Why do you think that some educated and non-educated blacks use "ebonics" pronunciations almost exclusively?

Question

The idea for this thread was a conversation about AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) also known as "Ebonics". Examples such as the sound of "AX" pronounced instead of "ASK" which is pronounced more like "AsK" with the "S" nearly silent OR the "K" and the "S" have switched places like AKS, Another example would be words which are already plural having "S's" added onto them such as "People's" when referring to more than one person. Or common mispronounciations of words within the culture that rarely happen outside of the culture (90% of the time I am sure the user knows that it is wrong but chooses to use it as a way to connect with the African American listener as a type of emphasis similar to Spanish mixed with an english sentence to emphasize a point between two Spanish speaking people) Examples of this phenomenon are an "SK" sound used for some words beginning with an "ST" sound like "Skraight" for Straight and "Skreet" for Street.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aave...

My opinion is that it is a form of social rebellion and protest the pressure to conform and a form of comradeship that in a way says "You can trust me, I am like you and I know what you go through". People who condemn speaking in this dialect are usually the type to condemn the people also. I know that there are some people from sheltered backgrounds with lazy tongues who choose not to learn the proper way to speak. Everyone they know speaks that way so it is odd to try to speak with a New England or even British pronounciation when you are from rural Georgia. Its like a slap in the face that who you are is not good enough. Double negatives and miss-stated adjectives are defintely hard to read and a pain to listen to but is there a way to teach the proper way to speak in a way that students can relate. Many black educators speak with an unneccessarilily "caucasian" pronounciation or cadence. What do you guys think?

When I was in the military I was stationed with many caucasian people from all over and they spoke what I thought to be HORRIBLE English and were many times unintelligible with mush-mouthed accents but they used to tease me mercilessly when I would break from my usually clear english and the word "AX" world slip from my mouth. I would get a lecture from some know-it-all about speaking proper English if I want to be taken seriously. But in my opinion, he sounded like an excerpt from Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary "That there pipe needs fixed" which to me does not sound correct or "Them bolts ain't gon' fit" and then turn to me and explain the finer points of the Queens English. Is this something that all people expierence? The people intervening speak worse English than they are correcting? Do they know what an adjective is?? Is it that incorrect English is OK as long as it is not "Urban" incorrect English? Wrong is wrong. Whether you are from Detroit, Upstate NY or Missouri.

Answer 1

Good Question!!! Can't wait to see the answer. Why anyone would want to speak ebonics is beyond me. It's like saying, "I'm going to try to make myself look dumb." Even when they're smart. Go figure!

Answer 2

Probably the same reason that people in China town who you know can speak English will stand and talk to others in Chinese, knowing that you feel like a lump on a log...not knowing what's going on. A way of excluding someone from the conversion or a way of putting someone down.

Incredibly rude and people only do it to me once...if they do, I have nothing to do with them after that.

Answer 3

I think they do it to make themselves individuals, however it only makes them look uneducated. This is just a shame to me, blacks want to be accepted as equals yet they do things to keep themselves isolated and discriminated against. By the way, my relatives WERE NOT slave owners, my people are original Americans.

Answer 4

Ask them

Answer 5

To maintain their heritage, there enunciation of language.