[Ads-l] Mose, Moe, Moss

[Z S]

I've noticed there is very little literature (that I've found) on the
Native Black American terms *móz*, *mó* (Anglicized *mose*, *moe*) and,
*mos*. I only know of the first two forms from personal experience; the
latter, *mos*, occurs in Wentworth’s Dictionary of American Slang as "moss",
 and he states that it means "a Negro", and claims it's likely derived 'from
the short, kinky hair common to the descendants of certain African tribes'.


As a child, I most associated the use of these terms with elderly Native
Black Americans (where I was from). At the time, many (if not most) of the
said elders were transplants who fled ethnic cleansing and apartheid in the
US South. Today, the most public usage of *móz*, *mó *can be found in
Virginia, D.C., North Carolina, and Maryland. It occurs in Native Black
American Language as 1) a Native Black American person (of either gender)
regardless of age, 2) a form of address among the said ethnic group, and 3)
the aforementioned ethnic group as a whole. Green states that it is
specifically for men, but when I was a child, the elderly used the term for
both genders. Those elders have since passed on and were born in the late
1800s and early 1900s. Green also states "one who is subservient", but
among the aforementioned late elders, I heard no such claims of
subservience. Instead, it referred to someone unassimilated with more
traditional values; a Native Black American who was not acculturated.


Gwaltney provides a use that clearly does not point to any subservience:


*"You see that whenever old Mose get Chahlie out here by his lonesome,
Chahlie gets wasted. Look at your sports - your boxing or baseball or
football! You give Mose half a chance and he will take over because he is
just a better man than Chahlie ever dared to be. Chahlie knows that just as
well as we do; that’s why he keep changing the rules."* (Gwaltney 1980, 17)


In recent years, I've heard it used by Native Black Americans toward a
Black person of ANY ethnic group, the likely result of immigration.

It's usually directed to a peer or one younger than oneself, but I would
not use it toward someone much older who is not my equal.

Green posits that it's derived from the "proper name *Moses*, a
stereotypically 'black’ (sic) name", a theory he seems to have derived from
Johnson who in Rappin' and Stylin' Out (1972, 148), states: "Derived from
the biblical character, Moses, and refers to old black men - especially to
those whose behavior is that of the stereotyped rural Black [person]. The
term is often used as a collective noun."


Contrary to Johnson, Green, and Wentworth, I do NOT believe "Moses" (or
*moss* 'hair') is the origin of the Native Black American *móz, mó*, and
*mos *(Anglicized *mose*, *moe*, and *moss*). I strongly suspect that the
etymology is assumed to be "Moses" because the Native Black American *móz*
and *mó* are forms of address and bear chance phonetic correspondence with
the first three letters in the English *Moses*.


I contend that the Native Black American *móz* and *mó* are instead
Luso-African retentions, ultimately derived from the Portuguese *moço* /
*moça* 'young man' / 'young woman'. It also means 'laborer', 'one who works
as a domestic laborer or servant in a humble job'. (Cf. Portuguese *moço do
campo* ‘field hand') In central Portugal, it is apparently used as a form
of address, but elsewhere in the country, this form of address is now
considered offensive.

Brazilians use *moço* and *moça* as a form of address, much like the Native
Black American *móz* and *mó*. Unlike the Native Black American usage, it
is acceptable in Brazilian culture to use this directly toward one's elder.


It should be noted that there is also the Spanish *mozo* 'servant', 'lower
caste employee' - the origin of the Southwest *mozo* 'male servant'. However,
the Native Black American semantic use of *móz/mó* is more consistent with
that of the Continental Portuguese (and Brazilian) *moço/moça*. Moreover,
its frequency and sphere of use - which is heavily concentrated among
Native Black Americans from regions with a well-documented colonial-era
influx of African progenitors trafficked from Lusophone Africa - strongly
support a Luso-African point of origin for the Native Black American
*móz/mó*.


I believe the US Spanish *mozo* 'a male hired to assist with household work
or to attend to various small jobs or to do chiefly manual work of a
usually somewhat heavy or menial kind' (via Merriam Webster) is separate
from the Native Black American terms and likely developed independently.


To be clear, based on the semantic use and regional distribution of the
Native Black American *móz*, *mos*, and *mó*, I contend that the Native
Black American *móz*, *mos*, and *mó *are Luso-African retentions that are
ultimately derived from the Portuguese *moço* and *moça*.


Best,

Zola Sohna


(Please note: I don't see the list very often, I noticed someone replied to
me in a previous email and so many months had passed since his reply that I
didn't bother replying. Best, ZS)

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