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| ebonics is not a language: Beyond Ebonics John Baugh, 2000-02-10 The media frenzy surrounding the 1996 resolution by the Oakland School Board brought public attention to the term Ebonics, however the idea remains a mystery to most. John Baugh, a well-known African-American linguist and education expert, offers an accessible explanation of the origins of the term, the linguistic reality behind the hype, and the politics behind the outcry on both sides of the debate. Using a non-technical, first-person style, and bringing in many of his own personal experiences, Baugh debunks many commonly-held notions about the way African-Americans speak English, and the result is a nuanced and balanced portrait of a fraught subject. This volume should appeal to students and scholars in anthropology, linguistics, education, urban studies, and African-American studies. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Real Ebonics Debate Theresa Perry, Lisa Delpit, 1998-06-17 In the winter of 1996, the Oakland school board's resolution recognizing Ebonics as a valid linguistic system generated a brief firestorm of hostile criticism and misinformation, then faded from public consciousness. But in the classrooms of America, the question of how to engage the distinctive language of many African-American children remains urgent. In The Real Ebonics Debate some of our most important educators, linguists, and writers, as well as teachers and students reporting from the field, examine the lessons of the Ebonics controversy and unravel the complex issues at the heart of how America educates its children. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Good Negress A. J. Verdelle, 1995-01-03 “Haunting . . . To read The Good Negress is to fall under a spell, to open a window, to fly.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Twenty years after its initial publication, The Good Negress continues to be an important part of the literary canon, as relevant and necessary as ever. Set in 1960s Detroit, the novel centers around Denise Palms, who leaves her grandmother’s home in rural Virginia to reunite with her mother, stepfather, and older brothers. As a black teenage girl, Denise is given scarce opportunity beyond cooking, cleaning, and raising her mother’s baby. But an idealistic, demanding teacher opens Denise’s eyes to a future she has never considered, and soon she begins to question the limits of the life prescribed to her. With lyrical, evocative prose, A. J. Verdelle captures Denise’s journey from adolescence to womanhood as she navigates the tension between loyalty and independence, and between circumstance and desire. The Good Negress is an unforgettable debut—simultaneously the portrait of a family and a glimpse into an era of twentieth-century America. Winner of the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction |
| ebonics is not a language: Ebonics J. David Ramirez, 2005-01-01 This collection of papers, comments, and documents traces the distant and recent history of the Ebonics debate in the USA. The book examines how, despite increasing access to public education over the past century, schools continue to impose language standards and expectations on children that methodically privileges some, while disadvantaging others. |
| ebonics is not a language: You ain't no never say that! - Ebonics as a linguistic variety and attitudes towards it. Andre Vatter, 2003-04-02 Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2+ (B), University of Cologne (English Seminar), language: English, abstract: There are several definitions about what language variations are and numerous labels have been given to them. A. D. Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester, for example distinguished four different kinds of dialects that can be found in almost every language.1 According to Edwards the Standard Dialect is that variety, which is most commonly used in everyday life, in media, government, religion – and on every other occasion “when speech most closely resembles the written form”.2 Geographical Dialects evolve out of isolation of groups of speakers of one language. The more time passes, the less theses speakers will sound the same and differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexis will occur, creating regional divergences of the source language. The same can happen in microcosmic relation, for example in urban life, where sharp differences in speech between speakers not only reflect but also reinforce social distances. Variations here are called Social Class Dialects. Last not least, Edwards determines the Ethnic Dialect as a variation that “often contains reminders of the ‘native’ language, the intrusion of ‘foreign’ sound, words and structures, and it often reflects the residential and perhaps occupational segregation.”3 And this is what the whole issue of Ebonics, of Black English, of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in America deals with. It raises questions: What is Black English and what characterizes it? Is it a dialect, a language? How does segregation show in the use of a language, and what is the public opinion towards black slang? What do the blacks think about their own way of communication? This paper will take a close look at these questions and will show aspects of controversies in America’s current public discussions. It will show that the concept of Ebonics is mores than just a plain way of speaking and how a language – at the same time – can be a symbol of status as well as a social curse to a whole culture. 1 Edwards, J. A., Language in Culture and Class. 2 Edwards, J. A., 1976, p. 46. 3 Edwards, J. A., 1976, p. 48. |
| ebonics is not a language: Talking Back, Talking Black John H. McWhorter, 2017 An authoritative, impassioned celebration of Black English, how it works, and why it matters |
| ebonics is not a language: Spoken Soul John Russell Rickford, Russell John Rickford, 2002-02-28 In Praise of Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English Spoken Soul brilliantly fills a huge gap. . . . a delightfully readable introduction to the elegant interweave between the language and its culture. –Ralph W. Fasold, Georgetown university A lively, well-documented history of Black English . . . that will enlighten and inform not only educators, for whom it should be required reading, but all who value and question language. –Kirkus Reviews Spoken Soul is a must read for anyone who is interested in the connection between language and identity. –Chicago Defender Claude Brown called Black English Spoken Soul. Toni Morrison said, It's a love, a passion. Its function is like a preacher’s: to make you stand out of your seat, make you lose yourself and hear yourself. The worst of all possible things that could happen would be to lose that language. Now renowned linguist John R. Rickford and journalist Russell J. Rickford provide the definitive guide to African American vernacular English–from its origins and features to its powerful fascination for society at large. |
| ebonics is not a language: Linguistic Justice April Baker-Bell, 2020-04-28 Bringing together theory, research, and practice to dismantle Anti-Black Linguistic Racism and white linguistic supremacy, this book provides ethnographic snapshots of how Black students navigate and negotiate their linguistic and racial identities across multiple contexts. By highlighting the counterstories of Black students, Baker-Bell demonstrates how traditional approaches to language education do not account for the emotional harm, internalized linguistic racism, or consequences these approaches have on Black students' sense of self and identity. This book presents Anti-Black Linguistic Racism as a framework that explicitly names and richly captures the linguistic violence, persecution, dehumanization, and marginalization Black Language-speakers endure when using their language in schools and in everyday life. To move toward Black linguistic liberation, Baker-Bell introduces a new way forward through Antiracist Black Language Pedagogy, a pedagogical approach that intentionally and unapologetically centers the linguistic, cultural, racial, intellectual, and self-confidence needs of Black students. This volume captures what Antiracist Black Language Pedagogy looks like in classrooms while simultaneously illustrating how theory, research, and practice can operate in tandem in pursuit of linguistic and racial justice. A crucial resource for educators, researchers, professors, and graduate students in language and literacy education, writing studies, sociology of education, sociolinguistics, and critical pedagogy, this book features a range of multimodal examples and practices through instructional maps, charts, artwork, and stories that reflect the urgent need for antiracist language pedagogies in our current social and political climate. |
| ebonics is not a language: Do You Speak American? Robert Macneil, William Cran, 2007-12-18 Is American English in decline? Are regional dialects dying out? Is there a difference between men and women in how they adapt to linguistic variations? These questions, and more, about our language catapulted Robert MacNeil and William Cran—the authors (with Robert McCrum) of the language classic The Story of English—across the country in search of the answers. Do You Speak American? is the tale of their discoveries, which provocatively show how the standard for American English—if a standard exists—is changing quickly and dramatically. On a journey that takes them from the Northeast, through Appalachia and the Deep South, and west to California, the authors observe everyday verbal interactions and in a host of interviews with native speakers glean the linguistic quirks and traditions characteristic of each area. While examining the histories and controversies surrounding both written and spoken American English, they address anxieties and assumptions that, when explored, are highly emotional, such as the growing influence of Spanish as a threat to American English and the special treatment of African-American vernacular English. And, challenging the purists who think grammatical standards are in serious deterioration and that media saturation of our culture is homogenizing our speech, they surprise us with unpredictable responses. With insight and wit, MacNeil and Cran bring us a compelling book that is at once a celebration and a potent study of our singular language. Each wave of immigration has brought new words to enrich the American language. Do you recognize the origin of 1. blunderbuss, sleigh, stoop, coleslaw, boss, waffle? Or 2. dumb, ouch, shyster, check, kaput, scram, bummer? Or 3. phooey, pastrami, glitch, kibbitz, schnozzle? Or 4. broccoli, espresso, pizza, pasta, macaroni, radio? Or 5. smithereens, lollapalooza, speakeasy, hooligan? Or 6. vamoose, chaps, stampede, mustang, ranch, corral? 1. Dutch 2. German 3. Yiddish 4. Italian 5. Irish 6. Spanish |
| ebonics is not a language: Black English Joey Lee Dillard, 1973 'An important, provocative study....Black English is not a sloppy imitation of white English, Dillard insists, but a precise language with a history and grammar of its own. A teacher of linguistics, he marshals an impressive--and often fascinating--case.'--Charles Michener, Newsweek |
| ebonics is not a language: African American Vernacular English John Russell Rickford, 1999-07-09 In response to the flood of interest in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) following the recent controversy over Ebonics, this book brings together sixteen essays on the subject by a leading expert in the field, one who has been researching and writing on it for a quarter of a century. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Skin That We Speak Lisa Delpit, Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, 2013-04-09 “Lucid, accessible” research on classroom language bias for educators and “parents concerned about questions of power and control in public schools” (Publishers Weekly). In this collection of twelve essays, MacArthur Fellow Lisa Delpit and Kent State University Associate Professor Joanne Kilgour Dowdy take a critical look at the issues of language and dialect in the education system. The Skin That We Speak moves beyond the highly charged war of idioms to present teachers and parents with a thoughtful exploration of the varieties of English spoken today. At a time when children who don’t speak formal English are written off in our schools, and when the class- and race-biased language used to describe those children determines their fate, The Skin That We Speak offers a cutting-edge look at this all-important aspect of education. Including groundbreaking work by Herbert Kohl, Gloria J. Ladson-Billings, and Victoria Purcell-Gates, as well as classic texts by Geneva Smitherman and Asa Hilliard, this volume of writing is what Black Issues Book Review calls “an essential text.” “The book is aimed at helping educators learn to make use of cultural differences apparent in language to educate children, but its content guarantees broader appeal.” —Booklist “An honest, much-needed look at one of the most crucial issues in education today.” —Jackson Advocate |
| ebonics is not a language: Appropriating Blackness E. Patrick Johnson, 2003-08-13 Performance artist and scholar E. Patrick Johnson’s provocative study examines how blackness is appropriated and performed—toward widely divergent ends—both within and outside African American culture. Appropriating Blackness develops from the contention that blackness in the United States is necessarily a politicized identity—avowed and disavowed, attractive and repellent, fixed and malleable. Drawing on performance theory, queer studies, literary analysis, film criticism, and ethnographic fieldwork, Johnson describes how diverse constituencies persistently try to prescribe the boundaries of authentic blackness and how performance highlights the futility of such enterprises. Johnson looks at various sites of performed blackness, including Marlon Riggs’s influential documentary Black Is . . . Black Ain’t and comedic routines by Eddie Murphy, David Alan Grier, and Damon Wayans. He analyzes nationalist writings by Amiri Baraka and Eldridge Cleaver, the vernacular of black gay culture, an oral history of his grandmother’s experience as a domestic worker in the South, gospel music as performed by a white Australian choir, and pedagogy in a performance studies classroom. By exploring the divergent aims and effects of these performances—ranging from resisting racism, sexism, and homophobia to excluding sexual dissidents from the black community—Johnson deftly analyzes the multiple significations of blackness and their myriad political implications. His reflexive account considers his own complicity, as ethnographer and teacher, in authenticating narratives of blackness. |
| ebonics is not a language: African American Language Mary Kohn, Walt Wolfram, Charlie Farrington, Jennifer Renn, Janneke Van Hofwegen, 2020-12-03 From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and change, and language is no exception. This book documents the results of a pioneering longitudinal linguistic survey, which followed a cohort of sixty-seven African American children over the first twenty years of life, to examine language development through childhood. It offers the first opportunity to hear what it sounds like to grow up linguistically for a cohort of African American speakers, and provides fascinating insights into key linguistics issues, such as how physical growth influences pronunciation, how social factors influence language change, and the extent to which individuals modify their language use over time. By providing a lens into some of the most foundational questions about coming of age in African American Language, this study has implications for a wide range of disciplines, from speech pathology and education, to research on language acquisition and sociolinguistics. |
| ebonics is not a language: Penny Wheep Hugh MacDiarmid, 1926 |
| ebonics is not a language: African American English Lisa J. Green, 2002-08-08 This authoritative introduction to African American English (AAE) is the first textbook to look at the grammar as a whole. Clearly organised, it describes patterns in the sentence structure, sound system, word formation and word use in AAE. The textbook examines topics such as education, speech events in the secular and religious world, and the use of language in literature and the media to create black images. It includes exercises to accompany each chapter and will be essential reading for students in linguistics, education, anthropology, African American studies and literature. |
| ebonics is not a language: What Language Is John McWhorter, 2013-02-12 New York Times bestselling author and renowned linguist, John McWhorter, explores the complicated and fascinating world of languages. From Standard English to Black English; obscure tongues only spoken by a few thousand people in the world to the big ones like Mandarin - What Language Is celebrates the history and curiosities of languages around the world and smashes our assumptions about correct grammar. An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. From vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with Big Ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Surinam creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter also takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place-from Persian to the languages of Sri Lanka- to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression. |
| ebonics is not a language: Sociolinguistic Variation Robert Bayley, Ceil Lucas, 2007-10-18 Why does human language vary from one person, or one group, to another? In what ways does it vary? How do linguists go about studying variation in, say, the sound system or the sentence structure of a particular language? Why is the study of language variation important outside the academic world, in say education, the law, employment or housing? This book provides an overview of these questions, bringing together a team of experts to survey key areas within the study of language variation and language change. Covering both the range of methods used to research variation in language, and the applications of such research to a variety of social contexts, it is essential reading for advanced students and researchers in sociolinguistics, communication, linguistic anthropology and applied linguistics. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Oxford Handbook of African American Language Sonja L. Lanehart, 2015 Offers a set of diverse analyses of traditional and contemporary work on language structure and use in African American communities. |
| ebonics is not a language: Introduction to Ebonics Linda R Taylor, 2016-10-17 Just when you thought it was safe to dismiss the speech and language of Black folks in America as a forgotten subject, Introduction to Ebonics: The Relexification of African Grammar with English and other Indo-European Words surfaces. Volume I outlines the theoretical base for Ebonics and its status as a neo-African language. Volume II is forthcoming with nearly 4000 memorable words, phrases, and sayings placed at your fingertips, along with gems of information gleaned from the pens of Dr. Ernie A. Smith and Dr. Robert L. Williams. After reading and studying this entire Work, will anyone with right good sense continue to label Ebonics as Black English? Contrary to popular belief, there has not been a dcontinuation of African grammar in the deep structure of Black speech. African American Language, or Ebonics is the linguistic contInuation of Africa in Black America. |
| ebonics is not a language: Word On The Street John Mcwhorter, 2009-03-06 Though there is a contingent of linguists who fight the fact, our language is always changing -- not only through slang, but sound, syntax, and words' meanings as well. Debunking the myth of pure standard English, tackling controversial positions, and eschewing politically correct arguments, linguist John McWhorter considers speech patterns and regional accents to demonstrate just how the changes do occur. Wielding reason and humor, McWhorter ultimately explains why we must embrace these changes, ultimately revealing our American English in all its variety, expressiveness, and power. |
| ebonics is not a language: Ebonics Is Good Abdul Karim Bangura, 2010-09-02 Ebonics Is Good is a humble response to the clarion call by Mwalimu Carter G. Woodson, Mwalimu Frantz Fanon, and Mwalimu Malcolm X, among others, to address our African language question. As all of these great Africans and others have shown throughout history, it behooves us to counter the assumption of the ill-informed that Ebonics is bad by demonstrating that it is a GOOD language and worthy of respect. Ebonics Is Good explores the following topics: Linguistic Reality of African American English Sociolinguistics of African American English Politico-Sociolinguistic Reality of African American English Social Construction of Ebonics: A Fasoldian Perspective The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Initiative Linguistic Connections between the African, Jamaican and Negro National Anthems |
| ebonics is not a language: African-American English Salikoko S. Mufwene, John R. Rickford, Guy Bailey, John Baugh, 2021-09-30 This book was the first to provide a comprehensive survey of linguistic research into African-American English and is widely recognised as a classic in the field. It covers both the main linguistic features, in particular the grammar, phonology, and lexicon as well as the sociological, political and educational issues connected with African-American English. The editors have played key roles in the development of African-American English and Black Linguistics as overlapping academic fields of study. Along with other leading figures, notably Geneva Smitherman, William Labov and Walt Wolfram, they provide an authoritative diverse guide to these vitally important subject areas. Drawing on key moments of cultural significance from the Ebonics controversy to the rap of Ice-T, the contributors cover the state of the art in scholarship on African-American English, and actively dispel misconceptions, address new questions and explore new approaches. This classic edition has a new foreword by Sonja Lanehart, setting the book in context and celebrating its influence. This is an essential text for courses on African-American English, key reading for Varieties of English and World Englishes modules and an important reference for students of linguistics, black studies and anthropology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. |
| ebonics is not a language: Linguistics in Pursuit of Justice John Baugh, 2018-01-25 Explores the role of linguistics in promoting justice and equality with regard to ethnic minorities, legal matters and civil rights. |
| ebonics is not a language: A Peculiar People Steven Willis, 2022-04-26 2023 The Black Caucus of the American Library Association - Poetry Winner 2022 Heartland Bookseller Awards Finalist A Peculiar People creates an entire microcosm within these poems. Steven Willis crafts a cast of characters, showcasing their struggles, identities, & underlying emotions. Willis champions the art of storytelling: weaving pop-culture and screenwriting elements to allow the reader to view this social commentary with a fresh lens. This collection examines the author's life experience; the pain of being Black and facing systemic racism. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Nu Naybahood Funetic Ebonic Dictionary Munyungo Jackson, Darryl Jackson, 1998 |
| ebonics is not a language: Middle-Class African American English Tracey Weldon, 2021-02-04 From its historical development to its current context, this is the first full-length overview of middle-class African American English. |
| ebonics is not a language: A Teacher's Introduction to African American English Teresa M. Redd, Karen Schuster Webb, 2005 Known at various times as Black English, Ebonics, and currently as African American English (AAE), the spoken word of many African Americans is influenced by dialectical and linguistic features. How AAE interacts with standard written English is explored, including the effect on students' ability to write in standard English and how a teacher can help students become effective writers. |
| ebonics is not a language: Talkin and Testifyin Geneva Smitherman, 1986 In this book, Smitherman makes a substantial contribution to an understanding of Black English by setting it in the larger context of Black culture and life style. In her book, Geneva Smitherman makes a substantial contribution to an understanding of Black English by setting it in the larger context of Black culture and life style. In addition to defining Black English, by its distinctive structure and special lexicon, Smitherman argues that the Black dialect is set apart from traditional English by a rhetorical style which reflects its African origins. Smitherman also tackles the issue of Black and White attitudes toward Black English, particularly as they affect educational policy. Documenting her insights with quotes from notable Black historical, literary and popular figures, Smitherman makes clear that Black English is as legitimate a form of speech as British, American, or Australian English. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Emergence of Black English Guy Bailey, Natalie Maynor, Patricia Cukor-Avila, 1991-01-01 Debate over the evolution of Black English Vernacular (BEV) has permeated Afro-American studies, creole linguistics, dialectology, and sociolinguistics for a quarter of a century with little sign of a satisfactory resolution, primarily because evidence that bears directly on the earlier stages of BEV is sparse. This book brings together 11 transcripts of mechanical recordings of interviews with former slaves born well over a century ago. It attempts to make this crucial source of data as widely known as possible and to explore its importance for the study of Black English Vernacular in view of various problems of textual composition and interpretation. It does so by providing a complete description of the contents of the recordings, by providing transcripts of most of the contents, and by publishing a group of interpretive essays which examine the data in the light of other relevant historical, cultural, social, and linguistic evidence and which provide contexts for interpretation and analysis. In these essays a group of diverse scholars on BEV analyze the same texts for the first time; the lack of consensus that emerges may seem surprising, but in fact highlights some of the basic problems of textual composition and interpretation and of scholarly dispositions that underlie the study of BEV. The papers raise crucial questions about the evolution of BEV, about its relationship to other varieties, and, most important, about the construction and interpretation of linguistic texts. |
| ebonics is not a language: Riot Baby Tochi Onyebuchi, 2020-01-21 Winner of the 2021 World Fantasy Award Winner of an 2021 ALA Alex Award Winner of the 2020 New England Book Award for Fiction Winner of the 2021 Ignyte Award Winner of the 2021 AABMC Literary Award A 2021 Finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Best Outstanding Work of Literary Fiction A 2021 Hugo Award Finalist A 2021 Nebula Award Finalist A 2021 Locus Award Finalist A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Wired | Book Riot | Publishers Weekly | NYPL | The Austen Chronicle | Kobo | GooglePlay | Good Housekeeping | Powell's Books | Den of Geek Riot Baby, Onyebuchi's first novel for adults, is as much the story of Ella and her brother, Kevin, as it is the story of black pain in America, of the extent and lineage of police brutality, racism and injustice in this country, written in prose as searing and precise as hot diamonds.—The New York Times Riot Baby bursts at the seams of story with so much fire, passion and power that in the end it turns what we call a narrative into something different altogether.—Marlon James Ella has a Thing. She sees a classmate grow up to become a caring nurse. A neighbor's son murdered in a drive-by shooting. Things that haven't happened yet. Kev, born while Los Angeles burned around them, wants to protect his sister from a power that could destroy her. But when Kev is incarcerated, Ella must decide what it means to watch her brother suffer while holding the ability to wreck cities in her hands. Rooted in the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is as much an intimate family story as a global dystopian narrative. It burns fearlessly toward revolution and has quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience. Ella and Kev are both shockingly human and immeasurably powerful. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by racism. Their futures might alter the world. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. |
| ebonics is not a language: Please Come Off-Book Kevin Kantor, 2021-03-23 Please Come Off-Book queers the theatrical canon we all grew up with. Kantor critiques the treatment of queer figures and imagines a braver and bolder future that allows queer voices the agency over their own stories. Drawing upon elements of the Aristotelian dramatic structure and the Hero's Journey, Please Come Off-Book is both a love letter to and a scathing critique of American culture and the lenses we choose to see ourselves through. |
| ebonics is not a language: African American Vernacular English: A New Dialect of the English Language Patrick Tretina, 2012-06-20 Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: A, University of New Hampshire, course: English 550 - Graduate Studies in English Language, language: English, abstract: This scholarly research paper examines the substantial reasoning behind why African American Vernacular English is a true dialect of the English language. The AAVE controversy has been long debated by scholars and linguists alike. The debate is centered on two substantial ideas of its definition and genesis. The debate is split; half of the spectrum believes AAVE is simply an apathetic form of speech, while other concrete theories suggest that AAVE is a dialect of the English language that stems from the West African Slave Trade. This research paper not only analyzes a number of scholarly theories to credit the idea that AAVE is a true dialect of the English Language, but it also calls on a number of other variants to supplement the facts provided. |
| ebonics is not a language: Black Linguistics Arnetha Ball, Sinfree Makoni, Geneva Smitherman, Arthur K. Spears, Foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, 2005-08-19 This groundbreaking collection re-orders the elitist and colonial elements of language studies by drawing together the multiple perspectives of Black language researchers. |
| ebonics is not a language: African American Communication Ronald L. Jackson II, Amber L. Johnson, Michael L. Hecht, Sidney A. Ribeau, 2019-11-19 Now in its third edition, this text examines how African Americans personally and culturally define themselves and how that definition informs their communication habits, practices, and norms. This edition includes new chapters that highlight discussions of gender and sexuality, intersectional differences, contemporary social movements, and digital and mediated communication. The book is ideally suited for advanced students and scholars in intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, communication theory, African American/Black studies, gender studies, and family studies. |
| ebonics is not a language: Language in the Inner City William Labov, 1972 With the recent controversy in the Oakland, California school district about Ebonics—or as it is referred to in sociolinguistic circles, African American Vernacular English or Black English Vernacular—much attention has been paid to the patterns of speech prevalent among African Americans in the inner city. In January 1997, at the height of the Ebonics debate, author and prominent sociolinguist William Labov testified before a Senate subcommittee that for most inner city African American children, the relation of sound to spelling is different, and more complicated than for speakers of other dialects. He suggested that it was time to apply this knowledge to the teaching of reading. The testimony harkened back to research contained in his groundbreaking book Language in the Inner City, originally published in 1972. In it, Labov probed the question Does 'Black English' exist? and emerged with an answer that was well ahead of his time, and that remains essential to our contemporary understanding of the subject. Language in the Inner City firmly establishes African American Vernacular English not simply as slang but as a well-formed set of rules of pronunciation and grammar capable of conveying complex logic and reasoning. Studying not only the normal processes of communication in the inner city but such art forms as the ritual insult and ritualized narrative, Labov confirms the Black vernacular as a separate and independent dialect of English. His analysis goes on to clarify the nature and processes of linguistic change in the context of a changing society. Perhaps even more today than two decades ago, Labov's conclusions are mandatory reading for anyone concerned with education and social change, with African American culture, and with the future of race relations in this country. |
| ebonics is not a language: Aspects of English Negation Yoko Iyeiri, 2005-01-01 This book contains eleven carefully selected papers, all discussing negative constructions in English. The aim of this volume is to bring together empirical research into the development of English negation and analyses of syntactic variations in Present-day English negation. The first part Aspects of Negation in the History of English includes six contributions, that focus on the usages of the negative adverbs ne and not, the decline of negative concord, and the development of the auxiliary do in negation. Most of the themes discussed here are then linked to the second part Aspects of Negation in Present-day English. Especially, the issue of negative concord is repeatedly explored by three of the five papers in this part, one related to British English dialects in general, another to Tyneside English, and the other to African American Vernacular English. This book uniquely highlights the importance of continuity from Old English to Present-day English, while, in its introduction, it provides a useful detailed survey of previous studies on English negation. |
| ebonics is not a language: Features of African American English in the Context of Language Varieties Janine Lacombe, 2014-01-08 Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Koblenz-Landau (Anglistik), course: Varieties of English, language: English, abstract: African American English in general is used to describe a wide range of language varieties spoken mostly by the black population in the United States. During the past decades however multiple names and definitions have been established including Black English (BE), Ebonics, Black Vernacular English (BVE), and African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The term “Negro Non-standard English” used until the late 1960s has been abolished by now due to the fact that it insinuates the presence of a superior “White Standard English” In the preface of her book African American English: A Linguistic Introduction Lisa GREEN points out that there has been a substantial amount of linguistic research on AAE, oftentimes however neglecting a closer look at the structural patterns and features. This is where the focus of the paper presented shall be on. After some developmental and socio-historical background information concerning AAE, phonological, morphological, and grammatical attributes will be examined and subsequently illustrated by an exemplary analysis of three different rap songs. The focal point here lies in the lyrical/ textual presentation of AAE in rap music and not in the actual vocal performance. The aim of this paper and the entailed analyses is to ascertain whether AAE consequently aims for persistent, stable patterns on some or even all linguistic levels or if certain features occur in a more elective, non-obligatory way. The rap songs chosen for the analyses offer a creditable alternative to hard to find authentic text material and display sufficient characteristic of AAE. A complete version of each rap text is attached in the appendix of this work. The textual extend of this paper is substantiated in the amount of examples given to illustrate features of AAE. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Crown Ain't Worth Much Hanif Abdurraqib, 2020-05-15 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award - Poetry Honorable Mention 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award - Grand Prize Short List 2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Nominee The Crown Ain't Worth Much, Hanif Abdurraqib's first full-length collection, is a sharp and vulnerable portrayal of city life in the United States. A regular columnist for MTV.com, Abdurraqib brings his interest in pop culture to these poems, analyzing race, gender, family, and the love that finally holds us together even as it threatens to break us. Terrance Hayes writes that Abdurraqib bridges the bravado and bling of praise with the blood and tears of elegy. The poems in this collection are challenging and accessible at once, as they seek to render real human voices in moments of tragedy and celebration. |
| ebonics is not a language: The Workings of Language Rebecca S. Wheeler, 1999-09-30 The essays in this book help to make sense of the workings of language in our everyday world—on the personal, local, national, and international levels. The authors are all linguists, seeking to help readers free themselves of language prejudices, thus opening the way to better informed views on the function of language in society, a more balanced treatment in schools, and more linguistically-sound public policies. Defusing Chicken-Little prognostications about English, this volume suggests that dark claims about language are not to be taken at face value. Instead, these claims function as a signal: time to step back. Offering just such a time-out, eminent linguists explore the fuller picture underlying language in our society, examining prescriptivism, Black English, Ozark English, American Sign Language, English-Only, and Endangered Languages. After helping stomp out such linguistic fires, the linguists showcase the potent workings of language: world englishes, language and politics, media, prejudice, creativity, gender, and humor, thus opening the way to better informed views on the function of language in schools, and more linguistically sound public policies. |
Ebonics (word) - Wikipedia
Ebonics (a portmanteau of the words ebony and phonics) is a term created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disapproved of the negative terms being used to describe their type of …
Ebonics | Meaning, Examples, Language, & Origin | Britannica
Apr 30, 2025 · Ebonics is a variety of American English spoken by a large portion of Black Americans. Many scholars hold that Ebonics, like several English creoles, developed from …
ebonics - Urban Dictionary
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also called African American English, Black English, Black Vernacular, or Black English Vernacular (BEV), is a type variety (dialect, …
EBONICS Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of EBONICS is african american english.
African American Vernacular English - University of Hawaii System
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety formerly known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics …
Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American ... - PBS
Ebonics is the antonym of Black English and is considered to be a language other than English (Smith 1997). Ebonics refers to language among all people of African descent throughout the …
Ebonics - Slang Meaning and Examples - FastSlang
Ebonics has its roots in the West African languages brought over by slaves during the transatlantic slave trade, and it developed into a distinct dialect in the United States due to …
A History of the Term ‘Ebonics’ - Linguistics Girl
Mar 15, 2023 · The term Ebonics has been criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes about Black speech and perpetuating linguistic discrimination. In contrast, many view AAL as a more …
What Happened to Ebonics?. Turmoil in 1980s Oakland ... - Medium
Dec 15, 2023 · Ebonics, a term coined in 1973 by Dr. Robert Williams, combined the words ebony and phonics. In the 1970s and 80s, Ebonics and AAVE (African American Vernacular English) …
Ebonics - Wikipedia
Ebonics may refer to: African-American Vernacular English, a distinctive lect, or variety, of English spoken by African Americans, sometimes called Ebonics; Ebonics, originally referring to the …
Ebonics (word) - Wikipedia
Ebonics (a portmanteau of the words ebony and phonics) is a term created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disapproved of the negative terms being used to describe their type of …
Ebonics | Meaning, Examples, Language, & Origin | Britannica
Apr 30, 2025 · Ebonics is a variety of American English spoken by a large portion of Black Americans. Many scholars hold that Ebonics, like several English creoles, developed from …
ebonics - Urban Dictionary
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also called African American English, Black English, Black Vernacular, or Black English Vernacular (BEV), is a type variety (dialect, …
EBONICS Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of EBONICS is african american english.
African American Vernacular English - University of Hawaii System
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety formerly known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics …
Do You Speak American . Sea to Shining Sea . American ... - PBS
Ebonics is the antonym of Black English and is considered to be a language other than English (Smith 1997). Ebonics refers to language among all people of African descent throughout the …
Ebonics - Slang Meaning and Examples - FastSlang
Ebonics has its roots in the West African languages brought over by slaves during the transatlantic slave trade, and it developed into a distinct dialect in the United States due to …
A History of the Term ‘Ebonics’ - Linguistics Girl
Mar 15, 2023 · The term Ebonics has been criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes about Black speech and perpetuating linguistic discrimination. In contrast, many view AAL as a more …
What Happened to Ebonics?. Turmoil in 1980s Oakland ... - Medium
Dec 15, 2023 · Ebonics, a term coined in 1973 by Dr. Robert Williams, combined the words ebony and phonics. In the 1970s and 80s, Ebonics and AAVE (African American Vernacular English) …
Ebonics - Wikipedia
Ebonics may refer to: African-American Vernacular English, a distinctive lect, or variety, of English spoken by African Americans, sometimes called Ebonics; Ebonics, originally referring to the …
