The article presents a linguistic analysis of U.S. slave narratives, examining the phonetic process of initial syllable deletion for certain words, such as "'bout" for "about." The main source for the study is "Lay My Burden Down," based on recordings of former slaves taken by B. A. Botkin. Topics discussed include linguistic competence, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and connections with Atlantic creoles, both American and African.