28/05/2026
BLACK ENGLISH
The distinctive varieties of English used by many native speakers of African or Caribbean origin, and now more usually called African-American (Vernacular) English. Several important English-speaking countries have sizable populations of black people whose ancestry lies largely in Africa or the Caribbean; most prominent here are Britain and the USA. For various historical reasons, the majority of British and American black people, as well as many ethnically white people living in connected areas of the southern and eastern USA, speak varieties of English which are quite distinctive, differing from other varieties in vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and modes of discourse.
These varieties of English exhibit characteristics which are often of considerable linguistic interest: for example, many have highly unusual verbal systems which make distinctions unknown in other types of English. It is possible that some of these features may continue characteristics of the creoles once used by the ancestors of the present-day speakers, and a few may even continue features present in the mother tongues of Africans sold into slavery long ago.
But the primary reasons for the recent interest in black varieties are not linguistic, but rather social, political and educational. Like speakers of other distinctive varieties, speakers of Black English often regard their mother tongue as a badge of identity and a matter of pride: abandoning it may be seen as an act of betrayal. At the same time, just as with other groups, failure to acquire a command of standard English is a serious obstacle to making a career in all but a few professions, and Black English itself may be strongly stigmatized among white speakers in formal settings, though it has been extremely influential and prestigious amongst younger speakers of English of all races in Britain and the USA.
Consequently, politicians, academics, teachers and school administrators, both black and white, are faced with some difficult questions of how to regard Black English. Some people advocate the extreme position of recognizing and teaching only standard English and of attempting to stamp out Black English. Most linguists, and some others, would see this stance as unworkable and destructive and would advocate the encouragement of bidialectalism: competence in both Black English and standard English.
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