People banging away on their smartphones are fluently using a code separate from the one they use in actual writing, but a code it is, to which linguists are currently devoting articles.
John McwhorterRead
People think of black English as ungrammatical, but it bears the same relationship to standard English as contemporary Hebrew does to ancient Hebrew.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Black English is a legitimate dialect, similar in evolution to how Hebrew has changed over time.
In this quote, John McWhorter argues that black English, often dismissed as ungrammatical, should be recognized as a legitimate and evolving dialect. He compares its development to that of contemporary Hebrew, which has transformed from ancient forms but still retains its roots, suggesting that all languages and dialects evolve in complexity and structure over time.
Themes
Black EnglishDialectLanguageEducationLinguisticsEvolution
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on linguistic diversity, you might say: 'As John McWhorter pointed out, black English is as legitimate as any other dialect, similar to the evolution of Hebrew.'
More from John Mcwhorter
All quotes βPeople have been warning us that language was going to the dogs ever since Latin started turning into French. Yet the dogs in question never seem to emerge yelping on the horizon.
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It would be good if teachers could genuinely understand that black English is not mistakes, it's just different English, and that what you want to do is add an additional dialect to black students' repertoire rather than teaching them out of what's thought of as a bad habit, like sloppy posture or chewing with your mouth open.
John McwhorterRead
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