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I remember growing up every time I would hear a person from black ethnicity speaking, their accent would always interest me. I never asked anyone but was always curious to know why their accent is so unique and different. My knowledge is still very limited but I did learn a little bit of background. In this blog I will share with you what is African American Vernacular English?
First let's define some terms:
African American: are the ethnic group from Africa who were originally captured and brought to America as slaves. Usually the term African American refers to the descendants of the African slaves as well as some immigrants who have moved to United States from Africa. However not all of the black people like to identify themselves as African American. All the black people are also not from Africa. They could be from other countries such as the Caribbean or Latin America.
Vernacular: is a nonstandard usage of a language or dialect which is native to a country or a region. In other words local language spoken in an informal way.
African American Vernacular English: is the English spoken by the working or middle class African American and some Canadians. It has its own unique grammar, vocabulary and accent.
Ebonics: is the term which was developed by social psychologist Robert Williams to give a name to the language that African American and their descendants spoke. The English that the black people spoke was referred in negative terms such as “Nonstandard Negro English.”
Ebony means black and phonics means the sound of the spoken language. Ebonics meaning the language of the black people.
Pidgin: is a language that has developed from the mixture of two languages. People who do not speak each other’s language use pidgin to communicate.
How was Ebonics created?
When the slaves were brought from Africa to United States they spoke different languages. There are different opinions on how Ebonics was created. One school of thought says the slaves learned English but it was influenced by their primary languages and therefore it was reconstructed.
The other opinion is that the African slaves learned English but it was not influenced by their own languages but rather by colonial spoken English such as by the Irish or the Scottish-Irish settlers.
Resolution of Oakland, California School Board
Oakland, California School Board passed a resolution on Ebonics. The school board concluded that the language the black students speak is the Ebonics not English. The academic programs should recognize Ebonics as an independent language and the primary language of the black students. Methods should be developed to teach the students the Standard English Proficiency (SEP.) the SEP program is designed to teach students of all backgrounds to teach English as a second language through the medium of their first language. The school board's decision was controversial and resulted in a national debate in the United States if Ebonics is a independent language or a dialect of English.
Most linguists agree that the Ebonics is a dialect of English because it shares many words with English and words with many other informal varieties of English spoken by Americans. However it is the most distinctive variety of English.
A third opinion is that the English African American speak is simply Pidgin. It is a mixture of their own native language and English.
In conclusion, linguistically there is no one answer that everyone agrees upon. Therefore I would leave it up to you to conclude if the African American Vernacular English is an independent language, a dialect of English or pidgin.
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