Talk:Pickaninny
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The term 'pickney' of the same etymology is used in the Caribbean as a term for children. It is not used in a derogatory fashion - my wife happily uses it, her family being from Barbados.
- I'm sure that's true, but she needs to know that, at least in the Southern United States, it's been considered to be a deragotory term for the last four decades or more. Rlquall 03:29, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
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- The self-referential assertion is backed up by the Jamaican standard (note the Patwa variant) Pickney Girl, recorded by both Desmond Decker and Symarip.
- Nuttyskin 05:37, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Lingua franca
Are we sure that Lingua franca took part in the transmision? Pequeninho is standard Portuguese, and Portuguese pidgins were relexified with English. There are other words that may have passed from Lingua franca to Portuguese pidgins, but I don't know of the reverse case. --Error 00:26, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
- "Pequeninho" is incorrect. Portuguese "pequeno" means "small" or "little"; its (quite usual) diminutive is ""pequenino" (from which "pickaninny" derives); the diminutive of this diminutive (and one of the very few such cases in regular Portuguese) is ""pequenininho". This word and its diminitives is masculne; feminine forms are identical, but ending in "a", instead of "o". 194.65.103.1 15:45, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
This article doesn't explain what a Pickaninny is. I would be bold and do it, but I myself don't know--that's why I came here. The first sentence should read, "A pickaninny is a..." rather than giving etymology. --Locarno 16:55, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] UK usage (Enoch Powell)
The term was also controversially used ("wide-eyed grinning picaninnies") by the British Conservative politician Enoch Powell in his "Rivers of Blood" speech on 20 April 1968.
Was the term "piccaninny" commonly used in the UK back then? Was the word considered controversial at the time, or only by today's standards? 217.34.39.123 16:32, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 1831 reference to pickaninny
I noticed this word in the Project Gutenberg edition of "The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, related by herself". This tract uses the term in the following partial paragraph: She then told me that my mother was living with her father's sister at a house close by, and I went there to see her. It was a sorrowful meeting; and we lamented with a great and sore crying our unfortunate situation. "Here comes one of my poor picaninnies!" she said, the moment I came in, "one of the poor slave-brood who are to be sold to-morrow."
This tract was published in 1831 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and predates "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by about 20 years.
Unclesmrgol 22:48, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] IPA
None of the words being discussed in this article reference the IPA for their pronunciation; they should. 619morbs 12:03, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] picanninies in Australia
While examining the spelling of "pickaninnie" which Mary Prince used, I found the following references from sources in Australia
a) 20 November 1838: http://www.law.mq.edu.au/scnsw/Cases1838-39/html/r_v_kilmeister__no_1___1838.htm
This reference discusses an attack in New South Wales upon some natives. Note: also predates Uncle Tom's Cabin.
b) 1950s-1960s: http://www.schools.nt.edu.au/batchas/tmen/1stkcmp.htm A description of cattle herding in the Northern Territory -- the term is used to describe young male aborigines capable of horsemanship.
c) 11 March 2007: http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/newposts/301/topic301350.shtm
The term is used here to describe (in Papua New Guinea) children attending sunday school.
Other findings of interest:
Frederick Douglass autobiography —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unclesmrgol (talk • contribs) 05:16, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Boris Johnson
Should there be a section here that takes in Boris Johnson's 'Picanninies' and 'Watermelon smile' together?--Rolec Dubbing (talk) 16:44, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
