The Influence of Black English on American Culture after the Civil War

Black English

There are a variety of definitions of Black English， however， it has been recognized widely that Black English is well known by being used by the Blacks in America. Precisely， Black English is a variant of English. It has been named a lot from early formation to today， such as Negro Pidgin， Negro Creole， Negro Dialect， Negro English， Non-standard Negro English， Black English Vernacular， Afro-American English， Black English and so on. Black English is the language of black Americans. But not all 36 million African Americans choose to speak Black English， especially the educated middle and upper income blacks. Black English usually refers to the everyday spoken varieties of English used by the working class in urban neighborhoods or rural communities.

As the Blacks in America， Black English has got through a long period before its legal statuses were recognized by America society. For a long time， Deficit Hypothesis has dominated in American society， which was considered to be illegal. In 1960th or 1970th， with the development of research， people gradually had a clear understanding about Black English， and proposed difference hypothesis. Black English was legitimized in Black English Trial， marked by the Ann Arbor Case.

In the process of development， Black English and American Standard English permeated each other mutually and still retained its own features. Catching up with American Standard English， Black English has changed to some extent in some aspects. Changes in pronunciation lay in omits of /r/ and /l/， words accents， intonations variation and so on. Changes in Grammar are more obvious such as omits of Gatenative verbs， multiple-negation， possessive orders and so on.

Comparison between Black English and Standard American English （SAE）

Black English can be related by rule to Standard American English. What speakers of Black English possess is basically the same grammar that all speakers of English possess. Black English differs from Standard American English， but the differences do not change arbitrarily. They are of some regularity. Differences between Black English and Standard American English are mainly in aspects as follows.

1. Differences in Pronunciation

Compared with Standard American English， a remarkable of Black English in pronunciation is elision of /r. It includes two points： elision of /r/ which is behind a vowel or in front of a consonant. This is not peculiar in Black English， but it is an articulation trend of American lower strata. Owing to the elision of /r/， the articulation of groups of words below in Black English had not any difference. In addition， elision of /r/， which is between two vowels， is peculiar in Black English. Differences in pronunciation between Black English and Standard American English can also be seen in the elision of /l/， simplification of consonant cluster， conversion of /e/， confusion of /i/ and /e/ and so on， which is peculiar to Black English. Furthermore， as to the rise and fall of intonation， Black English changes greater than Standard American English. High tone or even falsetto is often used in Black English.

2. Differences in Grammar

Differences in grammar between Black English and Standard American English are shown as follows. First， a very common phenomenon in Black English is the loss of ‘s which is in word final. Second， omission of linking verbs is a very peculiar syntactic character of Black English. Third， in Black English， “aint” is widely used to form negative sentences while Standard American English not. Forth， universal use of double negative and multi-negation is peculiar to Black English. Negative sentences in Black English often adopt double negative of multi-negation. Fifth， in Black English， Syntactically， Black English has some obvious differences from Standard American English in sentence structure as listed by Smitherman in the following examples. Non-be rule， a type of sentence refers to a state instead of habit. “its a” is used to replace “Theres a” in Standard American English. The sixth one is way of expression of word order of possessive case. Possessive case “-s” is often omitted in Black English on condition that word order itself is enough to show possessive relation.

The Influence of Black English on American Culture

1. Result of the Civil War

The Civil War caused 620000soldier deaths， and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. The landscape in the Southern war zones was ruined. The total cost of the war exceeded $20 billion.

Firstly， it wiped out a remnant of the feudal times， which set back the economy of capitalism developed. Secondly， modern system of agricultural capitalism was set up. Thirdly， the north struggled against southern plantation economy. Fourthly， the Homestead Act announced in 1862 made many poor people could get their own land. These actions were very meaningful to the poor people then. Meanwhile， encouraged people fight with the south. What is the most important is boosting the capitalist economy development. Lastly， the Civil War improved American black peoples social status and economic condition.

The Civil War guaranteed the development of the capitalist system in the United States and aroused the change of political power. It is noticeable that congress passed the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution： Slavery in the United ended. The Blacks made an important role later in America society. Here the author would like to analyze the influence of Black English especially.

2. Influence of Black English on American Culture

Through the gradually improved status of black people in politics and economy with the integration of blacks and American society after the Civil War， it comes out of the practical significance of Black English on the American Culture， and making the reader realize that outstanding contributions and increasingly important role of Black English in American Culture. Finally， it elaborates on the specific aspects of the influences on American Culture， such as language， art and literature. Through these descriptions， it indicates the new elements it brings to the American Culture and establishes the indispensable state of Black English in the American society. The author would like to take influences on literature， music and sport as examples to show the influences of Black English on American culture.

2.1 Influences on Literature

After the Civil War， a great deal of literature outputs reflecting lives of the Blacks and changes the Civil War aroused appeared， such as Uncle Toms Cabin. This kind of literature took the Blacks as materials， reflected the real lives， emotions and struggle of the Blacks.

After the Civil War， the development of the Black American Literature has been improving in addition to Black Englishs influences on American literature. The Black American Literature can also called African-American literature， is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. A genre of African-American literature that developed after the Civil War is the slave narrative， accounts written by fugitive slaves about their lives in the South. At the time， the controversy over slavery led to impassioned literature on both sides of the issue， with novels such as Uncle Toms Cabin representing the abolitionist view of the evils of the slavery. This kind of literature masterpieces were written in support of slavery.

As a representative of American litterateur， Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993， the only Afro-American author to be honored. In her works， Toni Morrison has explored the experience of black women in a racist culture. She wrote works have wide influences on black people and even the whole world， such as Beloved.

The Black English was widely used in American literature works. Today， Black English can be seen in every American literature works.

2.2 Influences on Music

The Blacks share plentiful musical forms， which prevails in America even in the world for its unique styles. For instance， rap， which is originally a slang term in Black English， means talking or discussing. As a form of popular music， rap originated from poor black areas in New York in 1970th and prevailed all around the world for its unique rhythm.

Taking lyrics of American Blacks raps， we can find that its being popular all around the world cannot be achieved without unique Black English.

In pronunciation， rap singer simplifies spelling for the appearance of liaison. The most common point maybe the changing from words ends such as “er” to “a”. For instance， nigger is simplified to nigga.

Some words of a song can be replaced by rough words， which are practical and common in Black English. The most common example probably is the word “fuck”. In Standard American English， “fuck” means abusing and is always used to call someone names. However， in Black English， “fuck” can represent a lot of things， show a kind of feelings， or be seen as emphasis.

In Black English rap， its general to replace some words with figures. As some words share same pronunciations with Arabic numerals， they are always replaced by numerals in rap. For example， “to” can be replaced by 2， for can be replaced by 4， night can be replaced by 9， and straight can be replaced by str8.

2.3 Influences on Sports

With the natural advantage of being athletic， the Blacks are usually skilled at sports. As society develops， the Black sports are gradually accepted by the White and even people all over the world. Soccer is originally a kind of Black sports while today a worldwide sports and popular around the country. With the popularizing of soccer， Black English used in soccer also get recognized in the world. There are more and more black athletes in America entering into public eyes and even the worlds views. For example， Kobe Bryant， a brilliant basketball player， has became a symbol of America. Moreover， as sports changed the lives of black people a lot， they used their physical strength and perseverance to conquer the world， but also to every sporting event and more a lot of highlights. Their sportsmanship infects a lot of Americans and became an embody of American spirits.

Conclusion

Through researching on Black English， which consists of its definition， origin， features， development， change， comparing Black English with Standard American English， the thesis talks about Black Englishs influences on American culture after the Civil War.

In the future， the author would like to focus on embodiments of Black Englishs influences on American culture to show the significance of Black English and attract more research on Black English. I would like to do more research on Black English and its influences on American culture to promote mutual understanding and communication.

作者簡介：馬云青（1991.3-），女，河北人，碩士研究生，研究方向：應用語言學。