009.
>>
>>I.1.b. Used by whites or other non-blacks as a hostile term of abuse
>>or contempt.
>>1775 in F. Moore Songs & Ballads Amer. Revol. (1856) 101 The rebel
>>clowns, oh! what a sight! Too awkward was their figure. 'Twas yonder
>>stood a pious wight, And here and there a nigger. 1811 BYRON in Mem.
>>F. Hodgson (1878) I. 195 The rest of the world{em}niggers and what
>>not. 1818 H. B. FEARON Sketches Amer. 46 The bad conduct and inferior
>>nature of niggars (negroes). a1849 H. COLERIDGE Ess. & Marginalia
>>(1851) I. 164 A similar error has turned Othello..into a rank
>>woolly-pated, thick-lipped nigger. 1861 H. A. JACOBS Incidents in
>>Life Slave Girl vii. 59 Do you suppose that I will have you tending
>>my children with the children of that nigger? 1931 D. L. SAYERS Five
>>Red Herrings i. 11 Waters.., like all Englishmen, was ready enough to
>>admire and praise all foreigners except dagoes and niggers. 1936 M.
>>MITCHELL Gone with Wind 401 'You're a fool nigger, and the worst
>>day's work Pa ever did was to buy you,' said Scarlett slowly...
>>There, she thought, I've said 'nigger' and Mother wouldn't like that
>>at all.
>>
>>c. Used by blacks as a neutral or favourable term.  [Note quote from
>>Mark Twain.]
>>1831 H. J. FINN Amer. Comic Ann. 88 'You be right dere,' observed
>>Sambo, '..else what fur he go more 'mong niggers den de white trash?'
>>1838 R. M. BIRD Peter Pilgrim I. 238 Wanted to run, massa, but no
>>more run than a barn-door; stuck fast in the mud{em}could'nt
>>move{em}all over with niggah! 1848 G. LIPPARD Paul Ardenheim II. i.
>>225 For sixteen{em}seventeen year, dis nigga watch his time. 1884 'M.
>>TWAIN' Adventures Huckleberry Finn viii. 72 Dey wuz a nigger name'
>>Bob, dat had ketched a wood-flat. c1937 in N. R. Yetman Voices from
>>Slavery 257 A nigger by name o' Enoch Golden married us.
>>
>>d. Used by blacks as a depreciatory term.
>>1834 F. LIEBER Letters 90 A negro boy under my window calls a lad of
>>the same race, by way of reproach, 'nigger'. 1866 Atlantic Monthly
>>July 79 When they call each other 'nigger', the familiar term of
>>opprobrium is applied with all the malice of a sting. 1926 C. VAN
>>VECHTEN Nigger Heaven 26 I'm..tired to death of all these Niggers
>>downstairs. [Note] While this informal epithet is freely used by
>>Negroes among themselves, not only as a term of opprobrium, but also
>>actually as a term of endearment, its employment by a white person is
>>always fiercely resented.
>>
>>2. a. A person who does menial labour; any person considered to be of
>>low social status. derogatory. Cf. (and earliest in) white nigger n.
>>at WHITE adj. Special uses 1e.
>>1835 R. M. BIRD Hawks of Hawk-Hollow I. xi. 154 Wa' to been married
>>soon, but faw the white nigga Gilbert, what cut the Colonel's throat!
>>1871 E. EGGLESTON Hoosier School-master iv. 52 'Ole Miss Meanses'
>>white nigger', as some of them called her, in allusion to her
>>slavish life.
>>
>>b. Any person whose behaviour is regarded as reprehensible.
>>derogatory.
>>1840 W. G. SIMMS Border Beagles xxv, They're [sc. white officers of
>>justice] afraid of me, the niggers, and you see I ain't afraid of
>>them. [1861 Let. in H. Holzer Dear Mr. Lincoln 361 Abe
>>Lincoln..goddam you..you are nothing but a goddam Black nigger.]
>>
>>These are just the noun uses; there are similar senses for the
>>adjectival use, as well as favorable senses that I have not copied
>>here.
>>
>>Joel
>>
>>At 3/11/2009 09:40 PM, Barbara Need wrote:
>>>I am grading papers about racism in _Huck FInn_ and several students
>>>have said something implying that _nigger_ was offensive at either
>>>the
>>>time the book is set or the time Twain was writing (or both). I have
>>>not found anything very useful in the archives. Do we know how
>>>offensive the word was in the 19th century?
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org