Black English: History and Social Context

Since researchers started to study Black English, many speculations have been made. We can summarize it into two main hypotheses: the dialect hypothesis, developed by people who affirm that the African slaves learned English incorrectly and, because of that, their mistakes have been passed down through generations; and the creole hypothesis, which demonstrates how the slaves developed a pidgin, a mix of West African vocabulary and English, in order to be able to communicate with English speakers.

According to the second hypothesis, the history of Black English must date back to about 1619 when a Dutch vessel landed in Jamestown with a cargo of twenty Africans. The slaves were brought from different places because it was easier to control Africans who spoke different languages and, consequently, could not communicate with each other. When the slaves arrived in America, they had to learn at least some English words; they developed a pidgin language based on English vocabulary. The slaves’ children had to learn this pidgin, which graduated from a language of transaction to a creolized language. The development of United States economy reinforced the institution of slavery, which became more deep-rooted in the southern states than in the northern states.

When the American Civil War (18961-1865) occurred, slaves from the southern states that were at war against the North were released. After the Civil War, the formation of national African-American identity was accelerated, Blacks from North came to the South regions and Black communities (with schools, printing newspapers and businesses) were formed. It grew a black middle-class, which had a variety similar to the Standard English.

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As Black English is marginalized by mainstream society, the black middle-class developed a method of linguistic adaptation (called code-switching) that enable them to speak Black English or Standard English according to the situation in which they are inserted. On the other hand, when the varieties of Southern Black English came into contact with the different forms of English spoken in the urban North (since blacks from the South went to the North because they believed that there they could find better jobs…), the difference between white and black speech became clearer.

The racial discrimination motivated the construction of black residential zones and the contact between blacks and whites was limited. This was the segregation era in the United States: the social environments of Blacks were restricted and their speech became a “symbol” of Black identity.

According to Sari Liomala, the black Americans’ style are unique, they have a special way of talking and communicating in their social environment. One good example of that is the game called “fussing”, a type of dispute in which the winner is the one who can formulate the best arguments. Another interesting example is the way conversation is organized; they have a hierarchy, since the eldest adults are the highest status members of their communities. The eldest black male has the right to initiate and maintain any or all types of communication.

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