Ebonics
Encyclopedia
Ebonics is a term that was originally intended to refer to the language of all people descended from enslaved Africans
, particularly in West Africa
, the Caribbean
, and North America
. Since 1996, Ebonics has primarily been used to refer to African American Vernacular English
(AAVE), a dialect distinctively different from Standard American English
. Since the 1996 controversy over its use by the Oakland School Board
, the term Ebonics has come to refer to using the pedagogical tool
of teaching Standard American English
to native speakers of AAVE by creating a distinction between Standard American English
and African American Vernacular English
.
, Missouri
. His intention was to give a name to the language of African Americans that acknowledged the linguistic consequence of the slave trade and avoided the negative connotations of other terms like "Nonstandard Negro English".:
In 1975, the term appeared in Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks
, a book edited and cowritten by Williams:
Other writers have since emphasized how the term represents a view of the language of Black people as African rather than European. The term was not obviously popular even among those who agreed with the reason for coining it. Even within Williams's Ebonics book, the term Black English is far more commonly used than the term Ebonics.
John Baugh has stated that the term Ebonics is used in four ways by its Afrocentric
proponents. It may:
or it may refer to what is normally regarded as a variety of English
: either
African people
African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
, particularly in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Since 1996, Ebonics has primarily been used to refer to African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
(AAVE), a dialect distinctively different from Standard American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
. Since the 1996 controversy over its use by the Oakland School Board
Oakland Ebonics controversy
On December 18, 1996, the Oakland, California school board passed a controversial resolution recognizing the legitimacy of "Ebonics"—what mainstream linguists more often term African American Vernacular English—as a language...
, the term Ebonics has come to refer to using the pedagogical tool
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
of teaching Standard American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
to native speakers of AAVE by creating a distinction between Standard American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
and African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
.
Original usage
The word Ebonics was originally coined in 1973 by African American social psychologist Robert Williams in a discussion with linguist Ernie Smith (as well as other language scholars and researchers) that took place in a conference on "Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child", held in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. His intention was to give a name to the language of African Americans that acknowledged the linguistic consequence of the slave trade and avoided the negative connotations of other terms like "Nonstandard Negro English".:
We need to define what we speak. We need to give a clear definition to our language...We know that ebony means black and that phonics refers to speech sounds or the science of sounds. Thus, we are really talking about the science of black speech sounds or language.
In 1975, the term appeared in Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks
Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks
Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks is a 1975 book written by Dr. Robert Williams, an African-American psychologist, who had coined the term "Ebonics" two years earlier...
, a book edited and cowritten by Williams:
A two-year-old term created by a group of black scholars, Ebonics may be defined as "the linguistic and paralinguisticParalanguageParalanguage refers to the non-verbal elements of communication used to modify meaning and convey emotion. Paralanguage may be expressed consciously or unconsciously, and it includes the pitch, volume, and, in some cases, intonation of speech. Sometimes the definition is restricted to...
features which on a concentric continuum represent the communicative competenceCommunicative competenceCommunicative competence is a term in linguistics which refers to a language user's grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and when to use utterances appropriately....
of the West African, Caribbean, and United States slave descendant of African origin. It includes the various idioms, patoisPatoisPatois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
, argotArgotAn Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
s, idiolectIdiolectIn linguistics, an idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. It is manifested by patterns of vocabulary or idiom selection , grammar, or pronunciations that are unique to the individual. Every individual's language production is in some sense unique...
s, and social dialectsSociolectIn sociolinguistics, a sociolect or social dialect is a variety of language associated with a social group such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group, an age group, etc....
of black people" especially those who have adapted to colonial circumstances. Ebonics derives its form from ebony (black) and phonics (sound, the study of sound) and refers to the study of the language of black people in all its cultural uniqueness.
Other writers have since emphasized how the term represents a view of the language of Black people as African rather than European. The term was not obviously popular even among those who agreed with the reason for coining it. Even within Williams's Ebonics book, the term Black English is far more commonly used than the term Ebonics.
John Baugh has stated that the term Ebonics is used in four ways by its Afrocentric
Afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is cultural ideology mostly limited to the United States, dedicated to the history of Black people a response to global racist attitudes about African people and their historical contributions by revisiting this history with an African cultural and ideological center...
proponents. It may:
- 1. be "an international construct, including the linguistic consequences of the African slave trade";
- 2. refer to the languages of the African diasporaAfrican diasporaThe African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
as a whole;
or it may refer to what is normally regarded as a variety of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: either
- 3. it "is the equivalent of black English and is considered to be a dialect of English" (and thus merely an alternative term for AAVEAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
), or - 4. it "is the antonym of black English and is considered to be a language other than English" (and thus a rejection of the notion of "African American Vernacular English" but nevertheless a term for what others term AAVE, viewed as an independent language and not a mere ethnolectEthnolectEthnolect is a variety of a language spoken by a certain ethnic/cultural subgroup and serves as a distinguishing mark of social identity. The term combines the concepts of an ethnic group and dialect....
).
See also
- African American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
- Code-switchingCode-switchingIn linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
- Dialects of North American English
- Southern American EnglishSouthern American EnglishSouthern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
- Stereotypes of African Americans
External links
- Ebonics discussion on LINGUIST List
- Baugh, John. "American varieties: African American English: Ebony + Phonics". PBS, 2005.
- Patrick, Peter L. " Answers to some Questions about 'Ebonics' (African American English)". University of Essex.
- "Kweku" Shawnn Guthrie "Mary Hoover discussing Ebonics" A Race for the Times. "Dr. Mary Hoover a professor at Howard University discusses the origin of Ebonics and what the Oakland Unified School District has done to incorporate it into the curriculum. This Race for the Times program originally aired on Feb. 25, 1997 on 90.5 FM KSJS San Jose"
- African American English blog about issues relating to African American English
- Rickford, John R. http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/papers/VernacularToTeachStandard.html
- Linguistic Society of AmericaLinguistic Society of AmericaThe Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
's page on Ebonics http://www.lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-ebonics.cfm