In reading "A True Story" by Mark Twain, it's impossible not to notice the heavy Southern, African-American dialect. I have categorized some of the differences with examples below.
Spelling: bawn (born), jist (just), dem (them), turrible, git, dat, tetches (touches), sk'yar (scar), pooty (pretty) In many cases, "I"was substituted for "e" to emphasize the short vowel sound. Same with "d" for "t" as in the word there (or dere, dem, etc.) Several words were shortened or used contractions rather than the full word we commonly hear today. This made the narrator sound less educated but perfectly captured the dialect.
Sentence Structure/Grammar: Some sentences had alternative word placement to what we would use in modern English today. For example: "has I had any trouble", "i knows", "she up and she says"
Use of "sah" (sir) as a placement of class/ term of respect
Colloquialism: "Blue Hen Chickens"--I have no clue what this means. "Niggers"-an offensive word today, niggers was a common term of the time period and used in the South. Therefore, including this word was essential to capturing the dialect. Other words we no longer use much include "mosey", "swelled around."
Twain is known for his excellent ability to capture various dialects and this short story was no exception.
I think your comment about the colloquiailism is great. I honestly didn't consider that when writing my own response, but I also have no idea what "Blue Hen Chickens" means; I cannot remember off the top of my head, but I am sure there are several other phrases and expressions I am not familiar with that are used. Colloquialism is so common, too. Even between cities in Montana there are expressions that don't make sense in a different location.
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