Post with 2 notes
Now that school is pretty much over, I can spend my time typing about random stuff on my mind for the reading and educational pleasures of all =).
After spending a year at the new Dawson, where our African America population is a hearty 30% of the entire student body, I have become fascinated with their ways, especially their language. Because I have no black followers (yet), I felt it necessary (and safe) to compile a basic guide to “ebonics”, or black people language.
Ebonics for Dummies! =)
Ebonics, as defined by the California Center for Applied Linguistics, is “a dialect of American English that is used by African Americans in certain settings and situations.” The official term for ebonics is “African American English”; the term ebonics originated from a blend of the word ebony and phonics. (pretty nifty)
Excellent Example:
Ebonics: “Yo, G, you frontin’ me?”
English: “Excuse me, my peer, are you attempting to influence me to engage in a violent action with you?”
Another thing that has interested me is the names of black people. After some googling around, I have discovered that:
for girls, Ebonics names usually consist of three syllables with a stress on the second vowel. Most common black baby naming techniques are adding a prefix to a mainstream name, adding an -elle to the end of a mainstream name, or just making up a new name from scratch. Also, some black parents enjoy naming their baby girls after cars and precious stones.
Examples: LaWanda, LaTanya, Shaniqua, Laticia, Deneka, Chantelle, Ferrari, Diamond, Precious, Tiara, Ebony, Candy, Latifah, Latoya, Bonquisha, Bon’Qui’Qui, etc.
for boys, it’s not as interesting or amusing. They seem to follow the mainstream, somewhat. Commonly used is a “De” in the beginning of the name or an “ell” at the end.
Examples: Montel, DeWayne, DeAndre, Terrell, Pernell, Cornell, Dominique
Woohoo, now for typing!
I have noticed how they like the replace their g’s with q, and how they replace “er” endings with an “ah” so “n****r” (spelled the right way) becomes “niqqa” which still looks right until you realize those are q’s. Also noted: “you” is either “u” or “yew”.
Real facebook status update: “Idkk Whoo REAL Or Whtss REAL.!”
“CEO, These Off Brandd Niqqas Aint Really Dhaa Future, Ms.Cleo.!”
quote Ivan “Nei guh hei ren shi sha bi”
random fact: if you go to google.com and click “insert coin” the google logo will become a playable version of pac-man.
yeah…that’s pretty lame here’s a better one:
February is Black History Month…think about that guys
“It does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop.”
-Confucius
that’s what she said…
i hope this doesn’t turn into one of those facebook addictions. I was never hooked to myspace cause it was stupid, likewise for twitter, but this seems like a pretty legit site. Maybe one day I’ll forget my password and it will save my ass in college…
