Essay On Ebonics

The majority of my primary friend group has consisted of African American males who have opened me up to the appreciation of community and language. At a young age, I recognized the subtle modifications in pronunciation as well as grammar welcomed by this discourse community and developed an appreciation for it myself. With a rich history of segregation, African Americans created their own community and language that has failed to disappear even to this day. This form of English language is defined as African American Vernacular English and/or Ebonics. Often times, this language carries bad connotations and is looked down upon by outside cultures. This controversial language continues to separate our society today which is valued by some as
There are a lot of variations in phrases used per group. At the same time, some vocabulary and grammar is largely universal. This is often due to the heavy influence of genres such as rap culture and professional sports like football and basketball which are all accessible nationwide. Often times, when a famous role model twists the meaning of words used, the phrase will gain popularity among African American groups for an extended period of time. For example, a rapper named Travis Scott is credited for using the phrase “it’s lit” regularly in his music to mean it’s fun or cool. This phrase has become exceptionally prevalent throughout the nation and is a perfect example of Ebonics in effect. One of the most universal aspects of Ebonics is the pronunciation of certain words or phrases. The most prominent instance of this is when African Americans drop the ‘g’ on words that end in ‘ing’. This is common for virtually any multiple syllable word such as ‘nothin’ or ‘tryin’. The reason correlates beyond being easier to say, but to a desire to sound different and cool. This trend of removing or altering letters in pronunciation is typical throughout Ebonics. Other examples of this include saying ‘I ‘ont know’ instead of ‘I don’t know’ or ‘playa’ instead of ‘player’ (as in friend, or homie). It is also popular to hear language variation in entire words like using ‘gonna’
Being accustomed to living and speaking Ebonics with my friends in Edmonds and listening to rap music every day, I acquired a solid grasp on the language and could fit in with almost any African American community despite being Caucasian. As I ventured into college and welcomed African American friends from various upbringings, I truly realized the wide range of Ebonics. The biggest difference I experienced while branching out to multiple other friend groups was the phrases used. For example, when something planned can no longer be finished, or if you are presuming to be victorious in a situation, it is common to use the phrase “it’s over”. I’ve learned several alternatives of this through time with my numerous friend groups such as “it’s a wrap” or “it’s hut”. The second example, “it’s hut” initiated from Washington State University. Several of my friends went off to college there and returned with new phrases alike and continued to habitually use them. In all honesty, the phrase made no sense to me but based on context and usage I was able to quickly understand what they were attempting to say. This learning curve is very routine when associating with several friend groups. It is not common to ask what something means because phrases are used repeatedly and are simple enough to quickly catch on. Another example of this is my friends from West Seattle will