which I stated earlier in this chapter, is the of conventions of the “changing as subject-verb agreement, irregular verb conjugations, irregular plural nouns, and In Black English, alternate subject-verb agreements are possessives.” common: “Does you know where conjugations, which are irregular in Standard English, Martin is?” Verb become regular: him this irregular plural nouns become seed “I morning.” Likewise, regular: was on the corner with the other are simplified; the mans.” “He Also, possessives is often omitted entirely: walked down the street past my Grandma ’s “He house.” Because of this inner consistency, African American Vernacular English satisfies for being considered a distinct dialect. However, just as not all English Bills’ criteria spoken by Mexicans living in the United States is a viable alternate dialect such as Chicano English, not all English spoken by all Black Americans should be considered an alternate dialect; sometimes it simply has to be bad English. John Baugh, a socio-linguist from Stanford University, makes the following statement in defense of Black English: Many native speakers of Standard English assume that nonstandard speakers are ignorant, lazy, and less capable intellectually. The common stereotype is that nonstandard speakers, including many blacks, could speak if only they put forth sufficient effort. This view, while “properly” perhaps understandable, is woefully uninformed and simplistic. It fails to recognize the unique status of African American Vernacular English or the linguistic consequences of slavery. [. . .] Historically, it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write, effectively denying them access to literate Standard English; this unfortunate fact has also deepened the linguistic
which I stated earlier in this chapter, is the “changing of conventions of the as subject-verb agreement, irregular verb conjugations, irregular plural nouns, and possessives.” In Black English, alternate subject-verb agreements are common: “Does you know where Martin is?” Verb conjugations, which are irregular in Standard English, become regular: “I seed him this morning.” Likewise, irregular plural nouns become regular: “He was on the corner with the other mans.” Also, possessives are simplified; the ’s is often omitted entirely: “He walked down the street past my Grandma house.” Because of this inner consistency, African American Vernacular English satisfies Bills’ criteria for being considered a distinct dialect. However, just as not all English spoken by Mexicans living in the United States is a viable alternate dialect such as Chicano English, not all English spoken by all Black Americans should be considered an alternate dialect; sometimes it simply has to be bad English. John Baugh, a socio-linguist from Stanford University, makes the following statement in defense of Black English: Many native speakers of Standard English assume that nonstandard speakers are ignorant, lazy, and less capable intellectually. The common stereotype is that nonstandard speakers, including many blacks, could speak “properly” if only they put forth sufficient effort. This view, while perhaps understandable, is woefully uninformed and simplistic. It fails to recognize the unique status of African American Vernacular English or the linguistic consequences of slavery. [. . .] Historically, it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write, effectively denying them access to literate Standard English; this unfortunate fact has also deepened the linguistic