"There is a certain noticeable communicative style which is transmitted in the tone, rhythm, or pitch of a voice in these cases. In fact, the so-called black voice can be recognized by other Ebonics speakers by pitch and tone. Thus, the more prevalent African rhythm, tone, and pitch are in the vocalization, the more distinctly African is the voice. One is tempted here to suggest that whites in some southern United States communities , having learned the peculiar intonations and sounds of their African nurses, speak with African tone and pitch. On the other hand , some blacks speak with an almost precise European intonation pattern with no trace of African vocal color. This behavior indicates that language interference has affected the speech of blacks and whites alike in the United States. One cannot be sure even how long the communicative styles of Africans will remain . The time may come when we will only be able to observe rare instances of the pitch, rhythm and tone of Africa. In one sense, the linguists' early ecstasy over African lexical retentions, e.g. , 'ok', 'okra', 'go-go,' etc., was the beginning of a general merger of African lexical items into the general American vocabulary ."
P. 241, "African American Language," AFRICAN CULTURE :THE RHYTHMS OF UNITY by Molefe Kete Asante and Miriam Welsh Asante (1990)
Thursday, October 11, 2018
AFRICAN AMERICAN LANGUAGE
"There is a certain noticeable communicative style which is transmitted in the tone, rhythm, or pitch of a voice in these cases. In fact, the so-called black voice can be recognized by other Ebonics speakers by pitch and tone. Thus, the more prevalent African rhythm, tone, and pitch are in the vocalization, the more distinctly African is the voice. One is tempted here to suggest that whites in some southern United States communities , having learned the peculiar intonations and sounds of their African nurses, speak with African tone and pitch. On the other hand , some blacks speak with an almost precise European intonation pattern with no trace of African vocal color. This behavior indicates that language interference has affected the speech of blacks and whites alike in the United States. One cannot be sure even how long the communicative styles of Africans will remain . The time may come when we will only be able to observe rare instances of the pitch, rhythm and tone of Africa. In one sense, the linguists' early ecstasy over African lexical retentions, e.g. , 'ok', 'okra', 'go-go,' etc., was the beginning of a general merger of African lexical items into the general American vocabulary ."
P. 241, "African American Language," AFRICAN CULTURE :THE RHYTHMS OF UNITY by Molefe Kete Asante and Miriam Welsh Asante (1990)
