A study of Black English syntax in the Midwest and its relation to Black standard English

Abstract

The existing controversy concerning the status of Black English as either a standard language or a dialect can only be solved with the collection of more data from different dialect and geographic regions. It must be determined if Black English here in the midwest differs from Black English elsewhere. If Black English here is found to be much the same as Black English in other areas of the country, the belief that these commonalities are cultural (and, hence, part of a Black Standard language) is reinforced. Differences which are geographically bound, will vary from region to region depending on the dialect of the region. Culturally bound commonalities, however, will remain the same because the speakers share the same cultural background which in most instances supersedes the regional differences, In order to collect this data, the linguistic forms being studied are those which are most frequently discussed in the literature and the ones most likely to be present in Standard Black English.

This study proposes to answer the following questions:

1. What are the differences and commonalities in usage of the variables-the copula "to be", possessive, plural, and past markers-between Black speakers in the midwest and those reported for other geographic locales?

2. Are the common usages, if any, of the above linguistic variables consistent enough to support the notion of a Black Standard Syntax?