The Training of the Man of Words in Talking Sweet

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The Training of the Man of Words in Talking SweetAuthor(s): Roger D. AbrahamsReviewed work(s):Source: Language in Society, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Apr., 1972), pp. 15-29Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4166667 .

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Lang. Soc. x, I5-29. Printed in Great Britain

The training of the man of words in talking sweet'ROGER D. ABRAHAMS

Departments f EnglishandAnthropologyThe Universityof Texas at AustinABSTRACT

Discussions of Negro non-standardEnglish (or BlackEnglish) emphasizesthe most socially stigmatizingfeatures. It is clear, however, that withinanglophonicblack communities a diglossia situation occurs in which thehigh form is a speakingvarietyclose to oratoricalstandardEnglish. Thispaperexploreshow this high variety s learned n oneAfro-Americanpeasantcommunity n the West Indies as an illustrationof the social and ritualim-portanceof certaincodes.(diglossia,Creole anguages, he formal eachingofspeechvarieties,oratory.)

Many groups socially value one varietyof languagemore highly than another,generallybecauseit is associatedby its members with a high status segment ofthe community.With the developmentof writinganda complex and introspec-tive literature, he languagevarietyso employedwill often be accordedsuch highvalue because of the recorded nature of the medium and the need to be trainedto readand write it. But such written varietiesare not the only ones accordedvalue. Indeed, any speakingcode used ceremoniouslywill accumulate he senseof power inherent in the occasions of its use.All of these remarkswere either stated or impliedin CharlesFerguson's now-classic descriptionof diglossia Ferguson I959). But as Fergusonthere pointedout, though the native valuation will lead to a desire to use the high (or H)variety as the basis of formaleducation,there will be those egalitarianswho willargue that the low (or L), the conversationalvarietywill be more appropriate.

The proponentsof L arguethat some varietyof L must be adoptedbecauseit is closer to the real thinkingand feeling of the people; it eases the educa-tionalproblem since people have alreadyacquireda basic knowledgeof it inearlychildhood;and it is a more effective instrumentof communicationat alllevels (Ferguson, 339).The creolists studying Afro-American anguages seem to have entered this

[i] Material for this paper was gathered during two field trips, one in spring, I966,when a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the other in the summer ofI968 while on an NIMH Small Grant, MH I5706-OI, 'Stereotype and PrejudiceMaintenance in the British West Indies'. I am indebted to many for their criticalexamination of this paper, especially Dell Hymes.IS


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controversy inadvertently. Betraying their egalitariansympathies, they haveironicallyturned the tables on the proponentsof H. They argue implicitly thatbecausethe creole L had demonstrable onnectionswith the African past and isa systematiclanguagesystem separatefrom European ongues- joined to themprimarilyby lexemic borrowings that this is the code most worthy of study.Though extremelyusefuland informative, his exclusive focuson the elementsofcreole L varietieshas preventedus from recognizingthe full range of speakingcompetenciesto be observedin these Afro-Americancommunities.Whatis most frustratings that,thoughit is incontestable hat therehas beenaconsistent utilizationof West African creole forms in the speech of the Afro-Americancommunities n the Britishsphere of influence in the New World, soalso there has been adaptive use of levels and varieties of Standard Englishthroughoutthis area. Without describingthese as well as the creole forms, onecannot meaningfully discuss the educational problems and potentialities ofAfro-American tudents.To be sure,therehas been much fruitful discussion of linguisticacculturationby creolistswhereby acontinuum s posited in which there is describeda rangeofcode variations rom the most creolized(i.e. African) to the varieties very close(or identical) to the Europeanstandard.As David DeCamp describes it:

The basic alternativesseem clear enough. A creole can continueindefinitelywithout substantial change, as Haitian French seems to be doing. It maybecome extinct, as Negerhollandsand Gullah are doing. We say that it mayfurtherevolve into a 'normal' anguage,though we arehardput to find docu-mentedexamplesof this, and even harder o define whatwe meanby a 'non-creole' or 'ex-creole' language. Finally, it may gradually merge with thecorrespondingstandardlanguage, as is happeningin Jamaica(DeCamp).Though this continuumpermitsus to fit virtually every New World linguisticcode into it, as DeCamp himself points out, 'we still have not done much toidentify the socio-linguisticfactorsthat determine which of these four alterna-tive coursesa creolewill take'. One of the reasonsfor this situationis that weknow so very little about the symbolic importanceattached to Creoleor Stan-dard, and therefore to the value-laden social uses to which they are put. Wecasuallyassume that becausethe standard s spoken by those who are socially,politically and technologically superordinate, universal desire for upwardmobility will guarantee linguistic acculturationtoward standard. But thisapproach otally ignoresthe socialforcesarisingwithinblackcommunities,eventhose in constant contact with Euro-Americansspeaking a standardtongue,which encouragethe persistenceof archaiccreole features,even when they arestigmatized,bothfrom withinthe Afro-American ommunitiesandfrom without(Abrahams197oa).Perhapsmost importantin the understandingof this complex culture-and-

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THE TRAINING OF THE MAN OF WORDS IN TALKING SWEET

communicationproblem is the recognitionthat within Afro-Americancom-munities there is a deep sense of linguisticdiversity,andthat in manyof them anativedistinctionis made between Creoleand Standard. In the United States,for instance, there are various designationsfor varieties which are filled withCreole features: 'kid talk', 'country talk', 'talkingbad', etc. Similarly, in theWest Indies, thereis much discussionof Creole as 'talkingbroken' or 'bad',andoratoricalstandardas 'talkingsweet' or 'sensible'.Given this recognition of code differenceswithin these Afro-Americancom-munities, Creole and Standardmaybe regardedas a diglossiasituation,for theseseparatevarietiesarerecognizedas separate,andtheir differencesare the basisofboth discussionand special social distinction.The diglossiamodel operatessuccessfully here because it assumes that thespeakerwithinthe communityhas a command(albeit a variableone, dependingupon the individualand his attainedsocial roles) of the two or more varieties.This essay will be an observer'sreporton a traditionof teaching a varietyofspeakingregardedas highandsharingmanyfeaturesof formalStandardEnglishin one Afro-Americanenclave, St Vincent, West Indies. The objectiveof thestudy goes beyond ethnographicreportageto the demonstrationof the socialimportanceplayedby this variety,not for inter-groupcommunicationswith thewhite world, but for intra-groupperformanceswithin the community.But thefocuswill be not on the uses of the varietybut the ways in whichthe communityguarantees ts continuancethrough formal educationalmeans.IIAs in other parts of Afro-America,on St Vincent there is a good deal of talkabout talk.This reflectsa beliefthat life is to bejudged in terms of performancesand that talkingof any sort is regardedas a performancephenomenon.One isconstantlybeing judged by the way in which he talks or acts, judgment beingbasedupon a sense of agreementbetweenthe enactment of a social role and theexpectationsarisingfrom the social situation.There are two basic categoriesof behavior, the rude andthe behaved; he oneinvolvesplaying thefool or talking nonsense, he other talkingsensible.A widevariety of acts and events are categorizedand judged in terms of this basicdichotomy. Rudeness is not judged as categoricallybad behavior; there arecertainceremonialoccasions(likeCarnivalandwakes),in which it is regardedasappropriateand is encouraged. In everydaybehavior,however, rudeness andnonsense are responded to as inappropriate,although expected nonetheless,especiallyof youngmen. Since [good]behaviors often equatedwith talking weet(speakingclose to SE) and rudeness with talkingbroad,there is a linguisticdimensionto this evaluativeprocedure.Furthermore, alkingsweethas come tobe identifiednot so much with the Euro-Americanworldas with peasanthouse-

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LANGUAGE IN SOCIETYhold values. In contrast,talkingbad is identifiedwith male life awayfrom home.The two varietiesare recognizedas distinct, then, as part of the nativecogniz-ance of the social dichotomybetween female and male, the householdand thecrossroads worlds (Abrahams 197oa). This correlates with Peter W'ilson'sdescriptionof the distinctionbetweenmale canonsof reputation nd the femalecode of respectabilityWilson).This identificationof languagevarietywith a socialdichotomy does not meanthat women alwaysspeaksweetly nor that men always talkbad. These varietiesare associatedwith the value systemsof the two groupsand do come into conflictoccasionally.But most importantfor our purposes,the sweet varieties are as-sociatedwith ceremoniesthat celebratehouseholdvalues,while talkingbroad sstylizedfor licentiousperformances.As part of the training n householdvalues,then, one of the responsibilitiesofthe headof the household s to assurethat each of its youngermembersdevelopssome competencein talkingsweet. But this cannotalwaysbe done by a house-hold member. More characteristically,ust as there used to be elegant letter-writers to whom one could go for such a service, especiallyduring courtship,there are those who are renownedin the community for their speechmakingabilitieswho will give lessons to childrensent to them.There are different kinds of speechmaking occasions involving differentdegreesof difficulty n the attainmentof the speechmaking kills. Naturally,themore elaboratethe skill the young personwill have to exhibit, the greaterthechance that he or she will be sent to one of these men of words. There areessentiallytwo types of speechmakingoccasions in which talkingsweet will becalled for: the home ceremonies ikemarriage etes, thanksgiving,baptisms,andsend-offs,in which everyone s expectedto make a speechorsingasong; andthefestivalceremony,like Christmasor Carnivalmasquerading, he school concertor tea meeting,n whichthe morehighlytrainedyoungpeoplearegivena chanceto demonstrate heir abilities.Of course,these latteroccasionscall for a speech-makingapprenticeship onsiderablymore involved thanthe former;and it is onthese occasionsthat the man of wordsis calledon to teach.Parallelingthese two levels of speechmakingdifficulty,one may distinguishbetween two kinds of ceremony in the British West Indies, those which areconnectedwith rites of passageand those which ariseduringcalendricalrites.The formerare stronglyassociatedwiththemaintenance f the familyandhouse-hold system, while the latter gravitatein the opposite direction, toward theactingout of licentious andanti-socialmotives.Significantly, he ritesof passageare carriedon in the house and yard, while the licentious ceremoniesare re-strictedto the countryroads,the crossroadsareas,and on the big days, the citystreets.It is in the household ceremonieslike weddingfeasts and send-offs that thesmallerspeechmakingoccursin which nearlyeveryonein the groupis expected

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appreciated.It has served importantsocial functionswithin the social system bygiving the ones who would act on their rude motivestheir time of license. But inone ceremony,the West Indian tea meeting, he two worlds and their underlyingvalues are brought nto open contest, their values and languagevarietiescounter-poised for purposes of entertainment.IIIOn St Vincent the organizing dea of the tea meetingis not only to present themost importantcultural information facts) about the Gospels or Emancipationin oratorical orm, but also to juxtapose the oratorsagainst the rude pit boys,each attempting to confuse the others. This contest motive is regarded as thecentral feature of the tea meeting.As one chairman,Charles Jack, discusses it:

The pit boys and all that nonsense, that forms part of the enjoyment, theentertainment.Everybody there have their time. You have a time for thechairman,you have a time for the orator, you have a time to say poems andrags and so on. And you have a time to rap, you have a time to get refreshment.You have a time for everything.Though Mr Jack here sets forth the contesting elements in terms of each

having his time, in fact, the forces are constantlycontendingwith each other.Those on the stage, the chairman,choir and orators,must constantlycontendforthe attentionof the audience from the rude ones who would seize the limelightand confuse the performers.As Mr Jack pointed out, the primary tactics arethroughthe rapping f the pit boys bangingstickson thebenchesand chairbackswhile chanting, usually for the refreshments andthe ragging,poemsshoutedbyan audience membermakingfun of the speakingpowersof an orator,throughaslur or a boast. The speaker must learn how to respond appropriately with acountering rhyme or jest, or simply by proceedingstrongly. But the contestmotive and the attemptto confusethroughthe use of rudeness and nonsenseinragging s evident throughout.The ragwill be coming from the otherswho want to confuseyou. I'll tell youthe whole thing- it is that you aregoing on the platformand when someonestartsraggingyou, now, if you'renot one who has very good memory, you'relikely to forgetwhat you had to say. When you're going on the platformandyou begin sayingyour speech,nowyou'reburst. They couldmockyouand thatis the purpose, the main objectiveof these rhymes (Charles Jack).2

Boththeoratorsand thosemakingmock, hen, areattempting o confusethe other.and it is this contest of confusion which providesthe majorfocus of interest,[r] This and the following are quotations from interviews held with the principle chair-men - professors on the island, recorded in August I968.

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But the oratormust confusethroughhis commandoffacts andhis abilityto keepcool and be sensibk,while those raggingoperatewith the strategy of licensednonsense nd rudeness.Though the oratorhas always played an importantrole in the tea meeting,he has becomemore centralto the ceremonywithin the lasttwenty-fiveor thirtyyears. Before that time, the majorfocus of the evening was the speechesof thechairmen;they were the reference iguresfor the orators, he ones not only whotrained them but who they aspired to emulate and eventually outspeak.Butrecentlythe desirabilityof learning o speakwell haslessenedsomewhatand thusincentiveshave had to be providedby the tea meeting entrepreneurs o get thescholars o commit themselvesto the ordeal.Thus the chairmen erve as much tobolster the confidence of the scholars as to exhibit their abilities.

. . .those days, the days when I started, the chairmanand vice-chairman,secretaryhadto do a lot of talking,becausetherewasno prizemeeting in thosedays. But since we have a prize meeting we depend [more] on the judges,because you can say we as chairman, vice-chairman and secretary, we cansay as muchas we like,but the prizesforthe children;oratorsandoratoressesdepend upon the judges for the morning [when the prizes are announced].We have only to congratulate hem. Everythree persons that speak,boys orgirls, the chairmanwill congratulate uch andsuch a person. . . andexplaintothe audience what the children are speakingabout(Clive Richardson).There has been a shift in the focus of the proceedings,then, in an attempttokeep the young's interest in talkingsweet,in speechmaking.This, is, of course,one battle in the warto maintainthe family system and householdvaluesof thepast. For this reason, parentscontinue to encourage their children, if they ex-hibit speaking alent,to learnthe tea meetingtechniquesand to enter into com-petition. This encouragementtakes the form of the parents entering into anagreementwith a man of provenoratoricalabilities(usually a chairman) o teachspeeches to their child. Commonlythey will pay him to do this between $3.00and SIo.oo EasternCaribbeanCurrency(approximately$I.50 to $5.oo U.S.)depending upon their abilityto pay. This is roughlythe equivalentof a week'swages.The man of words teachers conceive of this apprenticeship as a schoolorcollege ororators, cholars.They teachby meetingwith the entire class(generallyfive to ten students) about a month before the scheduled tea meeting. Usuallythese sessions areheld on Sundaysand the students dress in the churchclothes,as they will at the meeting. At that point they will have written out speeches,lessons, oreach, which the professorswill readaloud,anddiscuss in termsof the

theory of presentationalprinciples, how to stand, speak loudly and clearly,handlethe mockeryof the audience,makecounter okes,appropriatelylatter hejudges,and so on. They will ask the studentorators o readthemaloud,actingon21


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the principles discussed. The professor will judge and comment along the way,correcting pronunciation, enunciation, misplaced emphases, and speakingrhythm. In other words, the professoris chargedwith the task of teaching notonly the speechesbut the propermanner of speechmaking,especiallyin regardto the features which the judges will take into consideration. The criteriaofjudgment are primarilythe manner of delivery, the fluency of speaking,andperhapsmost important,the way in which the scholarkeeps himself composedand thus is able to manipulate he audience more effectively.The judges give a lot according o how the boy and girl arespeaking,howtheyascendor descend. He must know how to descend,how to loweryour voice,and all that comes in when the judges arejudging. (They areconcerned)notonly in the orationalone but how the boy or the girl go aboutherself on theplatform(Clive Richardson).The studentthen is expectedto takethe lesson home andcommit it to memorywithin the next two weeks. Again they will meet on a Sunday, at which timethey will performfor the professorand he will makefurthercommentson theirdelivery.Usually,at least two andsometimesthreesessions of this sort areheld,but not alwayswith all of the students present. One student may come to the

orator'shouse in the evening if there is special help needed.At the end of the schooling just before the meeting, the professor generallygoes to the home to hearthe speechand to makecommentsuponit in front of theparents.'I'll call to their mother or father.They will heartheir children'scon-versation.Any mistakes,I try to correctthem' (Ledly Jackson).This processhadchanged n the recentpast becauseof the growing literacyofthe population.In the past the children would have to be taughttheirlessonsbyrepetition;in some ways, these days areregardedas havingbeen morefulfillingto the professors,for they had a larger part in the training program.In someyears, f I canremember,I tell you, I carry romhere seven- betweengirls and boys - seven, from here to Kingstown [the capitol of St Vincent,where the meetingwas held]. There were seven prizes and carriedthe wholeseven here. And the girl that won the first best prize, I told the judges nextmorning,'Show her a book and I bet she doesn'tknow it'. And they did andshe doesn't know it. They showed it to her and she could never read thealphabet, nothing at all. Those that could not write, you see, I just repeat itover forthem andthey learn it or I use the strap to you . . . My children, theymust know me victoriousthat night [of the meeting]. If not, your judges havetroublewith me (Ledly Jackson).

The professor s thus deeply involved in the outcome of the proceedings,viewingthe meetingas a contest of wits, a warof words.22


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. 'Tis said, 'There'll be no peace until the battle is ended and the manwho'll be victoriouswill wear the crown.' Supposingwe had just one prize.I havemy speakers,andelsewhereyou have yours.You wouldlike to see thatspeakercarry home the prize and what do you think I would like? Well,how can we have peace?(Ledly Jackson).A professorwill gather a following, especially if his scholars win with anyregularity.A good studentmaycome backyearafteryearto learn new speeches.However,as long as the oratorcontinues to learnthe speechesasthey arewrittenout, he has no chance of ascendingto the placeof chairman.It is the underlyingstructureof the speechwhich must be recognized,and the willingnessto learntosubstitutedifferent content units into the structuralslots, thus learningto im-prove the orations,that would enable the young man (or, in at least one case,woman) to outspeaka chairmanand to oust him from his position. As may beimagined,this usurpationoccurs very rarely, but each chairmanhas personallegend(often performedby him in informalgatherings) n which he recountstheoccasionon which he ascended to a chairmanship.As with any other involved and improvised verbal form, the training of theman of words in talking sweet for tea meetinginvolvesteachinghim a repertoireof cliches and commonplaces,or 'formulas'as the followers of Parry Lord'smethodology call them (Lord). At the beginning of the training, these non-metricalformulaic devices are embodied in the set speech written out by theprofessoras a lesson. As the oratorprogresses,however, he will begin to recog-nize that certain kinds of cliches are appropriate o certainparts of the speech,and thathe maysubstitute f he caresto. It is whenhe haslearneda largenumberof these and has developed the ability to improvise (perhaps making up ordevelopingfrom bookssome runs of his own) thathe begins to think of challeng-ing the chairman.There are essentially three sections of the oration: the address,the speech(also called the topicor doctrineof the body of the speech) and the joke. Thespeech is the centralportionand takesthe greatestamountof time. The judgeswill be primarily oncernedwith thissection becausethis is where the demonstra-tion of knowledge, of talking sensibly and factually,will arise. The youngerorators, n fact, aretaught only this section and a very quick, one line joke, for ifthey do nothing else, they must demonstrate he wisdom of their professors.The first section, then, the address, s the optional one, but it is also the onewhich, when fully developed, leads to becoming chairman, for it involves thesamekind of elaboratecompliments and macaronicdiction which the chairmanmust demonstrate. The major focus of the address s the ritual compliment,which may be addressedto the chairmen, the judges, the choir leader (MrPresenter) r to membersof the audience.Pleasantevening to these lovely ladies, also to these honorable gentlemen,

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LANGUAGE IN SOCIETYadmittingMr Presenterand his choir. Charming adies. Mr Chairman,sir,whilst I wassitting in yondercorner,gazingon these quorum obisyoung ladieswith their silver laces and magnificent brooches, they were as bright as thewonderfulstar that led the wise men from the east into Bethlehem.Charmingladies!! (bows).

This address,which is one from what we might call an intermediatescholar,iscomparativelybare of the eloquentflourisheswhich characterizehe addresses fthe accomplishedorator.Mr Chairman, udges, ladiesand gentlemen,I feel totally ineducate o expiateuponaquestionso momentously o ourselves.It would be happy and necessaryfor Africaand the East, for I will be able to express myself beforethee. Andit is with privilege, hearingmy name being called, I standbefore you on thisrostrum. Chairmen, ladies, and gentlemen, the grandeurof this meetingfillsmy mind withjob and remitting elicity and,like Alexander he Greatwhenhehaving manifest his vicinity at Alexandriaand thus explain in the languageAthenian, careto claretprimusdisjectamembera f the festivity. But let uspleaseto remember hatyourDemosthenesastronemashere,whose ntellectualfaculty knows no bounds. Seated in the accidental corner of your rostrum,chairmen, isteningto the copious andoyopdos artac canumnobis, o it is withconcordialcrescentenanaelicesmaniamquedicesque3quaniam, acitoel picallogabito quanto.I have the privilegeof arising before this rostrum to give myconversation.As in my lover's lap lying [muchlaughter],hearing,hearingmynameso widelycalledby your secretarywho writes carenticalemor.And so it iswith greatviventi,due viventi,duos evitii, that I have arisen to vindicatemycall, and to let the vindicatorsof my evincitationbe known(Ledly Jackson).The addressand thejoke, which serve as framingelements for the speech,relyon a combinationof eruditionandhumor,bothbeing presented n as dramatical-ly elaborateda manneras possible (as is made clearby the hypercareful nuncia-

tion by the most successful orators at these points). But the hyperboleof theaddress is commonly directedtowardothers, while that of the joke takes on aboastingform.One of the continuingfeaturesof the speechis the heighteningofdramaticeffect at the end of a passage by the statement, 'Tracing on a littlefurther',or the question, 'Mr Chairman,must I proceed?'The concluding oke,too, begins with this questionand alwaysturns on some absurd reasonwhy theoratormust not continue because of the dire calamitieswhich would ensue:No, I will not, for if I continue these beautifulyoungladieswill fallon mejustlike the Falls of Niagara.No, if I go on I will break down the stage, leaving

[3] Reasonably accurate orthography is difficult here because the orator begins to alter-nate between Latin and Spanish allusions.24


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none for the common orators.Under these circumstances, will not continue,but I will take my congratulations,or I am an orator.Once my enemy did attempt to runBut shot and powderhas recalledthem backto me.But if these beasts had daredto run,I'll bringthem backwith machinegun.So adieu.

But, as mentioned, the major portion of the oration is the speech.This isalways a direct quotationfroma book (or books) chosen because their content isappropriate o the season.This may mean,from the Euro-Americanperspective,that a passage seems to begin in mid-argument:

Mr Chairman, ir, my doctrineI will not informyou of is aboutEmancipation.[Emancipation, hank you.] Ladies and gentlemen, but while Mr Clarksonformed a rich rewardfor his past labors, in the success which crowned hisefforts, his triumph animated him for his new exertions. On the month hefound himself elevated, he saw the horizonwiden, and bright were his hopesfor the future. When he said, 'But independentlyof the quantityof physicalsuffering innumerableabuse to vice in more than a quarterof the globe'.Ladies and gentlemen.We have reasonsto consider,as like you to permit.Mr Chairman, ir, we havethis great probability hatAfrica now free fromthevicious andthe barbarous ffectof this trafficmaybe in a betterstate to com-prehend and receive the sublime truths of the Christianreligion. [Fact, Fact.4]The idealof the sweet alkman of words, whetheranoratorora chairman, s togo higher hanthe otherspeakers.High means not only to ascend the heights ofrhetorical nventivenessbut to speak long and copiously. This means that thefirst two of the three sections will grow by the addition of compliments andgreater portionsof memorizedtext. When this occurs, it becomes necessary tobreakthese sectionsinto smallerunits, giving clear enunciation o the beginning

of the new unit. This is done generallyin the address by having a formulaicseries of comparisonswith great men, and in the speech, by beginningeachsec-tion with a renewed address or with the addition of the call for the questionofwhether the speakershallproceed. Here, as an example,is a speech given by anadvancedstudent:AddressMr Chairman,ellowcitizens, ladiesandgentlemen, including these ceremoni-al judges. Admitting Mr Presenter and choir. Wishing the audiencea happyandjoyful evening.Mr Presenter, sir, while listening to yourselfand choir, I think it was Mr

[4] This interjection s not only an approvingcontinuative,but an indication o the judgesthat 'truth' has been given voice and should be borne in mind in the judging.25


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Tennyson's choirsinging in the St Paul's Cathedral.Then sir, to whom mustI compareyou?I must compareyou to the greatman GeorgeFredrickHandel,now, the German composer.You are greater. I must now compareyou toAdmiralCollingwood,Lord Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar.Hewas born in I750. He completedhis excellenceof Cape St Vincent in 1797.As for you, Mr Chairman, t is in island spreadthat you are a Biblical andclassicalpresidingofficer.Then sir, to whom must I compareyou?I mustnowcompareyou to that greatman John Ephilopotuswho reckon the first KingSyria after Alexanderthe Great [Thankyou.]SpeechMr Chairman, adies and gentlemen. I dare not close this chapter withoutrepeatingwhat I have said on this occasion.Those who fought for the free-dom of their slavesperformed heir duty heroically,while but their duties stillremainedfor those so early.Your honorthejudge, you knowin the economyof God, there is one stan-dard pathway or these races, by beginningatthe bottomand graduallyclimb-ing to the highest possibilitiesof his nature.He will send in the yearsto come,the help, the guidance,the encouragementhatthe strongconveyto the weak.Ladies andgentlemen,may I proceed?[Proceed]Mr Chairman ir, must Icontinue?[Continue]My eveningdoctrineis aboutemancipation.Ladiesandgentlemen, n chapter ifteen, page 179, 'FreedomDeclared n Antigua n I834,in Jamaica n I838'. The Negroescontinuedmost orderly,oppressivemeasureof some planters.The gradual mprovementof the freedmen. The committeeof the Antigua Legislaturereported: 'We do not, we confess, discover anysufficientreason n the island,whyanhonorousand strictemancipation houldnot answeras wellas in I834 as in I838 or I840.' The consequencef thisreport was such that this emancipationwas there proclaimedwithout theinterventionof the mistakensystem of apprenticeship.Chairmen,ladies. Though that system was proposed as a precautionarystep it was certainlygroundedon many ignorantand imaginary ears of theNegro characterwhich was supposedto the people in Antiguato a bold andmost successfulexperiment.JokeMr Chairman,sir, must I continue? [Continue] No, I will not for there issomeoneelse behind whose head'shot, whose heartswelling,just as a rosebudswell and burst out in the monthof May listeningfor the voice of his sweet-heart.As mentioned, the task of the professorgoes beyond simply teaching thespeeches. Fluency, diction, and most important, audience command is em-phasized.The student oratorsaretaughtthat they must treadthe very fine line

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betweenconfusingamazing) he audience,by usinglargewordsandleadingtheminto that special kind of active receptiveness characteristicof Afro-Americanperformances,and confusingthem too much and thus losing their interest.According o howhigh is your anguage, hey [theaudience]maynot understandit ... Of course, you'll be talkingto a mixed audience, some more educatedthanyou, like thejudges, andsome less. And in that mixedaudience,if you gotoo high, some couldn't be able to understandyou; if you go too low, somewill underestimateyou. So you have to meet all the sections of your audience(CharlesJack).

One must learnas well how to handlea mistakein the speechmaking:If you're talking along, and, for example, you make a mistake, rather thanrepeatingyourself so thatthosewho know will understand hatyou have madean error,give ajoke rightthere. Or else, turnto the chairman, Mr Chairman,must I continue?' and so on, 'Your honor, the judges, must I ejaculate?'Well they'll answer you and say 'Well, ejaculate',or 'Continue'as the casemay be. And it give you time to pick up. You must be able to do that at inter-vals .. . Or you might say 'Look, well, I'm going to recite a little poem' andthat might work(CharlesJack).

The important eature, stressedagain and again in the professorial eachings, ismental and verbalagility.. . . the momentdecides andyou haveto be a fastthinker.And when you areincontrol, you must be able to know to think fast, what to do, how to do it, sothat nobody vexed with you. And you get your call back [assent from thechairmenor the judges to proceed]. If they're vexed with you, you know,they'llstartto heckleyou. And whenyou startgettingheckling,well you knowthe confusion. And when they confuseyou, you know,that will meanthe endof the speaking (CharlesJack).

But the answerfor confusionmay simply be inactionand silence, for this toomeans maintainingone's sense of the cool.The boys of RichlandPark, they would rhyme the boys at Evesham [twovillages n the MesopotamianValley] . . . whenthey areascending he platform. . . They aretryingto confuse them. They cansometimes make ajoke back orsometimesjust stand upon the platform for two or three minutes. When therhyming s finished, then they canget to themselves... andthey cancarry on(Clive Richardson).That confusion andcontestrule this occasion s important n anunderstandingofwhythisceremonyhasdeveloped.This uproariousmeetingdiffersfromsimilaroccasionsfor eloquence in European and Euro-Americancultures because of

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LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY

the variousattemptsmadeto 'confuse'.The battleof wits is so organizedbecausethe Vincentianwould see little value in the demonstrationof the coolness (orlack of confusion)of the orator f it were not tested, contested,surroundedby aheatedup audience.Though the speechesare calculated o obtainthe attentionof the audience,attentiondoes not meanquiet. In fact, if the speaker s not ableto obtain the 'hot' responsesof laughter,rapping, clapping, and continuativewords(like 'fact,fact'or 'proceed'),he regardshis performanceas a failure.Andwell he must, becausethe alternatives o this guided responseareloudernoises,generallyof a derisivenature.Thus, learningto talk sweet s calculatednot justto show an abilityto speaka varietyof Englisheffectively;far more important, tprovidesan occasionto perform,edify, entertain,and demonstrate, hroughtheestheticof the cool, the highestvalues of the group. By this, the groupand theperforming ndividualsachievea sense of fulfilment the groupbecauseit hascome together and celebratedits overt values and the individualbecause hisabilitieshave been utilized and tested in a mannerthat allows him to achievestatus.IvThe existenceof traditionsof this sort does not, of course,contradict he creolelanguagehypothesis;but it does forcea reconsideration f the direction ravelledrecentlyby thosewho havebeentestingthis hypothesison only phonologicalandmorphologicalgrounds. It is clearthat even on these levels, however,the databeingelicitedarenot totally representative f the speakingrangeof anglophonicAfro-Americans.To be sure, the varietyof languagewhichblackchildrenin theUnited States carry into the early classroom experience contains a higherincidence of 'archaic'creole features,and that therefore,if we are to developteachingtools fordealingwith thesechildren,they must bearthis data n mind indeterminingproductive and receptive competence. As David Dalby recentlypointedout in referenceto this question:

Although some educationalistsnow feel that Afro-American anguages andtheir related European forms should be regarded as 'foreign' languages,vis-a-vis each other, it is quite clearto everyone- includingtheir speakersthatthey formpartof the samelinguisticcontinuum.We are in factfacedwitha situationwhere social and linguisticforces are actingon this continuuminoppositedirections.In one direction,we have whatmightbe called'centrifugalfactors',drawingthe subsidiary oci of blackand white idiolectsfurtherapart. . .and in the opposingdirectionwe have . . . 'centripetal actors',drawingthese subsidiaryfoci more closely together. One result of these opposingfactorshas been the developmentof largenumbersof . . . idiolectsequippedto operateat two or morepoints alongthe continuum,according o the socialenvironmentin which they are speaking(Dalby).

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The existence of traditions such as the development of tea meeting oratorsindicates that there are formal and institutional considerationswhich make anattemptto guarantee hat there are those in the communitywho do indeed haveawider range of varieties, some closer to Standard English. These varieties aredeveloped for the purpose of demonstratingupward mobility or an intent tocommunicatewith Euro-Americans.Rather,at least in regard o the tea meetingvariety, the code is used almost solely on in-group ceremonial occasions, andreflects a continuing adherence to African traditionaluses and patterns ofeloquence. Just how widespreadsuch traditionsare, and how deeply they affectlinguistic performance n other less ceremonial situations is a matter whichneedsstudy. There have been numerouscasual reportingsof the Americanblackperformancesof 'fancytalk' (coveredin part in AbrahamsI97ob)but no thor-oughgoing reportage,much less analysis of such speaking. This I would hopewould be forthcoming before we have too many more argumentson proposalsconcerninghow to handle the blackspeech problem.

REFERENCESAbrahams, R. D. (1g7oa). The black uses of black English. Unpublished ms.- (I97ob). Traditions of eloquence in the West Indies. Jnl Inter-American Studies andWorldAffairsz2. 505-27.(1970c). The West Indian tea meeting and Afro-American expressive culture.Unpublished ms.Abrahams, R. D. & Bauman, R. (1971). Sense and nonsense on St Vincent: speech be-havior and decorum in a Caribbean community. AmA 73. 762-772.Dalby, D. (1970). Reflections on the historical development of Afro-American languages:A discussion of Mervyn C. Alleyne's paper, 'The linguistic continuity of Africa in theCaribbean'. Unpublished ms. from the Symposium 'Continuities and discontinuities inAfro-American societies and cultures', Mona, Jamaica, 2-5 April, I970, sponsored bythe SSRC (US) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.DeCamp, D. (197I). Toward a generative analysis of a post-Creole speech continuum.In Dell Hymes (ed.), Pidginization and creolization of languages. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.Ferguson, C. (I959). Diglossia. Word 5. 325-40.Lord, A. M. (I960). The singer of tales. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Wilson, P. J. (I969). Reputation and respectability: suggestions for Caribbean ethnology.Man 4. 70-84.

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Documents

The Training of the Man of Words in Talking Sweet