Hi Haruna!
Thanks. Glad you find the forwards useful. I agree that some of them
are long. Have a good day.
Buharry.
----Original Message----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: 2008-11-25 19:47
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subj: Re: "EBONICS: A Serious Analysis of African American Speech
Patterns"
Thanx Buharry for sharing. Your forwards bear a remarkable coherence
with each other and are valuable for me in that they yield
considerations for reforming and adapting the education system to
realize its full value. This affects more than just language. Values
and faith offer equal opportunities for discernment.
ANyway thanx for sharing. I am usually intimidated by their lengths
but have found a way around that self-inflicted fear.
Haruna. > Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:17:47 +0100> From: [log in to unmask]
COM> Subject: "EBONICS: A Serious Analysis of African American Speech
Patterns"> To: [log in to unmask]> > "EBONICS:A Serious
Analysis of African American Speech Patterns"> > Many Black Americans
do not speak standard English. They speak Ebonics> ("Ebony," meaning
"black" and "phonics," meaning "sound") -- a language> which evolved in
the Americas as a result of the adaptation of English> words to an
African language system. Since many African Americans do> not speak
standard English, "it is more than reasonable to suggest that> in order
to effectively and sussessfully teach the culturally and>
linguistically different Black child in the urban school the English>
language, the logical place to begin is with the cultural and>
linguistic experiences of the Black child. That is, with Ebonics,
using> a bilingual and bicultural approach."> > This is the view of Dr.
Ernie A. Smith, a distinguished author,> lecturer and professor of
linguistics at California State University at> Fullerton. Dr. Smith
believes that the high failure and drop-out rate> of Black children
across the United States is traceable to the fact> that they are
limited or non-English speakers, but neither the United> States
government, state departments of education nor local school> boards
recognize this fact. Hence, millions of dollars are spent to> teach
English as a second language to Mexican, Asian, Indian, Persian,>
Oriental and other non-English speaking people, while black children>
must be content with attempting to grasp knowledge imparted to them in>
a language that is not their own.> > Dr. Smith emphatically rejects the
view that Black Americans speak a> version of "Black English," "Black
vernacular" or "Black dialect." He> believes that this was the chief
misconception in the so-called "Black> English" decision reached by
Justice Charles Joiner of the United> States District Court in Martin
Luther King Junior Elementary School> Children, et al. v. Ann Arbor
School District (July 12, 1979).> > According to Dr. Smith, the concept
or term "Black English," as it is> currently used in the literature, is
contradictory. "It is like saying> my sister is an only child. How can
a person be your sister and still> be an only child? If you say 'Black
English' and speak utterances using> syntactical patterns that are not
English, it is impossible to maintain> that you are speaking the
English language.> > "From a linguistic principle," Dr. Smith
continues, "when you say two> people of two speech communities speak
the same language or different> dialects thereof, the relative evidence
for saying that it is the same> language is that there is continuity of
the morphology [defined below].> Knowing the sounds of the language
will not make you a speaker of the> language; nor will knowing the
vocabulary of the language make you a> speaker of the language. What
you must know and master in order to> speak any language, are: (1) the
morphology, i.e., the rules combining> the sounds to make words or the
shaping and forming of words; and (2)> the rules for arranging those
words in a pattern or string to make a> sentence, which is called
syntax."> > Black Americans, according to Dr. Smith, actually "think in
and use> African syntactical patterns, but they have borrowed and
extensively> used European words." Ebonics "follows the African deep
structure in> every respect when it is different from English, and
there is solid> empirical linguistic evidence of identical deep
structure or> syntactical patterns in West African languages."> > What
this means is that African people in America originally adapted>
English words to their own African system of pronunication, enuciation,
> morphology and grammatical sentence structure. So that the so-called>
"Black English" or "substandard English" still spoken by many Black>
Americans is in fact a separate language, Ebonics, whose basic>
foundation is clearly African.> > Dr. Smith's conclusions are largely
based on his research and the> research of other scientists on the
language and culture of Africans> and African Americans.> > For
thousands of years, a number of languages have evolved on the>
continent of Africa. Included among these were the world's earliest>
written languages, which first appeared in the region of the modern
day> Congo and the upper Nile Valley about six thousand years ago. By
the> 16th century A.D., a number of different dialects were spoken in
West> Africa, homeland of the ancestors of most Black Americans.
Although in> many instances these dialects were mutually
unintelligible, each of> them possessed common phonological (sound)
features and grammatical> sentence structures. Therefore, many
linguists believe that these> languages had the same or similar origins
and belonged to a single> language family.> > Furthermore, there are
solid bits of empirical evidence that suggest> that at this same time
West Africans had developed a Lingua Franca or> trade language spoken
by common agreement between different language> groups. According to
Dr. Smith, this communication was facilitated by> the vocabulary from
several dominant languages such as Ngola, Fulani,> Wolof, Yorbuba,
Mandingo, Malinke, Bambara and Dwe. Because of these> shared linguistic
features, West Africans, who were brought to the New> World as slaves,
were able to retain a singular African language> structure.> > "When
the black man was brought to the Americas from Africa," states> Dr.
Smith, "he was speaking Niger-Congo or what are called Hamito-Bantu>
languages. Niger-Congo is a geographical designation for the languages>
of West Africa. Hamito-Bantu is a cultural designation of these people>
-- Hamito and Bantu, referring to Black Africans as opposed to Afro->
Asiatics, who are Arabs and Berbers, etc. These Hamitic and Bantu>
people, who were captured in West Africa, were speaking languages
whose> phonology, grammar and lexicon (words) were different from those
of the> Indo-European languages with which they came into contact in
the New> World.> > "The African people," Dr. Smith continues, "were
brought into America> and the Caribbean speaking African languages; and
as a result you see> that, to the extent that they have been integrated
into white society,> there is more likelihood of their sounding
European or borrowing more> European features. To the extent that
(Black Americans) have lived in> social isolation, you will find the
linguistic retention of an African> Hamito-Bantu substratum in their
phonology, grammar and vocabulary."> > The early Black slaves actually
spoke very little of the European> languages, whether the dominant
language in a particular country was> English, Spanish, Dutch, French
or Portuguese. "The Africans," Dr.> Smith insists, "knew the words,"
but because most were denied a formal> education and could not read,
they generally did not learn the grammar> of the European language to
which they were exposed. "The greatest> difficulty one has in mastering
a foreign language is learning the> grammar. You can learn the sounds
that are different and you can learn> and extensively memorize the
vocabulary, but learning Spanish words> won't make one a speaker of
Spanish. What one has to know and speak in> order to have competence in
Spanish is the Spanish morphology or verb> system." What the Africans
spontaneously chose to do, then, was to> maintain the "deep structure"
(i.e., word formation and syntactical> rules) of their own African
languages and by relexification (i.e.,> using words from one language
in the verb system or grammar of another> without a change in the
grammar), they adapted the vocabulary of the> Indo-European languages
to the structure of the languages that they had> in Africa. "Ebonics,"
then, asserts Dr. Smith, "is an African> morphology or substratum with
French, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and> English words in it," depending
on where the Africans lived in the New> World.> > "A good analogous
situation", states Dr. Smith, "is the English> language. At one time
the English language was not spoken on the> British Isles. The islands
were inhabited predominantly by what are> called Celtic people. In
about 449 A.D., the Celtics were under the> domination of the Romans
and Latin was spoken throughout the Isles. The> Celtics began to hire
mercenaries to help them expel the Scots and the> Picts after the power
of the Roman legions had waned. They hired some> Jutes but mostly
Anglos and Saxons, who were German tribesmen who spoke> German. These
people fought the Scots and Picts for the Celtic King,> Vertigern...
Following their expelling the Scots and Picts, after the> Roman legions
had disbanded, we find the English language -- an> unintelligible
dialect of German - being spoken on the British Isles.> The word
English comes from the word Anglish -- the Anglo-Saxon. These> people
had brought German to the British Isles, but English had evolved> as a
German dialect.> > "The Anglo-Saxons dominated until 1066 A.D. when
William the> Conqueror, in what was called the Norman Invasion,
established the rule> of the French language, which was deeply rooted
in the Latin spoken by> the early Romans. French became the official
language of the church,> the schools and parliament, but the masses of
people on the British> Isle now spoke 'Anglish' This language, then,
began to be influenced by> the French, which was already genetically a
Latin language kin to that> of the Romans. 'Anglish' borrowed so
extensively from the French> language that even today, if you look at
the etymology of 85 or 90> percent of the English vocabulary in any
dictionary, you will find that> English has received most of its
vocabulary from the Romance languages,> but the grammar of English
still basically follows the German syntax> and word order. For that
reason, English is not considered to be a> Romance language. The
Romance languages are French, Portuguese,> Spanish, Romanian, Italian,
etc. The Germanic languages are German,> English, Dutch, Danish,
Swedish, etc.> > "The same thing, I submit, occurred with the slave
descendants of> African origin...Black Americans are speaking an
African language> (Ebonics) with some European influence."> > In
supporting his contention that Black Americans speak Ebonics, Dr.>
Smith provides a number of phonetic illustrations, most of which are>
difficult to explain to laymen on the printed page. To get the full>
effect of Ebonics, one must actually hear the pronunciation of the>
words and syllables. In the case of consonant clusters, however, Dr.>
Smith's illustrations are very clear. Consonant clusters occur when
two> or more consonants appear together usually at the end of a word
(for> example,/ft/,/kt/ and /st/).> > In his extensive study of the
phonological structures of West African> languages, Peter Ladefoged
observed that "(m)any West African> languages, including most of the
Kwa groups, can be considered to have> no consonant clusters." In the
same vein, William Welmers, in his text,> African Language Structures,
states: "And Alan Kaye, reporting on the> Chadic and Sudanese Arabic
languages, adds: 'Sudanese Colloquial Arabic> does not permit consonant
clusters within a syllable.'"> > After considering the opinions of
these authorities, Dr. Smith states:> > If we take the Ladefoged,
Welmers, and Kaye report here as valid and> substantially correct
observations regarding West and Central African> languages, the
conclusion which I am compelled to draw from these> collateral sources
is that, in the West and Central African Hamito-> Bantu, Niger-Congo
languages, consonant clusters rarely if ever exist.> Therefore, given
the historical fact that African American people are> descendants of
West and Central Africans who were originally speakers> of West and
Central African Hamito-Bantu and Niger-Congo languages, it> logically
follows, from my perspective, that the existence of a> systematic, rule-
governed, and predictably undistributed consonant> cluster
configuration in African American speech today, may well be a>
linguistic feature of African-American speech which will be traced to>
the base of the historical process.> > It is most important in this
context, then, to note that, according to> a number of other
authorities on Black language (including J.C. Baratz,> Ralph W. Fasold,
William Labov, Paul Stoller and William Thomas)> African-Americans, in
speaking Ebonics, indeed do not pronounce final> and past tense
consonant clusters found in English. Therefore, in> Ebonics, the
English words left, drift, swift and lift will be> pronounced /lef/,
/drif/, /swif/, and /lif/, etc., just as they would> be prounounced by
Central and West Africans.> > In Ebonics, the consonant cluster /ct/
(which in linguistic circles is> recognized as /kt/) also does not
occur. Therefore, in Ebonics the> English words object, reject, respect
and collect will be pronounced> /abjek/, /rijek/, /rispek/ and /kelek/.
> > In Ebonics, the final consonant cluster /pt/ is also absent. Hence,
> the English words except, slept, crept and wept are pronounced
/eksep/,> /slep/, /krep/ and /wep/.> > The /sk/ and /st/ consonant
clusters found in English also do not> exist in Ebonics. Therefore, the
English words mask, desk, tusk and> husk are pronounced in Ebonics as
/mas/, /des/, /tus/, and /hus/; and> the English words west, best,
test, fast, last, list and mist are> pronounced /wes/, /bes/, /tes/,
/fas/, /las/, /lis/ and /mis/ in> Ebonics.> > In Ebonics the /ld/ and
/nd/ consonant clusters are alo absent.> Therefore, such English words
as build, bold, hold, told, cold, mold,> wild and child will be
pronounced /bil/, /bol/, /hol/, /tol/, /kol/,> /mol/, /wayl/, and
/chayl/. Likewise the English words sand, hand,> stand, land and grand
or find, mind, kind and blind will be pronounced> as /saen/, /haen/,
/staen/, /laen/, and /graen/ or /fayn/, /mayn/,> /kayn/, and /blayn/ in
Ebonics.> > Also absent from Ebonics is what is called the progressive
suffix> (ing). So that such English words as looking, talking and
walking will> be pronounced as /lukin/, /tokin/ and /wokin/ in Ebonics.
> > Another important example of the distinction between English and>
Ebonics, that clearly demonstrates what Dr. Smith calls "a linguistic>
continuation of the African Hamito-Bantu and Niger-Congo languages in>
Black America," is the use of the "retroflex velar spirant" /r/. In>
many European, Asian and African languages, as well as in Ebonics,
this> velar spirant /r/ does not exist; however, it is common in
English.> Hence, such English words as more, store, Sharon, carrots,
Lord and> Board are pronounced /mo/, /sto/, /saran/, /kaets/, /lawd/
and /bode/> in Ebonics. Likewise, the English words door, floor, pour
and four are> pronounced as /do/, /flo/, /po/ and /fo/ in Ebonics.> >
Another most interesting similarity between African languages and>
Ebonics is the absence of the interdental /th/ sound in both West>
African and African-American speech. Hence, such English words as this,
> that, these and those will occur in Ebonics as post-dental /dis/,>
/daet/, /diz/ and /doz/. Likewise, bath, mouth, both, breath, teeth,>
bathe, breathe and teethe will be pronounced as /baef/, /mawf/, /bof/,>
/bref/, /tif/, /bav/, /briv/ and /tiv/.> > Dr. Smith recognizes that
some scholars have argued that many of the> features of Ebonics "can be
found in Southern white and other varities> of `White-trash' English,"
and therefore he is incorrect in his> assumption that Ebonics is indeed
a distinct language peculiar to Black> people.> > "To this argument,"
he states, "I can only point out that many Whites> during antebellum
slavery and even in modern times are reared during> the ontogenetic
[developing] period of their language. . .by Black> mammies and
therefore have adopted many African elements in their> speech.
Secondly, `White trash' as a population of America's poor are>
naturally more likely to rub elbows, like it or not, with Blacks and>
other suppressed minorities in low-paying occupational and low-rent or>
low-cost housing and school situations than they are going to rub>
elbows or interact with the more affluent Whites. Therefore, it should>
not be at all a mystery to any learned and honest individual as to why>
`White-trash English' sounds somewhat similar to Ebonics. On the>
surface structure. . . (phonetically and lexically), Ebonics is
related> to `White-trash English', however, in its deep structure,
Ebonics and> 'White-trash' English are autonomous languages."> > Why
has Dr. Smith spent several years studying Ebonics, lecturing and>
teaching about it on various college and university campuses and>
otherwise seeking to have it recognized as an autonomous language? "We>
should be taught English," he states, "as a second language. The>
English language. . .is a tool just like a tool for fixing a flat tire.
> It was one of the tools that I have found that was pivotal to my own>
growth and development.> > "Every child does not come to a given
classroom with the same degree> of interference from Ebonics. So there
is no one method of teaching> English as a second language. There are
different strategies that you> use commensurate with the degree of
interference from Ebonics that the> child has. So that if the child is
more phonologically different, that> may be a basis for his spelling
errors in that a child would tend to> spell the words as they sound to
him. But what he has to do is learn> the English sound system or at
least learn the demarcation between> English and Ebonics so that he
doesn't follow the phonic spelling...You> can't use phonics, then, as a
method of teaching English to Black> people because our sound system is
different from (the white) sound> system. Phonics is okay if you are
talking to a person who is basically> an English speaker, but phonics
alone does not help the average Black> learner."> > Dr. Smith, who also
tutors Black junior high school children in> English, tells of how
eager the children are to learn once they realize> that they are in
effect learning a new language. "You teach them> English as if it were
French or German," he says. "Once you establish> in their minds that
this is English and what they speak is Ebonics,> their whole attitude
about what they are learning becomes different."> And it is this change
of attitude that spurs Dr. Smith on and convinces> him that his drive
to have Ebonics recognized as a legitimate, separate> language of Black
Americans will ultimately result in their mastery of> English itself.>
> いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい> To
unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html> >
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.
org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l> To contact the List Management,
please send an e-mail to:> [log in to unmask]>
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
_________________________________________________________________
Color coding for safety: Windows Live Hotmail alerts you to suspicious
email.
http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?
ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_safety_112008
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the
Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.
org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
|