Ebonics - language or bastardization?

Published on April 28, 2004 By dharmagrl In Misc

I've been thinking about this for a long time, but having watched more MTV than usual recently, this has again come to the forefront of my mind.

Is Ebonics actually a language, or is it just an excuse to bastardize the existing English in use around the rest of the country? I'm not referring to made-up words so much, my emphasis is more on pronunciation and using words that are inappropriate for the situation - like saying "there was mad hotties at the mall today" insead of saying "there were lots of good looking people at the mall today". It seems to have permeated almost every culture and sub-culture - even my kids use it. My youngest asked me the other day when he was going to get his "hurr cut". I had to ask him 3 or 4 times what he meant, and then I realized he was saying "hair". He's been listening to too much Chingy.....even Usher seems to have got in on the act. He's no longer to be known as 'Usher" with the traditional pronunciation, he's now being called 'Urrsher'. Why? What was wrong with plain ol' Usher? Who started this habit of putting 'urrs' in words where they don't belong?

You know, I'm no language purist. I use as much slang and incorrect grammar as anyone else. I just believe in calling things as they are...

..and to me, Ebonics is slang.

Comments (Page 2)

Mr_Frog

on Apr 29, 2004

I take it none of you have been to the bayou country. You think Ebonics is difficult to follow? Try figuring out what one of the swamp-dwellers from Louisiana is saying!

-- B

Anthony R

on Apr 29, 2004

They cut all non essential verbs from a sentence; instead of “he is there” they will just streamline it by saying “he there.”

Anthony R

on Apr 29, 2004

Another thing I have noticed, people who speak Ebonics tend to be rude, like when I’m at a movie theatre watching Star Wars when some thug leaps up and proclaims "yo there go my niggah Yoda" It’s just damn rude.

BlueDev

on Apr 29, 2004

This isn't unique to English though. It happens all the time in Spanish. Depending on where they are from it can be nearly impossible to decipher what one person is saying, and it isn't just the accent. It is even more apparent in some other languages.

While I was in Guatemala I lived for a while in a city called San Juan Sacatepequez. The majority of the people there were indigenous Mayan people, who still spoke Caq'chi'quel (sp?). The most interesting thing though is that the people of San Pedro Sacatepequez also spoke the same dialect, but they could hardly understand each other. And the two peublos were only 16 km apart.

I think it stems from a need for an identity. Language can be very powerful and is a part of our identity. The formation of or "bastardization" of language often arises out of a desire to create some sort of groups identity for those who speak and understand it. Does that mean I like it? Not really, but I suppose my efforts to speak articulate, intelligent English could be considered part of my identity as well. So in that sense I can't really begrudge them that.

Hmm, I don't even know if that made any sense. Sorry if it didn't.

Darius Farrar

on Apr 29, 2004

I think that the point of language is to communicate. If you can understand what a person is saying, then what does it harm that they are using slightly different pronunciations? I think that the development of slang and the acceptance of it is just a natural part of language, and it is pointless to oppose it because it not only doesn't harm anything, but it also adds a little variety.

psychx

on Apr 29, 2004

Good article. If I may share an opinion, it is understandable that ebonics is incorrect English but one cannot really say that any language is pure. Language evolves much like we do and can be seen when looking at dialects. I might speak Spanish to an Argentine colleague who speaks his version of Spanish somewhat different in the form of Castillian Spanish. If for instance I were to dismiss his Spanish as an incorrect form of Spanish that, as far as political correctness goes, would make me wrong because it is still considered a language and does not take away from the fact it is Castillian. Although I do not disagree with your article I can't agree and say any language is pure since English itself is derived from other languages that already existed prior.

Shulamite

on Apr 29, 2004

"I think language and thinking are closely related."

Yes, but not in the way you might think. I recommend Steven Pinker's book called, "The Language Instinct." Did you know children will create grammar where there is none present? (Like where there is a pidgeon language?) I love linguistics! And this book is EASY for a layperson to read. In short, Orwell's appendix to 1984 was wrong.

Here here, Mr. Frog. "Tupelo Gum Slough" (Slew) said really fast means nothing unless you're familiar with the accent -- and even then you'd never know it was the name of a near by creek (or brook if you're a northerner.) West Texans call ponds "tanks." We all have idiosynchrosies deriving from our ethnic heritage. German Hill country in Texas has it's own flavor. In San Antonio, you can have a "Hispanic accent" but not know Spanish. The "Ebonics" is unique in that it transends the proximics that generally regulate cultural speech. It thrives on media and is therefore, in my opinion, a corporate-sponsored culture. It's popular for the same reason high schoolers paint their nails black and wear fishnet pantyhose on their arms. Or have mohawks. It's corporate separitism.

The formation of a new vocabulary (or "bastardization" of language) often arises out of a desire to embolden some sort of group's identity for those who speak and understand it. I think it's like any jargon. Legalese, shop talk, even WWF fans have their own jargon. However educated folks can transition between the two.

"Another thing I have noticed, people who speak Ebonics tend to be rude, like when I’m at a movie theatre watching Star Wars when some thug leaps up and proclaims "yo there go my niggah Yoda" It’s just damn rude."

I think that is a huge generalization. You may support your claim if you contend that most Ebonic speakers are ignorant and ignorance leads to rudeness, but that is simply not the case. Most have educations but prefer the dialect. I know how to speak properly and can do so when I make public speeches or have job interviews. However we have language registers -- we can go from formal to standard to informal or any variance depending on the needs. I live in East Texas and we have our own dialect. When I "correct" my dialect in an informal situation, I usually face laughter and cannot make a comment without people focusing on my "mid-westernized" dialect. Why would I want to do that?

I think the claim focuses on isolated instances. What about the people who speak with standard registers to you (who you deem as kind) and then speak "Ebonics" at home? Are they suddenly unintelligent? They're not rude. Yes, the behavior you descibe was unquestionably rude, but I think anyone, when supported by a group who are or experinece lapses in immaturity could just as easily have exhibited the same rude behavior. It's because of the group support, not the language. Had the person been alone, they'd not have been rude.

To answer the question at hand, the by-the-book defintion says it is not a language, but a dialect. Because it does observe regular grammar rules (trust me, they're there -- and I don't think they leave out "is" as someone suggested; it's replaced by "be") it is a viable dialect. I don't think it can be called a bastardization unless you want to refer to every dialect that is NOT mid-western as bastardization (requiring everyone to always speak in either formal or standard English) or if you consider it so because it is "created" and "pushed" by American corporations. (In that case, all slang is bastardization because it usually results from pop-culture.) That's my humble analysis. Sorry it's so long.

However this article was just "wicked awesome."

dharmagrl

on Apr 29, 2004

I think that the development of slang and the acceptance of it is just a natural part of language, and it is pointless to oppose it because it not only doesn't harm anything, but it also adds a little variety.

I'm not opposed to slang...I just don't like people labeling slang a 'language'.

greywar

on Apr 29, 2004

I'm not opposed to slang...I just don't like people labeling slang a 'language'.

I agree - Ebonics is closer to Jargon than Language by a country mile...

eieio

on Apr 29, 2004

Interesting read.

Language? No. More properly categorized as dialect.

A large part of the world's languages evolved into languages from dialects. English is probably one of the most hybrid of them all. With a mix of German, Latin, French, and who knows what else, words among early Anglo culture became more or less standardized and evolved into English.

It's probably due to our current technology based society that the dialect known as Ebonics has grown as fast as it has, what with radio, TV, etc. Will it ever evolve into a true language? Possibly, but I doubt it. Because of the transitory nature of modern society's focus, most trends are really nothing more than fads and fade away relatively quick.

An interesting side note. As a father, I've noted as all my children learned to speak, they tended to form their own grammatical rules until corrected. The past tense of break became breakded and so on. A large part of that is the illogic of the English language, but it shows they had learned the basic concepts of present and past tense and were trying to apply them across the board.

imajinit

on Apr 29, 2004

I've been wondering lately if we have any black people here at JoeU. I don't know that there are.

the reason why I bring that up of course is because it's mostly black people (African Americans? what's the latest politically correct term now?) who use Ebonics.

As a whiter than white dude, a redneck, a honkey, a whitey, a hick, a hillbilly, a man with no jive, a man who can't jump or dance... I can honestly say this... Ebonics is a bastardization of the English language. Of course it is. Just like French, Italian, and Spanish could be considered bastardizations of Latin. (they all were derived from Latin, as I'm sure you know)... only time will tell if Ebonics is going to become a language or not. This is the information age, so everything from forming a nation to designing a fighter jet to giving birth to a new language takes less time than it used to...

It's hilarious to me that all of us white folks post comments on this thread talking about how Ebonics pisses us off. And yet we all use slang of our own at times... I mean, who's not guilty of abusing the English language at one time or another?

Mostly I think white people are just mad because we can't understand these parlayers of another language. We conduct studies on linguistics in our Ivy League institutions and spend years trying to master the English language... we hold the masters like Thoreau, Emerson and Hawthorne in high regard, and yet Mark Twain, who often wrote characters in their 'native language' is considered a literary genius as well.

We allow artists to have 'poetic right', in order to make a lyric rhyme, but we get mad when Snoop Dogg says 'fuh shizzle'... my question is, where do you draw the line? I know white people who have no problem whatsoever with Merle Haggard singing:

"Take all the money in the bank,
I think I'll just stay here and drink..."

and yet they get mad when someone says: "why you dissin' a brotha'?" or something considered equally offensive by us white folks...

I hope I'm not misunderstanding things here... I guess what I'm trying to say is that bastardization or not, Ebonics is a part of our culture, and we might as well accept it. As long as there are people buying a million copies of Outkast's, Snoop Dogg's or Eminem's latest albums, there are going to be Cadillac Escalades with 20s, Bose surround sound and neon lights circling the underside. And the people driving those Caddys are going to be speaking a language that you're going to have to work to understand...

kingbee

on Apr 30, 2004

rather than a dialect, i believe the usage forms collectively referred to as ebonics are more accurately described (or have now evolved into) what's known as a sociolect. dialect generally describes a regional use whereas a sociolect is broader and associated with members of a particular socioeconomic group. ebonics is rooted in a confluence of elizabethan english that lingered on in what are now the southern states (some expressions & pronunciations of which remain in fairly common usage there) and 'bastardizations" of languages native to africans brought in chains to those same areas and forced to learn english without benefit of formal education. until relatively recently, much of what is now associated with ebonics (pronunciations such as 'ax' and nonstandard juxtapositions of predicates/objects) were successful defensive strategies in areas where more 'learned' usages--as well as any other indication of formal education--put the speaker at risk of bodily harm on the basis of being 'uppity.'

kingbee

on Apr 30, 2004

imajinit's insightful comment wasnt visible to me while i was entering mine. it did remind me of something as well. should anyone have a need for an "english" to (redneck, moron, hacker, etc.) online translator, you can find it here:

kingbee

on Apr 30, 2004

dammit i cant get the link thing to work. Translator

dharmagrl

on Apr 30, 2004

Ebonics is a part of our culture, and we might as well accept it.

And I agree. My point was the it's labeled a 'language' and it's really not. It's slang, a dialect, not a fully formed language yet. I have no porblem with slang, pretty much everyone uses it. I just think that you should call things as they are.

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