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Eye dialect is a literary technique that alters the spelling of words to visually represent speech patterns. It can enhance characterization, create humor, and show a character’s state of mind. It has been used by authors such as William Faulkner and JK Rowling, as well as in comic books and films.
Eye dialect is a literary method of visually representing speech patterns on the printed page. This is accomplished by altering the spelling of words, so that, for example, “your highness” can be spelled “yer ‘ighness”. In this way, readers can get the effect of a strong accent or dialect by speaking the dialogue phonetically as they read. The literary term for this type of creative misspelling is “metaplasmus.” The term “eye dialect” refers to how these speech patterns are conveyed to the reader’s eye, rather than the ear, the usual means of interpreting speech.
For hundreds of years, lexicographers, teachers, and other language professionals have worked to standardize the spelling of words in English and other languages. This was eventually achieved through the creation of dictionaries, style guides and similar reference works. Metaplasmus in its various forms plays on these standardized spellings by creating non-standard spellings for literary purposes. These can be employed for a variety of reasons, such as enhancing the pace in poetry or to create a humorous effect. The ocular dialect is one of the most common applications of metaplasm.
Standardized spelling aside, different people use language in very different ways. The pronunciation of the same word can vary by country and even within different regions of the same country. For some people, dialect can be further determined by ignorance of proper usage. For example, a Western novel may make an uneducated prospector say, “There is gold in those hills of Thar!” instead of “in those hills”. The incorrect spelling of “there” is metaplasmus; its use as part of a non-standard comic phrase is eye dialect.
Eye dialect can be employed to make a fictional character’s dialogue more authentic and realistic. This, in turn, can aid characterization, the creation of believable characters. It can also be used to make dialogues that are colorful and interesting to read. Sometimes its purpose is purely whimsical, to provide humor or comic relief. It can also be an effective way to represent a character’s state of mind, such as using slurred words to show drunkenness.
Novelist and short story writer William Faulkner often used the Ocular dialect to convey the speech patterns of the American South. Modern authors also use it; JK Rowling used the technique when writing dialogue for the character Hagrid in the Harry Potter series. Comic books and comic strips have made extensive use of many forms of metaplasm. In the Fantastic Four comics, Stan Lee used eye dialect to contrast The Thing’s tough and cunning temper with his more intellectual teammates. Screenwriters and playwrights, such as David Mamet and the Coen brothers, sometimes write dialogue in Ocular dialect as an aid to characterisation.
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