African American Vernacular Language Research Paper

In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

(1) The use of natural dialect can be seen throughout the slave narrative interviews through words and phrases used that were common during the period of slavery, but are not used today. One example can be seen in the dialect used by former slave Mama Duck, “Battlin stick, like dis. You doan know what a battling stick is? Well, dis here is one.” Through incomplete sentences and unknown words the natural dialect of the time can be seen. Unfamiliar words such as shin-plasters, meaning a piece of paper currency or a promissory note regarded as having little or no value. Also, geechees, used to describe a class of Negroes who spoke Gullah. Many examples can be seen throughout the “Slave Narratives”

African American English can be categorized as differences or deficit. African American English (AAE) is a systematic rule-governed dialect of Standard English that has been called by many names such as: Black English and Ebonics (Machado, 2016, p.1030. Those who speakers AAE vary in their use of dialect. The two systems, Standard English and African American English, though similar, are not identical. African American English is considered different because of the way words are pronounced, grammar, and how it is used in social contexts. On the other hand, it is seen as a deficit and those who speak the language as deficient. This is because they use monosyllabic words and did not communicate in complete Standard English sentences. Thus, their

African slaves were prohibited from reading and writing because their owners didn’t want them to gain intellectual freedom and empowerment. Of course, in some cases, they were secretly taught by their mistresses or children of the slave owners. While others took a risk by sneaking to learn how to read and write. African slaves not being permitted to read or write didn’t stop them from communicating by using African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Gullah. For African slaves, it was their own way of expressing themselves either through songs (negro spirituals), storytelling, or just having basic conversations. This way of communicating became a part of African American culture as could be seen in literature and music (Blues and Jazz.) Musically,

“Around 1858, over 400 slaves from Africa were brought to Georgia none of them knowing how to speak the English Language.” (Smitherman, 1994, p10) Being that these two groups merged together they adapted each other’s language whether it was correct or incorrect. On the East Coast of America, “the Blacks spoke a different degree of Ebonics”. (Lewis, 1996, MSN) In 1744 The New York Evening Post read, "Ran away...a new Negro Fellow named Prince, he can't scarce speak a Word of English" (Fisher, 1996, MSN) In 1760 an ad in the North Carolina Gazette read: "Ran away from the Subscriber, African Born, speaks bad English."(Stoller,1996, MSN) In 1734, the Philadelphia American Weekly Mercury read: “Run away; he’s Pennsylvania Born and speaks good English," These articles show where each person came from and what there English was like. It is obvious that masters kept tabs on how well their slave could talk. It was one of the ways that the masters could identify their slaves when they had many of them. They also used the slaves that new good English to translate or explain what the other slaves were saying. In the Mid 1800's slaves tried to use their language to help them escape from slavery. They would sing spirituals, which their masters could not understand. Harriet Tubman and many others communicated in Ebonics, which their masters couldn't

I decided to do my project on African American Vernacular English (AAVE) also known as Ebonics. Breaking down AAVE will be very difficult because it is lot to grasp at once. I will have to break down the origins, the grammar rules, the alphabet, and etc. I think the hardest part might be condensing this project. Don’t worry I will be considerate of other time. I just want everybody to learn something new about AAVE and that I don’t leave anything out. Again the main thinking behind doing AAVE as a project is not advocating for it to be the standard language, but for it to be taking seriously and not seen as uneducated. AAVE in the black community goes all up and down the class ladder. It’s not exclusive to poor neighborhoods. Lack of knowledge

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is one special dialect of American English, and it is different from Standard American English. African American Vernacular English can also be called as Black English, Black Vernacular English or African American Language (AAL).Black English had been discriminated for a long time in history. There was a saying that “Black English is not a language”. The saying is not correct. According to Montgomery, culture should not be biased, but should be including all that are produced and shared by the society( Montgomery 7). Even though Black English is different from Standard English, Black English has its unique linguistic system. It has its own system in phonetics, lexicology and

Throughout the semester I faced challenges in finding primary sources. Personal accounts and stories of slaves within the Cherokee Nation were almost nonexistent. Ledgers and census records were few are far between which made nearly everything I’ve managed to scrounge up centered solely around second hand accounts. For this paper, I will be using abolitionist and anti-abolitionist writings to get a contemporary outsiders opinion on the subject. I will also be examining various legal documents and laws to gauge the legal discourse as well as census data for purely statistical reasons. It is in my opinion that my research will prove that Anglicization cannot accurately represent the changes that have occurred in the Cherokee Nation.

The origin of AAVE, African American Vernacular English, can be explained by two models. The creole hypothesis explains that modern AAVE is derived from a hybrid of English and West African languages. This is pidgin, when a language is composed of two or more languages. The second model, the dialect hypothesis explains that modern comes from incorrectly speaking English and passing down those mistakes to the next generation. The creole hypothesis seems to be more likely because AAVE despite, not having a separate vocabulary, like other varieties of English it leads to new combination. For this reason, AAVE vocabulary is composed of a form and a meaning, resulting in some forms and meaning being derived from West African sources and in other

African American vernacular traditions have been around for many centuries and still cease to exist in their culture. The vernacular traditions of the African Americans started when slaves were existent in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. It is believed that the slaves spoke a mix of Creole and partial English, in which they had to create in order to communicate between them discreetly. The vernacular traditions originated from the way the slaves lived their lives and their creativity. The relationship between the slaves and their masters, were very weak because the master’s believed that the slaves were inferior to them. It is believed that African American

It is arguable that African American English is a dialect of contemporary American English. While AAE is different and is easily distinguishable from Standard American English, the two dialects still share similarities and are forms of vernacular English. As AAE stems from and shares many linguistic patterns with Creole and other African languages, it is possible to argue that AAE is in fact not related to contemporary American English at all. However, I feel that the different influences on language are simple markers of regional variation and not enough to fully

African American immigration history comes with slavery history in the England colony of Jamestown, Virginia. In 1619, colonist started plantation and they needed cheap labor forces to do their job. So, colonist paid companies and ships that did kidnap Africans and bring spices from Africa. Africans did most hardest work and they lived on worst environments arounds colonist community. Slavery was legalized by law in 1645 and it ended during Civil War.

There are hundreds of dialects in America and they are continuing to grow, in regions such as the north, the south, and the west. Dialects in these regions have been around for years and are relentlessly flourishing. For example, many residents in Ohio speak the Appalachia dialect. (Do You Speak American? Down south, 2005). In this region the Appalachian dialect is becoming a trend and is spreading rapidly. (Do You Speak American? Down south, 2005). In other regions like the west, there are dialects that have had a major influence. For example, Spanglish is a combination of both Spanish and English. (Do You Speak American? Out west, 2005). Due to the growing population of the Latinos in America, they intertwine their native language,

African American English (AAE) is commonly referred to as Ebonics, as well as black speech, black vernacular, and several other phrases. According to William Labov, “This African American Vernacular English shares most of its grammar and vocabulary with other dialects of English. But it is distinct in many ways, and it is more different from Standard English (SE) than any other dialect spoken in continental North America.” (Pullum, 39) AAE is a precious product of a people who mastered a language under the inhumane conditions of slavery. African American English is in fact a form of Standard English, and can be considered as the common dialect of African Americans. The historical phonological patterns of the dialect highlight the continuous intergenerational strength of the African American people.