Black English Language: African American Vernacular English

Black English is a variety of language which is associated with, and used by some North American black people. It’s characterized by pronunciations, syntactic structure, and vocabulary. There is confusion about what to call this dialect and that is understandable due to the frequent changes in both the linguistic literature and popular discourse. As well as the changes in how African Americans have referred to themselves and in turn been referred to by others.

This dialect was called Afro American English, African American Vernacular English, African American English, Black English vernacular, Black Vernacular English. Moreover, the studies during the 1960s, referred to the dialect as Negro speech, Negro American dialect and Negro English.

When African children were sent to the schools they faced many difficulties, they were teased about the way they speak. The teachers’ attitude toward the language of these children was that they speak bad English. So the teachers had to educate themselves that there are differences between Black English and improper Standard English. Moreover, these children had to learn that their native language is not improper and they should be taught Standard English as a second language. Black English like any other dialect, it has its features in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, unlike improper English. It is continually developing and it has standard syntactic rules. The blacks who lived in urban communities spoke different accent from those who lived in rural communities according to the need for vocabulary. Standard English speakers often cannot understand the speech of Black people. So the black people did not speak Black English all the time. They tend to use code switching between Black English and Standard English to be more understandable. Some blacks use black English because they didn’t want to be something they aren’t. They wanted to reserve their African heritage. Black English is highly figurative, metaphorical, rhythmic, and often melodic language, which reflect the blacks oral traditions. Additionally, the speech patterns and the styles of

The terms, African American English, and African American Vernacular English are the most appropriate names according to the linguists that explore and analyze the dialect, its origins, its history, and its current characteristics. But the word Ebonics, a mixture of ebony and phonics, is a terminological outlier that has gained some favor with the general public. It is another name for the dialect but not for the people who speak it. This word was coined by the social psychologist Robert Williams in 1973. He wanted a name that did not call the concept of nonstandard English, overtly or covertly. To sum up, the public decides what words it will use. So while African American Vernacular English is the term of choice for linguists, and Ebonics sometimes can be found in the public’s vocabulary and speech, for the general population, the term Black English remains the most popular term for this