Hello schauer-ga,
I believe the term you?re looking for is ?ebonics? or African American
Vernacular English. I?ve located a number of scholarly sites that
offer many links to help you explore this subject including the
structure and form of this dialect. In addition, I?ve included some
slang translator sites to help you with some examples of the
vocabulary involved.
Best wishes for your research.
~ czh ~
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/African-American-Vernacular-English
Encyclopedia: African American Vernacular English
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), also called Ebonics (see
below), Black English, or Black English Vernacular (BEV) is a dialect
of American English. Strictly speaking, there is some controversy in
the larger community about whether it should be considered a dialect,
but this is based on difference of opinion about what it means to be a
dialect. Among working linguists there is no such controversy. Similar
to common Southern US English, the dialect is spoken in many
African-American communities in the United States, especially in urban
areas. It has its origins in the culture of enslaved Americans and
also has roots in England, mixed with elements of West African
languages.
The term Ebonics, which is a portmanteau word of ebony and phonics has
been suggested as an alternative name for this dialect, but that name
is not widely used in linguistic literature, although it enjoys
considerable common use, as a result of the controversy surrounding it
(see below). Robert L. Williams, a linguistics professor at Washington
University created the term Ebonics in 1973, then detailed it in his
1975 book, Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.cal.org/ebonics/
Center for Applied Linguistics
Ebonics Information Page
***** This site offers about a dozen scholarly links on the history
and politics of ebonics.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/
The LINGUIST List
Ebonics
The ebonics issue has been so discussed amongst linguists, and is
being used in so many sociolinguistics classes, that LINGUIST has
decided to collect all information it has on ebonics in one place. We
hope it will be helpful to the academic community.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/ebonics/
John R. Rickford
Professor of Linguistics, Stanford University
Writings on the "Ebonics" issue since December, 1996
--------------------------------------------
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~bryan/AAVE/
African American Vernacular English
AAVE is a form of American English spoken primarily by African
Americans. Although an AAVE speaker's dialect may exhibit regional
variation, there are still many salient features. The speaker's
ideolect could contain all or only a few of these features.
Lexicon of Linguistic Terms
Ebonics
another term for AAVE. Although it is a current "buzz-word" in the
media, the term is more than 20 years old. Most Linguists prefer AAVE
or Black English.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.booksmatter.com/b0415117321.htm
African-American English: Structure, History, and Use
Format Hardcover
Subject Language Arts / General
ISBN/SKU 0415117321
Author Salikoko S. Mufwene (Edt)
Publisher Routledge
Publish Date April 1998
Price $95.00
--------------------------------------------
http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/aave.htm
African American Vernacular English
(Ebonics)
This page includes information on:
-- background (history, attitudes and use)
-- vocabulary
-- sounds
-- grammar
--------------------------------------------
http://www.blackrefer.com/ebonics.html
Slang dictionaries
SEARCH STRATEGY
ebonics
African American Vernacular English |
