Ebonics: Dialect, Not Language

Steven Holland
Engl 1101
Dr. Hughes
Extra Credit Blog

The number one issue of the 1996 Ebonics controversy was that of is Ebonics a dialect of the English language, or is it a completely different language? This may possibly be a difficult question to answer, but the fact is that Ebonics is not its own language. It is merely a dialect of English. If you think about the roots of Ebonics, you will see that Ebonics was derived from English around the time of slavery and the Civil War. Ebonics was developed from English just as other dialects, such as the Southern dialect, many years ago. Since Ebonics is so close to English, there is no way that Ebonics can be considered its own language. If Ebonics were to be considered its own, language, then the Southern dialect should be its own language also.