Black English
1
6.9
- noun
- /blæk ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/
- Specialized
:
inglés negro
- Teachers in 31 schools in Los Angeles are currently trained in Black English, the USA Today reported.
- Black English, or Ebonics
- speak Black English
- recognize Black English
Examples
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Hughes was one of the first writers to incorporate the vernacular of Black English and the rhythms of jazz into poetry.
Fiction book (2000) -
So the idea that black English was bad grammar never made any kind of intuitive sense to me at all.
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Take for example, African American Vernacular English, also called Black English or Ebonics.
-
The usefulness of Black English is a subject that has been studied for years by academia.
Blog text (7) -
Brunious (1997), after studying the results of others, concluded that black children come to school with a rich set of experiences and a well-developed dialect called Black English, but that in approximately two years their scores begin to drop, never to recover.
Academic text (2000) -
The board says it does not plan to teach Black English in the classroom.
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Why would Black English remain static over hundreds of years, with only slang changing from time to time?
Synonyms
4
9.6
A way of speaking American English that many African Americans use
1
9.1
A way of speaking English used mainly by African Americans in the United States
A way of speaking English used by many African Americans with its own grammar, words, and sounds
A way of speaking English used by many Black people in the United States
A way of speaking English with its own grammar, sounds, and words used by many African Americans
A variety of American English many Black people speak, with different pronunciation, grammar, and words
A way of speaking English used by many Black people in the United States with its own sounds and grammar
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'black' (relating to people of African descent) with 'English' (the language), so an average B1 learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a variety of English associated with Black speakers. This adjective+language naming pattern is cross-linguistically common, making the term immediately comprehensible without prior exposure.
Etymology
Black English comes from the simple idea that it is English spoken by Black people, often with its own words and way of putting sentences together. That's why the phrase means the particular way of speaking English used by many African American people today.