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To: SJackson

I am not going to say that English is a perfect language. The spelling is not standardized and the grammar is tricky. I remember one time my six-year-old daughter asked me if there was a spelling of any word that was not a "special case".

But it is the common language of the people, and is therefore important. One can postulate all sorts of alternate languages that are more streamlined and standardized, but unless they are shared and in common use, they are just linguistic curiosities.

The fact of the matter is that Ebonics, such as it is, is the language of the underclass. There is no more certain way to ensure that a person remains in this underclass than to teach them to communicate in Ebonics. My Grandparents tried to keep my Father's generation down on the Kansas farm by teaching them only German and punishing them for speaking even a word of English. My Father did not speak English until he ran away and joined the Army.

I thank my lucky stars he escaped. I mean, I like gardening, but everything in moderation!


18 posted on 08/04/2005 5:24:09 AM PDT by gridlock (ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
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To: gridlock
The fact of the matter is that Ebonics, such as it is, is the language of the underclass. There is no more certain way to ensure that a person remains in this underclass than to teach them to communicate in Ebonics.

At the risk of being offered tons of tin foil, it sure sounds like that's the entire plan.

94 posted on 08/04/2005 6:28:54 AM PDT by steveegg (Real torture is taking a ride with Sen Ted "Swimmer" Kennedy in a 1968 Oldsmobile off a short bridge)
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To: gridlock

"I am not going to say that English is a perfect language. The spelling is not standardized and the grammar is tricky."


The reason English spelling is so irregular is because of its roots: English has virtually borrowed from so many sources: French, Spanish, Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, Scandinavian, etc.

And, African. Words like jazz, gumbo, etc., which were donated by slaves. That's the irony. This "professor" claims English is the language of oppressors, when in actuality it is the most open & democratic language of all.

The vocabulary, in fact, is what makes English so wonderfully rich & nuanced.


129 posted on 08/04/2005 7:24:49 AM PDT by MoochPooch (A righteous person worries about his or her behavior, an extremist about everyone else's.)
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