1141: Names for African-American English Jan 23, 2018

Most African-Americans use their own dialect of English, which was greatly influenced from Southern American English, and very occasionally West African languages, incorporating unique features that developed naturally over time as well. While linguists have acknowledged this for a long time, the names used to describe the dialect have changed a great deal, not because the dialect changed, but because it has been named misleadingly. Originally, the dialect was called 'Ebonics' but this claimed that it was a language in its own right, and given the usual definition of a dialect as being mutually intelligible with other dialects of the same language, this would suggest that other English speakers would not be able to understand African-Americans, which is of course not true. The dialect has also been called 'Black English', but this could include black people from other English-speaking areas, which would not be accurate. Even the more common 'African-American Vernacular English' (AAVE), while accurate, is a poor choice because all dialects are vernacular, but moreover 'vernacular' connotes ordinary day-to-day language, which is—again—true of all dialects, but suggests that it could not be used for more official or literary purposes. Given that society is changing to be more accepting of the dialect in official settings and schools etc., people now opt for simply 'African-American English' (AAE), which, as a bonus, is quicker to say anyhow.
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