Dear Lucy Linguistics,
I am honored that Doctor Jerskey recommended you to ask me for book advice. The book that I chose, which is Spoken Soul, taught me a lot about how Black English is acquired, and the differences between that and standard English. Indeed, the book has increased not only my tolerence over the way people speak, but also explained in depth how culture along with location affects your speech. In addition, I learned that the vernacular is much more than short lived slang, but in fact a language with its own meaning a part from Standard American English. For Example, in the vernacular, the rule of grammar allows speakers to move negative helping verbs such as can't or ain't to the beginning of the sentence, making the statement more assertive. So in the sentence "Ain't nobody ready!", in terms of the vernacular this is completely normal. In correlation, this usage would only apply if you have a negative quantifier such as "nothing" or "nobody", and will not apply if you have an actual name in lieu of "Ain't".
I learned that in every dialect studied to date, whether popular or not, has regularities or rules of this nature. Without set rules, the dialect could not be successfully used in everyday communication. In addition, many Blacks do not realize that some of the words that they use which are not slang terms, are used very differently from that of other Americans. Examples are ashy, kitchen, bad, and things of that nature. Also a lot of the pronunciations of words are different, such as "my:" as mah, "I" as ah, and "side" as sahd. White southern speech also resembles the vernacular in the sense that they also say "mah", and "Ah", and merge pin and pen so that they sound a like. Although this is evident, it still does not detract from its significance in Spoken Soul because in vast areas in the North and Midwest, where African Americans presently live, are regularly used and are distinctively "black sounding". This book is a must read if you are interested in the etymology of words in the vernacular and are interested in how culture shapes language. It has allowed me to understand why I sometimes use certain words, and that sometimes I should clarify what I mean for an individual, rather than getting frustrated by them not knowing. I hope you decide to read this book, and provide me with your own opinions.
Sincerely,
Eric T. Baker
hi Eric,
ReplyDeletelast semester i took an african american literature class . I thought i was gonna waste my time because i had no idea what the class was about. However, it studied how slaves would write in their own english that they created so that the master would not know what they wee talking about....even the songs which are called negro spirituals were so beautiful written.. they used the word "aint" in many poems and song. Your book sounds so interesting!
sorry i missed your presentation... damn it!!
Yeah that is absolutely right! Actually, I read in my book that when the internet came into existence, there were many African Americans angry because they felt they still had the mentalities from slavery. They felt that the closeness that the vernacular brought to all that spoke it was being uncovered and that it would become less meaningful in that regard. Since you know much about AA culture, it would have been nice for you to have seen my presentation, but a lot of the things that I went over is posted on my blog. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
ReplyDeletewhen you presented in class today,i thought that you were very prepared and knowledgeable about your book. what i found extremely interesting, was that i didn't know that "kitchen" could have a different meaning in a different vernacular while still in English. i had no idea that "kitchen" could also represent the little hairs on your neck. i also liked that you mentioned that, when you were younger, teachers would tell you that you were wrong for pronouncing a word a certain way, when in reality you weren't. it just wasn't the correct way to speak in school.
ReplyDeleteWhile doing your presentation I can tell you put much thought into it. I like how you were able to get the class involved by asking for our point of view for the way we said a word. Like my fellow classmate Denise said I also thought the vernacular meaning for the word "kitchen" was interesting. I guess the statement you learn something new everyday has be proven correct.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric, I live in East Elmhurst; this is an African American Community. I confess you that I hardly can understand some people when they are talking to me. I used to think that it was my problem because I still need to improve my English (writing and Speaking) but after your presentation I realized that some of these African Americans pronounce differently or use different words that I do not know.
ReplyDeleteI was interested about African American dictionary. I never know that is existence..
ReplyDeleteAlso, it has grammar. I think it is something different English like England English or Australia English. isn't it?
Hey Erik, you did a great job today. I think your presentation was very cool. I liked the designs and colors you put in it, I noticed that it actually kind of matched with the cover of the book which was cool. Your clarification of the miss-assumption and some people's ways of stereotyping others depending on how they speak, was very important for all of us i think.
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ReplyDeleteHello Eric,you say that "many blacks do not realize that some of the words that they use..." Do you think they do not realize or they just do not want that other people understand what they are talking about? I say this because It happens with some Spanish( Colombians) Some times we do not want that other people understand what we are talking and we use some funny or different words that only Colombians know.
ReplyDeleteHey Eric,
ReplyDeletesorry i missed your presentation :(.Your book sounds really interesting. For African Americans to use this type of language in my perspective adds to their culture. For example kind of adding to wat Luz said, us Colombians use words differently but it's what makes our culture unique.
Eric, hiiiiiiiiii :)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, your presentation was really great. You really engaged the whole class and even those who knew little to nothing about Black English Vernacular, including myself, left your presentation with a wealth of new knowledge. Thanks to your presentation I understand a lot more about the mechanics of Black English Vernacular than my book touched on. My question to you is what do you think the most important aspect to it is?
Hi Eric, great presentation!! you were really into this book, it is obvious that you liked it and related to it. I peresonally have to say that I never appreciated the way black people speak, and how good it was for me to understand about the Vernacular and the sighnificant meaning it has for Black Americans and the fact that it identifies them as a culture. One more reason to acknowledge language and the power it has on all of us!
ReplyDeleteHey Erick,
ReplyDeleteI must say that you are a great presenter and a speaker.
Before I came to the US, I thought that English is spoken in the same way wherever I go in this nation. I still can not notice any different dialects whether the speaker is from Boston or from New York or any other parts of this nation. However I have started noticing some differences in the way that the Amecian whites and the African Americans speak English. I never knew about the Black English Vernacular. How is is possible that they both people speak same language, live in the same society but have different dialects? How did the Black English Vernacular develop? African Americans where the forced immigrants and they were forced to speak Engnlish too. But how they started speaking in a different dialect?