This glossary of words used in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s dialect poetry provides the spelling(s) used in the poems; audio recordings of the words spoken in a phrase from a Dunbar poem (most of which are spoken by Dunbar scholar and performer Herbert Woodward Martin); and the passage of the poem from which the pronouncer read.

The goal of this glossary and the Dunbar Music Archive is to build awareness of Dunbar's dialect poetry; to preserve the pronunciation and style of its delivery; to provide a glimpse into African American life and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries; and to provide a fuller picture of an untold African American history.

Minnita Daniel-Cox, the curator of the Dunbar Music Archive and the Dunbar dialect glossary, is an associate professor of music at the University of Dayton.

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'

’a’

A

a-chawin’

ac’s

af’ah

a-foolin’

aftah

a-getherin’

aggervatin’

ag’in

agin; ag’in

a-gittin’

a-goin’

ahm

ahmor

ahmy

aidged

aigs

ain’t

air

a-judgin’

a-laffin’

a-la’in’

a-layin’

aldough

alibe

all th’ow

allus

an’

animiles

anothah

answah

a-nudgin’

anuther

anywhaih

a-pluggin’

a-rattlin’

argy

a-sputter’n’

a-squeakin’

a-sta’in’

'

’at

A

a-trompin’

atter

a tumblin’

a wailin’

a-whisperin’

ax

B

ba’

bah

baig

baih; see also ba’

ba’kin

ba’nya’d

ba’; see also baih

beamin’

be’n

beneaf

betcher

bettah

bettah’n

billers

biz

blas’

blessed

bobbin’

bofe

bo’n

booty

boun’

'

’bout

B

braggin’

braid

bref

breks

brightah

brigity

brothahs

brung

'

’buse

B

bustin’

C

ca’ci’late

ca’iage

cain’t

ca’mly

canter

ca’ots

carpin’

case

'

’cause

C

ca’y

censuah

ceptin’

cert

chaffin’

chattin’

cheahs

cheep

chile

chillun

chittlins