African American Vernacular English

defined, is still seen today in the form of the African American Vernacular English dialect (AAVE) – otherwise known as Ebonics. Revisiting Gloria Anzaldua’s To Tame a Wild Tongue, we find that her experience with “linguistic shaming” is something also encountered by African Americans as AAVE is often looked down-upon as “ignorant speech” due to its deviation from the “standard” American dialect. As a result, linguists have found many Black Americans will often code-switch, adjusting their…

The beats, the rhythm and the undeniable vernacular all co-mingle in order to create its very distinct sound. The emergence of multiple hip-hop generations has birthed new editions and approaches to the English language because the linguistics of rap and hip-hop are deeply rooted in Black English (B.E). In turn, hip-hop has created a gateway for B.E. to become integrated and used throughout the mainstream world. Linguist John McWorther stated, “Black English, especially the cadence, is becoming…

Henry Louis Gates Jr, an African American literature scholar, asserts, “No poet in the tradition was more crucial in the shaping of a distinct African- American poetic diction or voice than he, [Paul Laurence Dunbar]” (68). Dunbar’s ability to communicate the struggles of America through the black experience, with the assistance of Negro dialect, elevated him to become one of the most influential African American poets of his time. His success with written language allows today’s readers to…

Oakland, California voted to recognize Ebonics as a second language. This caused an uproar towards the African American communities who felt insulted by the board by comparing Ebonics to another language like Spanish or Chinese. Linguistic anthropologist, Marcyelina Morgan asserts that the African American community thinks that just cause this African American community speaks a variation of English, it doesn’t make them at an intellectual disadvantage and they shouldn’t be treated as such. This…

the show did the “Nae Nae” and “Hit the Quan,” two urban style dances that were created by African Americans. In addition, the acrobatic stunts by Cirque du Soleil added a twist to the show. The dance performed by the poppy flowers was another performance that did not take place in the original The Wizard of Oz. While the flowers danced seductively around the Cowardly Lion, they were accompanied by an African dance beat. The songs that were performed were all the same from the original The Wiz…

Starting with “Negro English” or “Black Speech”, these were the first denominations that African American English had. It has to do with the period of time to which they belonged, as at this time colored people would be also designated as “Negro”. It has also been labeled as “Black communication”, which makes more sense than the other two as, at least, this label is referring to the communication patterns, or the communication features, that could be found in the black speech. Also following the…

ones actions will be interpreted from then on. The characters in Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, speak an English Vernacular that is phonetically presented to the audience throughout the novel. The distinct spelling and grammatical changes made to the English language by Hurston creates a false sense of southern authenticity and preserves the broken English almost exclusively for the black characters. Antiquated and inappropriate, Hurston’s strong use of the dialect…

survival. So as free as people should be to wear whatever hair and clothing they enjoy, using someone else’s cultural symbols to satisfy a personal need for self-expression is an exercise in privilege. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is consistently treated as lesser than Standard English, but people whitewash black slang and use expressions they barely understand as punch lines, or to make themselves seem cool. People shirk “ethnic” clothes in corporate culture, but wear bastardized…

After decades of persecution through sharecropping and Jim Crow laws, as well as agricultural misfortune in the American South, millions of African-Americans left the southern states in hopes for decent jobs and higher quality of life in the more urbanized, industrialized sections of the United States (“Great Migration”). All of the sudden, a whole new world of business, art, multiculturalism, intellectualism, and nightlife was in front of a people who had been held captive, both in the literal…

Janie Crawford, a black deep-thinking, deep-feeling black woman, who is in search for her own self. In Janie´s life, we can find many similarities to Hurston´s own life. Hurston, born in 1891, was the child of ex-slaves who were liberated after The American Civil War. Janie grandmother was born into slavery, she then pressured Janie into a secure but loveless marriage. Like Janie, Hurston childhood was not together with her parents, when Hurston as nine her mom died, she was then also…