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Does Ebonics exemplify American laziness or efficiency?
I was thinking today that African American Vernacular English, though often looked down upon as being a "lazy" or "ignorant" way to verbally communicate, is actually a prime example of language efficiency. I really find "Ebonics" to be quite a minimalizing dialect of American English. My reasons for this are as follows.
Phonology
- Conversion of "th" to "d" word-initially; [example: "This" becomes "Dis"... 25% word reduction]
- Words ending in "ing" drop the "g". [example: "You know nothing" to "You know nothin"]
- Homorganic final consonant clusters that share the same laryngeal settings are reduced. [example: "test" is pronounced "tes", but "sing" is still pronounced "sing" (or "sang").]
- Deletion of final consonants, resulting in a glottal stop. [example: find may be pronounced făː]. "S" and "z" sounds are also often deleted.
Deletion
- Phrase abbreviation / intermediate word removal. [example: "You know no other nigga" becomes "You know nann nigga". Source: Trick Daddy 1998. Some phrases have a more complex breakdown. For example, "You didn't have any idea?" can be reduced to "You didn't know?", to "You ain't know?", to "yee-know?". Another example is "You did not show up", which becomes "yeen-show". Source: La Chat 2001.]
- The copula "be" is often dropped. [examples: "You crazy! (You are crazy)", Where you at? (Where are you at?)]
Aspect Marking
- The most distinguishing feature of Ebonics is the use of forms of "be" to mark aspect in verb phrases. In standard English, you would do this using adverbs such as "usually".
Examples:
He talkin' ==> He is currently talking.
He be talkin' ==> He talkin' frequently or habitually. (He be talkin' daily).
He stay workin' ==> He is always working.
He been had dat job ==> He has had that job for a long time and still has it.
He finna dance ==> He is preparing to begin dancing. ("Finna" is a contraction of "fixing to").
Negation
- Use of "ain't" as a general negative indicator. In Ebonics, it can be used where am not, isn't, aren't, haven't, and hasn't would be used in SE, as well as in lieu of don't, doesn't, or didn't. [example: I ain't know that.]
General Slang
- The general slang terminology in AAVE is quite efficient in itself.
Examples:
Bling: "Jewelry which is very shiny"
Sling or "slang": General use term which refers to performing some kind of work. "Slinging rocks" means to sell crack-cocaine on the streets.
Additionally, new contractions are often made and used. "Imma" for "I'm going to".
Thoughts?
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