"Negro Dialect"

[Fire]

I'm not sure if it's pertinent to the discussion, but I minored in Gullah at college.

 

[zoltanspawn]

^^Why do you think a comparison between familiarity with humans and familiarity with robots is apt?

 

[SLOPPYSECONDS]

 

[bankside]

^^Why do you think a comparison between familiarity with humans and familiarity with robots is apt?

I don't think it is apt. I think the comparison of human reaction to familiarity might be apt though.

I'm not sure if it's pertinent to the discussion, but I minored in Gullah at college.

Neat! I only first heard about the existence of Gullah a year or two ago, and I understand it was the language first spoken by one of the previous US Supreme court justices, was it not?

I do think it is pertinent. (not necessarily you studying it, but any information on it that you might have to share)

Umm. Have you seen the video at the top of the thread? That's what I'm commenting on. It takes an hour to watch. I saw it when I first read the thread back in the day, and again to refresh my memory, but it does take a while to get through all of the points the two professors are making. It is a fascinating view of language and culture and class and everything. Kind of a geeky interest of mine.

 

[zoltanspawn]

I think the comparison of human reaction to familiarity might be apt though..

Oh a familiarity with familiarity type question.

 

[bankside]

Oh a familiarity with familiarity type question.

Yup. There seems to be a point where people can psychologically accept something (and perhaps someone) with clear unambiguous differences from themselves. Then people can also accept something (or someone) with almost perfect overlap to their own perspective, tastes, and so on. It's no big deal to accept someone else's differences if they already lie well within your own comfort zone.

But between those two ideals is a psychological blind spot where the whole thing breaks down.

• Opposites attract.
• Birds of a feather flock together.
• But in between those two points is someone who seems not like your reflection, and not like a friendly stranger, but like a fun-house mirror distortion of what you are, and it freaks people out.

I'm not sure if it's pertinent to the discussion, but I minored in Gullah at college.

Another thing I learned about recently is the existence of "Michif" which like Gullah is a blend of languages. It is part-cree and part-french, which means I can understand the French bits when I read it. It is fully merged between two languages and spoken by some Métis people, who (obviously) are groups of people descended from both Cree and French settlers, in western Canada, and largely had been rejected by both cultures.

Blaccent isn't so much of a factor in Canada, at least western Canada. There are a couple of small historical communities with African roots that trace back to settlers who left the states in search of freedom. (Amber Valley, Alberta, for instance). Not sure if those communities maintained much linguistic distinction. But people of African ancestry don't make up a big part of the population here at all. Pretty damn white. And most of the African community here are recent immigrants from Somalia and they have Somali accents, not blaccents.

 

[zoltanspawn]

Yup. There seems to be a point where people can psychologically accept something (and perhaps someone) with clear unambiguous differences from themselves. Then people can also accept something (or someone) with almost perfect overlap to their own perspective, tastes, and so on. It's no big deal to accept someone else's differences if they already lie well within your own comfort zone.

But between those two ideals is a psychological blind spot where the whole thing breaks down.

• Opposites attract.
• Birds of a feather flock together.
• But in between those two points is someone who seems not like your reflection, and not like a friendly stranger, but like a fun-house mirror distortion of what you are, and it freaks people out.

In between those two points is merely the simple act of familiarization. How can I say that again? Merely!

 

[fetaby]

Umm. Have you seen the video at the top of the thread? That's what I'm commenting on. It takes an hour to watch. I saw it when I first read the thread back in the day, and again to refresh my memory, but it does take a while to get through all of the points the two professors are making. It is a fascinating view of language and culture and class and everything. Kind of a geeky interest of mine.

 

[bankside]

Thank you for your insightful, and on-topic reply to the thread.

 

[fetaby]

Thank you for your insightful, and on-topic reply to the thread.

You're welcome! Just thought it was a bit dodgy that this difference in speaking has been expoited for entertainment. But eh, what do I know.

 

[bankside]

You're welcome! Just thought it was a bit dodgy that this difference in speaking has been expoited for entertainment. But eh, what do I know.

Not sure what you know. The two professors who discussed the issue seemed to know quite a bit on the subject. What's interesting is to yet figure out is how it can be exploited and why, which even they didn't seem to have come to grips with.

Seems like a good topic for a serious conversation however, which I think is probably what BabiGayPimp would have had in mind when he posted the topic to get us thinking back in January.

What did you think of the discussion between Lowry & McWhorter?

 

[fetaby]

I haven't listened to the clip yet. I've got to go to bed soon as I have an appointment early tomorrow morning.

The catchphrase "watchu talkin' bout, Willis?" is just one way in which this dialect has been exploited. The fascination by anything different means cold hard cash in the pockets of Hollywood producers. But I'll go a step further and say that not only is the dialect being exploited but the entire race, and that's been going on for how many centuries now?

 

[bendted]

I get mistaken for white over the phone because i speak in a neutral, "proper" diction.

Next question.

I see. So for example when you make an appointment to have your car serviced and then show up, the guy behind the desk announces "I thought you were white!"

 

[Under-taken]

I see. So for example when you make an appointment to have your car serviced and then show up, the guy behind the desk announces "I thought you were white!"

lol I dont see how he could ever think that was politcally correct

 

[jaycee style]

I'm going to have to disagree. I have spoken to many people on the phone that i have never met and once we did meet were shocked to see i was an AF-AM.

I get so much shit fro people both AF-AM and white for not sounding black or not black enough.

CXXX

word,

being in the south, i have like zero black or white friends because they just don't like that i speak like....... fuck i don't know, i guess i'm not HOOD enuff.

in washington state i'm normal,

in florida i'm wierd.