Black English

or Black English Vernacularn.1. See African American Vernacular English.2. Any of the nonstandard varieties of English spoken by black people throughout the world.Our Living Language In the United States, Black English usually refers to the everyday spoken varieties of English used by African Americans, especially of the working class in urban neighborhoods or rural communities. (Some linguists use the term African American Vernacular English.) It is an error to suppose that Black English is spoken by all African Americans regardless of their background. In fact, the English spoken by African Americans is highly varied—as varied as the English spoken by any other racial or ethnic group. · Sometimes Black English is used to refer to other varieties of English spoken by black people outside of the United States, as in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

Black′

(or black′) Eng′lish,

n. 1. a dialect of American English spoken by some members of black communities in North America. 2. any of a variety of dialects of English or English-based pidgins or creoles spoken by black people.

Thesaurus

Noun

Black English - a nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United StatesAAVE, African American English, African American Vernacular English, Black English Vernacular, Black Vernacular, Black Vernacular English, EbonicsAmerican English, American language, American - the English language as used in the United Statesgangsta - (Black English) a member of a youth gang

Black English

Black English,

distinctive dialectdialect,
variety of a language used by a group of speakers within a particular speech community. Every individual speaks a variety of his language, termed an idiolect. Dialects are groups of idiolects with a common core of similarities in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
..... Click the link for more information. spoken at times by as many as 80% to 90% of African Americans; also called ebonics [from ebony and phonics]. Long considered merely substandard English, it is in fact a distinct form. African slaves confronting white culture, and themselves speaking many different languages, developed a pidginpidgin
, a lingua franca that is not the mother tongue of anyone using it and that has a simplified grammar and a restricted, often polyglot vocabulary. The earliest documented pidgin is the Lingua Franca (or Sabir) that developed among merchants and traders in the Mediterranean
..... Click the link for more information. , mixing for the most part English vocabulary and African syntax, that developed into Black English. Much that seems grammatically incorrect actually represents consistent application of African structural principles. A social, rather than regional, dialect, it is similar in all parts of the United States, as research since the 1960s has shown. Its role in public education is a source of controversy because its effect on the process of learning to read and write is not clearly understood. In addition, its exclusive use by individuals has usually limited their opportunities for social advancement. See also GullahGullah
, a creole language formerly spoken by the Gullah, an African-American community of the Sea Islands and the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States. The word is probably a corruption of the African Gola or Gora,
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See J. McWhorter, Talking Back, Talking Black (2017).

Black English

Related to Black English: Ebonics

noun

Synonyms for Black English

noun a nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States

Synonyms

AAVE
African American English
African American Vernacular English
Black English Vernacular
Black Vernacular
Black Vernacular English
Ebonics

Related Words

American English
American language
American
gangsta