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: &quot;EBONICS: A Serious Analysis of African American Speech 
Patterns&quot;


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.> 
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