[lg policy] Black English : a vernacular or a creole ?

[Miriam E Ebsworth]

Dear Mostari,

When I studied with Prof. William Stewart, he expressed the following view:
The antecedent of BEV was indeed a pidgin in its earlier stages that
evolved into a creole.

 As it exists today, it has undergone a process of de-creolization, to
different degrees depending on the history of particular communities, and
where speakers are on the acrolect/mesolect/basilect continuum. For
example, Gullah, spoken in the South Caroline Sea Islands is less
accessible to speakers of Standard American English varieties than BEV
spoken by some African Americans in New York City.
(There is also contact here in NYC  with speakers of the English Creoles of
the Caribbean among others- which are indeed modern creoles, so it's
complicated.)

In addition, this is not the only perspective!
The Ebonics movement has characterized BEV as sufficiently distinct to be
considered a separate language. And the evolution of current BEV varieties
remains contested.

In light of the socio-linguistic complexity of the varieties that typically
fall under the BEV umbrella, it is understandable that there could be some
confusion and inconsistency regarding labels.

It will be interesting to read other interpretation from the group.

Cordially,
Miriam


Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, PhD
Dir. of PhD & Post-MA Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
NYU Steinhardt,
316 East Building
New York, NY 10003

Research Editor: Journal of Writing and Pedagogy
Co-chair NABE Research and Evaluation SIG
Co-chair, ELL Think Tank, NYU
NYSABE Language Delegate and Advocacy Committee


office phone: (212) 998-5195
office fax: (212) 995-3636




On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 6:08 AM, mostari hind <hmostari at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi all ,
> I d like to know if we can regard Black English Vernacular as a creole or
> not ?
> what do you think so ?
>
> Best
> Dr Mostari
>
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