If you encounter the word “wimmin” in a novel, your brain likely performs a fascinating, split-second calculation. First, you notice the spelling is “wrong.” Second, you sound it out phonetically. Third, you realize that “wimmin” sounds exactly the same as the standard spelling, “women.”
If the pronunciation hasn’t changed, why did the author change the spelling? The answer lies in a linguistic phenomenon known as Eye Dialect.
While standard dialect writing attempts to capture the specific sounds of an accent (like writing “fark” for “fork” to denote a Boston accent), Eye Dialect is purely visual. It is a literary device used to indicate that a character is uneducated, working-class, or socially inferior, solely through the violation of standard orthography. It is a visual accent that exists only for the reader’s eye, not the listener’s ear.
What Exactly is Eye Dialect?
The term was coined in 1925 by George Philip Krapp, a linguist and professor at Columbia University, in his book The English Language in America. Krapp noticed that writers often used non-standard spellings to represent the speech of comic or villainous characters, even when those spellings didn’t actually change the pronunciation of the word.
Consider the following examples. Read them aloud alongside their standard counterparts:
- Sez vs. Says
- Wuz vs. Was
- Kum vs. Come
- Wimmin vs. Women
- Luv vs. Love
In every single case, the pronunciation is identical in almost all dialects of English. “Sez” is how we all pronounce “says” (rhyming with “fez”, not “pays”). Yet, when an author puts “sez” in a character’s speech bubble, they aren’t telling you how the character speaks; they are telling you who the character is.
The Mechanics of Stereotyping
The primary function of Eye Dialect is characterization through “othering.” It relies on the reader being educated enough to know the standard spelling. By presenting a character’s dialogue with mangled orthography, the author creates a subconscious hierarchy.
The “Standard English” narrator—and by extension, the reader—sits at the top of the intellectual ladder. The character whose speech is ridden with wuz, duz, and tu sits at the bottom. It suggests that if the character were to write their own dialogue, this is how they would spell it. It is a shorthand for illiteracy or lack of formal education.
Class and Morality
Historically, Eye Dialect has been used heavily in 19th and early 20th-century literature (think Charles Dickens or Mark Twain) to demarcate class boundaries. In a Victorian novel, the hero speaks in pristine, grammatically perfect sentences. The street urchin, the criminal, or the comedic relief character speaks in broken spellings.
This creates a visual texture on the page. The “good” characters look clean; the “low” characters look messy. It’s a way of embedding social prejudice directly into the ink of the text.
Eye Dialect vs. Regional Dialect
It is important to distinguish Eye Dialect from genuine attempts to capture regional accents (often called phonetic respelling or dialect writing).
If an author writes “gonna” for “going to”, or “fust” for “first”, they are indicating a phonetic shift. The speaker is actually dropping sounds or changing vowels. This is an auditory instruction to the reader.
Eye Dialect, however, relies on the chaotic nature of English spelling. because English is not a phonetic language (we don’t spell things exactly how they sound), there are often multiple ways to spell the same sound. Writers exploit this non-phonetic nature to make a point.
For example, consider the word “fancy.”
- If a writer spells it “phancy”, the pronunciation is the same.
- However, “phancy” might be used to mock a character who is trying too hard to be elegant, or conversely, to show someone who is uneducated.
The Reader’s Bias
Why does “wimmin” look stupid to us? It’s because we have been trained to view standard orthography as a marker of intelligence. When we see “correct” spelling, we associate it with authority and logic. When we see “disrupted” spelling, we associate it with simplicity or ignorance.
Linguistically, this is unfair. The spelling “women” is a historical artifact. The pronunciation /wɪmɪn/ has drifted away from the spelling over centuries. The spelling “wimmin” is actually more logical and phonetically accurate than the standard version. Yet, because of Eye Dialect, the more logical spelling is used to denote the less logical character.
Eye Dialect in the Modern Era
While the usage of Eye Dialect to mock the working class has fallen out of favor in serious contemporary literature, it hasn’t disappeared. It has simply evolved.
Internet Slang and Leetspeak
In the digital age, Eye Dialect has experienced a renaissance, though the intent has shifted. When internet users type “kewl” (cool), “phat” (fat/excellent), or “dawg” (dog), they are using Eye Dialect. The pronunciation is the same, but the visual form changes.
However, in this context, it rarely signals a lack of education. Instead, it signals in-group status or playfulness. Writing “thnx” or “luv” is a stylistic choice, distinct from the derogatory use of “wuz” in a Victorian novel. It represents a casual tone rather than a class divide.
Comic Books and Cartoons
You will still find traditional Eye Dialect in comics. A brutish henchman might say, “I sez we get ’em now!” The “sez” implies a gruff, unrefined nature. It remains a quick, economical way for writers to establish a character archetype without wasting panels on backstory.
The Verdict: A Tool or a weapon?
For writers and language learners, understanding Eye Dialect is crucial for decoding texts. It reveals the author’s attitude toward their characters. If you are reading a book and notice that only certain characters are subject to “wuz” and “kum” while others enjoy the privilege of “was” and “come”, you are witnessing a subtle form of linguistic discrimination.
Eye Dialect proves that in English, spelling is never just about converting sound to paper. It is a social code. The next time you see “wimmin”, remember: the author isn’t asking you to listen differently; they are asking you to judge.