Southerners brought the slave in (who by the way spoke no English) and then forbid them to learn the language. Then they spoke words like giiiiirrrrrll, which is actually girl, but sounded like gull to the slave ear. For years this was the language of communication among slaves so just as banks still close on Wednesday at noon ( the official day and time of slave trading) in the south. The language of the slaves continues due to tradition and this will be a hard tradition to break.
So the next time you hear someone in the south say the word dawg remember this is a descendent of those who involuntarily taught Ebonics to the slaves. So I ask you again, is the southern drawl bad English?
2007-07-03 08:03:53 · 3 answers · asked by The Educator 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I don't know what part of the South you live in, but if you're using a bank that closes at noon on Wednesday, better make sure it says FDIC on the door. I have lived in South Carolina since birth and traveled the South extensively for the past 18 years. I've never seen a bank like this.
Ebonics wasn't TAUGHT to slaves. White people didn't come up with Ebonics. Black slaves developed their own dialects while trying to learn standard English in the colonies they were taken to. It's like taking a recipe and changing it to your tastes.....not some form of repression. The dialect didn't even have a name until the mid-90s.
Comparing a drawl and ebonics isn't even comparing apples to apples. One is considered a dialect and the other is a manner of speaking or accent. I can see comparing the drawl with a Bostonian accent, because they're both accents, but not with a dialect such as Ebonics.
The drawl is not bad English, and even though Ebonics is mostly recognized as poor grammar, if it's looked at as the dialect that it is defined as being, it isn't poor English either.
2007-07-03 09:20:41 · answer #1 · answered by Bridey 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Bad English is bad English regardless of the source. Nobody today is being raised by 18th century slave traders. Schools teach correct English.
2007-07-03 08:14:27 · answer #2 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
imma southerner, have lived in Alabama for 25 years - i don't think southern drawl is bad English. most people that i talk to LOVE my accent.
2007-07-03 08:12:43 · answer #3 · answered by kelonwheels2578 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋