Right on bro!
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.
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".
"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?").
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
>>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.
"nigger-Nigga"
Be careful using this one or you will get a cap in your ass.
>>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.
<<"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).
(Just to eliminate any confusion, I think Travis intended to say, "You're referring to something else here.")
That should be "something different here" above.
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.
<<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!
i LIKE loony bend! get over it. my spelling is bad. its been that way since 3rd grade get over it! GOSH!!!!
I guess it's a like a combination of "loony bin" and "around the bend"? ;)
nope its just the first thing that came to mind