Education & kids

What happened to the movement to make Ebonics a language?

Q. I remember years ago there was a movement to make Ebonics a language for African-American children especially.  What happened to that movement and do you think it should become a separate language?

A. My quick answer would be ‘NO’ because I am not a supporter of Ebonics.   However, let’s explore the history.  According to the Linguistic Society of America,   Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of...

Read more: ASK LISA-ANNE November 2013

What happened to the movement to make Ebonics a language?

Q. I remember years ago there was a movement to make Ebonics a language for African-American children especially.  What happened to that movement and do you think it should become a separate language?

A. My quick answer would be ‘NO’ because I am not a supporter of Ebonics.   However, let’s explore the history.  According to the Linguistic Society of America,   Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of...

Read more: ASK LISA-ANNE November 2013

What happened to the movement to make Ebonics a language?

Q. I remember years ago there was a movement to make Ebonics a language for African-American children especially.  What happened to that movement and do you think it should become a separate language?

A. My quick answer would be ‘NO’ because I am not a supporter of Ebonics.   However, let’s explore the history.  According to the Linguistic Society of America,   Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of...

Read more: ASK LISA-ANNE November 2013

What happened to the movement to make Ebonics a language?

Q. I remember years ago there was a movement to make Ebonics a language for African-American children especially.  What happened to that movement and do you think it should become a separate language?

A. My quick answer would be ‘NO’ because I am not a supporter of Ebonics.   However, let’s explore the history.  According to the Linguistic Society of America,   Ebonics simply means 'black speech' (a blend of the words ebony 'black' and phonics 'sounds'). The term was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who disliked the negative connotations of terms like 'Nonstandard Negro English' that had been coined in the 1960s when the first modern large-scale linguistic studies of...

Read more: ASK LISA-ANNE November 2013