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Overview: 1) Etymology 2 ) Social Variation (Yule ch. 20) 3) The Jazz Vernacular (Yule ch. 18) 4 ) Regional Dialects(Yule ch. 19) 4 ) Uses Today (Crystal). Website for image: http ://www.rochestercvb.org/includes/events/index.cfm?action=displayDetail&eventid=17882. What is Jazz?.
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Overview: 1) Etymology 2) Social Variation (Yule ch.20) 3) The Jazz Vernacular (Yule ch. 18) 4) Regional Dialects(Yule ch. 19) 4) Uses Today (Crystal) Website for image: http://www.rochestercvb.org/includes/events/index.cfm?action=displayDetail&eventid=17882
What is Jazz? No one knows! -complex -living -moving target “The true spirit of jazz is a joyous revolt from convention, custom, authority, boredom, even sorrow- from everything that would confine the soul of man and hinder its riding free on the air.” -J.A. Rogers
Etymology of jazz • jazz (n.) by 1912, American English, first attested in baseball slang; as a type of music, attested from 1913. Probably ultimately from Creole patois jass "strenuous activity," especially "sexual intercourse" but also used of Congo dances, from jasm (1860) "energy, drive," of African origin (cf. Mandingo jasi, Temneyas), also the source of slang jism. If the truth were known about the origin of the word 'Jazz' it would never be mentioned in polite society. ["Étude," Sept. 1924]All that jazz "et cetera" first recorded 1939.1
Social Variation • Speech community: Group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language (Yule, 253) • Jazz musicians: improvising based on a set chord structure • Jazz listeners: rebellious, youth culture • Jazz writers: rhythm and tempo • Jazz readers: interested in culture
Jazz Age Slang • -ski, -avous: these are two suffixes (derived from Russian and French, respectively) used in flapper parlance to “dress up” normal words. The suffix could be added to any word. There was only one hard and fast rule: if you responded to a question containing a suffix, you had to use the same part of speech somehow. Example: “Would you like a drink-avous?” “No thanks, I’m on the wagon-avous.” “The sun-ski is so bright!” “Put on a hat-ski2
Words and Phrases from the Jazz Age For crying out loud! Gams Real McCoy Teenager Wet blanket Level with me Jeepers creepers Heebie-jeebies Attaboy! http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/heebie.jpg
Jazz as Language Jazz = language of the soul My Argument: The language of jazz (or the jazz vernacular) can be studied through jazz lyrics and the jazz poetry of the Harlem Renaissance
What is the vernacular? • “A general expression for a kind of social dialect, typically spoken by a lower-status group, which is treated as “non-standard” because of marked differences from the “standard” language” (Yule, 261).
Jazz Poetry “Hey! Hey!” Sun’s a risin’, This is gonna be ma song. Sun’s a risin’, This is gonna be ma song. I could be blue but I been blue all night long. -Langston Hughes http://thefabempire.com/2009/09/page/11/
Influence of AAVE “Hey! Hey!” Sun’s a risin’, This is gonna be ma song. Sun’s a risin’, This is gonna be ma song. I could be blue but I been blue all night long. -Langston Hughes Drops off “-ing” Reduces final consonants Habitual action
Regional Dialects • Dialect = “Describes features of grammar and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation” (Yule, 240). • 3 Regions of the jazz movement: -New Orleans -Chicago -Harlem http://www.jazz.com/page/2008/8/31/best-links-aug08
New Orleans “Basin Street Blues” Louis Armstrong They'll be huggin'.... and a kissin' That's what I been missin' And all that music Lord, if you just listen' New Orleans I got them basin street blues Now ain't you glad you went with me On down that MississippiWe took a boat to the land of dreams Heaven on earth They call it Basin Street musicstack.com
Dialect Patterns “Basin Street Blues” Louis Armstrong They'll be huggin'.... and a kissin'That's what I been missin' And all that music Lord, if you just listen' New Orleans I got them basin street blues Now ain't you glad you went with me On down that MississippiWe took a boat to the land of dreams Heaven on earth They call it Basin Street Drops “-ing” “To be” verb variations
Chicago “The Widow’s Jazz” Mina Loy The white flesh quakes to the negro soul Chicago! Chicago! An uninterpretable wail stirs in a tangle of pale snakes to the lethargic ecstasy of steps backing into primeval goal White man quit his actin’ wise colored folk hab de moon in dere eyes http://hilobrow.com/2011/12/27/mina-loy/
Dialect Patterns “The Widow’s Jazz” Mina Loy The white flesh quakes to the negro soul Chicago! Chicago! An uninterpretable wail stirs in a tangle of pale snakes to the lethargic ecstasy of steps backing into primeval goal White man quit his actin’ wise Drops of “-ing” colored folk hab de moon in dereeyes Dental consonants replaced by alveolar stops
Harlem “Song” Gwendolyn B. Bennett A-shoutin’ n de ole camp-meetin’ place, A-strummin’ o’ de ole banjo. Singin’ in de moonlight, Sobbin’ in de dark. Singin’, sobbin’, strummin’ slow… Singin’ slow; sobbin’ low. Strummin’, strummin’, strummin’ slow…. http://littleratridinghood.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-by-gwendolyn-b-bennett.html
Dialect Patterns “Song” Gwendolyn B. Bennett A-shoutin’ n de ole camp-meetin’ place, A-strummin’ o’ de ole banjo. Singin’ in de moonlight, Sobbin’ in de dark. Singin’, sobbin’, strummin slow… Singin’ slow; sobbin’ low. Strummin’, strummin’, strumminslow…. “A” attachment Drops end of word Alveolar stops Drops “-ing”
The Story of English in 100 Words • Originally jazz meant excitement (or nonsense talk) • Musical term: 1920s • Now: “jazzy” = anything cool/awesome
Pridemobility.com http://www.ci.la-porte.tx.us/gov/parks/fitness_center_classes/jazzercise/default.asp http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjkeliher/4110987966/ http://500motivators.com/motivate/me/jazz-hands-universally-understood/
Sources • 1”Jazz.” Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, 2001-2012. Web. 22 October 2012. • 2“The Internet Guide to Jazz Age Slang.” Andrew Chong et al, n.d. Web. 22 October 2012. • Crystal, David. The Story of English in 100 Words. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012. Print. • Hughes, Langston. “Hey! Hey!” Fine Clothes to the Jew. Indiana University: Alfred A.Knopf, 1927. Print. • “Louis Armstrong Basin Street Blues Lyrics.” Lyricsfreak.com. 2012. Web. 22 October 2012. • “Song.” Additional Gwendolyn Bennett Poems.N.d. Web. 22 October 2012. • “The Widow’s Jazz- Mina Loy.” Xanga.com. Ave Atque Vale, 2004. Web. 22 October 2012. • Yule, George. The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.