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Black on White: African American Vernacular English

Black on White: African American Vernacular English . What is it? What is its origin? Why are debates about it significant?. Background.

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Black on White: African American Vernacular English

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  1. Black on White: African American Vernacular English What is it? What is its origin? Why are debates about it significant?

  2. Background African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety of English formerly known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics outside the academic community.

  3. AAVE can be described by a number of different features Phonological Reduction of final consonant clusters when followed by a word beginning with a vowel lif’up for lift up But not thing’ today for think today Note also that nearly all dialect speakers say things like I’m goin’ to the store.

  4. Grammatical: • Present tense/3rd person absence he walk for he walks she raise for she raises

  5. 2. Plural absence on general plural (but not plurals for weights and measures) four girl for four girls some dog for some dogs But not four cup for four cups

  6. 3. Remote time been (something that happened a long time ago and is still relevant) You been paid your dues. I been known him for a long time But not You been gone to school today.

  7. Possessive –s absence man hat for man’s hat Jack car for Jack’s car

  8. Copula (verb be) deletion She nice for She’s nice He in the kitchen for He’s in the kitchen You ugly for You ugly.

  9. 6. Use of habitual be Sometimes my ears be itching. She don’t be usually be there

  10. Vocabulary Food words with African origins: banana  (Mandingo)yam  (Mandingo)okra  (Akan)gumbo  (Western Bantu)

  11. Vocabulary Adjectives: bogus  'fake/fraudulent' cf. Hausa boko, or boko-boko 'deceit, fraud'. hep, hip  'well informed, up-to-date' cf. Wolof hepi, hipi 'to open one's eyes, be aware of what is going on'.

  12. cat  'a friend, a fellow, etc.' cf. Wolof -kat (a suffix denoting a person) cool  'calm, controlled' cf. Mandingo suma 'slow' (literally 'cool') dig  'to understand, appreciate, pay attention' cf. Wolof deg, dega 'to understand, appreciate'

  13. bad  'really good' In West African languages and Caribbean creoles a word meaning 'bad' is often used to mean 'good' or 'alot/intense'. For instance, in Guyanese Creole mi laik am bad, yu noo means 'I like him a lot'. Dalby mentions Mandingo (Bambara) a nyinata jaw-ke 'She's very pretty.' (literally 'She is beautiful bad.'); cf. also Krio ( a creole language spoken in West Africa) mi gud baad.

  14. What is it’s origin? 1. Dialectologists view: AAVE is a variety of English that has its roots in the varieties of English spoken in the British Isles, just like any other variety of English

  15. Dialectologists (Anglicist) View African Languages | Earlier English------------------------Pidgin | | | | | Creole | | | Modern Non-standard Gullah/Jamaican Standard Varieties English (including AAVE)

  16. Creolist View: AAVE developed out of a Creole language used during the times of slavery. This language can be traced back to various West African Languages of the slaves who were brought to the New World.

  17. Creolist View African Languages | Earlier English------------------------------Pidgin | | | | | Creole | | | Modern Non-standard Gullah/Jamaican/AAVE Standard Varieties English

  18. Which view do you believe? What evidence can you provide in support of your view?

  19. Exercise Read: Ebonics Slang No Substitute for Standard English by Michael King • What is the main point he is making? • What points do you agree with? Why? • What points do you disagree with? Why?

  20. Why are Debates about it significant? • Is AAVE systematic and rule-governed just like all languages are? • Can an understanding an appreciation of AAVE help students whose home language is AAVE acquire standard American English?

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