Linguaphilia

theblogisalie asked: Apologies for the two Asks, but I can't fit everything into one. Yoda most likely does have perfectly good grammar in his own (unknown) dialect, but in the movies he speaks Galactic Basic. He does speak this with quite terrible grammar, the grammar for this was standard through species/cultures by intention with only differences in accent and pronunciation.

First of all, you don’t know that he doesn’t speak a different dialect of Galactic Basic, in which the way he talks is standard. If he is indeed a native speaker of another language, then you bring up a good point that only supports mine, in that unless the rappers are rapping in non-native languages, their grammar in their own dialects is STILL just fine.

theblogisalie asked: I'm aware of AAE being its own dialect, but what led you to believe that I was "referring to black people"? There was no inclination I was, you are simply choosing to determine this based on your own sphere of experience. I may have been referring to any other linguistic group or many groups (it's not a purely African-American form of expression) For example Chinese, Irish or Swedish gangster rappers may use bad grammar intentionally. To assume I was referring to AA rappers is very "small world"

I’m not choosing to determine this based on my own sphere of experience- ALL rap is derived from African-American origins and continues to be influenced by African-American artists. And yes, that includes the way of speaking. Hip-Hop Nation Language, as sociolinguists call it, draws heavily from AAE and is used in hip-hop cultures (and the music produced thereof) everywhere. So to call it bad grammar is to call AAE bad grammar. When rappers use their own languages, they STILL don’t “use bad grammar intentionally”. They are simply speaking in multiethnolects or other minority dialects that aren’t the standard, and thus are heavily stigmatized and considered wrong.

theblogisalie asked: I noticed you reblogged my pie chart which showed career opportunities for those with bad grammar, and noted "This is mad racist". I'm quite confused as to how this is "mad racist". Are people with bad grammar associated with a particular ethnic group? Are gangster rappers comprised entirely of a particular ethnic group? Are the colloquialisms used in gangster rap grammatically correct for certain ethnic groups? If you think so then maybe it is your views that are racist. Please enlighten me.

Gangster rappers don’t have bad grammar, and the notion that they do is an adherence to white-dominated social norms and an erasure of legitimate dialects that aren’t Standard American English. Most American rap is either performed in African American English or largely draws on it. Since AAE is a dialect on par with any other (it has complex grammatical structure different than SAE’s, unique phonology, a rich lexicon of its own, etc.), then yes, “colloquialisms used in gangster rap [are] grammatically correct for certain ethnic groups”, as well as for other native-speakers of the dialect. The assumption that “rappers”, (which, let’s be serious, you’re referring to black people with, but even if you insist on denying this, my argument still holds) simply have bad grammar is a complete denial of the facts- speakers of African American English speak perfectly their own dialects. They did not simply “fail to learn English correctly”, and many are capable of code-switching into Standard American English, if they so choose to, but since their grammar is fine, I see no need for them to. Other speakers of AAE are perfectly capable of understanding them and would produce utterances in the same ways, regional differences aside. So the chart is racist.

(on a side note, if Yoda existed, he would probably have fine grammar in his own dialect as well!) 

iamtheslaughter:

Stereotypical New Jersey accents are like listening to shit fall out of these people’s mouths.

New Jersey is America’s asshole.

Fraternities being racist: the UChicago edition

sofriel:

In the past month at the University of Chicago, two separate fraternities have done racist crap! Incident number one was Alpha Delta Phi having the frat brothers mow lawns and cut bushes while wearing sombreros. Incident number two was a facebook event created by Delta Upsilon called “DU Presents: Conquistadors and Aztec Hoes.”

MEChA (which I am a part of) as well as several other Latin@ groups on campus have gotten involved with addressing these issues, particularly asking for a public apology and dialogue, at the minimum. A group letter was sent to both fraternities, the Bias Response Team was contacted, and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs are involved.

Alpha Delta Phi, after being informed of this, essentially stated they are not interested in the proposed solutions and deny that they have done wrong. DU wrote an apology on Facebook and changed the event name and description. Currently, there is discussion going on around getting a more public response. Tomorrow another meeting is happening at OMSA, at 12 PM, to continue the collaboration between RSOs to deal with the incidents. 

Just wanted to let tumblr know what was going on. A lot of people have expressed concern that these events will just be brushed off and ignored, which is very common with these sorts of things at uchicago. 

Oh,

prettyinblack90:

hey-itsmollygirl:

By the way, why isn’t anyone talking about how the Black Panthers are killing people down in Florida. What about the news telling you about how the Black Panthers went to an elder couple’s, that happened to have the last name Zimmerman, home and threatened them?

You never hear any on that, though.

Thank you! Nothing but damn niggers gone wild. I remember when Florida made it mandatory for ppl on welfare to be drug tested. Man those blacks went nuts. “how is I supposed to feed my children when I gots to be drug tested?” That was a comment from a black women. Fucking crack head

Congratulations! You’re a stupid racist piece of shit! Die in a fire pls