Ebonics

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Ebonics (English suitcase word from " ebony " and " phonics ") is a term that originally referred to the language of all people descended from black African slaves - especially in West Africa , the Caribbean and North America . Over time, especially after 1996, it was used more often in the sense of " African American English " to emphasize the independence of other population groups from American English .

The origin of Ebonics

The first mention of Ebonics in context as a separate language comes from a statement made by psychologist Robert Williams at a conference on language development for African American children in St. Louis , Missouri , in 1973. In his book Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks he explains:

As a two-year-old term introduced by a group of black scholars, Ebonics can be defined as “the linguistic and paralinguistic properties that describe the communicative skills of the West African , Caribbean and US descendants of African descent slaves . In particular, the patois , argots , idiolects and dialects of blacks are included here, especially those who went through a forced adjustment during colonial times. The term Ebonics is derived from the two words Ebony (German: black, dark, literally: "Ebony") and phonics (German: sound, noise) and refers to the study of the language of black people in all its cultural aspects . "

Since then, the term has been used in scientific discourse to bring the African-American language closer to African and to alienate it from European English. However, the term was hardly ever used and after a while it disappeared from the public in its original meaning.

In Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic pride and racial prejudice , John Baugh presents four possible ways in which the term can be understood today:

Ebonics in the United States of America

See: Main article, African American English

In the United States of America , the term ebonics remained largely unknown until the mid-1990s.

It was not until 1996 that the concept of Ebonics became known throughout the nation as an independent language, when the Oakland School Board of Education decided in a meeting to recognize the colloquial language of African American students in Oakland schools as a separate language called Ebonics . As a result, English as a foreign language should have been added to the curriculum for African American students in the schools concerned . However, after the intervention of well-known American civil rights movements and influential people like civil rights activist Jesse Jackson , this decision was reversed.

Since then, Ebonics has been considered a synonym for Afro-American English in the United States and is accepted as a dialect. However, the concept continues to emphasize the dialect's African roots.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Baugh 2000
  2. ↑ Green 2002, p. 7; own translation
  3. ↑ See Green 2002, p. 7: "When the term Ebonics was created, it was not only a synonym for the well-known black English"
  4. ↑ Baugh 2000, 74-76
  5. ^ Original text from the Oakland School Board regarding Ebonics
  6. ^ CNN, December 30, 1996
  7. ^ Expansion of the original Oakland School Board resolution
  8. ↑ English Wikipedia article on the subject of Oakland Ebonics controversy

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Further reading (in English)