Right on bro!

the kid   Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:50 pm GMT
I'm not an english speaker and I've never been to America but I always liked the way black americans talk in the movies. They are very expressive and colourful.
I was wandering if there are any americans here who can give me examples of black expressions and sentences.
Presley.   Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:08 am GMT
I must say, I am quite fond of the African-American dialects as well.

One excellent book I strongly recommend to you is, "Their Eyes Were Watching God", by Zora Neale Hurston. It has great examples of the African-American dialects.

There's one word I want to point out - "I'ma".

"I am going to", is shortened to "I'm going to", which further is shortened to , "I'm gonna", which is even further shortened to, "I'ma".
Presley.   Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:51 am GMT
"Mammy" and "Pappy" are terms used in like, the twenties, or something. (Maybe later, I don't know.) Very few (VERY FEW) times have I heard that. I actually almost always hear "Momma" and "Poppa". (Whites are more likely to spell it "Mawma" and "Pawpa".)

Also, I don't think it's necessarily an African-American thing when you say "Ya know what I mean?" or "Ya know what I'm sayin'?".

The African-Americanized way of saying, "Ya know what I'm sayin'?", is "Know'm'sayi'n?" (Almost like, "nome sane?").
Rick James   Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:20 pm GMT
nigger-Nigga
call me back-hit me up
i am with you- I go ya back
see you later- catch you on the flip side
money- greenbacks
girls-biatches
friends- homies
beer-40's
gun-smith and weston bitch
Travis   Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:33 pm GMT
>>There's one word I want to point out - "I'ma".

"I am going to", is shortened to "I'm going to", which further is shortened to , "I'm gonna", which is even further shortened to, "I'ma".<<

Note that "I'ma" and similar forms such as ["a:I~m@~:n@] are relatively common around here outside of AAVE, and as for "I'm gonna", that is ubiquitous in spoken English in general.
Guest   Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:14 pm GMT
"nigger-Nigga"

Be careful using this one or you will get a cap in your ass.
Travis   Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:34 pm GMT
>>Re: "Note that "I'ma" and similar forms such as ["a:I~m@~:n@] are relatively common around here (i.e. Wisconsin)..." --- Travis

Here I would agree. "a" is the Chaucerian helper (Chaucer spelled it "y") and has been around in the English language for a long time. It corresponds to the German prefix Ge-.<<

You're referring to something here; these are just different reduced forms of "going to" which have become clitics.
Lazar   Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:42 pm GMT
<<"a" is the Chaucerian helper (Chaucer spelled it "y") and has been around in the English language for a long time. It corresponds to the German prefix Ge-.>>

I think you misunderstood what Travis meant. It seems that you may be confusing three unrelated things.

The prefix "y-", which is cognate to German "ge-", was only used for past participles, for example "yclad" and "yclept". This prefix is totally extinct.

I suspect that you may be confusing this with the particle "a" found in Appalachian English, as in "I'm a going", which is another unrelated phenomenon, and has nothing to do with German "ge-".

The thing that Travis is talking about is a simple contraction of "I'm gonna" to "I'ma", as in "I'ma go to the store". This phenomenon has nothing to do with the other two. It's just a rapid-speech reduction, and I think it's origin is probably rather recent (ie, the last few centuries).
Lazar   Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:44 pm GMT
(Just to eliminate any confusion, I think Travis intended to say, "You're referring to something else here.")
Travis   Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:47 pm GMT
That should be "something different here" above.
other guest   Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:51 am GMT
uh.....if any of you guys even attempt to talk like that, with or without an accent and your white, you risk gettin shot or being sent off to the looney bend. it all depends where you are.
NOTE: i'm am just telling you this. oh and down here in the south a lot of us have more class than to talk in ebonics.
Uriel   Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:31 am GMT
<<gun-smith and weston bitch>>

That's Smith & Wesson.

<<looney bend>>

Loony bin.

<<Whites are more likely to spell it "Mawma" and "Pawpa">>

NOBODY spells them that way, no matter what color they are, Presley!
other guest   Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:33 am GMT
i LIKE loony bend! get over it. my spelling is bad. its been that way since 3rd grade get over it! GOSH!!!!
Uriel   Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:40 am GMT
I guess it's a like a combination of "loony bin" and "around the bend"? ;)
other guest   Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:37 am GMT
nope its just the first thing that came to mind