WHAT NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU ABOUT EBONICS [5 MINUTE READ]

pjcswart (65)in #language • 8 years ago (edited)

Language experts are divided about whether Ebonics is a language or a dialect. That would depend probably on what your definition of language is. And what your definition of dialect is. John R. Rickford describes Ebonics as follows on the Linguistic Society of America website:

At its most literal level, Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of African American speech-communities began. However, the term Ebonics never caught on among linguists, much less among the general public. That all changed with the 'Ebonics' controversy of December 1996 when the Oakland (CA) School Board recognized it as the 'primary' language of its majority African American students and resolved to take it into account in teaching them standard or academic English.

Here are some common basic Ebonics phrases:

Yo = Hello
Sup? = How are you?
Dope/Dizzle = good
Off da hook/hizzle/hizza = very good
Whack/Whizzle = bad
Peeps = people
Ni/Nizzle/Nizza = Man/friend
Dawg/Dizzle/Dizza = Man/friend
Pimp'd up/out= well dressed
Ride/Rizzle/Rizza = Car
Check yo' self = Watch what you say or watch what you are doing.
Sauced = When you embarrass someone
You all up in my grill = You're in my face / You're in my space / You're too close to me, etc.
Eat cake / Be gone = Get lost

source: www.rawpixel.com under CC0 license

IS A LANGUAGE A THING? REALLY?

I used to think that there are a certain number of languages in the world. And that they are clearly defined. But I am now of the opinion that although Italian, French, English, and Swahili are things, they are not languages. I believe language transcends the ability to define what it is. In other words, much in line with the CMTU - Cognitive Theoretical Model of the Universe of Christopher Langan.

The way we think and talk and write about languages, changes the concept or phenomenon of language. Because we are part of the thing we are talking/thinking/writing about. It is constantly evolving, but not only that. Whatever it is, it is a continuous, rather than a discrete phenomenon. "Languages" overlap, flow into each other, exist "inside" or on top of other languages.

Think about it this way. There is no such thing as "a language" in the sense of a separate entity. We all speak the same "language". Maybe that is also why there is so much debate also about the difference between a language and a dialect. What we commonly perceive to be dialects, I would say is more in line with the commonly accepted idea of "a language".

TRUST ME, THIS YOU DID NOT KNOW

Those things that we like to call languages, are in fact what we like to call dialects. The phenomenon that we commonly refer to as * dialect * is associated more with the concept of culture. And culture is inextricably tied to "a language". But then what is "Language"(without the "a" in front) of course. How is the concept of "language" different from mere "communication"? Is language human communication?

Could be, but then what is it when computers and/software applications speak to each other? And animals? That's what makes Linguistics such a fascinating field of study. Here is the definition of Linguistics according to The Linguistic Society of America:

Linguistics, in a nutshell, is the scientific study of language.

Safe answer I guess, given that the full name of their organisation is Linguistic Society of America: Advancing the Scientific Study of Language. But what does that mean!!! I immediately clicked on the heading on the same site entitled * The Science of Linguistics *. There it says the following:

Modern linguists approach their work with a scientific perspective, although they use methods that used to be thought of as solely an academic discipline of the humanities. Contrary to previous belief, linguistics is multidisciplinary. It overlaps each of the human sciences including psychology, neurology, anthropology, and sociology. Linguists conduct formal studies of sound structure, grammar and meaning, but they also investigate the history of language families, and research language acquisition. And as other scientists, they formulate hypotheses, catalog observations, and work to support explanatory theories.

That helps. Kind of. I guess. Anyway, to get back to Ebonics. Is Ebonics a language? As far as I can tell, the more important question is, "Why do you ask?"

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