Difference Between African American English Diverging From Standard American English

“Authority and American Usage,” an interesting essay written by the brilliant and quick-witted David Foster Wallace, presents an argument on different ways of understanding the ever-changing American usage in the English language. Keeping up with the English language in America is like chasing your new, untrained puppy down the street. Tiring and basically impossible to get a hold of. Over the past centuries, the English language has evolved so much, that if you took a person from the 13th century and threw them in the middle of New York City in 2013, it would be as if two different languages were being spoken.

Using dialect in society is natural and people can often not control how they sound. When that same person writes however they are expected to drop their dialect and only use proper english. Vershawn Ashanti Young discusses this topic in his article “Should Writer’s Use They Own English?”. Young has several good points including that their accent comes through their writing and that “code meshing” can be effective in a person's’ writing. On the contrary, I agree more with the fact that we need a “universal” way of speaking in America, because of the fact that it is harder to learn several “languages” as a child and it would be almost impossible for people from other countries to learn all the slang if we don't have one set way of speaking.

Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code

(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”

The main focus is to replace the 219 times the word "nigger" is used with "slave."

Linguistic anthropology can be studied in the African American culture. Jacque Reid stated, “taking the time out to clean up our appearances and choosing a better language can assist in more unity and self-love within the African American community”. Knowing we should be treated as the King and Queens that we are should have be on a higher pedestal. Black people have fought too long and too hard to have history repeating itself. The most horrific thing about history repeating itself is the fact our own kind is destroying each

I think adults of color should stop using African American because it does not give a fair label to that person who does not have a culture in Africa.

Asante believes that the future of rhetoric in the African American culture will be based off the relationship that the rhetor has with the African American community; a strong engagement with African cultural values, norms, mores and beliefs (Asante, 289). This can be accomplished through many ways such as acknowledging African American cultural themes: Spirituality- the recognition of spiritual forces in life. Musicality and rhythm which refers to the connectedness of all movements, making them personified in the beat, the emotional vitality portrayed in African folklore,

The world of ex-slaves changed drastically in some ways but in others, it stayed very similar depending on where they eventually settled. And settled was the key because the ex-slaves now had the ability to move freely about the country as they never had before. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and for this reason, Black Americans could research what had happened to family members that were sold during the slave years. There were many who were reunited with the help of the Freedmen’s Bureau and through newspapers, although many others never found their loved ones. Even so, they were now free to marry and keep their families intact without the fear of separation from overseers or slave owners.

United States of America, small in history but large in diversity continues to face new challenges with language as time continues to turn. In the documentary “Do You Speak American?” Robert MacNeil analyzes the English language and reveals many dialects that culturally defines us. Regional dialect is one of the many strongholds of all cultures and now it has reached its’ zenith and today it is slowly declining because it does not possess the human nature of advancement. Optimistically, it allows people to learn how to cooperate with each other. In order to advance and adopt a person has to change; I believe that the acceptance of cultural adaptations, diversity, and industrialization can prove that the decline of speech does not cause a

Americans` perspective on language has changed by social or political factors. Three articles, “Do you speak American?” by Robert MacNeil, “Lost in America” by Douglas McGray, and “Why good English is good for you” by John Simon demonstrate each of the author`s idea that changes by the factors are inevitable, Americans should manage them well. Their ideas are based on the fact that Americans, especially societal and political issues, have changed how they think about language.

The United States of America is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations. Even though there is not an official national language, most Americans speak Standard American English (SAE). However, the most prevalent native English vernacular dialect in the United States is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). According to Sharon Vaughn, AAVE is “a dialect used by some African Americans” (110). In order to examine AAVE, one must explore the origins, grammatical features, and prominent resolutions, which created a precedent for educating students that speak dialects other than Standard American English.

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

This course focused on a numerous languages that were undergoing change. The simplest and most relevant for many Americans are the changes that are occurring in English. America is a great melting pot of different people and as such English’s multiple dialects reflect cultural diversity. One of the most studied and still not understood dialects is African American English. The point of contention between the ideas for the origin of African American English is whether it was based on an existing dialect in the south or if it was creole of English and different West African languages. Either way this is an example of a rapid language change that has persisted over time. It is illogical to believe that the slaves who were forced to learn English did not incorporate some of their own language. How else could they have communicated before they fully understood English. An example of slower language

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety previously known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English by sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics outside the academic community. However, some characteristics of AAVE are seemingly unique in its structure. It also includes a number of standard and nonstandard English varieties are spoken by the US and the Caribbean people. AAVE has been the core of many public debates and also the analysis of this variety has encouraged and sustained debates amongst sociolinguists.  Some speakers may use some special aspects of pronunciation and vocabulary. Nevertheless, the grammatical features are not connected with the variety. Several sociolinguists would reserve the term AAVE for varieties which are marked by the existence of specific distinctive grammatical features and some of them are discussed below. The history of AAVE and what language varieties it is related to are also a matter of argument. Some scholars confirm that AAVE developed out a connection between speakers of West African languages and speakers of vernacular English varieties. According to such an opinion, West Africans learnt English on plantations in the southern Coastal States from very few native speakers. Some say that this led to the development of a rudimentary pidgin, a very simple language which has been extended through a process of colorization later.