"Black on White"

On this episode they talk about the influence that the American blacks had on the English story. As they state in the video, “Blacks had their own special grammar, syntax, and pronunciation” (2:32). This kind of English was considered by whites to be “lazy” and “ungrammatical” (2:54). But, it is not considered incorrect, since it’s just a different variety. This English, considered as a tradition, is still seen in black communities.

In Charleston, where a lot of blacks live, they talk a language that has been unchanged for 300 hundred years. Still it is a dying language, since not all the habitants continue with their traditional language. This variety of English is called Gullah: the language they spoke during their slavery time. In my opinion Gullah is easier to understand than Scottish. I understood most of the phrases said without having to read the subtitles. As they state in the video when they talk about herbal medicine, “What strikes the outsider is the African style of accent of their conversation” (7:41). Why would it strike them since after all the language comes from Africa and many say their really home is Africa?

The old women said it, “I think a lot of older people now see so much young people travel and speaks different languages they get a shame of the Gullah language” (0:33). All of this is due to the technology. New inventions have opened the doors for many people. You can know travel, express your ideas easily, communicate right away, and learn new languages. In my opinion this is a great advantage for the society in general, but it has the side effect that leads to the loss of cultures and traditions. In Africa there’s the Masai Mara, an indigenous group, that each time loses more of its culture. I had the chance to talk with some and they said that once a member leaves to the “real word” they never come back. They get the chance to see how the rest of the people live and they realize that life outside the savanna is much better. Their diets are composed of goat and wild plants. Once they see all the food that is offered outside their usual scenery, they put their necessities in front of their cultures. Also many that remain being part of the Masai Mara have lost some of their tradition. They realized that they need some money to survive and you would see more than one with a digital watch. Their culture, for the most part, has already been lost.

On part 7 of the episode Mark Pontius leaves this comment: “It's also interesting at some of the pronunciations of such words as aks for ask, and bofe for both. It must be genetic because all these years later mispronunciations still exists, and probably always will.” I agree and disagree with Mark. I do believe that pronunciation is always going to exist because we are all different and speak in our own way. Still I don’t believe that the mispronunciations are genetic. I think it’s just how we were raised. Our parents are the ones who taught us how to speak and our pronunciation is pretty much going to just like theirs. 

MLA Citations:

Armstrong, Edward. “The Story of English episode 1 – Black on White  – Part 1/7.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013. 

Armstrong, Edward. “The Story of English episode 1 – Black on White  – Part 2/7.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013. 

Armstrong, Edward. “The Story of English episode 1 – Black on White  – Part 4/7.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013. 

Armstrong, Edward. “The Story of English episode 1 – Black on White  – Part 5/7.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013. 

Armstrong, Edward. “The Story of English episode 1 – Black on White  – Part 7/7.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.