Ebonics, a short history.
November 6
This date from 1973 celebrates “Ebonics,” sometimes called Black English. This is a word which combines "ebony" and "phonics," and was intended to describe the language of people of African ancestry, of Black North America, and West African people. It emphasizes African roots and since 1996, it has been used to emphasize an independence from (standard) English.
The initial use of "Ebonics" was by the psychologist Robert Williams in a dialogue with Ernie Smith in a conference on "Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child" in St. Louis in 1973. Two years later the word appeared within the title and text of a book edited and co-written by Williams, "Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks." Some writers stress how the term speaks for a view of the language of African Americans as African rather than European.
The term Ebonics did not appear within the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989, and it was not used by linguists. The term was not popular among those who agreed with the reason for coining it. It is little used even within the Ebonics book, in which "Black English" is the far more familiar name.
John Baugh claims that the term Ebonics is used in four ways by its Afro-centric supporters. Two refer to the languages of the African Diaspora as a whole. Two others correspond to English: one "is the equivalent of Black English and is considered to be a dialect of English," the other "is the antonym of black English and is considered to be a language other than English."
In 1996, the term became widely known in America from its use by the Oakland School Board to recognize the primary language of many African American children attending school, and to help in the teaching of Standard English. Since then, Ebonics has become little more than an alternative term for African American Vernacular English, emphasizing its African roots and its independence from English.
Reference:
Center for Applied Linguistics
4646 40th Street NW,
Washington DC 20016-1859,
Main number 202-362-0700,
http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=30...
[Disclaimer: I don't endorse any of the material in the video clip, but thought that it was the best out of the utube clips I saw to demonstrate Ebonics. I apologize in advance for any who may be offended as this is not my intention. If you find this blog 'offensive'' I will be more than happy to remove it. Thanks JenFad ]
This date from 1973 celebrates “Ebonics,” sometimes called Black English. This is a word which combines "ebony" and "phonics," and was intended to describe the language of people of African ancestry, of Black North America, and West African people. It emphasizes African roots and since 1996, it has been used to emphasize an independence from (standard) English.
The initial use of "Ebonics" was by the psychologist Robert Williams in a dialogue with Ernie Smith in a conference on "Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child" in St. Louis in 1973. Two years later the word appeared within the title and text of a book edited and co-written by Williams, "Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks." Some writers stress how the term speaks for a view of the language of African Americans as African rather than European.
The term Ebonics did not appear within the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989, and it was not used by linguists. The term was not popular among those who agreed with the reason for coining it. It is little used even within the Ebonics book, in which "Black English" is the far more familiar name.
John Baugh claims that the term Ebonics is used in four ways by its Afro-centric supporters. Two refer to the languages of the African Diaspora as a whole. Two others correspond to English: one "is the equivalent of Black English and is considered to be a dialect of English," the other "is the antonym of black English and is considered to be a language other than English."
In 1996, the term became widely known in America from its use by the Oakland School Board to recognize the primary language of many African American children attending school, and to help in the teaching of Standard English. Since then, Ebonics has become little more than an alternative term for African American Vernacular English, emphasizing its African roots and its independence from English.
Reference:
Center for Applied Linguistics
4646 40th Street NW,
Washington DC 20016-1859,
Main number 202-362-0700,
http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=30...
[Disclaimer: I don't endorse any of the material in the video clip, but thought that it was the best out of the utube clips I saw to demonstrate Ebonics. I apologize in advance for any who may be offended as this is not my intention. If you find this blog 'offensive'' I will be more than happy to remove it. Thanks JenFad ]
I don't find the blog offensive -- sad and embarrassing come to mind, though. I grew up in da 'hood like many of us, but soon realized that what I was hearing 'round the neighborhood wasn't what I was hearing on TV. Nor at school. Nor at grocery stores. Nor in any other people's conversations. Therefore, I took to the books for clarification. And there it was. It's called PRONUNCIATION. All it took was for me stop being a sorry, lazy ass, who wouldn't even bother to speak the language the way it was meant.
It's sad when English is spoken all over the globe as first, second and even the third language of choice by many. And everyone at least makes an attempt to speak it the same. Except BLACKS IN AMERICA [-- not you all, of course].
In my home, we'd recognize a misused word the moment it's uttered. My 8 y/o has mastered the language since he was 2. It's what he's learned from being around me and his mom -- and guess what, it the same language that's heard on the evening news [or in his case, Disney Channel]. Even when he ventures out to distant relatives and/or his grandparents who speak worst than the folks in the video, he's inoculated and not influenced by this garbage language. Everyone in his circle would be floored if he ever resorted to anything close to Ebonics.
The Christians [who are mostly Black, BTW] say things like 'doing eveything neatly and in order' or something akin to being 'slovenly is a deadly sin'. Then, why is this sloven handling of their ONE AND ONLY LANGUAGE HANDLED THIS WAY and hasn't been corrected in [nearly] 400 years???
Someone, please remind me, why we are having this conversation again? We should be using this message board to gather the eagles to build more banks and securing our economic powerbase. But, NOOOOOO, we're still joking around and struggling w/basic communication skills in the 21st Century. Geez ... Absolutely embarrassing.