Thursday, August 13, 2009
Ebonics as a 2nd Language
Gloria Anzaldua’s argues that dialects of language are in fact different languages in themselves. She states that variations of the language that we use with different groups of people are languages as well. I don't know if I would embrace her concept in its totality, but I am sensitive to the concept of slang as a language. Where I am from, Ebonics is our language of choice. Most see it as an ignorant expression but I see it for the genius that it is. Like anything else it is built on metaphors and similes, building autonomous understanding amongst a select group uninterruptible to the masses. Is this not the creation of another language? It sure sounds and feels like it to me. Example, if I was to say,"The elroys was bluppin so I had to hop in the scrapper and get sidewayz, I was fresh from the L.I.Q. and rippter, feelin my season, and ridin dirty. I'm already on paperwork and if I get pinched with elbow they bout to throw football numbers at me!" Do you understand this? People where I am from would, so how is this ignorant? Just because it is counter culture? You decide. As I see it, it is people creative enough to fix a need voided by a system that has failed them. But you decide.
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