gwine

English

Alternative forms

• gine, gwyne

Etymology

Phonetic rendition of going; compare Gullah gwine.

This particular form apparently results from the vocalic sequence in going (Early Modern English /ˈɡoː.ɪŋ/, /ˈɡoː.ɪn/) coalescing into a diphthong that was identified with reflexes of Middle English /ui̯/, which developed into /waɪ/ in some dialects; compare English traditional dialect pronunciations of point and toil as /ˈpwaɪnt/, /ˈtwaɪl/ (see twile). In other dialects, Middle English /ui̯/ instead developed into /aɪ/, resulting in the form gine; compare bile (“boil”), heist, rile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡwaɪn/, (uncommon) /ˈɡaɪn/
• (African-American Vernacular) IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪn/ (compare 'onna)

Verb

gwine

1. (archaic, especially African-American Vernacular) present participle of go
   • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 21, in Uncle Tom's Cabin:

     Well, I want spectin nothin; only Sam, he's a gwine to de river with some colts, and he said I could go long with him; so I jes put my things together.

   • 1921, Emilie Benson Knipe, Alden Arthur Knipe, Diantha's Quest, New York: The Macmillan company, page 78:

     “Come on, you Snowflake,” he called, cracking his long whip. “You're gwine to get your sugar, but you-all is gwine to earn it first.”

Usage notes

• Though this word is especially associated with traditional African-American Vernacular English, it was also found in the speech of white US Southerners, New Englanders and speakers of the traditional dialects of Southern England.

Descendants

• Gullah: gwine

Anagrams

• Ewing, Ngwei, Winge, winge

Gullah

Etymology

Inherited from dialectal early Modern English gwine.

Verb

gwine

1. present participle of go
   • 2017 August 10, “The World of Gullah”, in Fodor's Travel‎^[1] (travel guide; overall work in English), El Segundo, California: Fodor's Travel, retrieved 12 August 2020:

     If oonuh ent kno weh oonuh dah gwine, oonuh should kno weh oonuh come f'um

     If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you've come from.

2. going to