University of Köln

You ain′t no never say that! 
Ebonics as a linguistic variety an attitudes towards it.

by

 Andre Vatter

Table of Contents

1. Curse or blessing: about the black language variation in America. 3

2. About standards and variations in American English – scientific approaches. 3

3. Characteristic features of AAVE 5
3.1. Phonologic features of AAVE 5
3.2. Morphological and syntactical features of AAVE 5
3.3. Differences in Lexis 6

4. Black English, AAVE, Ebonics: a recognized & independent language by law. 7

5. Voices of America: attitudes towards the concept of Black English. 8

6. Being an African American in statistics. 11

7. About the new black intelligentsia and black ghetto kids. 12

8. The role of Ebonics and why black skin doesn’t make you black automatically. 13

9. Then why are there bad attitudes coming from the black society within? 15

10. What is there left to say? 16

List of References 17

1. Curse or blessing: about the black language variation in America.

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.

2. About standards and variations in American English - scientific approaches.

A variation of a language premises that there is a standard form of it. The question is: What is the standard language and does it exist in North America? The linguist Kenneth G. Wilson defines his theory of Standard English (StE) as follows: “Ideally, Standard English is the language acceptable and normative among reputable people in reputable circumstances - the prestige dialect recognized throughout the area and populations to whom the standard applies.”⁴ But according to H. Kurath, author of A Word Geography of the Eastern United States, the US is linguistically divided into three major parts: The Northern, Southern and Midland English - which again is subdivided by the North Midland American English and the South Midland American English. These variations differ mainly in pronunciation but also in lexis, hardly in Grammar though.⁵ So although there is no clear scientific answer to the question what exactly Standard American English is, it has been agreed upon that it is the language, which is spoken and understood by most of the people - that is the white people.

[...]

1 Edwards, J. A., Language in Culture and Class.

2 Edwards, J. A., 1976, p. 46.

3 Edwards, J. A., 1976, p. 48.

4 Wilson, 1993.

5 Hansen, 1996, p. 94.