By now, you’ve heard that peculiar language within the English
language--Ebonics. You simply can’t ignore the ease of its use, the genius that
it possesses, the intellect it takes. But of course, the roadblock that many
run into still exists. Why is it reserved only for the African American
culture? Even Webster’s dictionary defines Ebonics as “a nonstandard form of
American English spoken by some American Black people.” Other definitions
include “Black English” and “Black English Vernacular.” The definition should
be, rather, a form of english spoken (or attempted) by the American people that
encompasses the use of double (and sometimes triple) negatives in one sentence,
marvelous usage of verbs and pronouns, and a host of other things. The truth of
the matter is is that Ebonics isn’t simply a language spoken by a select few.
The white people of the
Ebonics is a delicate language, having been formed over the years to make
things easier to say. Most of the sounds are made by not opening one’s mouth,
providing for most of the accent that one hears in the
Just how old is ebonics, you ask? Ebonics was started on the western coast
of
Now that you’ve read a little on the history, it’s time to start learning how to speak the language. Ain’t is probably the word that started it all. Simply an easier way to say things as always, the word ain’t takes on many meanings. For example: “I ain’t doing nothing.” Having excluded all other rules for the time being just to concentrate on ain’t, in this sentence, it takes on the simple meaning, “am not.” However, it can take on the meanings of “are not”, “is not”, “has not,” and “have not.” Examples in order of appearance are as follows:
“They ain’t doing nothing.”
“He ain’t doing nothing.”
“He ain’t done nothing.”
“I ain’t done nothing”
Ain’t is a clear example of a Universal Ebonics Concept. It can be used for virtually all contractions. Just think of the endless possibilities that make speaking much easier. The previous sentences only involve simple tense changes of the verb, doing. Ain’t remains a constant, if you will. The word “be” can replace “is” at anytime, and consequently enough, it’s easier to say. For example:
“He be eating dinner.”
“He be up there.”
“He be washing his car.”
In using present progressive ideas, however, the word “be” is dropped completely. All of the previous examples may use this concept as well.
“He washing his car.”
“He up there.”
“He eating dinner.”
This is the more modern concept of speaking, but the previous is still accepted.
To express future tenses of words, the word “be” is also used quite frequently. “Soon, he will have fixed the car,” turns into “Soon , he be done fixing the car.” “He will be home soon,” turns into “Soon, he be home.” This usage takes a little more effort than the latter examples, but it is still effective nonetheless.
The word “been” also deserves to be recognized as well. In English, “been” is used to describe something that is happening or has just happened. “He has been working.” In Ebonics, since been isn’t used in that perspective, it is used in providing emphasis for something. While an english speaker might say, “I’ve already finished my food,” an ebonics speaker might say, “I BEEN finished my food,” providing the emphasis on been. More examples are as follows:
“He BEEN had that house.”
“She BEEN did running.”
“They BEEN up in there.”
“This car BEEN mine.”
The form “there is:” Ebonics speakers replace “there is” and “there are” with “it is” to indicate existence. To say, “There is no food in the pot,” one would say, “It is no food in the pot.” More examples are as follows: “It is no doughnut in there.” “It is money in his pocket.” “It is hair in my food.”
This technique is soon being phased out, but it is still being used in everyday language use. It is safe to assume that “it is” is slowly being replaced with “they ain’t” and “there ain’t.”
Some verbs in the ebonics are also completely left out. For example, the verb “to be” (are, is, was, etc) is often completely thrown out, or the word “be” is substituted. In saying “Where are you” in ebonics, one would substitute “are” with be, and place it at the end of the sentence to become “where you be” (although it is becoming more and more acceptable to say “where you at” or “where you be at” this basic concept is good enough for now). In saying “what time is it,” one would substitute the verb “to be” with “be” once again, and place it at the end of the sentence to now have “what time it be?” As always, there are exceptions to the rule. If there exists a form of “to be” that is used as a modifier, such as “are doing” or “is saying,” one would move that verb clause to the end of the sentence, still switching the main verb to “be.” When saying “what are you saying,” applying the rule would then give you, “what you BE SAYING.”
Non-speakers Ebonics speakers often run into the trouble of using the correct dialect. They may be saying words such as “ain’t” and “it is,” but the accompanying words in the sentence haven’t been translated. The sentence then turns into a sort of Ebonish, if you will. Here now, are some basic rules in saying common word endings.
Words that end in ER, often do not have that sound at all. Instead, they take on a new sound of “ah” or “uh.” Words such as mother, now sound like, “mothuh,” and player sounds like, “playuh.”
Words ending in ING no longer have the G on the end. The G is totally dropped in favor of the IN, and, in some cases, the N is barely heard as well. Here are a few examples:
Playing now sounds like, “Playin’”
Going now sounds like, “Go-in’” (little emphasis on the N)
Dying now sounds like, “die-in”
Words ending in a hard sounding “OR,” such as store, whore, more, metaphor, and, anything else following those guidelines, is pronounced “OH,” completely leaving off the R sound. Those words, appearing in order, are pronounced as follows:
“sto”
“ho”
“mo”
“metafo”
Words starting with the sound “TH” are often pronounced as a hard “D” sound. That, those, this, and them (to name a few) would sound like “dat,” “dose,” “dis,” and “dem.”
Words ending in the letters, “ERE” or that same sound, would also be changed to sound like “ER.” Here, there, anywhere, and others that sound similar, would then change to “her,” “ther,” and “anywer,” respectively.
Compound words starting with “every” take the sound “er” like the previous. This seems to be one of the more dramatic changes within the ebonics language, but it does work. Words such as everywhere, everyone, everybody, and everything, all take on this stem change if you will. Now, in some cases, combining the previous rule with the present one, you come out with the words as follows: “erwer,” “erone,” “erbody,” “erthang.” These may not seem right at all at first glance, but take a chance to use them in some sentences. They work just as well. Take, for example, these simple sentences.
“what erbody doin’ up in her?”
“erbody in da’ club getting’ tipsy.” (as said by j-kwon)
“I cain’t find it nower.”
Perhaps one of the hardest things to master in the ebonics language, is inserting the infamous L sound correctly. Often, before M’s, N’s, P’s, and other liquid sounding consonants (others as well), there is a subtle L inserted. It is a result from not opening the mouth enough to say it correctly. For example, the word “pencil,” being the easiest word to use, would sound like “pelncil.” However, do not be fooled by the literal translation of this. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT say (phonetically speaking) “pillncil.” That is the mistake often made in trying to say it. Use your mouth to your advantage, and DO NOT open it all the way. Instead, barely open your lips and say (phonetically) “pillsel.” In not opening your mouth, the N sound will automatically be inserted in the right place (a nasal sound almost), and you can hear it once you try it. However, this technique of not saying the consenant usually only works with N. This phenomenon is hard to explain, but good practice will get you the right dialect. Other words that this rule applies to include memory, pepsi, pickle, never, condition (second syllable), and hundreds of others. The general rule of thumb in deciding whether or not to put a “L” after the vowel, is based on personal judgement. Don’t open your mouth all the way and say the word. Now add the L, and say it again. If it doesn’t take as much effort to say the word when you added the “L,” then you should most likely insert the “L.” To illustrate this concept, take, for example, the word “pickle.” In saying this EXACTLY as written with your mouth closed, it is hard to say the “CK” sound of the word. Now, insert the L after the vowel, and say it again with your mouth barely open. It becomes much easier to say, rolling off the tongue. If you still don’t get this concept, try saying (phonetically) “pillkel” and then “pickel” with your mouth barely open. The first should be easier to say if you’re talking correctly in ebonics. As mentioned before, this concept of ebonics is the hardest of all to master and takes much practice.
The famous concept of the ebonics language also includes slurring words together. There are so many combinations of words that could be slurred, that only a few will be shown in example. For example, in using “with you,” the TH on WITH is dropped, and YOU sounds something like CHEW. In putting them together you get something that sounds like wi-chew. Here are a few examples along with other word combinations:
“I ain’t goin’ wi-chew!”
“What’s up wi-chew!”
“gah’suh” (got to/have to/has to)
“Wha’chew” (what you)
In this case, the rules for “with you” also work with other combinations such as “what are you,” sounding like wha-chew.
A famous word combination that cannot be overlooked is “going to.” This completely changes form to sound like funnuh:
“I ain’t funnuh go wi-chew.”
“I’m funnuh be here.”
“They funnuh kill you.”
Interjections are a commonly used element to allow for some time to think or to simply state the mood of the speaker. Interjections can be used whenever or wherever the speaker pleases to use them. The most commonly used interjections are (phonetically) Doo (dude, also used to express surprise or remorse), shooo (same meanings as doo, but used more carefree, sometimes not meaning anything at all), main (man, used in the same context as doo), nah (no, or shock and amazement), word (I agree), tight (awesome), shizzle (I agree), and a host of others that are coming into daily use. Take, for example, this statement:
“ah, shooo main! Wha’chew be doin’ up in dis crib, doo?”
This sentence presents three main interjections to talk about. First of all, the classic “ah” presents to the listener a signal of some sort of distress or discovery, perhaps confusion or excitement. The second interjection, “shoo”, take the emotion of the sentence a step further by still insinuating that the speaker is confused or distressed. The third interjection, a simple “main”, confirms the previous two by ending the string of interjections on the distress note. Before beginning to read the rest of the sentence, we now know that the speaker is distressed somehow over a situation. Reading on, the reader finds that the speaker is concerned with what the other person has done in a house—most likely something the speaker doesn’t approve of.
The nice thing about interjections is that, most of the time in their use today, they don’t mean anything. Often enough, interjections are used as a device to stall for time. “shooo” can be used at anytime, most likely for boredom or lack of other words. The beauty of interjections within ebonics is the fact that they don’t have to mean anything. A whole conversation can exist between two people using only interjections. Take, not too literally, the following example:
“shizzle”
“shizzle”
“shooooo, nah!”
“word”
“main, doo.”
“shoooo”
“nahhh”
The conversation starts on a note of meeting a friend. Walking to the friend, he is greeted with a simple, shizzle, possibly a nod of the head. The friend acknowledges with a return of the shizzle, most likely a nod of the head. One may see something of disbelief, giving way to the “shooo, nah.” The other affirms the sight, with an agreeing, “word.” The other is still in amazement, still not believing what he is seeing, saying still, “main, doo.” The other is becoming upset and annoyed, and feels hopeless for the friend in disbelief, saying, “shooo,” with a possible shake of the head. Person number one who approached and started the conversation then leaves still in denial of the situation, saying a rather powerful, “nahh.” So much can be seen in such simple words that it’s hard not to use them because of their genius. Keep in mind that there is no set rules for using interjections in ebonics. These wondrous gems can be used anytime you wish, making them key to the variety of conversations that can be formulated.