Ebonics, like all other vernaculars and dialects of English, is undergoing a constant yet nearly impercievable evolution. The jargon of african americans today could very well be unintellegeble to the african americans of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Perhaps one of the most accesible and legitimate illustrations of modern ebonic language can be found in rap and hip hop music. Simply browsing a list of the top 10 rap songs today will present you with prime examples of the vocabulary, grammar, and sounds of modern day ebonics. On such a list you would be sure to find a number of songs by 24 year old rap and hip hop artist Fetty Wap, including his top hit Trap Queen. Fetty Wap grew up in the housing projects in Paterson, New Jersey, a city with a reputation for
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Consanant reduction is commonplace: “We jus’ set a goal, talkin' matchin' Lambos”. Dipthongs such as ‘my’ are sometimes pronounced without a dipthong (‘mah’). ‘Th’ sounds at the beginning of words are often pronounced as ‘d’ such as ‘de’ (‘the) and ‘dough’ (though). ‘Th’ sounds at the end of words, on the other hand, are often pronounced as an ‘f’ or simply a ‘t’ (usually when preceded by a nasal), as in the hook:
I jus’ left de mall, I'm gettin' fly wit mah baby, yeah
In which one can see an example of consonant reduction (jus’ and gettin’), the omittance of a dipthong (‘mah’) an initial ‘th’ sound replaced with a ‘d’ sound (‘de’), and a final ‘th’ sound replaced with a ‘t’ sound (‘wit’). In certain phrases in Trap Queen, the verb ‘to be’ is omitted or replaced by ‘ain’t’ or ‘gonna/gon’ while a grammatically incorrect ‘be’ (as in ‘We be countin’ up’) is sometimes used to show that the action is in progress or habitual. Grammatical agreement between the subject and predicate is also often missing. Unlike Standard English, double negatives are allowed in AAVE such as in “I ain’t never lettin’ go.” or “She ain’t wantin’
Consanant reduction is commonplace: “We jus’ set a goal, talkin' matchin' Lambos”. Dipthongs such as ‘my’ are sometimes pronounced without a dipthong (‘mah’). ‘Th’ sounds at the beginning of words are often pronounced as ‘d’ such as ‘de’ (‘the) and ‘dough’ (though). ‘Th’ sounds at the end of words, on the other hand, are often pronounced as an ‘f’ or simply a ‘t’ (usually when preceded by a nasal), as in the hook:
I jus’ left de mall, I'm gettin' fly wit mah baby, yeah
In which one can see an example of consonant reduction (jus’ and gettin’), the omittance of a dipthong (‘mah’) an initial ‘th’ sound replaced with a ‘d’ sound (‘de’), and a final ‘th’ sound replaced with a ‘t’ sound (‘wit’). In certain phrases in Trap Queen, the verb ‘to be’ is omitted or replaced by ‘ain’t’ or ‘gonna/gon’ while a grammatically incorrect ‘be’ (as in ‘We be countin’ up’) is sometimes used to show that the action is in progress or habitual. Grammatical agreement between the subject and predicate is also often missing. Unlike Standard English, double negatives are allowed in AAVE such as in “I ain’t never lettin’ go.” or “She ain’t wantin’