Oleg Zhivetin
Poem Reader
Poem Reader
"Ebonics Made Easy For Caucasians With No Flava"
http://www.lbry.com/articles/21645/1/Ebonics-Made-Easy-For-Caucasians-With-No-Flava
http://www.lbry.com/articles/21645/1/Ebonics-Made-Easy-For-Caucasians-With-No-Flava
Published 11/28/2005
Fo shizzle ikeizlle!
...do you have any idea what he's talking about?
Chances are, your reaction is the same as mine: "Hey, this guy is pretty
good at coming up with nonsensical impromptu rhymes."
But that just reveals my ignorance of where a guy like Snoop Dogg is
coming from. It turns out these rhymes are not just nonsense, but actually
part of a much more widely used dialect spoken by millions of African
Americans -- especially teenagers in "the hood".
Let's face it, people like me and Lee just don't get it. If you ask me to
translate even a simple sentence into this kind of street talk, I have no idea.
In the popular media the dialect use by millions of African Americans is
known as "Ebonics" -- from "ebony" (black) and "phonics" (sound). The
serious study of ebonics has been around for more than 30 years. In the
1970s linguists showed how most of these dialects share many of the same
grammatical features as other languages. The original African American
dialects emerged when a hodge podge of West African languages melded
together with English to form a language the captive Africans could use to
communicate with each other. It turns out that many of the grammatical
features of ebonics that we usually dismiss as just plain bad English actually
have roots in West African languages.
The popularity of rap and hip hop music has given these unique ways of
speaking tremendous exposure, and rejuventated the idea that ebonics is a
serious study of a real and important dialect. In fact in 1996 ebonics was
actually recognized by the Oakland School Board as a native language of
over 50 million African Americans. And in 2005 it was also added to the
curriculum by the San Bernardino School Board.
Now Bling Bling Inc. has launched Ebonic Persuit, a unique new card game
that can teach everybody the basic vocabulary and syntax of Ebonics. No
more excuses. In the words of Jack Hoffer its inventor, "Ebonic Persuit is a
way to bridge a very palpable communication gap" for those of us who have
no idea what all those rappers and comedians are talking about. According
to Hoffer, "Customers have told me they have taken the game on cross
country road trips and had a blast with it. And college kids have told me
Ebonic Persuit is a big hit at parties..."
Hoffer calls it "a ghettofabulous card game that has, as the Rools of Play
proclaim, no rules at all." The cards test players' knowledge with multiple
choice questions in six different categories - Homeslices, Drug and Leizur,
Sex and Natur, Ghettography, Flava and Literature, and Hip Hop Trivia. It is
a satire of ebonics that succeeds at being eductional and entertaining
without in any way being disrespectful.
Sounds like a perfect way to get up to speed on ebonics!
Rick Hendershot
Fo shizzle ikeizlle!
...do you have any idea what he's talking about?
Chances are, your reaction is the same as mine: "Hey, this guy is pretty
good at coming up with nonsensical impromptu rhymes."
But that just reveals my ignorance of where a guy like Snoop Dogg is
coming from. It turns out these rhymes are not just nonsense, but actually
part of a much more widely used dialect spoken by millions of African
Americans -- especially teenagers in "the hood".
Let's face it, people like me and Lee just don't get it. If you ask me to
translate even a simple sentence into this kind of street talk, I have no idea.
In the popular media the dialect use by millions of African Americans is
known as "Ebonics" -- from "ebony" (black) and "phonics" (sound). The
serious study of ebonics has been around for more than 30 years. In the
1970s linguists showed how most of these dialects share many of the same
grammatical features as other languages. The original African American
dialects emerged when a hodge podge of West African languages melded
together with English to form a language the captive Africans could use to
communicate with each other. It turns out that many of the grammatical
features of ebonics that we usually dismiss as just plain bad English actually
have roots in West African languages.
The popularity of rap and hip hop music has given these unique ways of
speaking tremendous exposure, and rejuventated the idea that ebonics is a
serious study of a real and important dialect. In fact in 1996 ebonics was
actually recognized by the Oakland School Board as a native language of
over 50 million African Americans. And in 2005 it was also added to the
curriculum by the San Bernardino School Board.
Now Bling Bling Inc. has launched Ebonic Persuit, a unique new card game
that can teach everybody the basic vocabulary and syntax of Ebonics. No
more excuses. In the words of Jack Hoffer its inventor, "Ebonic Persuit is a
way to bridge a very palpable communication gap" for those of us who have
no idea what all those rappers and comedians are talking about. According
to Hoffer, "Customers have told me they have taken the game on cross
country road trips and had a blast with it. And college kids have told me
Ebonic Persuit is a big hit at parties..."
Hoffer calls it "a ghettofabulous card game that has, as the Rools of Play
proclaim, no rules at all." The cards test players' knowledge with multiple
choice questions in six different categories - Homeslices, Drug and Leizur,
Sex and Natur, Ghettography, Flava and Literature, and Hip Hop Trivia. It is
a satire of ebonics that succeeds at being eductional and entertaining
without in any way being disrespectful.
Sounds like a perfect way to get up to speed on ebonics!
Rick Hendershot
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