‘APRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH Is Nor STaNbaRD ENGLISH Wirt MisTAKES Gooltrey K. Pullum Ji anual fr a policy anaouncement ata cit school-board mesting to trigger 2 worldwide media feney, but one Califoraia schoo-board meng fi December 1996 did exacly that. Within days ofthe announcement ‘chool-board members could not lave their homes withous bing besieged by joursaliss. They were vilified, raicled snd attacked in newspapers snd magatines around te entre work. What had happened? "The board had fsued statement tothe elfec that it was changing is dacatinal policies with regard to one aspect ofthe local ngulste stu ‘Gon. They would pay move serious auenion tothe language spoken st home by mast of the district’ school students. Is status wuld be recog sine, teachers would be tained to lok att objectively and appreciate ts ‘eis, and i would he aed in the classtoom as appeopriate, This tn seas epored by the New York Tomes quite accurately and fury. Yer opi {an vters proceeded to fall upoa the topic like saving dogs stacking a tone. They ridiculed, they sneered, chey feothed, they Hames ehey raged, the lived ofthe story for wesks. The tllradia switchboseds li py snd intemperate opinions fared, Whar was going on? ‘The answer les inthe fact thatthe language being recognized by the school board was not Spanish ot Polish or Russian or any such relatively ‘uncontroversial language. The city as Oakland, a poor cy on the east side of San Francisco Bay where hal the population ie Alsen Anmesican, nd the language was dhe one that ings lly call Fria American Vemaculae English (AVE). ‘What makes AVE so dramatically diferent as 2 politcal issue from, ‘5, Spanish alo spoken in Oakland, by up roa quarter of te population} i is close velation to another Language of moch higher prestige. Mostfe ‘he Workings o Language speakers of Standard English think chat AAVE ists badly spoken ver Sion of thi language, marted by lot of gnorat mistakes im grammar Ind pronation or won tan dat, an unimportant and mostly abusive ‘epee of sett sang wed by an gras arb undras. An orl IDthe New York Te fe days afer the ft news report said thatthe akan! schoo Bound had "Scared that blak slang 2 distin la Ene bagi by geting tht yh ou fhe way. The Time's sete about slang ws completly un, and the werters shoeld be ashamed of themslven So should all the newspapers and. magcins that followed them. The governing bourd of she Oakland Untied Schoo! Disrienever Inemtioned slang and nove ended eo ply anything approving bout ‘We cll an expression sang when repretents 2 wr cologual word cor piaseasoined with vom sboulssd ot yr ncrporte pa tthe mainstem language. No aubcltre's lang ould conta Sate language. The mike i ike confusing a sprinkle of oe sae With Ginn Slang is by dein porsi on some large and mote encom ang ost language has no grasses on stn sal ary of ‘Nord and phrses ad under the age of ome ordinary language and ia [Wordance wih is gama, The sayy of slang word nd pass ae inthe langage abeady and are mery signed new slang meanings by some subpoplaion, “The Ostend school hosed was not endoing the nonsensical idea that biac slang shouldbe scoped as sew lngaage The sexement ire raed may ve hen wordy if, ane fled wit bad ureautatese aed pompous sounding referent to "Akazan Language Systems,” But she {ent wes clear enough the board wan! vo acknowelge that AAVE was {Elina in can respecs fom Seadard Engh, snd ie proposed to be teaponsive to the educational imphestons. ; ured among che ago ofthe sunccment was & mention of mame for AAVE, sugested by a Blick soholr in 1975 bur never adopted by inguin: Ebonics, That wot soncocted from ebony la eoor te the ame of daricclered wood) an phones the ame of 2 method or teaching reading), way dened to atch othe board ici aco 2 Bock of gante ant hung found che seks They would never ea he snd of ‘One problem with the name was tha eet isl ies co sapid pun and joke. The Ecouomit picked sp and printed a bat sry Ati the Ebonics vin” eeeace wo the eecet on break ofthe owsble Eula ve in aie he selina! ale nasty things ‘utof Alta) People apy ivented he ons wonds 0 mock heen ‘f lering Aitcan Aretians have ei om clan toa langage. Would ewsh people propose that ther way of speaking English sould be de igual Hebonis? Could stupid people complain shat the were ie Avan American Vers ral a sis of tent langungs, Mocs? Caconits seme fad sch nis endless andthe aes kee coming or ee ca fa ee wil ne prisily concerned re wih analysis of the polis and ths thers he “Ebon” ary provoke Il concerned ‘eh AAV rol te everay speck fone of pol in ares ‘rated Aican American dit The monty of Ego pean fa {fat AAVE ij Engl wth vo added acne ome pec tasp ae tod oc of gamma mises They are sy ony abou LANGUAGES, DIALECTS, AND RULES. tet me en by pining th hes obit dienes bowen tenga ime eran of one ngage nd soe ence is another tiny oly aight aie Ts wobvoay wie he Ieee torus dices ie Eph and Pen When ees teehee othe capa fh United Rng sp Lon te ‘nak tars he sor Fechname fr London, Bu he ee when we ar talking shou ener hy ee agus Tee ‘one sapaon, pay won ee ofthe a ir pei ro tne ont wy teak andthe en Ist cosier tip ase xml ving ranma ference screen ass of Sand Ely Som peste, bors the word whom neat ocho nse one: Th who de oxen stay aers pepston anh om en Sete and mayo es wes "hn abe ed on ‘ot thy me he the pig of emence houhho ‘ental may wo, ar ep en caper wero ahh wl ofc o ahead a ‘Sour lowing ewe se anna’ (1) We at aking about x man who everene sem 0 chink will ne day tong, (2) Weare tang abou a man whom eeryoe sm to thik wll oe day behing ‘Which version i ight? Dizly we may cemener something from che gram ‘nar books about using who for subjets and whom fr noneubjecs, Can't ‘we just apo tha? No, we ca’. The rule “use who for subjec and bom for nonsubjecs” is insufienly expt. These examples involve a relative ‘lause that begins after che word ma. The next word (who or thom) Introduces the relative cluse (everyone seems fo think — sell me day bea ‘The Workings of Lange fing). There are wo things that “subjct” might mean here; “subject of ix was 2 much mote sensible and reasonable point: AVE as a dilec of English sill deserves respect and acceptance. It basa dgice of regulariey and stably aeibuble 1 2 ser of rules of grammar and promineation,” 2 with ay language. ledifers strikingly fom Standard als, but there ie no more reason for calling i bad Standard English than there for dismissing Minnesota English a bad Viginia speech, othe revere Jour als di nos get this; neasly everyhing dey wrote about the perporeed (rots that characterize AVE was factually incorrect, eis worth devoting litle time to close analysis oF some examples that demonstrate thie MvTHS aROUT 36 ‘There isa technical ern for the auniary ver that takes the forms be, been being, dom, ar, is, ae and wore, Tes called the copula. The most popular myth about AAVE is chat i involves muse ofthe copula: tht it is carelessly omitted os ase in incorrect forms like be auto ignorance, {Lette ery to untangle the jumble of falsehoods that are commonly rated bout “The AVE copula canbe omit, but thre are sect es—surprisingly eiled and specie ones about hove and where. Inthe follwing sua ‘mary, AAVE examples ace alized and wansltions into Standaed English sem double quotation marks (8 Habe copula Bees scent te fr any rent ii 0 mite Example the copula i abit la Thee abcd) one whe pissed6 he Workings of Language (As aspci cae of aus vers athe cad 2 phate ae always ‘cet, ads the col alway ened athe a fs phase ‘sample the copula liga in Could nobody 0 het caer ‘bet ch meas "Noboy could ap what xo he) ()_Resbps av anoeher spi case of het pal remot presen je tose, compel aking In tna En fa ew Sas urd Engl speakers ane aware of pesac n AVE), exes with an scented form ofthe word ben, repre tein sal ‘apis, sod thi noe ote, ‘Example: he #869 marted ane “She is mace and has been for some tnsdecale ng,” aed se HED" et ome {Hf the copula is neg, not amid (the form it is never ‘opp. ‘Example: The copula cigar in You ai’? goto mo even (Yo te yong to any hate arin Pa na fol am ot fool" (0) The cop is mie wen inal ad athe a sap The ope igor in You go to be stong oi a Immpeatieike Be are (i) esha ab a speci as of he eta expres ial speci ot ome Examples He be ing’ means “He lly oe hail sigs aoe “Hie sig”) and the bogey (i The copula isnt omit when i inthe past tense eas oF wer satple The pala aiuto in Io col, (si) The present ens copa i not ome wc cis peso single lam sample: The copa i oii nw al ht. (i) The prosaetense copula not ond when it begins a cause Example: The copula is ablatory in an ineogate lke fs thet yout 1s) Asa pci ase of i), when the cop scr in «conan ig fom the ed of tence not ome (ce sack age be the ‘Parma of lipo ieropate cle) ‘Baample the copula of the tug i elgatory in don't ik you ready are youd ‘Onky when none ofthese conditions obesins—when the cop i pesca tense, not fist person, not accented, not negative, and not expressing the habitual or the remore presen perfect—can ibe omiced in AAVE speck ‘Most ofthis can be easy confirmed from the smatering of AAVE one ‘an pick up from popular cultre—snatches of AVE dialogue in movie, Arian American popular songs, and s0.0a. mos every American knows that the Standard English greeting How are you doing? cam be reduced an Areca Verscur lah ” so Flow yo doi’? in AVE, bt th AAVE grcting What is 2eves (Gear he form “Wht ey Know that tee Fa ef fur Splion Yoo" yo canoe ave ost te av that Oe Redlog Sims os Bor by oh ins’ Been a Lang Te Coming ond lui not be reduced 0"! born by ees that sng ne ke Fn ou pet an Fim «boa fo you baby ont reded °lyur pape Er hoe for vou babyy ands on So any nee ae ag CA ‘fears ete out copa cary ae Few Elsh speakers re aware tat Resan Hungarian, Arai, Sa ti nd many ober geass fave efor omg he cops an Condon tat are of +e amar svt though dilsag I delet ‘ahs for example the cops may be iti he neem se stv resent es. fo nga the copa mas fe ome te a Erma eh pero igarpreset en eye osha ‘attentive tied pen preseese copa form) n Rin te ope sls optional mired ine nonpatealbemie present idea tien snr exrssing existence nia There gol Some langues forexampl Send Frevhy ier tory lean that they aways bave'a pronounced fry ofthe opin fevan ete ‘yes and show no sapericy webies snc Sard Fags tte loser AAVE thant Stndard rnc docs na ene oma he copula, bt simon oi elcing 2 sne consonant when Sse ain thease pee ese Um eatin reset $0 tnd He my broer, and a0, ban cert, hea teal to be acme “Hors ny btn, whee sh hen monly “hss a paternal een for expe ark (an ely eed langage) Thee reductions reno ran ercesaese thy ae te fe sults of als ad othe onion o he copula AAVE Novice hat many langage ober phe wena seal mie tngage ke Rosi, Swat, Span aan panes, aed Chinese omit opens sbject prone ery ll che ime mie he omen pert the meaning a Lense wut dle. Teo Spanish eae“ ove you espe thenonoceuence ofthe wend oe tere sich a wordt pronounced yout ts onl sed empha fil) Bue AAVE doesnot perm omasion of the ubet pronoun. eh inthe mos crt puns you can say zDonde stat for “Where se yu" (omiting the word for "yon or Lege moc for "Si wl ie tonight” fomiing he wor fore" hac you cao ay “Wee ire ol are toght in RAVE. Sbjct pronouns ae pee amd cept in imperatives nd in ery cal esr sage at hed ies hare we ean ny "Sa gey Yo me ie of Io mosey fo me in very informal speech, or wnt Wil ete move oon to eve wenden {telegram or on a postal) AAVE has grammar that decries ‘ach things fost as Sandal Englnh Gos, Sad the panna othe‘he Workings of Lanouge two dileesagce om this point: subjees are obligatory in nealy al em- fence nes. AAVE speakers do not caelesly lave ou subjects aay more than Stndacd Engl speakers do, [NEGATIVE CONCORD: DON'T WANT NO DOUBLE NEGATION AVE crs alk about something called “double negation” and ear ie 4s a iloialiy. The cis general donot Koow what they ate lig about. AAVE nega the sue way ih: langeags do: Yo oer coke ‘eae and ony You uta, nd converey. What dos difercers AVE from Standed Bnlsh that npason Can be munya Standard Fags Tam not a gly flow asses ao AVE ae Tt 1 waly dade Sanda English 1 baven eve sen anything He Ween spon to AAVE Tait eter sen not ke te anand ogc ie tot ee athe is AAVE He dsc nthinThe ee date oe this heli tlw tito negates make» pontine he die ee 4s nosing, hat meas bedi ce someting, ands eal se a form of words o can the opposi ll make only ai deta into loge (is a che busines, and hee nch more tat could be sid ts eeainly ts tar ee logical languages each asthe proponoal cles, under cael Preatione of neato, two segavs ac euiaenfo anal ole 4 losin wets ay ~"-P means ii roo tha ib nt to ha he where P is any statement youl; and is equivalent to ying Ph Boe thee i ie smarty heween thi mecha! gal nase ee syammar of any naar! langue: Unerthe Gascal ieee ae even numberof consecutive ngtans ean fo mane sad oy ok ‘number equivalent wo one So hes negates ae equa to Le "atv in lg, whish mean tht the cos hae some explain tote wat suppoted to be obeionahle tout | at ever ser nen ie 4 Icha three neative words lan, ew, noir anda nope mora ing and hat ought to bee fal hac spores oe eps sens tchave an old sumer of negative wore, The uth chat many ofthe people who grumble about AAVE being ilo do ot know enough loi even eo expan wha they mean by he sie Thy sree something completly relevant he way nec foralied inthe invented langage of logic whe ng eee neat cations concemig the iteration of negaton with quameon a soe thsi feyond th cope of ths chape} ad laling so a the cualy ‘eleva fact about natural languages that the grammar of epaion ene ‘the same in all Languages. “ee e “= “Negation in Standard Engh, German, oc Arabic i eifecet fom ne ‘zon i, for example, Spanish or Rasan ox Hallan Ia Standard aon, the way to say “Nobody elephond i Non tlefonato mnt, lay yr ian American Vera gli ” “ot has lephond 0 one." The nr athe Begonia andthe ational teeny of mano no ote Nth sudan dean he ‘Sune ie his negate as parla way that demands bates ot “hae more peso hin thx poston whee ne wots (wos hte arb) woul apc sanardBnlshmgae ‘tt dain eget pte Couns word wi gs tke mb Thin srl ofthe granary Known fo ing gota concrd. Negaveconiel langage repube te of Spee ‘toed tad of nde words This tent an eon iva dened Of Se ama, ter ess Sgeent rae “AVE ars out bei lean with eae o neat concord noe be Sasdrd Engh The AAVE sence dar nobly cal sows ox ‘cy he nme nese contre alan No Pleat Noses ‘cee cme att egies sma he het tn Bie cle no ue that nso be coun Neer AVE nora i's op i ue asthe grammnaveal ues or expreson of ‘Sener cg Coeff trae Sundar El {RAVE aa alone det of Bagh with ep encod Cock sey workings dc picnic Eat Ef London, Ep {ol numerous workings dae England an Amer soo iret For csmple ou fan hae Pk Hyd sng “We cont rd “enon we dont ned thot courl on tes om Te Wale thy ae ate Bh od, hye gig in worl Bt wokive IE oy on aso dh he negatveconcrd dlc of Eg today have low pric bilgoud In ly noting a thors the et people of noble ih snd sempaprs fe tags qaliy use bee cond ope John Fal tc ste eoncord hehe peas ‘tan (Seabee wen he pens Ply en fer as ' tke AAVE and Spanish and Hla rte Engh and Geman an ate [NEGATIVE INVERSION Anothe: key feature of AAVE (noc shared by Cockney or other dialects) involves reposiioning 2 negative auxiliary verb at the beginning ofthe sentence when the subject i indefinite. Thus we find Ain? nobody gonna {nd ont, meaning “Nobody is going to Bind ut." Inthe Standard English version, negation is expressed purely on the sub- ject. If you want to make a sentence tha ise jest in those ircumances ‘where “Somebody is pong to find ou” is fale, you simply replace some body by nobody, and you get “Nobody is gong to find ont.” In AVE dhe clause hes to be marked as negative by its auieyvetb, so you we in,so he Werkings of Langage tnd in addition (remember, AVE is a negativeconcord language), all words like somebody must be replaced by negative forms like nobody ‘hroughout the clause. Complying with these demands would yield Nobody 1a gonna fied out. Bat that i not necessarily the mone acceptable wxy ‘oF saying things is quite common for AVE speakers to switch the oder ‘ofthe subject robo) and the aiiay vec (a) yelling Ain’ nobody (goma find ovt. In Seandard Engsh the aliary occurs before the subject in inerogacves (sv anyone going to fied out), bat notin declaratives {excep where, in rather formal style, a negative adverb occurs a the be lasing ofthe sentence: Never have I seo atch a thing). The AAVE Air't Dobody gonna ind out is « declarative sentence sed for making 4 ate ‘ent, not an interrogate sentence (used for asking 2 question), ye i has the auiary asthe fist word. This s another example of asynacic df= ference beeeen AVE and Standard English ‘Theresa complication co thi. Negative inversion in AAVE isnot found wich every type of subject aoun phrase. For example, when the aubjox 2 simple name like Mar, i is imposible oat last extremely unlikely. We do not ear “Ain't Mary gonna find ou. Silly, when the subject, has the definite article the or a possessive aril ike your, we do not get egative inversion: "Ai' the teacher gonna fond out “Ai'e your mother ona fd on: So there is more co be sad about the varios conditions that encourage ‘or discourage the ase of negative inversion in particular sentences, Dut my point hasbeen illstraed enough: negative inversion ia construction ype thatthe standard dalct doce not have. Agsin AVE shows that it has cetain regular syntacte principles of ts ova, DROPPING CONSONANTS RIGHT AND LE” [AAVE also has special principles of promunciation. One fil clear one ‘concens consonant clusters athe ends of words. AAVE speakers sy r= for rest’ lef fr ‘et’, respec’ fr ‘espec’, baw’ fr “hand and 50.00. A supeticialglance might suggest that shey leave consonants of the ead of ‘words. Bue i isnot that spl ‘We will ned small amount of phonetic terminology a this point. The stop consonants of English are the ones normally represented by the leters etek, bd and g, 38 found on the ends ofthe words up, ou, ot, rob, rex, and log. The voiceless consonants, quite because they 41¢ pro" ounced with no wbraion ofthe vocal cords, ae che sounds for which f.and & are normally used. The other voiceless sounds in English incade the ones heard a the ends ofthe words of, mis, and lk which are ale {reatves. The voiced stops, which ae produced wth voal-cordvbeation, fare b, dy and g. (Some consonaat levers got doubled in English splings, bur this is nor rlevane tothe pronunciation Other voiced sounds in Eng Aven eran Vera Boh a lish include che consonants heard a the ends ofthe words of, Os ridge, and fil. (Standard English also has snerdemtal faves lke those in the ‘words breath and breathe, but thse are eeplaced by sope in sever da lees of which AAVE i one: they i pronounced dey.) ‘With this terminology we can descibe some rather intricate eections concerning which consonant an be lef off and which have tobe retained in AVE, The basic principle involved ithe oe shown in (6). (6) A stop cononam at he cod ofa woe my be mie (and say is) itis preceded by snutherconmnan ofthe sae 74 Note fist char consonants are always pronounced when they follow 2 vowel In words lke wp, ont, oak, rob, rad, and fog, no AAVE speaker leaves off the final consonant, In words like domp, sink, an bel, again the consonants are pronounced, The consonants pst and ate voiceless stops, but the sounds represented by my and Ire voiced, so nothing gets ‘deoppe. Similar, in words like raps, rats racks, the # Is alwys ro. bounced, because although iis x consonant of the same voicing sf ‘ot stop, soi is esined. la words like Dobbs, Dodds or dase, we het 4 voiced frcaive< sound atthe end which is not deopped, Becsuse a ‘hough ic has a consonane ofthe same voicing before thar consonant is not a stop. We therefore get consonaats dropped only ia cases ke these: (7) a ts: vols top dropped ker wien + we be des: voces stop dmpped aftr voices + ae ls voids stop # droped afer wicks f i rept: veel op # dropped voles pee? Uebel somes lop ete ppl see a ‘icles p 4 fan seed sop &Sroped afer voces x ot ald vocod stop f droped afer we o ‘SOMETHIN "BOUT NASALS ‘One might he tempred by che spelling to think that AAVE als eaves ¢ ‘ff the end of words like nobin' somethin’, and singin’ but this mot tuue either. In Standard English these words end in the g sound of sing (paionccicans cll this sound the velar masa), But today in many dalecs the -ing ending is requenly replaced by ~n, often represented in writing at av. Nothing has ben deopped, despite that apostophes rather, one ‘Sound has been replaced by another, ‘Or, at less, nothing has been dropped in recent times. Bur there san lzerestng litle historical wrinkle co ths. Further back in che history of2 ‘he Waring of Langage Enlh a consonane we in fc oped fom words lik sing, bat the cates cults were the pears of what we now fate wih he en “Standard” Engh, Dien in enor of England hte undergone eer changes than the standard daer, and chose dacs il have te sound iosin eg) onthe end of word sot ke sng adn ersten of ke ‘anger ctes words singer gmc with ger sed inger inner Lnglnd: Some entre ago the wuthraEnglond dalecs Began foe the g sound ar vle aula the end of word roe, 50 now ge tnd singer 0 loge hye m sous Elna The psa ed finger, simple word conning ag following we mass ee see Singer eamplex word in which too Sig nds alr sl tod ‘Bertier lows. No das in souhern Bein (or Americ which mas seed fom there) havea afer a vel nas atthe endo any word anymore. So iste that inthe speech of Queen Elba the gSousd cat tad ed sing has ben Ibe. But noone elle se gen spy ot mastsen fer speech. Why? Because tere double sancard het, When Senda Southem Bish Engin nodes + simpling change inthe rly of out ike oo roc te sounder wt ol ec fn the mide of a word”) tis rept arte standard way eo perk, bur hea AVE inzoducs sch «change (ike "do not province © sop 2 te end ofa word fer anther consonant wth he sme voc 1 unl eoardol a slopines DIALECT SWITCHING ‘A this point I should make i clear thatthe featares of AAVE I have discussed sre characeritie of eather “pure” AAVE, 3 erson ony nie ‘ally fenced by Standard English. But people ae fexle, and even African Americans who have hardy any social contact with whites know ‘an enormous amount of Standard English bythe time they ae sale js S-yearolds who have souble on fist confonting Standard English, por ‘haps in school, here they may take 3 while to latch onto the ew Wy OF speaking Ie is quite eypial for speakers of AAVE to beable to switch buck and forth between their distct and one much closer to Standard English, The diferent features mentioned earir—copula cmon, nes tive concord, negative inversion, and others that could be cted—are op. ‘ions that ean be called upon in one uterance and then not used in she ext speaker can in effect switch between dialect high speed ‘This phenomenon is well known, of course. If two Alcan Americans ‘are chatting together privately AAVE behind the counter instore witen white customer eners and asks a question, the next uerance heard may have a deamatclly irene grammar from the lata the person WhO responds switches dsc. an Aric Versa rash 5 Sometimes speakers may use both more AAVE-lke and less AAVE-tike ‘ways of phrasing a sentence, for example, using Nobody lites bin and Da’ nobody ike bine nerchangealy. But eis happens Senda Eng lsh too. For example although ie was not mentioned inthe discussion of oho ad whom eae, there ace writers who use eter form ofthe pro- ‘nvm inthe contexts we considered (examples lke Weare talking about ‘man whom) every sem 10 isk sill ome day be kin). Fie writers ‘of Eaalsh like James Boswell the biographer ofcctionary maker Samuel Jonson), Benjamin Frank, Joha Gabsworthy, and Oliver Goldsmith have I been found to use the when-i'sthesubjct-oFitsclawse rule or the ivhor ies-thesubjeceofthe elatveclause vale snerchangeably. But they fe not making mistakes; they are noe blundering about confusing their tuo with their whom. We know that, because we know they never write "Whom ore you? or *To who was it addressed? Languages have many ‘ules ad reularies of sentence stracere, snd Speakers sec from among the possiblities in ways tha ar highly complex. But chats sign ofaving ' sophisicaed and fleble gasp ofthe possiblities in a rule systems iis nota sign of ignorance. ee Tegan ogey een oat Jhemmtarerrseat settee Laster SEE eae Sree Lier eat ne eediennenieahcmeer Ss TES Shea eS Eeannanre te aeeee aoe eae Sarason aaEse Ey ceeemceneaesen oe ee Snes Thornes The Workings of Langage Soiactokatg restr cae elie Sr SU Sota aera tanr sen Soe ate ace name el se DR SE rca Dn pay ga agen ee sierra semen taal eas paar Eee ana es Bat eee eet pda La mri Maes ccm eee cane ne CAPR? a ar er a mee ey guint aeah a Be Ie Setaeeraten ers eRe peeks CAM ee anche SEN mat mao eee Series ari oe te Baia niteieae eae oe SS a ath oe ee See Clee coe ee ae SSEmOS Dara crenata me on Sear oe temas regret SSS esaie nee Sieber ie ano na sa meaner eee tena ROSE LE eaten ee rite oe inser eee ete SOSA eels a eee octet eerie nen are te re Pose Rare agi emcee ee tea nae hs eee SSS cpa ouea guaitase oe rest ed atte er one Stead ire erento ahem ie ap ane Ey SEUSS onetime eben persia emus pare tui pathmer atas te cei earcaere, i e a e fee eel le am es Br Lagiay SI, ohana Fr Ac Areas Vernacular Eh Ps general of at rancor, the last consonant of an AVE word is (or may be) Popped. That simply is nor ere, as T explained eae ‘What does Raspbeery's effort at humar teach us? That a Washington columnist can sometimes come up with rather lame suff round Christmas fine, But so this AAVE should not be thought of asthe langage of Black people in Amenci. Many African Americans nether speak it or know much about it as Raspbery demonstrates. Bo those who do spel 'AANE are not jst blanderings they hae leaened 2 complex se of roles thar happens not fo be the some asthe complex et of roles that dines Standart English. They know & language that the highly educated Mr. Raspberry has not learned. |WHAT OAKLAND'S CRITICS MISSED Facts about che grammar of AAVE like de ones Ihave reviewed inthis chapte have been Knows co America inguiss for decades, largely because ‘ofthe pionccrng work of peole like Wallam Labow a the Univerity of Peneylvania anda significant number of AVE specialists who originally ‘ean with him ike John Rickford of Stanford University. Knowing what they knew, he members of the American lingueice profession wee di- smayed atthe gnorance betrayed by the media commentato angsy and offesiveatacks oa AVE and the Oakland school board Confusing lexicon with syntax, accent with dnt, difference with de- Sciency, and grammar with morality, the commentators clarified lil ex cept te deep hostility snd contempt whites ‘el for dhe way Backs speak (the patois of America’s meanest sees, columnist George Will called, fr AAVE could only be spoken in slums) and the deep shame flr by ‘Americans of Affican descent for speaking that way (former Black Panther [par oficial Eldridge Cleaver published an aril in the Los Angles Times Im which he compared acknowledging AVE with condoning eannibalizn) “The saddest things that in dei semble to find words fo evince thes fury and contempt at AAVE, columnists both black and white ignored the ‘gerne taser of educational policy that had modivaed the Oakland school board. ‘One persistent confusion was peshaps simulard by an ambiguity in Eg lsh "The phrase “instruccon in French” can be understoad in two ways: icould mean instucion on how to speak Freach, oF ie could mean in- ‘traction given va the medium of French. The pres ever figured out dhe Aiference betwen these two. The Oakland board members talked about “imparsingintacton to Asican-Ameccan studens a the prima lt guage”, buc this was discssed in editorials a ifthe proporl had been ‘make AAVE a school subject. The school boards statement did nor suggest {ome that choy even considered adding AVE eo the euriulun. Te plan ‘was to aye AVE asa medi of itrution, but motto old clases onJ ‘Te Workings of Language how to speak AAVE, (The whole point after al is chat no such classy are necesay, since the children ative speaking ie} In alidom, en xpi stated chat in par this wat “Yo fcliare--vacqlsion sad eae ‘ery of Faglsh Language silo Los liom any ofthe pes covecage hat Isa waste fc hat Oakland Scala se ery srt the demas of Norwegian schon thc dra from rural areas artive speaking rarl leet of Noseegane dliteene fom the standard langage of Ono. Tae diference She [Norwegians love thi nonstandard discs ad tat te ovale se tole of tadional Norweglan identi, They have sxpeinened oy both tal inmession, where the cid is plunged ins Senden Norwepian only environmen rm dy ond tenes ore ee, zr of bilingual edcation, where at the rural Glee sede siassoom and radually decides are ait to move coward te we dard langue for pubic and offal intraction and foal wring Thee is some evidence thar the lator ork beer. Teasing cillen teead es inthis own dale and then gral intcoducing the standard logue, <2 seed and improve he seuston of ridge “Theres good erkdence of sim sortperaing to Alcan American stents in the Uned Sats. Calpe aden tn Cage ho reeaed insraction concerning the conta between AAVE and Sanded aeons framar showed inproved Standard Engh weg sll ss camper {conta group. In Oakland ile nearly ent Sve yeas bane eee furore, it was found tha eachers who condcmaed RAVE promunestenn and inerpected them as reading errors gu the worst esl tecang -AAVE-peaing chiles ready while caches wh tied AAVE earn inthe coo got he bt The and herrea sation iterate gest thatthe Onan school boards policy does ‘had some clear motivation and scientific support. my But instead of sympatheasconidraon of te staegy shy were sage tesing and the evidence shat supported ty the memes of te Delon) {choo board mfr months of uarlering ile, needing and shoe from polis, pots, and pundits in editors atl talk shows, noes Brograms,spetches, and government statement Ute US: Depeencns ot vcation pointy announced that no flora! lagaledseasosfese woul be spent on AVE) Te was 50d spectacle “The horror with which Amsricane reat to the ida of using AVE in the classroom has something to teach be abou the proadssll toyed 4 America's Black chiens, whose ari of Englshs deve sifes Some repelled (eil the Econom with ts jokey beading soos the Ebonics vm) Edcstioalcomsretes often deny tapos involve, dissing linguist’ objets and comand poms i det as ii were jut eft wing propoganda. Bat tno. Even conservatne linguists aknowtege the fats mentioned caceThe Lingus Sole of ice hein Ves Boh ” ‘Ameri's vote on 4 Jamry 197 resolution in support ofthe Oakland ‘oon was sctaly unanincn ‘shu wl apres of crs, he Standard Engh ha preige and AAVE dors nod they are at cing suggest that Te and News Ppsould aan pulsing acces is AAVE, Thy srl aoe tha prone “eotin ad of tal doce nt eablih soci diincons or js coal Sigel conson fmm lets AVE ha ating he rong wath a languages only an sce of Boy that Sabet tndrd language of he United Se In he gah ‘andar language ake site nation masking, br has syle Coa he no ah mi ty Soot ever: the andad langage of thet county Tad sable Sa St cre and dona fate comonts a dcr at Slope sepaion mating exactly the same comission cosas) ISAAVE happens wo hae The hor among the ees who wit the ding en the grat ove he Olan rslaton gor hough tothe pret nthe ey. ‘Tey ware alurmed cough that Rating hagas ghewosation of thi iio hed shod sir, Onn 1997 the Bod di reve ats statement, droping the erence ipating Staton she pinay langue of ay of choke whe > tang ey, sme of mipidd references wo lege Alan oe FAVE), Ths seed toe to be throwing out te BY of rather Senile change in nguage poly wile cel sving the babu OF ‘Nrceeoes nnsesesbout AAVE ging back West Ale. hind the matemensy however, iy tore than ost sherri fr pubic consumption, Behind the cen, he Gand school system was senda is nen to nse AAVE wherever could sas the lesming of Seandard Engluh or ber ses by enn The bor corel bckdown {id not mean thot he poy bd change Ths shoo tbe rein Several he schoo! fics i California and ewes have long ope cd programe involving AAVE nthe clussoom OF corse teacher bare Sarda may Gang eh pa SAVE at ‘ould be impos in practice poli isso hl enough 0 pre ‘ent the fo using cc ntve ong when sexing all day 0 Cen who share "Ter thus lise doo that Afcan American Eghsh wil oniaue vo tec hearin Onin aeons may pro te rapom ne Sas {ors in way that willbe bench to lesning Ie wore uy. But ‘tee he surat of th ew plc, hope hat one thing dea ing [AE's de loom dosnt ney men twig ana ‘Caching sings tat ee wong, AAVE apsiers ae ferent papier, ‘sry and sharply desngshed from Seandard English at 3 umber of eins bough wavely sla that of Standard Engl overall AAVEee * The Workings of Langage speakers need to learn Standard English. But anyone who thinks that AAVE users are merely speaking Sendard English but making mistakes wrong. They can ty to make the case tha speakers of AVE aze bad asap or sauty or rcialy inferior if they want to, but they will eed arguments chat ‘donor depend on language, because linguistic study of AVE makes ne ‘hing quite lear AVE is or Standare Engsh with mistakes [NOTES AND FURTHER READING The New York Tins editorial tha sid Onan wate to tocognze et lang was “Linguini confesion” 24 Deemer 1996, A12 forthe see "The Homie Mirus” ser The Beonomt, January 4, 197, 26-7. The word Ebomts was coined Ty RL Willan bons The Trae Langue of Slack ole nie of Black Stole, Louis 1975), The Etnologue i eted by Baska F. Grams (Dally TX: Somer tate of Lingus, 1995) Clacton ond nde of te world languages is by CF and FM. Voegeli (New Yorks evi, 197) Jobn ‘MeWihonr corment an be found in his bok The word om the soe (New ‘York, NY: Plebum Pras 1998). Geod examples of William Lab's woe are "The loge of monaundaed Hoglch" eprinedn Language an sol ont x 73 ! 215, by PGs Penguin Boot, 1972), and "The enw ofthe ming op. ‘nt Language A dtatin fo copie cnc, 28 6 1 y La Re ‘leona and Mark. Libero, 25-54 (Cambridge, MA DIT Fre) Fer ch Seal sey of matin inversion ee Pot Sl Jon Reload Thomas We Sov, "An opamalty-dcrec approach asinton a negatineneron ie Aste ‘American Veracla Egy” Natur! Longue ond Lagat Theor 142996). | 91-627. Jol Riklons wok can be explored on hi web. ite hp memories oar ee tants | Imes sect" was "SU boy ad the ager scheme of hing” So Prone) {Chron 1 Saary 1997, Edge Clever compared seopieing AAVE to coe i ning cams ina cols nthe Lor Angels Toney, anary 311997, One ‘rudy of teaching it spears a andared Ingen tn Scandnaa cb found [2° OnerteBlmgulam andthe et Schoo! Language (Ones Vaserboteos ' Tracer, 1960. Using AVE i eaching black college student in Chicago wae : steed by Hann Tator i Standard Engh, lac Engl, and bitin | {Pee Lang, New Yor, 199). The tty of AAVE in tnchng Black ft ras | 4 Ossland was sed by A.M Testy, lath dlc tree and accom Imodition of reading israion fist grade (Monograpon of the Langage [Behavior Reseach Laboratory 4, Oniverety 0 Calon ese, 1979) Willa Rapa cola “Toto oa heer nat? Aconeation on Donic ype the Washinton Pont on Devens 26,1996 | en deep etl #2 Barbra Schol for exemsve comment and ivalunlergzetone, ads Rodaey Hadeton, Bll Ladusam, John Rion Rebsea Where aad Aroold Zac forthe ep