THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 29 lines
With all the discussion on Ebonics, I think it should be noted that this ``language'' was identified quite awhile ago. It was perfectly portrayed in the movie ``Airplane!'' complete with subtitles. It was called Jive.
Those of you who remember this bit of satire may also recall, in the movie, the translation of a phrase in Jive corresponding to the English interjection, ``Golly!'' That phrase is not suitable for print; in fact, it is one of many four-letter Anglo-Saxon words we hear on the street, in music and in the movies these days.
This was funny in the movie theater. It seems incredible that this ``language'' is being considered the equivalent of English, French, Spanish or Latin in real life today. Contrary to the opinion of the Linguistic Society of America, there is a difference between a language and a dialect. English is a language; in this country there are at least as many regional dialects (of English) as there are states in the Union.
I learned English in school; my dialect is probably the proverbial ``Southern.'' If this distinction has to be explained to our linguistics scholars, then we are indeed heading down the wrong path with regard to the education of our youth.
ALAN P. MANGLICMOT
Virginia Beach, Jan. 10, 1997