African American Vernacular English: Features And Use

There are many different cultures and languages around the world. For years America has claimed other forms of language besides English. Over the years America has become more diverse that the country can no longer ignore its multiple different languages and dialects within its society. One of those dialects being Black American English which is known as Ebonics. Ebonics has become a topic of controversy over the years and is still debated as a critical language for African-Americans.

Ebonics also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a dialect of American English that is spoken by a large proportion of African Americans. It is a critical language with compelling elements of a distinct language. Its specific origins continue to be debated but the majority of people believe that it began somewhere in Africa. Over the years, ebonics has been considered or thought to be a poor form of standard English. Some people even compare it to lazy talking and thinking but in today’s society essentially everyone uses it not just African Americans.

Since ebonics has too many characteristics from West African languages, there have been arguments as to whether it is a language of American English or another language entirely. Ebonic’s history might have begun somewhere in Africa when people from many different African villages were brought to America to essentially work as slaves. The slave owners frequently mixed the slaves by tribes with the intention being to stop them from communicating with each other but that only caused the slaves to create a pidgin language in order to somewhat communicate with their tribe. The pidgin language is a mixture of diverse African languages, over the centuries it has blended with characteristics of “Standard English” to form “Black English” also known as ebonics.

In today’s society ebonics is widely used by everyone specifically the youth. The reason for that might be social media and most importantly the songs that everyone nowadays be listening to that include ebonic phrases in them. Phrases such as my bad, or I’m finna go get something are some examples of ebonics or black slang that is heard in conversations these days that are not said by African-Americans but instead by others such as Latinos, Whites, etc. Today’s youth might not even know that they are using “black slang” or ebonics since they are so used to conversating in that dialect. After all, they are also used to hearing it on TV commercials, by politicians, songs, etc.

Despite its many controversies over the years, Ebonics is a language that fully serves the needs of the people using it. Its grammar is just as complex as Standard English. The ebonic phrase “He didn’t do nothing” along with others, is completely understood by all its speakers and by Standard English speakers as well. It might have started by slaves just trying to communicate with each other but it has ended up being used by almost everyone not just African-Americans in today’s society. But then again with social media and songs becoming more and more popular these days the differences between black English and Standard English are vanishing and Standard English is slowly becoming more like black English.