Black English and Its Impact Writing Assignment

Black English and Its Impact
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Black English and Its Impact
Introduction
Black English , also referred to as Ebonics or African-American English, was a term used to refer to the language of communication used by different African slaved during the period of 1973 (Rickford, 2012). As more Blacks were shipped to the U.S as slaves, Africans from various descents were grouped together in plantations. As a result, the slaves had to learn English as a common language to communicate among themselves. This simplified means of communication was often used by slave owners and slave traders to communicate with Blacks. The origin of the language is however uncertain mainly because of the contradictory assumptions which claim that the language originated from English, while others claim that it is from African descent (Rickford, 2012).
Ebonics defers from Standard English mainly in terms of morphological features, syntactic patterns, and pronunciations. Black English speakers often omit the final constants in some words, for instance ‘past’ will be pronounced as ‘pas’ (Rickford, 2012). While other words are pronounced with a long ah such as ‘my ride’ which would be pronounced as ‘mah rahd’ (Rickford, 2012). The difference in pronunciation of words in Black English often seem to be random errors but in fact, they are systematic. In most cases, Black English speakers neglect the present tense ‘is’ in their sentences, but always include the present tense ‘am’. Moreover, Black English omits some of the words that are contracted in Standard English. For instance, instead of ‘She’s coming’ Black English speakers would say ‘She coming’. Additionally, the morphological endings are not appropriate in Black English as compared to Standard English. For that reason, ‘He stays here’ can be stated as ‘He stay here.’
With regards to vocabulary, the pattern of multiple negation is often used in Black English. Instead of using ‘any’ Ebonics speakers often use ‘no.’ for instance, I did not see nothing like that’ rather than ‘I did not see anything like that.’ Other pronunciations omit g, d, or b at the beginning of auxiliary verbs, meaning that rather than stating ‘I am going to’ they state; ‘ama do it’ (Rickford, 2012).
History of Black English
The history of Black English dates back to the Atlantic slave trade when the African captives were forced to learn English as a means of communicating. Based on the Creolist hypothesis, the subjection of native Africans to slavery segregation and subordination led to the establishment of a creole language. This language was specially formed as a means of adapting to their environment. Since Africans from different tribes and cultural backgrounds were mixed together, they developed a common language for communicating. The slaves first developed pidgins, which are a mix of simplified languages. These pidgins were formed as a result of the interaction with Africans from various cultural backgrounds. Despite the efforts by the slaves to learn English, their language differed from that of the south, and this made it difficult for the Native Americans to understand the Africans. After the civil war, the Native Americans became more accustomed to Ebonics. The creole language spread across the plantations in South America, and eventually led to the formation of African American English (Rickford, 2012). Nonetheless, over the years since the slavery period, Ebonics has experienced substantial changes. The language has done away with possessives, distinct verb particles like the use of done to imply a completed action, as well as the inclusion of been in a sentence to indicate distant time. In spite of that, the imprint of the language is evidenced in a large number of the characteristics of the language.
Black English has been greatly supported by scholars and famous individuals over the years. Zora Neale and Paul Laurence are among some of the writers who have extensive made use of the language in their work (Rickford, 2012). While other writers have actively appraised the language. Black English is commonly appreciated among the Black community. A majority of individuals who use the language are blacks, including musicians, preachers, comedians and actors. On the other hand, Ebonics is highly unappreciated among non-Blacks. In fact, Black English is associated with poverty, lack of schooling, and stupidity (Smith, 2018). Also, Black English is considered to be bad grammar, and some individuals find it offensive since it is associated with a bad legacy of uneducated, ill-mannered individuals (McWhorter, 2018). For this reason, Black English speakers are forced to try and change their speech especially in a formal setting or when in an encounter with the police. Black English is directly linked to slavery, and the prevalent racialization of language...