Although many people refer to this variety as "Ebonics", most linguists prefer the term African American English (AAE) or or African American Vernacular English (AE). This term serves to place AE in the context of the many regional, national, and sociocultural forms of English such as Southern English, British English, Cajun English, and so forth; it also oids the strong emotions and misunderstandings sometimes associated with the term Ebonics. AE has been an important topic of discussion among linguists and the public for almost a half-century now, and is often discussed in sociolinguistics courses. Here, LINGUIST provides a central location for academic resources regarding AE for both academia and the public.
1979 ANN ARBOR BLACK ENGLISH TRIAL Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children et al., v. Ann Arbor School District ---> RESOLUTIONS BY THE OAKLAND CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD Original Oakland Resolution: December 18, 1996. Amended Oakland Resolution: January 15, 1997. ACADEMIA'S RESPONSE TO THE 90'S "EBONICS" CONTROVERSY Resolution by the Linguistic Society of America on "Ebonics": January 3, 1997 Dr. William Labov's Testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee: January 23, 1997. HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE Drs. Walt Wolfram & Benjamin Torbert: Linguistic Legacy of the African Sle Trade Dr. John Baugh: Ebony + Phonics FURTHER SOCIOLINGUISTIC RESOURCES Dr. John Rickford: Writings on the "Ebonics" issue. Center For Applied Linguistics: African American Vernacular English Do You Speak American? AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH IN THE 21st CENTURY "No variety of English has been more closely scrutinized over the past half-century than African American English. We he learned much about its historical development and structural description, and its status as a legitimate variety of English is unquestioned. At the same time, it remains embedded in enduring controversy, due no doubt to the sensitivity of race and ethnicity in American society." -Dr. Walt Wolfram (Sociolinguist), July 2007 DISCUSSIONS ON LINGUIST PERTAINING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISHDecember 25, 1996 to Present
8.349 Disc: Ebonics Johanna Rubba, Ebonics DWILMSEN, RE: 8.317, Disc: Ebonics 8.317 Disc: Ebonics SANDRA#at#ed.pdx.edu, Chomsky on Ebonics? Benji Wald, Re: 8.285, Disc: Ebonics Shelley, Ebonics 8.285 Disc: Ebonics Dennis Baron, Oakland Task Force Report Melvin Shearer, ebonics and the white community Wen-chao Li, literature in Ebonics 8.197 Disc: Ebonics Johanna Rubba, Ebonics Benji Wald, public behior Benji Wald, AE and slang. 8.166 Disc: Ebonics Did Bergdahl (614) 593-2783, ebonics newspaper articles Rob Hagiwara, On the term Ebonics 8.165 Disc: Ebonics Benji Wald, Re: 8.134, Disc: BEV, tests, literacy Marc Hamann, Re: 8.150, Disc: Ebonics Benji Wald, the WORD Ebonics 8.164 Disc: Ebonics Karl Teeter, Re: 8.134, Disc: Ebonics Thomas T. Field, Ebonics and linguistics Stirling Newberry, Disc: Ebonics Stirling Newberry, Disc: Note on Subject: 8.143, Disc: Ebonics 8.150 Disc: Ebonics Rob Hagiwara, Re: 8.127, Disc: Ebonics John Konopak, Re: 8.119, Disc: Ebonics Alan Smith, Re: 8.54, Disc: Ebonics Sam Salt, Re: 8.128, Disc: Ebonics 8.143 Disc: Ebonics Benji Wald, Re: 8.119, Disc: Ebonics 8.134 Disc: Ebonics Max Copperman, Re: 8.127, Disc: Ebonics Ron Anderson, RE: 8.119 Ebonics Johanna Rubba, Ebonics John E. Koontz, Re:8.128, Disc: Ebonics 8.128 Disc: Ebonics W. F. King, Re: 8.110, Disc: Ebonics Benji Wald, Re: 8.110, Disc: Ebonics/Linguistics myths Kate Gladstone & Andrew Haber, Here's the full text of the L.A. Times anti-Ebonics letter. 8.127 Disc: Ebonics Stirling Newberry, Re: 8.54, Disc: Ebonics Karen S. Chung, Disc: Ebonics Magda Ciesla, An unfortunate and unsuitable analogy Dick Hudson, restricted codes and Ebonics 8.119 Disc: Ebonics Anonymous, Re: 8.86, Disc: Ebonics Jacques-Philippe SAINT-GERAND, Ebonics Michael Newman, Re: 8.110, Disc: Ebonics Kate Gladstone & Andrew Haber, Re: Ebonics 8.110 Disc: Ebonics Ron Anderson, Re: 8.73, Disc: Ebonics M. Peter4165, Re: 8.86, Disc: Ebonics 8.86 Disc: Ebonics Mari Broman Olsen, Dialect diversity in other countries (was "Ebonics") Dan Moonhawk Alford, Re: 8.63, Disc: Ebonics and 'principles' Benji Wald, Re: 8.73, Disc: Ebonics 8.73 Disc: Ebonics Tom Sawallis, Ebonics Johanna Rubba, Re: 8.55, Disc: Ebonics 8.63 Disc: Ebonics Peter Farruggio, revised Oakland ebonics wording Peter Daniels, Re: 8.55, Disc: Ebonics Benji Wald, the new Oakland resolution 8.57 Disc: Ebonics: LSA Resolution The LINGUIST List, LSA Resolution on Ebonics 8.56 Disc: Ebonics: Revised Oakland resolution The LINGUIST List, Revised Oakland resolution on Ebonics 8.55 Disc: Ebonics Peter Daniels, Re: 8.48, Disc: Ebonics Rich Rath, Re: 8.48, Disc: Ebonics Lexes, Ebonics Dennis Baron, Ebonics 8.54 Disc: Ebonics Alison Huettner, Ebonics SANDRA#at#ed.pdx.edu, Ebonics and teachers Benji Wald, Ebonics: A report from the front 8.53 Disc: Ebonics: Orig. Board Resolution Dec 12 Peter Farruggio, full text of ebonics resolution 8.52 Disc: Ebonics Stirling Newberry, Re: 7.1825, Disc: Ebonics Alan Harris, K-16:Other Editorial on Ebonics (fwd) 8.49 Disc: Ebonics Charles J. Fillmore, contributed posting (longish) 8.48 Disc: Ebonics Johanna Rubba, Ebonics Kate Gladstone & Andrew Haber, Re: 7.1825, Disc: Ebonics Lexes, Re: Ebonics Lexes, RE: Ebonics 8.47 Disc: Ebonics Dennis Baron, Oakland's Ebonics Benji Wald, Ebonics 8.17 Qs: Arabic name, Ebonics, Arabic lx Lee Hartman, Spelling a name in Arabic Donna Christian, Ebonics Michael Hall, Arabic 7.1825 Disc: Ebonics Peter Farruggio, ebonics