Ebonics

Last class, at ABA, we beginning to learn about “Ebonics” also called African American Vernacular English.
It’s a language, a variety of English, with a coherent system of signs- a grammar of elements and rules- which is used in a regular way for purposes of communication, and also for social symbolic purposes.
Ebonics isn’t slang. Slang refers to a relatively small set of vocabulary items which are ephemeral. Slang doesn’t have a grammar of rules of pronunciation.

Ebonics is characteristically spoken by working class US African Americans, in their community, at occasions calling for intimacy or informality.
Many people think Ebonics is wrong English or slang. Many negative statements about Ebonics are based on a lack of knowledge about language and dialects.
People without linguistic training are seldom aware that they have languages prejudices. They commonly make assumptions about the inferiority of some dialects, like AAVE, and the superiority of others, like British English.
Standard English became the standard for historical and political reasons, not because it was better at communicating. It is the speakers who have power; the status of the dialect merely reflects the social and economics status of the group using it.

Posted by Neide Silva.