Pan-African Language Systems: Ebonics & African Oral Heritage

Translated literally as "black sounds," Ebonics and its distinct pastiche of accents, slangs, and vernaculars involves a relatively new and linguistically challenging field of study. Studying comparative linguistic structures and cultural history, this book continues the linguistic debate by presenting cultural parallels and geographic connections. Drawing upon modern African American culture and rap music, it examines Ebonics in terms of its unique use of rhyme, repetition, gesture, alliteration, and encoded parable and attempts to answer questions regarding linguistic distinction and form.