[Ads-l] janky (1989)

[Z Rice]

Regarding Zimmer's September 5th post on "janky" (Attached below) I've
carried out research on jenky/janky (including its many homonyms) some time
ago. I think to state it "emerged in African American slang by the late
'80s) is misleading (i.e., gives the wrong impression). While this may be
the period in which the earliest published citations appear, this is not
necessarily indicative of its first usage(s) among said population.

In my field research, this word was attested to by elderly informants (one
of whom, now recently deceased, was born in the 1920s. They attest to the
use of this word in the home since "as early as [they] can remember".

I don't agree with the etymologies suggested by Major or the Oxford
Dictionary: "Probably representing a
regional, affected, or colloquial pronunciation of _junky_ adj. Compare
later _jank_ adj., and perhaps also _stank_ adj.2, _stanky_ adj." (OED3 via
Zimmer) I also find the meanings to be lacking. I collected several
meanings in my own research.

In my research, I assert that the origin of the Black American jenky /
janky and jenk / jank are derived from Mandinka and Wolof (with one
exception being Kikongo, as indicated below in #4).

1) Black American jenky / janky 'dishonest', 'suspect';
from the Mandinka dʒeŋke ‘crooked’; ‘not straight’; ‘dishonest’.

2) Black American jenky / janky 'slick'; 'crafty'; 'sly'; 'mischievous';
'insidious'; 'fallacious';
from the Wolof ɟɔŋe ‘slick’; ‘sly’; ‘crafty’; ‘mischievous’; ‘insidious’;
‘fallacious’

3) Black American jenky/janky 'filthy'; 'dirty'; 'disgusting';
'bad-smelling'; 'offensive'; 'harmful'; 'dangerous';
from the Mandinka dʒaŋka ‘dirtiness’; ‘gross impurity’; ‘whatever can
damage or harm’

(This is but a fraction of the meanings collected for jenky / janky and
jenk jank among Black Americans. Thus, there are more homonyms.)

However, one of these homonyms is of neither Wolof nor Mandinka origin:

4) Black American jenk/jank meaning 'merriment', 'cheer', 'to enjoy
oneself', 'to have fun';
from the Kikongo jaŋga ‘to have fun’; ‘to enjoy oneself’; ‘to be joyous’
and the Kikongo jaŋgi ‘cheer’; ‘happiness’; 'joy'; cf. the Kikongo zang-
'gaiety', 'rejoicing' (i.e., nzanga), 'to rejoice' (i.e., zangila), and the
Kimbundu ʒiŋg- ‘cheer’; ‘party’; ‘gladness’; ‘joyous celebration’ (i.e.
ʒiŋgolela) (Also, cf. Proto-Bantu caŋk ‘to be happy’)

Black Americans also use the term to mean 'to avoid', 'to dodge', 'to dart
side to side'. This meaning seems to be particularly common among those
with roots in the south (including those who fled North during apartheid).
Note that the Mandinka dʒeŋke also means ‘to avoid’; ‘to dodge’; ‘to miss’;
'to dart side to side'.

This word was absorbed into Scots, first appearing (unsurprisingly) during
chattel slavery (as jink), though with the more limited meaning of 'dodge',
'to move to one side'.  (i.e., jenk/jank/jenky/janky has far more meaning
in Black American language than that which is found in the Scots cognate.)

Zola Sohna


______________________________________
OED3 has an entry for "janky" (added in 2009) with the meaning "of poor
quality, bad; untrustworthy, suspicious." The earliest cite given is from a
1993 Usenet post, and the etymological note says: "Probably representing a
regional, affected, or colloquial pronunciation of _junky_ adj. Compare
later _jank_ adj., and perhaps also _stank_ adj.2, _stanky_ adj."

Green's Dictionary of Slang also takes it back to 1993, in lyrics to a song
by The Roots:
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/na7ddza

More examples from rap lyrics, from 1993 on, can be found on The Right
Rhymes:
https://therightrhymes.com/janky/

GDoS relates "janky" to a noun "jankie" defined as "bad luck." That squares
with Clarence Major's 1994 book "Juba to Jive," where "janky" is listed as
a noun meaning "bad luck," which Major surmises is derived from a variant
of "jinxed."

I found a 1989 example that also relates "janky" to bad luck, from the
movie "Harlem Nights." In an early scene, Richard Pryor's character Sugar
Ray is running a dice game, and a toothless gambler (played by Ji-Tu
Cumbuka) flips out about a boy in the room bringing him bad luck. The boy
(Quick Brown, played by Desi Arnez Hines II -- Eddie Murphy plays him when
he grows up) ends up shooting the gambler, but before that happens, the
gambler threatens to knife him by saying:

"I'll definitely stick this little janky-ass bad-luck motherfucker standing
here."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOq0nY1rQE (at around 1:30)

The scene in the movie is set in 1918, so the use of the word is a tad
anachronistic, but it's useful for reconstructing how "janky" emerged in
African American slang by the late '80s. (Eddie Murphy wrote the screenplay
for "Harlem Nights," but I don't know if it was in the original script or
improvised on the spot by Cumbuka.)

--bgz

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