[Ads-l] Mose, Moe, Moss

[John Baker]

Zola, this is very interesting and informative, but what is the path from the Portuguese term to the Native Black American term?


John Baker


> On Feb 25, 2025, at 8:36 PM, Z S <zrice3714 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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)
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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