Back in the 80s there was a PBS series called The Story of English that was a real eye opener. When you think about it, 1500 years ago the English Language did not exist and now it's the most-spread language around the planet. More people speak Cantonese but that tends to stay in China.

The majority of our vocabulary comes from other languages that came and melted with American English. (Not to mention what we picked up from the First Nations.)

I love listening to Cockney, Brummie, Yorkshire accents, etc. When you throw in Irish, Welsh or Scots I like them even more. I'm sure there are plenty who speak Oxford or the Queen's English who find those accents ignorant.

Now take a little while to find your way in here
Now take a little while to make your story clear.
Nick Drake

Thank you for taking the time to post this, Rick. I really appreciate it. And now I have links to follow during nap time...

"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe

Yesterday, you mentioned that there are "precursors" to racism; can you elaborate on racism in a pre-language environment?

I thought you were talking about "cues" that if "unchecked" can lead to racism, and while I hear what you are saying about Race & Language, I'm curious to hear what you have to say about the non-verbal structure of racism and how to disrupt those processes (an extension of what you were talking about with early childhood development).

Here's just one example of someone who came from the ghetto and wasn't held back by their vernacular.

...so obviously this is just a fantasy of yours Rick.

...beginning to find this entertaining! >grin<

 But what do you do when people will not or cannot speak standard english in a business enviroment that demands it?  I can speak several dialects, including pretty passable trailertrashspeak, but I certaintly won't use that in a job interview in most places.  I have used it a couple of times to close a sale with certain types of people.  (Think Yelm :-)  But I do not use it in a business enviorment unless absolutely called for.  Someone interviews for a job speaking ebonics or white trash, they are not likely to get that job...

One loves to posess arms, though they hope to never have occassion for them.

Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1796

This part of Rick's register link to wikipedia really caught my eye/ear.

"Intimate: Non-public. Intonation more important than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary."

I love that. Let's see...(Annie Hall) I lerft it. I loaf it....

Half the "things" my wife and I say to each other are more just sounds that really say "I'm with you." or "Are you with me?"

The intonation is key. I am told I have a melodical, sing-songy speech at times. This typing is    sooo    dry.

New Orleans in this conversation.  There is a culture that lives with four or five predominant dialects and amazingly, everyone understands each other - with exception of the tourists.

Canadians also have done some interesting things with English as we know it.

The only problem I have here is the use of this term :"trailertrash"

S6, these are people you are talking about--

--I don't call you a "gun nut"(which I realize you are not), so please don't refer to folks as "trailertrash"...

I find the term dismissive & I think it is not polite...just because someone lives in a trailer does not mean anything about them (and certainly does not make them "trash" is any regard).

Please apologize and remove that term from OlyBlog (in my mind internalizing that term has got to hurt, and for me it borders on hate-speach).

One example used on the Wikipedia link to AAVE:

He done worked.

There's a fairly large black population in the Army (certainly more than Olympia), so I have to listen to AAVE fairly frequently.

Now, AAVE is certainly not limited to black Americans. There are plenty of white Americans who use expressions such as "He done worked" and "He be workin'" on a regular basis. But the majority are black Americans, which is why I'm sure it's no coincidence AAVE is the title for this dialect.

I don't think you can compare AAVE to British English, Australian English or even Spanish English ("Spanglish").

Certain slang is different, but that doesn't change the entire language. When I speak to someone from England, Australia or New Zealand (there are many teachers in Seoul) I can still understand the English quite easily. The foundation is the same, it's only the accent and slang which is slightly different. That's it.

Spanish English isn't English. It's Spanish English or - as many Hispanics call it - Spanglish. Again, the foundation of the English language is still there. Spanish words are simply substituted for English words. The English language is being modified slightly to fit a population, not slaughtered.

But I disagree completely that AAVE is a modified English. The entire foundation is shaken to the point that you have to take a second and translate it in your head.

I learned this when I first came to Korea from our KATUSAs when questioning them about life in Korea and how they feel interacting with foreigners on a regular basis. At any rate, they stated that Korean parents openly prefer whites to teach their kids English over blacks because of the difference in the spoken English between the two. KATUSAs have asked us multiple times why black soldiers speak a different form of English than white soldiers.

AAVE may very well be its own language and that's fine. But it shouldn't have "English" attached to the title, because that's not what it is.

It is a dialect spoken by some folks in southern Germany. Speakers of standard German (Hochdeutsch) have a particularly hard time understanding us. Among other things, spoken Schwäbisch has a distinctive melodic characteristic that distinguishes it from standard German, a characteristic that standard speakers associate with low intellegence of or lack of education. That association doesn't reconcile well with the the booming economy of the region, but perhaps they still know something the Swabs don't.

FYI: Garfield and friend speaking Schwäbisch

Interesting topic.

I've lived all over the US, moved 32 times within 12 different states across this nation. I've heard about every accent that the south can offer: Deep Mississippi, Georgia "Atlanta" and "Athens" accents, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina Highland, Gulla, Cajun, Southern Louisiana, Texan, Oklahoman, Rural Virginian. All of these southern accents are incredibly distinguishable from each other. Gulla still trips me out the most.

I didn't know that y'all :) had accents until I moved up here. I mentioned to my wife and her friends that folks in Western, WA draw out their O's. Not as badly as Canadians do, but definitely noticable. It wasn't until I went to her high school reunion, that it was really apparent.