Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Colloquialism or local color

Colloquialism or local color is the use of ordinary, informal language. This might mean grammatically incorrect sentences, slang or local sayings, even misspellings that better capture the local dialect of a culture or region. For example, “Fuhgettaboutit, youse guys are alright wit me” capture a more northern, urban dialect; whereas “Ah might could whip sumpin’ up fo’ y’all” captures a more southern, perhaps rural culture. What are some reasons authors choose to write in such a style?

Some examples of colloquialisms from Their Eyes Were Watching God Basically, remember that: apostrophes mean letters are missing (‘em instead of them, ‘bout instead of about, etc.) d = th (wid = with, dis = this, dem = them) Vowels switch all the time (kin = can, whut = what, uh = of, git = get, wuz = was, fuh = for) c’s, k’s, and q’s are often interchangeable (likker = liquor, kivver = cover) Compression happens (offa = off of, lil = little) Context is key! Focus on the sentence or the passage as a whole instead of single words Ah or Ah’m I or I’m Mah my Dat that De Lawd The Lord Lawd a’mussy Lord have mercy Wid with Yaller yellow Lak like