I've had this book for a long time, but just now reviewing it lol. It's good, tries to be balanced but it fails in some ways in understanding certain things, which is odd to me. It's a good primer, but that's it.
I need to know which author wrote this on page 152: "The claim that African American speech does not in any way follow the grammar of English is easily refuted. As several linguists have noted, Spoken Soul is essentially if not overwhelmingly English in its word order and sentence structure. Moreover, some of the vernacular grammatical features that make it seem distinctive today do have striking parallels if not sources in British Dialects."
This is terrible. SVO, NP, VP patterns exist in nearly ALL languages, including AFRICAN languages and specifically Niger Congo. It does not mean that AAL "follows" the English language. Furthermore, parallelism doesn't equate to divergence or derivation. This suggests or implies that Black people/Africans came over with a very poorly developed/structured language system (which isn't true), but this follows that old racist model in linguistics that Blacks came over with grunts and sounds, no sophisticated or well-developed tongue(s). For any linguist to NOT know that SVO, NP, VP etc patterns exist in nearly all languages and to suggest that the word order and sentence structure is only of English derivation is TERRIBLE. The word order/sentence structure isn't the only aspect that makes AAL unique and you will find similarities well because many languages share features, although if you look deeply enough you'll find some differences, primarily it's how the RULES (grammar) of the language dictate how we TREAT the words (vocabulary) and how we “structure” certain sentences, to which then gives meaning; aspect markers, tense markers, tonal use, associative plurals, pronominal apposition, final consonants, habitual be etc. The grammar of Niger Congo is why we have words like PLAYA, SISTA etc. Additionally, double negatives exist in MANY languages including AFRICAN languages!! Black people use MULTIPLE negatives! There are grammatical differences that are HUGE.
This is a good book for people wanting an introduction, but you'll need a better resource that understands African languages to truly understand how it's African based and not European. Many languages share the same features. It's called convergence. People are always trying to attribute something Blacks create to a non-Black source.
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Before I cite a quote, I want to prepare people for the heavy "linguistic" jargon, please note that these are deep grammatical structures that govern how a language functions, goes beyond word order and sentence structure:
*CONSONANT CLUSTER SIMPLIFICATION:
Not pronouncing or using final consonants and/or consonant clusters in general (so any place you find consonant clusters in a word). So for example, a consonant cluster simplification in the word HAND, would be *not* pronouncing the final consonant "d", thus "simplifying" the consonant cluster "ND" to "N" and ending up with the word "HAN'."
The problem with this term is that it suggests that Blacks in America simply deleted, omitted or dropped something in SAE or Mainstream American English, when in actuality, it's simply something that never existed in the first place in Niger Congo Languages. Consonant Clusters are incredibly rare in Niger Congo Languages. Consonant Clusters are 2 or more sounds without vowels. So, for instance the word BLEAK, the consonant cluster would be "BL."
------------------------------------------
*HOMOGENOUS CLUSTERS:
Are "sounds/clusters" that have the same manner/placement of articulation. So for instance the word HAND, the homogenous cluster would be "ND" as /n/ and /d/ have the same place of articulation in the mouth, try it out. Where does your tongue land for each sound? That's what is meant by homogenous cluster. When you talk about a "simplification" of this in AAL you will get the word HAN'.
*HETEROGENEOUS CLUSTERS:
Are "sounds/clusters" that have a different manner/place of articulation within the mouth. So, for example the word PANT, the heterogenous cluster would be "NT" as "n" and "t" have different manners of articulation in the mouth, try it out. What happens in your mouth in order for the sounds "n" and "t" to be pronounced? What area in your mouth is being used for each sound?
Moving Forward...
***I will use terms like "simplification and reduction" because it's within the context of the book, however, please note that these are terms I don't subscribe to as they remove the natural characteristics inherent in African languages and their derivatives like AAL.
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Ready? lol, great:
On page 150, it is stated that another linguist named "Smith" states that consonant cluster simplification is solely restricted or limited to homogenous cluster simplifications within AAL and that any presence of heterogeneity invalidates his claims:
Exact quote: "Smith makes a further claim that the restriction of the consonant cluster simplification in African American speech to homogenous clusters is also "in consonance with the phonological rules of Niger-Congo African grammars."But no specific Niger-Congo languages are cited in support of this claim, we could find no evidence in Welmers etc... On the contrary, the existence of heterogeneous or "mixed voice," sequences in KiKongo (e.g., nti meaning tree) weakens the validity of this claim. Although these sequences are not quite the same as the simplified clusters of spoken soul [African American Language]...”
My response: Totally inaccurate
It certainly does not, and to be quite honest I’m actually quite confused by this comment. I couldn’t make out if they were suggesting that the existence of heterogeneity invalidates his claim or if the existence of a heterogeneity cluster simplification invalidates his claim (this is more likely what they were referring to), either way they are incorrect. This was one of the reasons I said this book was a bit odd to me because whoever wrote that doesn't have a good understanding of African/Niger Congo Languages.
If you find a heterogenous cluster simplification in an African language, it does not invalidate a previous claim regarding the homogenous cluster simplification within Niger Congo languages. Dr. Ernie Smith wasn’t restricting cluster simplification to homogeneity, just that it’s primary:
And I quote,
“Firstly, in consonance with the phonological rules of the West and Niger-Congo African Languages, certain consonant clusters never even existed. Secondly, and likewise in consonance with the phonological rules of Niger-Congo African grammar, it is PRIMARILY the homogenous consonant blends or consonant configurations that tend NOT to occur in African American speech (pg. 81, The Urban Education Debate).”
That sounds like it’s leaving room for heterogeneity cluster "simplification."
Secondly, because I’m addressing both parts of my confusion related to what was written, if you find heterogeneity clusters but non-simplified in an African language, uhhh yes they exist, but you’re much more likely to come across words with no consonant clusters.
Can you find consonant cluster "simplifications" like going from “HAND” to “HAN’” today with an attributable source to them/Old English structure? I don’t think so!! They/the English language operates on consonant clusters! When you don’t dig deep enough, you get all sorts of assertions like “black folks musta just deleted/omitted the consonants from our white language, oh yeah that’s it!” Lol.
Dr. Ernie Smith was saying that true to African form, Blacks in America continued a common African feature that lays within, which Dr. Smith and others attest to in other papers/writings/books. And if you can't "find" information, look harder because it's obvious it's been found. We don’t just hail from West Africa. Sizable portions of us in America also came from West Central Africa, which had a massive impact on African American Culture. Niger Congo/Bantu encompasses part of West Africa but it’s hugely represented in West Central Africa. If consonant clusters and specifically final consonant clusters are a rarity in Niger Congo speech patterns, then it should be obvious that the word HAND would LACK a final consonant cluster and perform within a Niger Congo pattern, ending the word in NASAL FORM (HAN' for HAND). You can also sometimes find consonant clusters in word medial forms after a nasal sound, like in the word kaMFo in TWI, but it still ends with a vowel. There are some cases where consonant clusters can exist and that would be in the form of HETEROGENEITY (and not in every instance), sounds as in thiNK or NTi (tree); consonants N and T = VOICED DENTAL NASALS and consonant K is a VELAR VOICELESS PLOSIVE, those two sounds together = HETEROGENEITY. While it's a rarity to find consonant clusters (CCC) in Niger Congo languages, you can find some instances of it, but little to none will be final consonants and if they do end in final consonants, it's extremely restrictive.
Quick Summary: Niger Congo Languages primarily operate on an OPEN SYLLABIC Preference meaning, a pattern of CV (consonant/vowel) and not a European pattern of CC (Consonant/Consonant). So you will rarely find consonant clusters and when you do it's on a restrictive basis. Because consonant clusters are not the norm in Niger Congo, that same pattern continued in African speech in America, which is why we will get words like "DA" for THE. Obviously it's not going to be EXACT because of the words being used (non-African vocabulary), but we will get as close as possible to the original form of CV/CVCV, which is why Black folks will say ISSA, IONO, WHATCHU etc (I also would attribute these forms to a form of agglutination, which is also Niger Congo). We will also pronounce words like GIVE as GIH, that's a different topic though.
Get these books to start with:
Africanisms in American Culture
Ebonics: The Urban Education Debate
The Bantu Speaking Heritage of the United States
Gullah Dialect by Turner
Talking that Talk
I also don't really like the flow of the book and the editing coulda been better. >>Dat right dere (coulda) and dis too is a feature of AAL lol.
Research MORE!! The info is out there!
ISBN-13:
978-0471399575
ISBN-10:
0471399574
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