McWhorter on "Negro English"

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:24 PM -0600 1/13/10, Gordon, Matthew J. wrote:
>I'm not sure where you got that impression, Terry. McWhorter's views
>are pretty much in line with the received wisdom within linguistics.
>For example in the  piece linked in this thread, he says, "Black
>English is as systematic as standard English, and what we hear as
>"mistakes" are just variations, not denigrations."
>
>-Matt Gordon

Interesting use of "denigration"...

But seriously, McWhorter has a very nice chapter in his 2001 book
_The Power of Babel_ (Chapter 2) making the case for his mantra that
"dialects is all there is", with illustrations from dozens of
language and language contact situations around the world.

LH

>
>
>On 1/13/10 1:13 PM, "Terry Irons" <t.irons at MOREHEADSTATE.EDU> wrote:
>
>See Matthew 7:4-6 or Luke 6: 41-42.
>
>While McWhorter is well published, he views AAVE as a degenerate form of
>standard English, not a legitimate variety of language.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org