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Lucy Silver, M.A. Applied Linguistics

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 Printed by CreateSpace
Charleston, South Carolina

© 2011 Lucy Silver

All rights reserved

Cover illustration
Sculpted by Olin L. Warner, Bronze tympanum, 1896.
Exterior view above the main door of the Thomas Jefferson Building,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Photographed by Carol Highsmith, 2007.
Digital ID: highsm 03149
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C., 20540
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/highsm.03149/?co=highsm
Carol Highsmith Archive, Public Domain.

ISBN 1439266867
EAN 9781439266861

3
 Dedicated with gratitude to my family.

I would particularly like to highlight the following family members who gave me special
support:

x To my sister, Dra. Patricia Plunket Nagoda, Professor of Archeology at

Universidard de las Americas, Cholula, Mexico. Thanks, Trisha, for all your help,
professional and personal!

x To my husband, Dr. Richard Silver, who patiently prepared the pdf file of this
book. Thanks, Richard, for the years of support and love.

x To my daughter, Rebeccah, who prepared the image on the book’s front cover.
Thanks. Becca. You always were the family’s artist!

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unit I: Communication, Thought, Imagery, and Language .............................................. 13

Chapter I: Communication and Human Language ....................................................... 15
A. From Thought to Speech: The Brain and the Vocal Tract ................................... 15
B. Language and Imagery ......................................................................................... 18
Chapter II: Human Intelligence and Language ............................................................. 20
A. Differences in Human Populations and Languages ............................................. 20
B. What Determines Intelligence and Language Use? ............................................. 23
C. Differences in IQ Scores and Language Use between Populations ..................... 25
D. Different Approaches to Language Use and Intelligence .................................... 29
Chapter III: Analyzing Human Language..................................................................... 35
A. Five Plus Five ...................................................................................................... 35
B. The Production of Sound...................................................................................... 38
C. The Notation of Sound ......................................................................................... 40
D. English Phonemes and the IPA ............................................................................ 41
E. English Phonemes and Graphemes ...................................................................... 45
F. The Morpheme...................................................................................................... 47
G. The Syllable ......................................................................................................... 63
Chapter IV: Language Acquisition and Language Learning ........................................ 65
A. Wired for Speech ................................................................................................. 65
B. From Cooing to Grammar .................................................................................... 69
C: The Cognitive Development of Children ............................................................. 72
Chapter V: The Three Faces of Language .................................................................... 75
A. From Sound Waves to Pen Strokes and Beyond.................................................. 75
B. Speech and Text ................................................................................................... 78
C. The Electronic Revolution ................................................................................... 80
Unit II: Writing and Civilization....................................................................................... 85
Chapter VI: The Beginning of Civilization and Writing .............................................. 87
A. The Oral Legacy of Civilization .......................................................................... 87
B. The Writing Systems of Egypt and Mesopotamia ............................................... 89
C. The Writing System of China............................................................................... 90
D. The Writing Systems of Mesoamerica ................................................................. 94
Chapter VII: Contemporary Writing Systems .............................................................. 99
A. The Beginning ...................................................................................................... 99
B: Arabic and Hebrew Abjads ................................................................................ 101
C. The Reason for Alphabets .................................................................................. 104
D. Other Syllabaries ................................................................................................ 108
E. Asian Syllabaries and Alphabets ........................................................................ 110
Chapter VIII: The History of English ......................................................................... 112
A. Old English ........................................................................................................ 112
B. Middle English ................................................................................................... 116
C. Modern English .................................................................................................. 118
D. Inflection and Word Order ................................................................................. 121
Chapter IX: The Development of the English Alphabet ............................................. 127
A. The History of the English Alphabet ................................................................. 127

5
 B. The Greek, Etruscan, and Latin Alphabets: ....................................................... 128
C. Writing English .................................................................................................. 131
Unit III: The Development of Literacy ........................................................................... 135
Chapter X: The Fabric of Literacy .............................................................................. 139
A. The Religious Fabric of Litercy ......................................................................... 139
B. The Technical Fabric of Literacy ....................................................................... 141
C. The Educational Fabric of Literacy .................................................................... 143
D. The Social Fabric of Literacy: ........................................................................... 146
Chapter XI: Literacy ................................................................................................... 150
A. Literacy Defined ................................................................................................ 150
B. Literacy and Education in the United States ...................................................... 154
Chapter XII: The Building Blocks of Literacy ........................................................... 158
A. What Children Learn .......................................................................................... 158
B. The Function of Illustration for Learners ........................................................... 160
C. Surface and Deep Structure ................................................................................ 161
D. Transcoding and Beyond ................................................................................... 163
E. Skill-Based and Whole-Language Learning ...................................................... 165
Chapter XIII: Changes in Literacy and Education ...................................................... 168
A. The History of Education in the United States .................................................. 168
B. Diversity in the United States............................................................................. 171
C. The African-American Student .......................................................................... 173
D. The Hispanic-American Student ........................................................................ 175
E. Bilingual and Bidialectic Education ................................................................... 177
F. Learning the Grammar of Dialect ....................................................................... 182
G. Adult Literacy Instruction .................................................................................. 184
Unit IV: The Oral Connection ........................................................................................ 187
Chapter XIV: African-American Dialect .................................................................... 189
A. The History of African-American Dialect ......................................................... 189
B. The Oral Nature of African-American Discourse .............................................. 191
C. African-American Rhetorical Style .................................................................... 194
D. African-American Phonology and Grammar ..................................................... 198
E. African-American Dictionaries .......................................................................... 204
Chapter XV: Hispanic-American Dialects.................................................................. 206
A. Who Are the Hispanic-Americans? ................................................................... 206
B. The United States and Its Neighbors to the South ............................................. 208
C. Spanglish ............................................................................................................ 210
Chapter XVI: Neocreoles and Neoliteracy ................................................................. 216
A. The Language of Youth ..................................................................................... 216
B: The Young and the Restless ............................................................................... 218
C. Inside the River of Poetry................................................................................... 229
Chapter XVII: Some Conclusions .............................................................................. 233
A. Dialect and Social Stratification ........................................................................ 233
B. Dialect and Technology ..................................................................................... 242

6
 PREFACE

Language is a neurobehavioral, multidimensional system that provides for the

construction and use of symbols in a manner that enables the conveyance and
receipt of information and novel ideas between individuals.
-Duane M. Rumbaugh and E. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
“Toward a new outlook on primate learning and behavior:
Complex learning and emergent processes in comparative perspective”
Japanese Physiological Research, 1996

How can humans possibly understand the essence of writing without understanding the
secrets of its parent, the spoken word? Speech existed for millennia before writing was
introduced, and remains the dominant form of communication for humans. Writing was
born a Johnny-come-lately offspring of the spoken word and evolved independently in
only three major locations in the world: the Middle East, China, and Mesoamerica.
Writing systems have been modified and reinvented as they have spread through human
populations to uniquely mirror and express the spoken languages of the people. They are
continuing to change, even as this book is being printed.

Which linguistic elements do speech and text share, and in what ways do speech and text
differ? Certainly, such musings are not typical of English composition or grammar
classes, yet the connections and divisions between text and speech prove to be the keys
that unlock the secrets of what we, as humans, call language. We are taught that Standard
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization serve to make text comprehensible, but
have no idea what elements make speech intelligible. If complete sentences are required
in text, how do we explain the acceptable and correctly used sentence fragments that
constitute speech, such as Where? or In the kitchen? The use of sentence fragments in
speech serves as a major indicator that speech (dialect) and writing (literacy) do not share
the same grammar constructions. They are shaded by different vocabularies, e.g., “He
tuned her out” v. “He didn’t listen to her.” and, at times, are mutually incompatible, e.g.,
“Jeet yet?” meaning “Have you eaten?” Having instructed a generation of undergraduate
college students, I can assure you that most have never contemplated such issues. The
constraints of written, idealized Standard Common English are presented to students, but
they are never encouraged to investigate the constructions of their speech.

Indirectly, all students experience hints of the divergences between oral and written
language. Children in elementary school discover, to their dismay, that English spelling
contains seemingly inexplicable irregularities, such as write and right. Later, as students
approach their secondary school years, their compositions are expected to demonstrate
control of Standard grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure.
If these rules are violated, students know that the teacher will return their work with the
errors marked, typically in red pencil. They come to realize, at least on a subliminal level,
that speech patterns alone are insufficient to guide them in the performance of writing.

Why do we ignore the study of speech? Two possibilities come immediately to mind.
First, everyone, somehow, intuits that we speak effortlessly and completely without

7
instruction; therefore, why the need to study speech? To this assumption, I offer a caveat:
although it is true that we master our spoken primary discourse, dialect, completely, the
knowledge of our dialect lies implicit, shrouded, guarded, and untapped, buried and silent
in the corners of our subconscious. If challenged, we could not cogently explain how our
spoken grammar functions, why we say what we say, or how we say it. Additionally,
dialects, by definition, are classified as “non-Standard” or “sub-Standard,” and, therefore,
“wrong.” The issue of dialect reflects the sensitivities of parents and educators who judge
the study of non-Standard forms be inappropriate for young children with malleable
minds because they are supposed to be learning Standard Common English. This
judgment becomes magnified when considering two dialects that permeate our schools
today. Ebonics (Ebony Phonics), also known as Black English, or African-American
dialect, the term I prefer, has been damned as a scourge and impediment by many
educators and parents, and yet remains treasured by its speakers. Spanish/English
bilingualism and Spanglish pose additional, difficult problems in our schools, opening
questions of our identity as a people. Should English become our official language? Can
and should students learn both Standard Common English and Standard Spanish? Where
should Spanglish fit into the equation? These issues challenge assumptions that are
deeply ingrained in our social fabric. We seem unable to pave a clear and lucid path that
leads to literacy and lack a true appreciation of the complex issues of language. We do
not acknowledge that students need to learn not only Standard Common English, but also
the secrets of dialect and how language systems, speech and text, intersect and diverge.

These issues are complicated by another wrinkle: we live in extraordinarily challenging

times because of the convergence of unprecedented technology and language change. The
twenty-first century has dawned in the light of the most potent social and technical
revolutions the world has ever witnessed. English is evolving and fragmenting rapidly
into socially and technically driven sub-species and dialects. Examples include African-
American English and Spanglish, along with the rhetorical styles of e-mail and text
messaging. The hard and fast rules of Standard Common English grammar are eroding.
Our writing is beginning to be guided by speech, giving us one more excellent reason to
understand how we speak.

The study of the modalities of human communication, both speech and text, not only
leads to a better understanding of the totality of what constitutes language, but also offers
the fun and enjoyment of the discovery of language, something that is both deeply
personal and comprehensively universal.

Lucy Silver
Wilmette, Illinois, 2011

8
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I acknowledge a deep debt to the work and scholarship of the following people and
institutions. My readers are encouraged to examine all of these sources in depth.

x To Steven Robert Fischer for his thorough work in the history of language,
writing, and reading.

x To Simon Ager and Lawrence Lo for their excellent explanations and charts of
the writing systems of the world.

x To J. L. Dillard and William Labov for their scholarship on African-American

dialect.

x To Steven Pinker and his investigation of the nature of human intelligence.

x To Ilan Stevans and his explanation of Spanglish.

x To Andree Tabouret-Keller et al. for their research on writing pidgins and creoles.

x To Louis Reyes Rivera for his insight into spoken-word art.

x To Rebecca S. Wheeler et al. for their vision of language usage and language
instruction.

x To Stanislas Dehaene for his amazing presentation of the science of neurology.

x To The University of Michigan Library and the Kesley Museum of Archeology

for their outstanding collection and presentation of writing on papyrus in the
Ancient World.

9
 INTRODUCTION

To try to construct a logic of writing without investigation in depth of the

orality out of which writing emerged and in which writing is permanently
and ineluctably grounded is to limit one's understanding.
-Walter Ong
Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

Dialect and Literacy explores the generalities of the entirety of human speech and
writing; however, the book concentrates on the history, development, and peculiarities of
the language commonly known as “English.” All English speakers use a variant of
Standard Common English, the “correct” English agreed upon and established by such
“authorities” as lexicographers and grammarians. All other forms of English, known as
non-Standard dialects, are judged and measured against Standard Common English and
are marked from Standard Common English (and from one another) by differences in
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and usage. There exist regional dialects,
exemplified by New Yorkers, who speak differently from South Carolinians, and social
dialects, exemplified by African-Americans, who speak differently from Italian-
Americans in New Jersey and Hispanic-American Texanos. Schools instruct students in
Standard Common English because its firm rules govern our writing. Surprisingly, non-
Standard dialects are also governed by equally rigid strictures established by their
speakers. When errors using a dialect are committed, they are immediately obvious; a
New Yorker would find it difficult to obey the rules of the Southern dialect used in
Charleston, South Carolina.

Speech close to Standard Common English may be classified as mainstream dialect,

separated from Standard Common English by relatively small parameters of
pronunciation, lexical preferences, grammatical construction, and style. Speakers of sub-
Standard dialects acquire language rules that differ in significant and important ways
from Standard Common English. Viewing all oral language as “imperfect,” it may seem
logical to assume that the study of the structures, functions, and usages of dialects would
be counterproductive to the objective of mastering Standard Common English. It might
be argued that such a venture would be insulting to those who speak sub-Standard dialect,
as it would demonstrate the wide gap separating their dialect from Standard Common
English. However, the role that language plays in human life is reflected in our dialects;
language cannot be understood unless we examine how we speak. Standard Common
English presides primly over the desks of business offices and stands sternly behind the
lecterns in the halls of academia while dialect lurks, quietly but pervasively, behind the
scenes in the lives that people share with their families and friends. Dialect gossips at the
kitchen table and creates intimacy in the bedroom; it sits on the bar stool, on the
playground swing, and on the bench in the community park, marking our informal social
encounters. The study of dialects opens the portals to the understanding of human
communication.

Difficult, unpleasant considerations lurk in the background of any query into literacy and
dialect; they are linked to the constraints of politically correct thought. Indeed, it takes

10
courage even to pose these questions: Are individual humans born with different
language abilities? Can we all learn to use language skills equally well? If specific
language skills differ from one group of humans to another, do certain ethnic groups or
social classes learn or inherit significantly different amounts of those specific skills? If
different levels of language abilities exist, do they lead to social inequality? Does
everyone have the ability to become equally literate? Do language tests accurately
measure language ability; however “language ability” might be defined? How do we
identify, qualify, and quantify language skills? Are there social, political, or economic
interests that benefit from the different positions taken in these debates? How do such
interests affect support for language research? Might such research be opposed because
critics do not like the implications of some of its findings? If so, does this constitute
censorship?1At the very least, an investigation of the relationship between speech and
text raises complex issues about both modes of language.

Many questions about the oral mode of language might be considered. How does human
speech differ from other forms of communication used in the natural world by other
species? All humans speak; therefore, can we posit that speech is innate to humans and
somehow coded into our genetic programming? How do human infants and children
acquire language? How much of our language is learned, changed through an educational
process such as formal schooling? Why and how does each speech community develop
its unique uses of language? Why do humans judge each other by language usage? What
do we mean when we say that someone “speaks properly?” If Standard Common English
marks “correct” language usage, do sub-Standard dialects constitute “incorrect” usage?

The written mode of language begs the consideration of other questions. When, how,
where, and why did writing develop? Why do all humans speak completely while
comparatively few become literate? What problems must we confront when learning an
alphabetic system? Are those problems different when learning other modalities of
writing, which include syllabographic or logographic systems? What role does literacy
play in the personal experiences of individuals? Can a relationship between being literate
and feeling capable, productive, and satisfied with life be demonstrated? What does
literacy mean for the social fabric of a nation? How does literacy change a society? Does
a common literacy serve to unite a community? Do divergent literacy abilities divide
societies, creating separate and unequal communities? Can literacy be defined? Does the
definition of literacy change over time? Technical revolutions, such as the computer and
the Internet, have loosened the heavy requirements demanded by Standard Common
English. How will they change the definition of literacy in the 21st century?

To investigate these questions, Dialect and Literacy digresses into several areas of
research. Language is explored in all of its manifestations: the clatter and clutter of
speech, the splash and splatter of text, the spark and sputter of electronic communication,
and the strikingly different uses of language that separate individuals and populations.
Those linguistic features that divide speakers of English, one from another, are
emphasized. Specifically, the book attempts to flesh out differences between African-
American dialect, Spanglish, and Standard Common English. As English is interpreted
and reinterpreted by speakers of English, the definition and pull of Standard Common

11
English and literacy are reexamined. Educational methodologies are discussed and, to
some extent, evaluated. A rudimentary introduction into the science of applied linguistics
is included because a presentation of the issues discussed would be impossible without
the technical foundation it provides. A history of the English language has been added to
explain both the amazing regularities and irregularities of English that weave its basic
structure and unite all of its native speakers.

The primacy of Standard Common English for literacy remains, but does not stand
unchallenged; however, we must accept the reality of the power and pull of dialect.
Dialect and Literacy has been written to suggest that, by neglecting the study of dialects,
we are missing an opportunity to uncover a treasure trove of knowledge about the
construction of language. Consider how different education might be if Standard
Common English and dialect were investigated in a manner that enabled us to describe
how language is formed and used by a variety of people in a variety of ways for a variety
of functions, not to determine right or wrong usage, but to understand that all usages are
different and become appropriate in different situations.

Both spoken and written language are rapidly changing, and the processes of change need
to be identified, studied, and understood. The relationship between Standard Common
English and dialect, particularly sub-Standard dialects, may be adversarial, but an
investigation of how all systems work opens the door to a greater understanding of
language. To avoid the significance of the relationship between dialect and literacy
results in our collective failure to achieve an understanding of language as a whole. We
need to find an approach to language that compares and contrasts the usages,
organizations, and histories of dialects with each other. In turn, each dialect should be
placed side by side with Standard Common English. This would demystify dialect, enable
literacy, and guide us to an explicit understanding of the totality of functions language
serves in our lives.

12
UNIT I: COMMUNICATION, THOUGHT, IMAGERY, AND
LANGUAGE

13
 CHAPTER I: COMMUNICATION AND HUMAN LANGUAGE

A. FROM THOUGHT TO SPEECH: THE BRAIN AND THE VOCAL

TRACT

Intelligence organizes the world by organizing itself.

-Norbert Wiener
Cybernetics

The entire biological world communicates! Living entities pass messages whose
meanings are mutually understood between a sender and a receiver. The modes of
transmission and reception of the message are determined biologically in the collective
evolutionary inheritance of each species by species-specific muscular or glandular
structures that determine species-specific, organized, and synchronized neurobehavioral
systems. Examples of biological communication include the chirping and plumage of
birds (auditory-visual), the bark and sniffing power of dogs (auditory-olfactory), the
mating pheromones of moths and ants (olfactory), and the hiss and bristling tail of an
angry cat (auditory-visual). The dance of the honeybee (olfactory-visual) provides us
with a unique system of communication. Fromkin and Rodman write the following
description:

When a forager bee returns to the hive, if it has located a source of food, it
does a dance that communicates certain information about that source to
other members of the colony. The dancing behavior may assume one of
three possible patterns: round, sickle, and tail wagging. The determining
factor in the choice of dance pattern is the distance of the food source from
the hive. The round dance indicates locations near the hive, within twenty
feet or so. The sickle dance indicates locations at an intermediate distance
from the hive, approximately twenty to sixty feet. The tail-wagging dance
is for distances that exceed sixty feet or so. In all the dances, the bee
alights on a wall of the hive and literally dances on its feet through the
appropriate pattern. For the round dance, the bee describes a circle. The
only other semantic information imparted by the round dance, besides
approximate distance, is the quality of the food source, indicated by the
number of repetitions of the basic pattern that the bee executes and the
vivacity with which it performs the dance. This feature is true of all three
patterns. To perform the sickle dance the bee traces out a sickle-shaped
figure eight on the wall. The angle made by the direction of the open end
of the sickle with the vertical is the same angle as the food source is from
the sun. Thus the sickle dance imparts the information: approximate
distance, direction, and quality. The tail-wagging dance imparts all the
information of the sickle dance with one important addition. The number
of repetitions per minute of the basic pattern of the dance indicates the
precise distance: the slower the repetition rate, the longer the distance. The
bees’ dance is an effective system of communication, capable, in

15
 principle, of many different messages. In this sense the bees’ dance is
infinitely variable, like human language. But unlike human language, the
communication system of the bees is confined to a single subject. It is
frozen and inflexible.
-Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman
An Introduction to Language (1993): p. 21

Each species has inherited instincts and cognition that determine the content of messages.
Instinct connotes something impulsive, unreflective, and unmediated, such as warnings of
danger, mating signals, or territorial claims, and serves to promote the survival of a
species. Cognition implies something learned, deliberated, and contemplated, and
involves issues that transcend survival. Our close primate and simian relatives
communicate through non-verbal posturing. Much of our non-verbal communication is
homologous with our evolutionary cousins. For example, a human smile is recognizable
in the bared-teeth “smile” of the chimpanzee. The social clues provided by such postures
and expressions indicate high social intelligence and have most likely contributed to the
development of the brains of primates, simians and hominids. As humans, we still depend
a great deal upon non-verbal expressions, which provide us with major social clues.
Physical posturing relays messages such as exhaustion, pensiveness, and anxiety. Facial
expressions indicate disgust, fear, joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disbelief, and
embarrassment.

Although the human species developed verbal language, primates and our other close
simian relatives did not. Why? One answer lies in the size and development of the human
brain, which differs both qualitatively and quantitatively from the brain of any other
species. While a dog’s brain is heavily devoted to the interpretation of the sense of smell,
a significant portion of the human brain functions as a center of language. The brain of a
chimpanzee resembles a human brain, including a proportionally large “language” center,
but weighs only 400 grams, about one-third the weight of a human brain.

Efforts have been made to introduce gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos to human
language through lexigram keyboards and/or American Sign Language. There are
indications that our evolutionary cousins are capable of using symbols with the intention
to communicate. Using sign language or lexigrams, our cousins recognize and reference
arbitrary patterns that represent objects, events, properties, and even abstract notions such
as “happy.”1 Some have learned to impose a rudimentary order, or grammar, on symbols.
The bonobo, Kanzi, raised entirely by human teachers, has learned to produce and
interpret symbols in terms of stable organizing principals, or rules and can construct a
simple sentence at the level of a two-and-one-half-year-old human child. He is able to
distinguish between subject and object.2 The gorilla, Koko, now boasts a vocabulary of
over 1,000 signs and is able to understand over 2,000 words of spoken English. (Humans
learn a vocabulary ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 words). On IQ tests, Koko has scored
comparably to the achievements of human children from three to four years of age.3 The
chimpanzee, Nim Chimsky, demonstrated consistent associations between lexigrams and
their referents. There is evidence that Nim’s communication had rules, for he produced
signs in a specific order.4 The chimpanzee Lana spontaneously began using the lexigrams

16
to communicate her wishes.5 Our cousins can learn to use symbols at the level of a two-
year-old human child, but cannot progress further.

Another answer to why only the human species has developed verbal language lies in
human anatomy. First, the human vocal tract, starting from the lungs, moving through the
larynx, and stretching to the hyoid bone, tongue, lips, teeth, and nose, is situated and
coordinated in a manner that enables humans to create a variety of sounds in rapid
succession and in a single breath. The lips tongue and exhalation patterns of humans can
create two tones in two resonant cavities simultaneously. These cavities filter and shape
the sound frequencies coming out of the throat, which are then carried by sound wave to
the ears of the listener. This arrangement allows rapid communication. One estimate
suggests that we can easily communicate 25 phonemes per second.6

Additionally, both humans and primates are born with the larynx and hyoid bone
positioned high in the throat. In human infants, both the larynx and hyoid bone descend
gradually, permitting speech production. For the first three months of life, human infants
have a more generalized, primate vocal tract, allowing young babies to breathe and nurse
at the same time. However, the human larynx and hyoid bone descend to allow a
complete closure of the airway, making possible the production of both voiced and
unvoiced sounds. Our closest cousins, the chimpanzees, experience only a partial descent
of the larynx; the hyoid bone remains too high for the production of speech.7 The sharp
right-angle bend of the human vocal tract and its low larynx exist at a cost. Unlike the
physiology of other primates, whose larynx lies higher in the vocal track, allowing them
to breathe and drink at the same time, every piece of food, every bit of liquid that humans
swallow, must pass over the opening of the trachea, leaving humans at risk of choking.

If the hyoid bone of chimpanzees were lowered, could chimpanzees produce speech?
Probably not. Our larger, highly specialized brain and our amazing vocal tract have made
possible one of the most remarkable events in evolutionary history: the onset of verbal
human language or speech, the conduit through which we share our thoughts and gain
access to knowledge. Communication in the form of speech, the basis for meaningful
social interaction, the vehicle for philosophical contemplation, and the extraordinary
ability to express all abstract thought organized through complex grammar, has arisen in
only one species—homo sapiens.

Speech has permitted the development of amazingly rich and complex human cognitive
systems, including the formulation of both concrete and abstract concepts, such as space
and distance, time, quantity and number, and cause and effect, making it possible to
contemplate, manipulate, organize, and store information. Speech empowers humans to
move from general to specific statements, to quantify, to describe, to judge, to evaluate,
and to ponder events and thoughts divorced in time and space from our immediate
surroundings and primal needs, enabling humans to move cognitively beyond any other
species.8 Speech has showered us with potent and unique skills; we are able to express
needs, solve problems, exchange information, and communicate with each other about an
infinite number of topics. Speech shines as our human endowment and legacy, acquired
through communicative interaction with other users of the system.

17
 B. LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY

The transfer of more complex information, ideas and concepts from one
individual to another, or to a group, was the single most advantageous
evolutionary adaptation for species preservation
-Donald Ryan
“The History of Writing”

Humans conceptualize ideas, not only through language but also through imagery.
Language and imagery may be categorized as abstractions and symbols of human
thought; complex thought is generated and expressed through both imagery and language.
Thought expressed through human language is formed from human sounds; thought
expressed through pictures or imagery supposedly bears no relationship to sound, but the
line of demarcation between language and imagery proves to be not quite so simple.
Imagery tells a story, explains a process, or demonstrates a relationship. Thirty thousand
years ago, prehistoric humans were painting images on cave walls; the oldest known cave
paintings lie inside the Chauvet cave in southern France.9 In stunning synoptic views,
these paintings encapsulate momentous events in the lives of their creators from the dim
prehistory of human existence, such as hunts of bison or mammoth. Additionally,
paintings on rocks, dating back ten thousand years, can be found throughout the continent
of Africa.10 The meanings of these remarkable prehistoric cave and rock paintings can
still be understood and seem closely related to narration and storytelling.

The infinite capabilities and functions of imagery range from announcing commercial
transactions to marking important events such as births and deaths, and recording
cataclysmic historical, geological, or astronomical events. Beginning with Paleolithic
cave paintings and extending to the art of Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky, imagery
continues to send strong messages. The visual and tactile arts have been used to narrate,
to teach a moral, to extol heroes and kings, to worship gods, and to impart the messages
of sacred script, historical epics, and poetry. Events from hoary eras long past are brought
to life with portraits and paintings. The royalty of the ancients were honored in imagery
through statuary and painting, just as we celebrate our modern pop artists in photographs,
cinema, and videos; the visual also celebrates the ordinary, less-known people and places
in our lives.

Technical research and complex text depend upon charts, photographs, and diagrams to
assist both the writer and the reader in the clarification, presentation, and interpretation of
data. Illustration, drafting, and photography have become necessary and essential
components in scientific presentations and publications. Imagery contributes to the
comprehension of text by explaining and clarifying the organization and content of text.
The communicative powers of imagery and language impart potent, parallel messages,
clarifying and complementing one another. Imagery elucidates language, and language
explains imagery. The twining of imagery and language creates a powerful combination.

Images can be described by speech and speech can inspire imagery. Images, in their
physical manifestations, parented writing and reading. For the moment, though, let’s

18
consider, examine, and define the crowning glory of human development, speech, or
spoken language.

19
 CHAPTER II: HUMAN INTELLIGENCE AND LANGUAGE

A. DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN POPULATIONS AND LANGUAGES

Man did not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual.

-Roland Barthes
Mythologies

Historical linguists ponder the origins of language. Perhaps separate groups of hominids
developed separate languages. However, it is far more likely that one group of hominids
developed an original language from which all subsequent languages sprang. The truths
about the beginnings of human language are sought out by historical linguists, who blend
the study of known languages with the evidence gleaned from the study of some 50,000
years of human evolution. The comparative method of studying language history, used
by a large number of historical linguists, closely examines sound changes and cognates to
map a rough idea of probable language evolution. (These sound changes and cognates are
mentioned further in this section as bundles of isoglosses). Joseph Greenberg, a language
historian who carried the search for language origins further than anyone else, used a
more controversial method, mass comparison, searching for broad correspondences in
vocabulary between seemingly unrelated languages. Greenberg proposed that an original
human language possibly divided into super-families of languages. Over millennia, each
super-family divided into a variety of sub-families, and divided again into a multitude of
smaller languages, which, in turn, divided into dialects. Boeree has created a language
chart based on the scholarship of Merritt Ruhlen, a student of Greenberg.1 (Fig. 1)

Languages (and even whole groups of languages) are born, divide, and disappear. Like
living organisms, languages change constantly; they appear, mutate, adapt, and die out,
creating continually shifting parameters of human speech. These changes have been
responsible for the language separations that fall into super-families, sub-families, and
yet smaller language groups. They run parallel to and in step with biological mutations
and adaptations within human populations that have created super-families and sub-
families of human populations. A concept of a human population such as European
divides into a more specific classification, such as Nordic, and into a still smaller isolate,
such as Icelandic. At least three processes, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene
flow, have been proposed to explain how mutations, or genetic changes, occur within
human populations; they explain the relationships and differences between human
populations.2 These processes shed light on how languages survive, mutate, split, or
disappear.

The theory of natural selection, proposed by Charles Darwin in his groundbreaking

book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of
Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, first published in 1859, suggests that differences
in habitat and hereditary traits enable some members of a population that inherit
favorable traits to survive and have more offspring. Those members of the population
able to successfully propagate ensure the survival of their species. Natural selection also

20
explains language survival. As populations change and adapt to become successful
propagators, so do languages. For example, Latin was once a powerful language; it
constituted a lingua franca, and was spoken and written throughout the known world.
Even though Latin is now a dead language, it birthed several Romance daughter
languages that inherited its linguistic structures. Moreover, the genes of Latin are
traceable, recorded, and retained, like the bones of a dinosaur, in a fossilized (written)
form. Most languages leave no recognizable offspring; they die, unwritten, unrecorded,
and unremembered by posterity. For example, we can conjecture that many human
populations perished during the ice ages, but we have no way of reconstructing their
speech. In a more common scenario, languages do not survive because their speakers
assimilate or disappear into a stronger human population, and their original tongue
disappears. This process is evident today when we witness the homogenization of
indigenous and tribal peoples of the world through the processes of colonization,
Westernization, and political hegemony. Local languages and dialects are being replaced
by the power of strong languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and
Mandarin. English, the lingua franca of today’s known world, is now in the process of
birthing a great many daughter languages. (Chapt. XVII)

Genetic drift describes a specific genetic mutation shared by members of a

geographically isolated population, but not generally or commonly found in other
populations.3 Examples include immunity to a certain disease (e.g., malaria in African
populations), a high propensity to a disease (e.g.,Tay-Sachs disease in Ashkenazi Jews),
or tolerance for a certain food substance, such as lactose (e.g., European populations that
domesticated dairy animals). Just as isolated genetic mutations distinguish different
populations of humans, linguistic mutations, known to linguists as isoglosses, mark
differences of language and dialect that occur because of geographical separation.
Isoglosses are formed through systematic sound shifts, which separate one dialect or
language from another.4 To trace connections between languages, linguists search for
basic words that have changed slowly through regular, recognizable isoglosses, known as
cognates. For example, the word star can be traced throughout the Indo-European
language family: e.g., str (Sanskrit), sitara (Urdu), astre (French), aster (Greek), stella
(Latin), setare (Farsi), estrella (Spanish), and stem (German).5 An example of a regular,
rule governed isoglossic shift can be seen in the Latin words mater, pater, and frater
(mother, father, and brother) when they are compared to the Old Norse words mothir,
fathir, and brothir. The words are demarcated, one from another, in a regular way by the
Latin sound /W /and the Old Norse sound /' /, a voiced th.6

The complexity of this process might be softened by an example of a simple, well known
utterance from American English: In Standard Common English, one says you. However,
in Texas, one may say y’all, in Chicago, one may say younz, and in the New Jersey area,
one may say yiz. Dialects, languages, and language families are all distinguished, one
from another, by bundles of isoglosses, or sound mutations that occur in regular
patterns.7

Gene flow describes the exchange of genetic material between populations that were
once geographically separated.8 Gene flow has occurred throughout history when

21
conquering peoples have mixed with conquered populations. More recently, populations
have mixed because of modern global mobility. When populations converge, genetic
material is shared, and natural selection ensures that the most useful material survives.9 A
strong donor language may effect marked changes in a recipient language. Eighty percent
of English words have been borrowed from Old Norse, Old French, Latin, Greek, West
African, and Native American languages as a consequence of the convergences of once-
separated populations.10 And, today, the Japanese language is comprised of an abundance
of English expressions because Japanese has borrowed lexical items from English,
adjusting sounds to fit the Japanese language, for example beer (beeru), juice (jusu), and
shoes (shoozu).11 Currently, pidgins and creoles, simplified variants of language, are
being created from English because of its strength as today’s lingua franca.

language super-families language families sample languages

Khosian Sandawe
Niger- Kordafanian Kordofanian
Kordofanian
Niger-Congo Swahili, Yoruba
Nilo-Saharan
Australian Indo-Pacific Papua languages, Australian
Austric Austroasiatic
Miao-Yao South China, Vietnamese,
Thai
Daic
Austronesian Malay, Indonesian
Dene-Caucasian Basque
(North) Caucasian Chechenian
Burushaski
Nahali
Sino-Tibetan Mandarin
Yeniseian
Afro-Asiatic Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic
Kartvelian
Dravidian Tamil
Euroasiatic Indo-European Hindi, Slavic, Germanic, and
Latinate languages. including
English
Uralic-Yukaghir Finnish
Altic Mongolian, Turkish
Korean, Japanese, Ainu
Gilyak
Chukchi-Kanchatkan Chukchi
Eskimo-Aleut Inuit
Na-Dene Navajo
Amerind Sioux, Aztec, Mayan,
Quechua
Fig. 1: The World’s Language Families
-C. George Boeree
“The Language Families of the World” Webspace

22
 B. WHAT DETERMINES INTELLIGENCE AND LANGUAGE USE?

The ideal, implicit in many popular critiques of intelligence research, is

that all people are born equally able and that social inequality results only
from the exercise of unjust privilege. The reality is that Mother Nature is
no egalitarian. People are in fact unequal in intellectual potential—and
they are born that way, just as they are born with different potentials for
height, physical attractiveness, artistic flair, athletic prowess and other
traits.
-Linda S. Gottfredson
”The General Intelligence Factor”
Scientific American Presents, Nov., 1998

Genetics and environmental determiners of intelligence and language use cannot be

easily explained. Nor can they be ignored or dismissed. Additionally, the relationship
between intelligence and language use remains muddy and uneasy.

First, let’s look at IQ. To determine IQ, the ability to perform a variety of skills is tested
and measured, providing a variety of scores. These scores are factored into a general
number, or g, a composite IQ score, known as intelligence. High intelligence is reflective
of a high level of neural efficiency; the brains of highly intelligent people use less energy
during problem solving, and differences in IQ result from differences in the speed and
efficiency of neural processing. Pinker writes, “People with higher intelligence
comprehend, apprehend, scan, retrieve, and respond to stimuli more quickly than those
who score lower.”12

There remains much more to be discovered about intelligence, particularly from the fields
of neurophysiology and genetics, but we have learned that intelligence is derived from a
genetically determined component; we begin life with given genetic variables. Our genes
decide the composition of every organ, how the organ is structured, and how it behaves.
Genes provide a prognosis of how efficiently an organ will function and how long it will
last. But genes also react to and are changed by biochemical and sociocultural
environments, including with whom we live, how we live, what we do, and even what we
value. We share genetic structure with biological parents and ancestors; we share
environment with those with whom we associate.

Family environments seem unable to change inherited genes. Comparisons of the IQs of
identical twins, fraternal twins, siblings, and adopted children indicate that genetic
inheritance accounts for from 30 percent to 50 percent of an individual’s intelligence,
while a shared home environment determines approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of
an individual’s intelligence. The IQs of identical twins separated at birth remain virtually
identical and retain their genetic inheritance. The IQs of adopted children remain similar
to their biological parents and incur only a small relationship to the IQs of their adoptive
parents. Siblings and fraternal twins inherit differing abilities and genetic structures from
their parents.13 Additionally, intervention and remedial school programs have but small
effect. Data from intervention programs such as Head Start demonstrate initial gains in

23
measured IQ, but a study done by Barnett and Hustedt suggests that these gains disappear
several years later, during the elementary school years.14 Surprisingly, the childhood peer
group accounts for as much as 30 percent to 50 percent of IQ measurement. However, as
we mature into adulthood, the importance of the peer group fades. In adulthood, we
gradually revert to our original biological, genetic inheritance.15 It appears that
intelligence is ultimately manifested biologically.

Now, let’s look at language use. Both genetics and environment determine language use.
Our dialect provides a sharp, focused documentary of our cultural and social
surroundings and values. Dialect is formed entirely through our environment, determined
by our family and immediate social community. A baby will acquire the dialect of the
family and community in which he or she is born and raised. However, the ability to
amass and use vocabulary, to make effective use of language structure, and to organize
discourse, is likely related to genetic inheritance, neural efficiency, and the ability to
process stimuli. It remains related to g.

24
 C. DIFFERENCES IN IQ SCORES AND LANGUAGE USE BETWEEN
POPULATIONS

Equality is not the empirical claim that all groups of humans are
interchangeable; it is the moral principal that individuals should not be
judged or constrained by the average properties of their group.
-Charles Murray
“The Inequality Taboo”
Commentary Magazine, September, 2005

Ethnicity and social class unite, divide, classify, categorize, and separate populations.
Because ethnicity and social class constitute our origins and environment, they determine
our primary discourse. Members of an ethnic group share dialect, distinctive customs,
common ancestry and place of origin, food habits, and style of dress. Members of a social
class share dialect, lifestyle, cultural preferences, similar living and working
environments, and similar economic and educational backgrounds. The picture may be
muddied because any ethnic group may be represented throughout a wide spectrum of
social classes and locations. For example, while many white Americans live in rural,
poor, or lower-class communities, many middle- and upper-class African-Americans
send their children to private schools and belong to exclusive clubs. The ethnicity or
social class of an individual reveals nothing about his or her intellectual ability. Both the
intellectually gifted and the intellectually challenged surface within all ethnic groups and
social classes. All human populations construct IQ in the same way; all people use
language, calculate, reason, remember, and describe; all of these factors stand as the
components of IQ. Individual humans differ in their abilities to logically organize
material, to reason, to describe, to visualize and find orientation in spatial and temporal
events, and to retain and retrieve information. The performance of these tasks remains
unique to each individual. Analogously, all humans use language, but language use
remains unique to each individual. Gottfredson writes, correctly, “Differences in
intelligence and language use between individuals form the cornerstone of our
democratic society. Everyone must be judged by his/her individual performance.”16

Scholarship in anthropology and sociology defines race as a social construct and denies
that it has any biological foundation. Because race connotes such questionable and
difficult undertones, I have attempted to avoid the term. Still, some suggestions of small
or large differences between populations linger uncomfortably under the bedcovers in
physiological measurements. For example, breast and prostate cancers are manifested
more severely in populations of African descent.17 Additionally, there may be differences
in brain function between populations that are not yet understood.18 Phillip Rushton has
charted numerous differences between what I choose to term “super-populations” of
humans. (Fig. 2)

25
 Variable Asian European African
Brain size
Endocranial volume 1.415 1.362 1.223
External head measurement 1.356 1.299 1.294
Conical neuroma 13.767 13.665 13.185
Intelligence
IQ Test scores 106 100 85
Decision times Faster Intermediate Slower
Cultural Achievements Higher Higher Lower
Maturation rate
Gestation time ? Intermediate Earlier
Skeletal development Later Intermediate Earlier
Motor development Later Intermediate Earlier
Dental development Later Intermediate Earlier
Age of first intercourse Later Intermediate Earlier
Age of first pregnancy Later Intermediate Earlier
Life span Longer Intermediate Shorter
Personality
Activity level Lower Intermediate Higher
Aggressiveness Lower Intermediate Higher
Cautiousness Higher Intermediate Lower
Impulsivity Lower Intermediate Higher
Self-concept Lower Intermediate Higher
Sociability Lower Intermediate Higher
Social organization
Marital stability Higher Intermediate Lower
Law abidingness Higher Intermediate Lower
Mental health Higher Intermediate Lower
Administrative capacity Higher Higher Lower
Reproductive effort
Two-egg twinning Lower Intermediate Higher
Hormone levels Lowe Intermediate Higher
Size of genitalia Smaller Intermediate Larger
Secondary sex characteristics Smaller Intermediate Large
Intercourse frequencies Lower Intermediate Higher
Permissive attitudes Lower Intermediate Higher
Sexually transmitted diseases Lower Intermediate Higher
Fig. 2: Composite of Racial Differences
-Philippe J. Rushton
Race, Evolution, and Behaviour: A Life History Perspective (2000): p. 5
(From Table 1.1. Relative Ranking of Races on Diverse Variables)

Through the mapping of the human genome, we are now developing objective
methodologies of ascertaining the broad strokes of the origins and ultimate compositions
of human super-populations. Biological and physiological differences between human
super-populations do exist and can now be documented! Nicholas Wade has referred
specifically to a study conducted by Marcus Feldman of Stanford University in 2002.

Feldman looked at 377 sites throughout the (human) genome…This was

done for 1,000 people from 52 populations around the world. A computer
26
 was then instructed to group the individuals, based on their DNA
differences at the 377 sites, into clusters. They fell naturally into five
clusters, corresponding to their five continents or origin—Africa, western
Eurasia, East Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.”
-Nicholas Wade
Mind in Society (2006): p. 187

Care must be taken when such differences are noted. For example, significant differences
exist between the composite average IQ scores of human populations self-identified as
African-American, Hispanic-American, white American, Asian-American, and
Ashkenazi Jew. (Of course, self-identified often includes individuals with multiple
origins, mixtures of immigrant groups from Europe, Africa, Asia, Central and South
America, Polynesia, or Indonesia). From the general norm or average IQ score of 100
points, each self-identified group has established its own norm. African-Americans
average a score of 85, while Ashkenazi Jews average a score of 115. Both lie at one
standard deviation from the mean score of 100, held by white Americans. Asian-
Americans average a score of 106.19 Denying or ignoring these broad statistical norms
and refusing to inquire into what they might reveal seems offensive and unfair to
everyone; the questions they raise must be answered if we are to understand how human
intelligence is created.

The most obvious explanation of variation in intelligence between populations lies in

social class membership, which may be roughly correlated with family income. Members
of the middle and upper classes enjoy the capital of superior education, health care,
cultural exposure, and economic security. Importantly, they acquire mainstream,
Standard Common English as their primary dialect. Unfortunately, but realistically,
membership in a privileged social class is distributed unevenly between ethnic groups. A
2006 U.S. Census Bureau study of income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in
families with children found that roughly one-quarter of African- and Hispanic-American
families with children lived in poverty, compared to just over nine percent of white
American families with children.20

However, membership in a social class may be coupled with other factors that are not so
simple to identify or prove. Many theories that explain or refute group differences might
be considered, but they remain untested; in some cases, they may not be provable. For
example, Charles Murray has postulated that Ashkenazi Jews average high IQ scores
because their unusual history details a confluence of environment and breeding. In the
Eastern European Pale, Ashkenazi men were required, by necessity, to be literate,
numerate, and to develop business acumen. They were not allowed to farm land and,
thus, were limited to urban occupations such as usury, banking, or shop keeping.
Marriages for the most successful men were eagerly arranged; therefore, the most
successful men were favored to father children. The unsuccessful who could not compete
within the community left the community. Murray conjectured that the unique pressure
placed on Ashkenazi Jews might explain their superior performance on the IQ test.21

27
In a similar attempt to explain the differences in IQ scores between populations, Arthur
Hu pondered why Asian students perform well on the IQ test. He noted that the data on
Asian students are compiled from members of a highly educated, urban population and
commented that members of rural, impoverished, and refugee populations would not
yield such stellar performances. Hu concluded that the answer to the superior
performance of Asian-Americans on the IQ tests lies in urbanization and access to
education. Hu writes, “Most studies of Asian IQs are of children who are equally
educated as their peers or adults in urban Asian cities, who are also well educated.
However, 30 percent of all Asian adults in some Chinatowns, Asian refugee groups, and
rural Asians have almost no formal education at all. I haven't seen any IQ studies which
include these people. I would imagine that they would score much more poorly than
Blacks.”22

28
 D. DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE USE AND
INTELLIGENCE

I’ve been wondering…if the ability to learn and speak a language correctly…is
correlated with intelligence/IQ in general.
–question posed on how-to-learn-any-language.com

Although psychologists point to a substantial body of research that demonstrates a clear

correlation between different abilities and argue for the existence of g, some have argued
against the force or importance of g and have suggested the possibility that capacities are
governed by not one, but multiple and/or independent systems of intelligences. These
hypotheses stretch the definition of intelligence to correspond with a more comfortable,
less controversial concept of what it means to be intelligent. Within the framework of
multiple intelligences, successfully intelligent people are able to capitalize on their
strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. If an individual is not academically
gifted, for example, intelligence might be manifested through unusual creativity…or
something else.

Howard Gardner lists at least eight autonomous intelligences that process information,
solve problems, or create. These include individuals with extraordinary abilities in (1)
verbal skills (e.g., Edgar Allen Poe), (2) mathematical reasoning (e.g., Albert Einstein),
(3) spatial visualization (e.g., Vincent Van Gogh), (4) musical ability (e.g., Arturo
Toscanini), (5) kinesthetic intelligence (e.g., Martha Graham), (6) natural intelligence
(e.g., Charles Darwin), (7) interpersonal intelligence/knowledge of self (e.g., Sigmund
Freud), and (8) intrapersonal intelligence/knowledge of others (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi).23
According to Gardner, each independent intelligence is rooted in our human evolutionary
history and unfolds throughout our lifespan according to predetermined stages of
development.24 Gardner’s theory rests on a bio-psychological foundation, holding that
each type of intelligence is governed by a specific portion of the brain and activated in a
cultural setting. Gardner has been able to localize the parts of the brain needed to perform
specific physical functions by studying individuals who suffer from speech impairment,
paralysis, or other disabilities and by examining, postmortem, the brains of people with
disabilities. To be considered as one of the multiple intelligences, the construct under
consideration must meet several criteria. Li explains how Gardner verifies a specific
intelligence:

Premise 1: If it can be found that certain brain parts can distinctively map
a certain cognitive function (A), then that cognitive function can be
isolated as a candidate of multiple intelligences (B). (If A, then B)
Premise 2: Now it has been found that certain brain parts do distinctively
map certain cognitive functions, as evidenced by certain brain damage
leading to loss of certain cognitive function. (Evidence of A)
Conclusion: Therefore, multiple intelligences. (Therefore B)
-R. Li
A Theory of Conceptual Intelligence, Thinking,
Learning, Creativity, and Giftedness (1996): p. 34

29
On the other hand, Robert Sternberg holds that multiple abilities are connected and feed
into one another. For Sternberg, intelligence is defined as the ability to learn. Sternberg
reduces Gardner’s multiple intelligences to a triarchic theory. Analytic intelligence
represents the cognitive functions of Gardner’s verbal skills and mathematical reasoning.
Information is processed through analytic intelligence, encompassing skills specific to
reasoning and problem solving, requiring evaluative and judgmental abilities. Sternberg
points out that the analytic problems typical of IQ tests or school exams are limited in
explaining intelligence because they tend to be formulated by other people, are clearly
defined, come with all information needed to solve them, and have only one single right
answer. He believes the tests to be flawed because the answers in such tests and exams
are found by using only one single method. Analytic problems found in IQ tests are
disembodied from ordinary experience and carry little or no intrinsic interest. For
Sternberg, analytic intelligence can truly be measured only when it is applied to
understanding or solving unique experiences or problems in unique ways.25 This requires
creative intelligence. Creative intelligence rests in those individuals who have unusual
gifts, such as spatial visualization, musical ability, kinesthetic intelligence, or natural
intelligence. Individuals with high creative intelligence are able to combine seemingly
unrelated facts to form new ideas and imagine and perform tasks in novel or unusual
ways.26 Analytical and creative intelligences, together, create practical intelligence,
which can recognize and solve problems that are embedded in everyday experience.
These problems demand motivation and personal involvement; they tend to be loosely
defined, require information seeking, and have more than one acceptable solution.27
Practical intelligence marks an acute awareness of self and the people in one’s
community.28

Sternberg’s theories have received acclaim because they have proven themselves in real-
life situations. For example, Brazilian street children combine analytical ability with
creative and practical ability to calculate the math to run their street businesses, but are
unable to pass a math class in school.29

We can now postulate how these theories relate to language use: if Brazilian street
children become skilled in street math, then unschooled children polish their use of
dialect to navigate their communities. Sternberg’s theory of multiple intelligences
suggests a multiplicity of effective uses of languages. An unschooled individual can
combine the gifts of analytic intelligence and creative intelligence, encompassing skills
such as the ability to coin words and to use language in strikingly new ways. Creative use
of language is found in literature as diverse as the fluid word play in Shakespeare’s
dramas, the snap and beat of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, the crafted landscape of the
poetry of e. e. cummings, or the thump and bump of rap and hip-hop. Politicians,
performers, leaders, and orators gifted with practical intelligence have an unusually high
ability to connect with a specific community through its specific speech. Sternberg’s
practical intelligence defines the ability to manifest language within the parameters of a
specific sociocultural context.

30
Whatever human intelligence may be, it cannot be separated from language. Our minds
acquire and use language, fully and completely, in all of its amazing patterns and shapes;
we share thought and expression with others. However, our language is marked with our
personal and individual voice and expression; our language is restrained and confined,
expanded and enlarged, by ability and environment.

31
 EPILOGUE: MULTIPLE USES OF LANGUAGE

ANALYTIC DISCOURSE

The fundamental particles of the universe that physicists have identified—electrons,

neutrinos, quarks, and so on—are the “letters” of all matter. Just like their linguistic
counterparts, they appear to have no further internal substructure. String theory proclaims
otherwise. According to string theory, if we could examine these particles with even
greater precision—a precision many orders of magnitude beyond our present
technological capacity—we would find that each is not pointlike but instead consists of a
tiny, one-dimensional loop. Like an infinitely thin rubber band, each particle contains a
vibrating, oscillating, dancing filament that physicists have named a string.

In the figure [below], we illustrate this essential idea of string theory by starting with an
ordinary piece of matter, an apple, and repeatedly magnifying its structure to reveal its
ingredients on ever smaller scales. String theory adds the new microscopic layer of a
vibrating loop to the previously known progression from atoms through protons,
neutrons, electrons, and quarks.

Although it is by no means obvious, this simple replacement of point-particle material

constituents with strings resolves the incompatibility between quantum mechanics and
general relativity (which, as currently formulated, cannot both be right). String theory
thereby unravels the central Gordian knot of contemporary theoretical physics. This is a
tremendous achievement, but it is only part of the reason string theory has generated such
excitement.
-Brian Green
The Elegant Universe:
Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

32
 CREATIVE DISCOURSE

somewhere i have never travelled,

gladly beyond any experience,
your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself
as spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,

i and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility:
whose texture compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;

only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
-e. e. cummings
“somewhere I have never travelled”

33
 PRACTICAL DISCOURSE

Duty, Honor, Country…Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to
be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage
when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to
create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that
brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but
words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every
cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am sorry to say, some others of an
entirely different character will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and
ridicule.

But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you
for your future roles as the custodians of the nation’s defense. They make you strong
enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are
afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and
gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but
to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but
to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master
others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget
how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to
take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true
greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a
temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the
deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an
appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder,
the unfailing hope of what is next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in
this way to be an officer and a gentleman.

And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave?
Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the
American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many
years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now—as one of
the world’s noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as
one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen.
In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give…

I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death.
They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the
hope that we would go on to victory. Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country.
-General Douglas MacArthur
Thayer Award Speech, West Point

34
 CHAPTER III: ANALYZING HUMAN LANGUAGE

A. FIVE PLUS FIVE

“The time has come,” the walrus said,

“to talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax—
Of cabbages and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”
-Lewis Carroll
“The Walrus and the Carpenter”
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

The time has come to introduce the science of linguistics. This chapter has been created
to offer the reader a simplified explanation of how language is organized and is intended
to be used as a reference. The material presented in this chapter is derived from a rough
distillation of general knowledge from the field of applied linguistics. The author remains
responsible for its content and presentation.

By “language,” linguists refer to sounds produced by the human vocal tract. Our species
owns language, a complex system of communication and cognition formed and crafted in
rule-governed ways. The components of language, its building blocks, are constructed
from multiple layers of material, nested one within the other, much like a Russian
matryoshka doll. These are outlined below and in Fig. 3.

1. Speech is constructed from phonemes, or sounds, articulated by humans. In

isolation, sounds carry no meaning at all.
2. Sounds gain meaning only when they are combined in rule-governed ways to
form morphemes, or units of meaning. Morphemes fall into two categories. Free
morphemes constitute recognizable words, such as fish. Bound morphemes,
sometimes called affixes, are appended to free morphemes to contribute meaning
or grammatical information. For example, un + natural create the meaning of the
opposite of natural; walk + ed create the past tense of walk.
3. Semantics, or word meaning, is determined through context. For example, the
word run can function either as a verb or as a noun. “He runs ten miles every
day!” or “There’s a run in my pantyhose!”
4. Groups of words are organized through syntax, or grammar, and are shaped into
comprehensible phrases, clauses, and sentences. Examples include a phrase, “in
the kitchen,” a clause, “when I was younger,” or a sentence, “Bob’s sister is a
student.”
5. We fine-tune all of these layers to meet our social requirements; we determine the
different social tenors of language required for our encounters with other
humans, ranging from a professional presentation to a casual poker game. The
adjustment of the content and delivery of language to each social occasion is
known as pragmatics.

35
 Language is sound.
Language rests on the foundation of its smallest
units of sound phonemes
components, phonemes, the sounds articulated by
humans.
Sounds gain meaning.
Sounds must be combined in rule-governed ways to form
units of meaning morphemes
morphemes, or units of meaning. Morphemes may be
lexemes (words) or affixes.
The meaning of words is found in a dictionary.
run v.i: ran run, run, running.
[ME. Rinnen, rennen , from N and AS. Rinnan]
word meaning semantics
prêt. Ran, past part., gerunnen and iernan, irnan, to run.
prêt. Orn, arn, earn, past part, urnen.
1. To move swiftly…
Words are organized.
units of language
syntax Words are organized and shaped into phrases, clauses,
construction
and sentences through syntax.
Words are deliberately chosen and used.
We fine-tune and adjust the content of our messages to
usage of language pragmatics meet the appropriate requirements of formal or informal
style.

Fig. 3: The Five Discrete Units of Language and Dialect

Chart created by Lucy Silver

Human language owns and is defined by specific features that account for its complexity.
These are outlined below and in Fig 4.

1. Many layers of discrete elements of human language combine in an infinite

number of ways into an infinite number of forms with an infinite number of
meanings. Single sounds are gathered together to create multiple meanings,
providing humans with a system of communication that relates an unlimited
amount of information, emotion, and inquiry. In contrast, animal communication
is composed of iconic signals that carry only one meaning, e.g., the hiss of a cat
or the growl of a dog carry only the meaning of anger.
2. Surprisingly, languages came to name objects and actions in a completely random
fashion; the relationship between the sounds that build a word and the meaning
of the word, its referent, is arbitrary.1 The word cat bears no relationship to the
animal it denotes; it does not sound like meow, nor does it represent the feline
species in any logical way.
3. Language has a creative nature. There is more to language than parroting,
mimicry, or memorization. Each utterance forms a unique statement, possibly a
statement never uttered before! Even very young children create unique new
statements, addressing specific referents framed in specific spatial-temporal
environments. An 18-month-old might say “Daddycar,” referring specifically to
the reality that “Daddy is in the car at this moment.”
4. The communicative nature of each human language has generated organizational
rules that must be obeyed if meaning is to be comprehended. Each language is

36
 controlled by its unique and specific structures. English speakers know to obey
the laws of word order governing the English language: e.g., a subject usually
precedes the verb, as in the sentences The apple is red, and The man bought a red
apple. We cannot say Apple man the bought red a. A Russian speaker would use
grammatical inflection to organize sentence structure, adding grammatical
suffixes to each noun, verb, and adjective to indicate their functions. The
sentence, The man bought a red apple, may be stated as Krasnayu yablaku kupil
chelaviek, Chelaviek krasnayu yablaku kupil, or even Chelaviek kupil yablaku
kransayu.
5. Language performs a seemingly infinite variety of functions to communicate and
share any and all information. We can impart our most personal and private
emotions and comment on the most public and known features of our
environment.

Language is built in stages, beginning with small, discrete systems and

ending with large, global systems. These systems include phonemes,
Language is morphemes, lexemes, grammatical constructions, and language usage.
discrete. In contrast, animal communication is iconic, meaning that one single
signal carries a single meaning. A message from animal communication
cannot be compounded.
Languages almost always compose arbitrary sound combinations to
name or describe things, events, or actions. The combinations of
sounds that come to represent an object or action are independent of
their referent and appear to have originated in some scattered manner.
Language is For example, cat (English), gato (Spanish), and koshka (Russian) all
arbitrary. refer to a furry, four-legged carnivore that purrs and says meow. Their
sounds are unrelated to their referent. On the other hand, the Ancient
Egyptians referred to the animal as miu, a direct reference to the
sound the animal makes. Such sound mimicry is known as
onomonopia.
All humans create unique utterances never said before. For example,
Language is
“Uncle Billy posed the family for a portrait when Sarah was a baby”
creative.
forms a unique utterance.
Examples of English rules:
Language is rule- An adjective precedes a noun.
governed. -ed indicates past tense.
One or more clauses create a sentence.
Language questions, declares, and exclaims. It expresses temporal and
spatial relationships. All of these qualities lead to an amazing array of
communicative functions. We channel events temporally and spatially
Language has
through tense and aspect, functions that express past actions or future
multiple
plans. We explain what we are presently doing, what we have done, or
communicative
remark on events that will, may, might, should, would, could, or can
functions.
happen. We describe our environment, our feelings, our thoughts, our
hopes, and our fears, questioning what we doubt or do not understand
and exclaiming and proclaiming surprise, anger, love, or pain.
Fig. 4: The Five Properties of Language
Chart created by Lucy Silver

37
 B. THE PRODUCTION OF SOUND

Sound is more real or existential than other sense objects despite the fact
that it is also more evanescent. Sound itself is related to present actuality
rather than to past or future. It must emanate from a source here and now
discernibly active, with the result that involvement with sound is
involvement with the present, with here-and-now existence and
activity…Voice is alive.
-Walter J. Ong
The Presence of the Word

Places of Articulation
Labial lips
Dental teeth
Nasal nose
Alveolar alveolar ridge
Palatal hard palate
Velar soft palate, or velum
Glottal glottis, or opening between the vocal
chords
Manners of Articulation
Stops a complete blockage of air
Fricatives a partial blockage of air
Nasals the closed velum pushes air through the
nasal cavity.
Approximates sounds that approximate vowel sounds
Liquids sounds that absorb vowel sounds
Fig. 5: The Human Vocal Tract
-Kevin Russel
University of Manitoba, CA
Image created by Visual Human Viewer from the Visible Human Project
With permission

38
The human vocal tract seems so simple in its design and purpose! To create sound, the
diaphragm pushes air from the lungs through the twin vocal chords or vocal folds,
producing a periodic train of air pulses that are shaped by the articulators of the vocal
tract to produce distinguishable sounds. But the articulators of speech, the organs of the
human vocal tract, can produce incredibly complex and varied sounds. The articulators of
the sounds of the English language include the teeth, the nasal cavity, the alveolar ridge,
the palate, the velum, and the glottis. Other languages use additional places of
articulation, such as the uvula, important in African languages and Arabic speech. (Fig.
5)

The places of articulation may block the passage of air completely, creating stops,
exemplified by such sounds as /S/, /W/, or /N/. On the other hand, they may form a partial
blockage, creating fricatives, exemplified by sounds such as /V/ and /I/ and realized as a
hiss. Sounds known as nasals, exemplified by /P/, /Q/, or /1)/, are formed by a partial
blockage of the nasal cavity.

All sounds are classified as either voiced or unvoiced. In voiced sounds, the air flows
freely from the larynx through the mouth; in unvoiced sounds, the passage of air through
the vocal tract is blocked, or stopped, by a speech organ. Importantly, while voiced
sounds are vibrated in the larynx, unvoiced sounds experience no vibration. To learn to
distinguish between voiced and unvoiced sounds, touch the vocal chords on your neck,
sometimes called the “Adam’s apple.” Articulate the sound /S/. You should feel no
vibration; /S/ is classified as an unvoiced sound. Now articulate the sound /E/. You should
feel a vibration; /E/ is classified as a voiced sound.

39
 C. THE NOTATION OF SOUND
Musicians notate sound. A musical composition is communicated from composer to
performer through notation of discrete sounds that are combined and organized to make a
musical statement. Each note (sound) is given a pitch, or frequency of vibration (e.g., A
above Middle C, or 400 MHz). The pitch may be shaded and adjusted relative to other
pitches with the addition of signs (sharps and flats). Each note is given duration (e.g., a
half note or a sixteenth note), a method of articulation (e.g., pizzicato vs. bowed), and a
decibel level or loudness (e.g., forté or pianissimo). The sounds are structured through
measures of time (e.g., 6/8 or 4/4), clefs (e.g., the F or G clef), organized into chords and
phrases, and are given tempi (e.g., presto, allegro, andante, or adagio.) Sometimes, tempi
are clarified with even surer measurement, such as a metronome indication. In musical
notation, diacritical marks serve to indicate the manner of the articulation of a sound.
Musical examples of diacritics include staccato or legato marks.

The International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA, affords linguists a similarly potent method
of sound notation. Our speech is created through the control of our vocal tract, making
possible the production of phonemes, or sounds. Our vocal apparatus allows us to
produce a remarkable variety of sounds in a variety of ways. The symbols of the IPA
permit the unambiguous notation of every perceivable human speech sound. You are
already familiar with a number of phonetic symbols, such as /E/, /S/, /Y/, /I/, /P/, /W/, /G/, /n/,
/V/, /]/, /U/, /O/, /J/, /N/, /K/, and /Z/. Importantly, the slashes, or virgules, that enclose
phonemes are a convention used by linguists to indicate that they are writing phonemes,
or sounds, and not graphemes, or letters. Like musical notation, writing language sounds
includes diacritical marks that indicate accents (á), nasalization (~), vowel length (:), or
breathiness (h), just to name a few.

In Chapter D, Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate the twenty-six consonant sounds and the fourteen
American vowel sounds used in American English. Each symbol represents a specific
phoneme that is explained and illustrated in the charts. A more technical and complete
explanation of the IPA remains a task far beyond the scope of this book. However, a
simplified presentation of how English sounds are generated, articulated, and notated in
the IPA will introduce readers to the sciences of phonemics and phonology, the study of
sound production and interaction. You are encouraged to refer to Figures. 6 and 7 as you
continue to read through the book.

40
 D. ENGLISH PHONEMES AND THE IPA

…[W]riting adds a new type of structure to the world and in coming to use
that structure, that is, in reading and writing…(learners have learned) a
model for thinking about speech and language.
-David R. Olson
“Writing and the Mind”

There exist, arguably, 26 consonants in the English language. (The glottal stop is
employed infrequently by English speakers). The consonants are distinguished, one from
another, by place of articulation, manner or articulation, and voicing. (Fig. 6)

Manner of Articulation

Place of
Articulation stops fricatives nasals liquids approximates

-v +v -v +v all +v
labial S E P
labial dental  I Y
dental 7 '
alveolar W G V ] Q
palatal 6 = U O M
combined   W6 G=  Z Â
velar N J   Ö
glottal  K

S I 7 W 6 W6 U M N 
power fish ether tank ship church ring yellow kiss gong


E Y ' G = G= O Z J K
book very this dark measure judge long window goat house

P Q V ] Â Ö
mother none song ease, zoo which sing

Fig. 6: The 26 Consonant Sounds of English

Charted by Place of Articulation, Manner of Articulation, and Voicing
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

41
Many consonant phonemes carry several different pronunciations; these differences are
known to linguists as allophones, or variants of a single phoneme. The particular variant
of a consonant phoneme depends upon its position in a word. In English, an excellent
example of allophonic variation lies in the labial, alveolar, and velar stops, /S/, /W/, and /N/.
If these stops begin a word, they are pronounced with a puff of breath, aspiration, noted
by linguists as h. Pick, tick, and kick, in reality, become /SK,N/, /tK,N/, and /NK,N/. When
/S/, /W/, and /N/ are found in the middle of a word, they lose their aspiration, as in the
difference between tick, /WK,N/ and stick, /VW,N/. To understand aspiration, place your
hand directly in front of your mouth and pronounce take to experience the puff of air!
Now pronounce steak, and notice that the /W/ is no longer aspirated.

Yet another example of an allophone can be found in the pair of voiced and unvoiced
alveolar stops, /W/ and /G/. If either /W/ or /G/ is positioned in the middle of a word between
two vowels, becoming intervocalic, it forms a sound that most English speakers cannot
explain or describe, a “ticked r,” written in the IPA as /D/. Pronounce words such as
lettuce, butter, and ladder, writer, and rider, and you will discover that you are
pronouncing neither /W/ nor /G/, but /D/!

front center back

high L
,DLDXX
H8
mid
(oLR
4o
low D
 roundness

 

L , H ( 4 D o R 8 X DL DX oL 
eat it ate egg bat pot cough boat foot boot flight out boy the
Fig 7: The 14 Vowel Sounds of American English
The Vowel Triangle
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

42
There are 14 vowel sounds in American English and 16 in British English! (Suffice it to
say that the two additional vowel sounds in British English are not explained in these
charts, but may be found in different articulations of the low vowel, /D/).

The vowel triangle is divided between front, back, and center vowels. (Fig. 7) The front
vowels are distinguished by their tone or pitch; they move down the triangle from high
pitch to low pitch. The highest-pitched front vowel, /i/, resembles the screech of a woman
who has seen a mouse in her kitchen. As the front vowels descend, they become
increasingly lower in pitch, arriving finally at /D/, the lowest-pitched sound made by the
human voice; imagine the sound requested of a patient in a doctor’s office when the
tongue is depressed. The back vowels move up the triangle from unrounded to
increasingly rounded sound as they ascend; the roundness refers to the position of the
lips. The lowest, most unrounded vowel, the /D/, is made with the mouth completely open;
the highest, most rounded vowel, the /X/, is made with the lips pursed tightly together,
resembling a kiss. Three center vowels form diphthongs. The most central vowel, the
schwa, / /, a monophthong, stands as the most important and misunderstood vowel sound
of all, and is sadly neglected in English lessons. The sound of the schwa can be created
by a gentle grunt; punch yourself lightly in the diaphragm, and you will hear it. When not
stressed, many vowels become a schwa, such as the vowel in the words the, sofa, and
umbrella.

Vowels are better understood if one considers that they may be classified as either tense
or lax; vowels alternate in their tense and lax qualities as they move down and up the
front and back of the vowel triangle. You can feel the difference between tense and lax
vowel qualities by comparing eat, /LW/ (tense) with it, /,W/ (lax). (Fig. 8)

Tense vowels Lax vowels

/L/ /,/
feet it
/H/ /(/
ate egg
/4/ /D/
bat pot
/o/ /R/
ought poke
/X/ /8/
boot foot
Fig. 8: Tense and Lax Vowel Combinations
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

Vowels may also be distinguished by vowel length, the duration of time a vowel sound is
held as it is vocalized. A long vowel is marked by the addition of the diacritic :, a colon.
Speakers are generally not aware that a vowel followed by a voiced consonant is held
twice as long as a vowel followed by unvoiced consonant! Compare the “vowel lengths”

43
in the words bead (followed by a voiced /G/) and beet (followed by an unvoiced /W/). (Fig.
9) Note that this describes a different concept of vowel length than is traditionally used in
phonics instruction.

Short vowels Long vowels

/L/ eat /L:/ shield

/H/ ate /H:/ shade

/D/ hot /D:/ father

/R/ boat /R:/ hole

/X/ shoot /X:/ moon

/,/ it /,:/ shimmer

/(/ letter /(:/ egg

/4/ bat /4:/ bad

/o/ sought /o:/ sawed

/8/ roof /8:/ should

/DL/ sight /DL:/ side

/oL/ boy /oL:/ soil

/DX/ out /DX:/ owl

// up /:/ umbrella

Fig. 9: Short and Long Vowels
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

44
 E. ENGLISH PHONEMES AND GRAPHEMES

Writing is not language, but merely a way of recording language by

visible marks.
-Leonard Bloomfield
Language

There exist wide discrepancies between the phonemes in the English language and the
graphemes, or letters, in the alphabet we use when we write them. Writing out sounds in
English proves to be complicated, and English spelling rules often seem to lack a clear
system or logic. To illustrate my point, I present two charts listing the variety of ways
phonemes may be realized in writing. (Figs. 10 and 11)

vowel phonemes spelling examples

east, be, peak, sea, Caesar, thief, receive, compete, machine,
L
subpoena people
, build, business, pick, it, gift, myth, women
ate, able, rate, play, stay, gay, game, grade, stain, steak,
H
they, veil, lake, Mary
best, berry, any, says, said, bury, fare, fair, pear, merry,
(
dairy
M( yes, yet
4 bat, man, class, branch
D hot, knot, Gothic, box
o caught, waffle, awful, brought, often, author
R boat, float, orphan
8 foot, soot, put
X ooze, boot, soup, sue, suit
/MX/ unit, feud, beauty, few, view, eulogy
DX out, ouch, about
DL I, sight, my, die
oL  boy, employ, oil
cup, under, such, judge, come, flood, rough, about,
 geography, aroma, Nevada, April, anvil, commence, bacon,
chorus, column, Pennsylvania, the
Fig. 10: Correlating Vowels: Phonemes and Graphemes
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

45
consonant phonemes spelling examples
S pill, spill, rip, supper, hopper, shepherd, ripe, campus
E Bob, rub, rubber, robber, comb, lamb, robe
P mat, sum, summer, come, calm, salmon,
7 thunder, author, ether, bath, mouth
this, that, these, those, father, weather, baths, mouths,
'
bathe
force, surf, suffer, sheriff, photograph, pharmacy, rough,
I
wife, safe
Y view, seven, Stephen, valve, wives, saves
to, take, time, instead, plateau, pat, mutt, putt, Thomas,
W
plate, state, looked, doubt
G door, rid, ride, slide, loved, played
see, insight, looks, seeps, message, pass, century, percent,
V race, receive, deceive, scent, science, schism, waltz, box,
psychology
] zone, dizzy, buzz, fuzz, pays, loans, dissolves, toes, does,
rose, cloze, xylophone, exit, execute
Q nun, sent, run, penny, sunny, pneumonia, know, knife
light, low, law, plenty, kneel, peel, allow, fellow, fall, walk,
O 
role
red, scream, very, soar, merry, marry, Mary, colonel, fear,
U
fair, for, fur
6 she, sugar, mission, pressure, show, fish, machine, schist,
conscience, anxious, vicious, nation, motion
treasure, measure, pleasure, azure, bijoux, rouge, mirage,
=
vision
W6 church, chime, train
just, judge, giant, magic, gym, gyroscope, generous, gem,
G=
manage, mirage
M yeast, yea!, yacht, yogurt, use, you, young, youth
N kill, cat, mix, tax, quilt, quiet, quit, khaki, chorus, pick, sick
J gag, bag, beggar, bigger, ghost, gnome, gnaw, Gnostic,
1 finger, anger, hunger, thing, sing
Z west, aware, swell, guava, suave, quiet, choir, saw, witch
 when, which, what, where, why, who, whom
K house, history, his, her
Fig. 11: Correlating Consonants: Phonemes and Graphemes
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

46
 F. THE MORPHEME

Morphemes constitute the smallest linguistic unit of meaning. Free morphemes form
words (e.g., house or car) and may combine to create compound words (e.g., lighthouse
or housekeeping.) Bound morphemes, or affixes, cannot be used as words and can occur
only when attached to free morphemes. Affixes are named by where they are attached to
the free morpheme. Depending on the language and writing system, affixes may be
prefixed, suffixed, infixed, circumfixed, superfixed, or subfixed. The English language
uses only prefixes and suffixes as affixes. Prefixes are placed before a free morpheme
and change or modify the meaning of a word. Suffixes are placed after a free morpheme
and shift the free morpheme from one part of speech to another, creating an adjective
from a noun, a noun from an adjective, or an adverb from an adjective. The origin of the
free morpheme determines the bound morphemes it can accept. For example, from Latin,
regular accepts the prefix ir- (irregular), legal accepts il- (illegal), and perfect accepts
im- (imperfect). All are allomorphs (variants) of the Latin prefix, in-. These Latin roots
cannot accept the Old English (Germanic) prefix un-, which would create the words
unregular, unlegal, and unperfect (Fig. 12) Full literacy requires a comprehensive
knowledge of words, prefixes, and suffixes of Germanic, Greek and Latinate origin.

I have included three charts of morphemes that are intended to be used as reference
material. Fig. 12 provides a sample of Latinate and Germanic morphemes that have
entered the English language from Latin, Old French, and Old English. Fig. 13, prepared
by Tammy McQuoid and first published by Strathmaver Books in 1994, lists Greek and
Latin morphemes that have formed part of the English language. Finally, Fig. 14, from
the contributors to Wikipedia, provides an interesting side-by-side comparison of
morphemes of Latinate and Germanic origins. A cursory look through the three charts
will provide the reader with an appreciation and knowledge of the forces that have forged
the English language.

47
 Latin morphemes
English
Latin prefix Latin verb suffix English word
word
e- (out of) educate education
ab- (from) ducare (lead) abduct -tion abduction
in- (into) induct induction
Old French morphemes
French verb Prefix Suffix English words
dancier (dance) dance, dancer
-er
peinter (paint) paint, painter
ployer (fold) employ, employee, employer,
em- -ee, -er, -ment
employment
Old English morphemes
Modern English words Old English word
true, truth, truthful, truthfulness, truly treowe
well, wealth, wealthy wele
heal, health, healthy, healthful, healthfully haelan
hap, happy, happiness, happily happ
good, goodness, goodly, godly god
mirth, merry, merrily myrge
fe, faith, faithful, faithfulness, faithfully fei
soul, soulful, soulfulness, soulfully sawol
tear, tearful, tearfulness, tearfully toehher
dry, dryness, dryly, drought dryge
wet, wetness waet
full, fullness, fully ful
Fig. 12: Root Morphemes, Prefixes, and Suffixes
Chart created by Lucy Silver

48
 Fig. 13: A List of Greek and Latin Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
GREEK AND LATIN ROOTS
1. Greek and Latin Roots, p. 1
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
act to act Latin
acu, acr, ac needle Latin
alt high Latin
anima, anim life, mind Latin
ann, enn year Latin
anthrop man Greek
aqua water Latin
arch, archi govern, rule Greek
arm army, weapon Latin
arbitr, arbiter to judge, consider Latin
art craft, skill Latin
arthr, art segment, joint Greek
aud to hear Latin
bell war Latin
biblio, bibl book Greek
bio life Greek
capit, cipit head Latin
caus cause, case, lawsuit Latin
cede to go, yield Latin
cele honor Latin
cell to rise, project Latin
cent one hundred Latin
cept, capt, cip, cap, ceive, ceipt to take, hold, grasp Latin
cert sure, to trust Latin
cess, ced to move, withdraw Latin
cid, cis to cut off, be breif, to kill Latin
circ, circum around Latin
civ citizen Latin
claud close, shut, block Latin
clin to lean, lie, bend Latin
cog to know Latin
column a column Latin
comput to compute Latin
cont to join, unite Latin
cor, cord, cour, card heart Latin
corp body Latin
cosm world, order, universe Greek
crac, crat rule, govern Greek
cred believe, trust Latin
crit, cris separate, discern, judge Latin
culp fault, blame Latin
curs, curr, corr to run Latin

49
 Greek and Latin Roots, p. 2
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
custom one's own Latin
dem people Greek
dent, odon tooth Latin
derm skin Greek
dic, dict to say, to speak, assert Latin
duct, duc to lead, draw Latin
dur to harden, hold out Latin
ego I Latin
ethn nation Greek
equ equal, fair Latin
fac, fic, fect, fact to make, to do Latin
famil family Latin
fen to strike Latin
fer to carry, bear, bring Latin
fid trust, faith Latin
fin to end Latin
flu to flow Latin
form shape, form Latin
fort chance, luck, strong Latin
frig cool Latin
fum smoke, scent Latin
fam marriage Greek
gen race, family, kind Latin
geo earth Greek
gno, kno to know Greek
grad, gred, gress step, degree, rank Latin
graph, gram write, draw, describe, record Greek
grat pleasure, thankful, goodwill, joy Latin
grav, griev, grief heavy Latin
gymn naked Greek
hab to have, hold, dwell Latin
hom man, human Latin
hosp guest, host Latin
host enemy, stranger Latin
hydro water Greek
hygiene the art of health Greek
hypno sleep Greek
init to begin, enter upon Latin
jur, jus, jud law, right Latin
juven young Latin
labor, lab work Latin
lat lateral, side, wide Latin
laud praise Latin
leg, lig law, to chose, perceive, understand Latin
lev to make light, raise, lift Latin
liber, liver free Latin

50
 Greek and Latin Roots, p. 3
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
lingu, langu tongue Latin
lith stone Greek
loc place Latin
locu, loqu word, speak Latin
log idea, word, speech, reason, study Greek
luc, lum light Latin
man hand Latin
mar sea Latin
med, medi middle Latin
medic physician, to heal Latin
memor mindful Latin
men, min, mon to think, remind, advise, warn Latin
ment mind Latin
meter, metr measure Greek
migr to move, travel Latin
mim copy, imitate Greek
mit, mis to send Latin
mor fool, manner, custom Greek
morph form Greek
mort death Latin
mov, mob, mot to move Latin
mus little mouse Latin
mut change, exchange Latin
necess unavoidable Latin
neur, nerv nerve Greek
noc, nox night, harm Latin
nomen, nomin name Latin
null, nihil, nil nothing, void Latin
nym, onym, onom name Greek
opt eye Greek
ord, ordin order Latin
ortho straight Greek
par, pair arrange, prepare, get ready, set Latin
part, pars portion, part Latin
ped, pes foot Latin
pend, pond, pens to weigh, pay, consider Latin
phe, fa, fe speak, spoken about Greek
phil love Greek
phon sound, voice Greek
photo light Greek
pler to fill Latin
plic to fold Latin
plur, plus more Latin
pneu breath Greek
polis, polit citizen, city, state Greek
port to carry Latin

51
 Greek and Latin Roots, p. 4
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
pos to place, put Latin
pot powerful Latin
prim, prin first Latin
priv separate Latin
prob to prove, test Latin
psych mind, soul, spirit Greek
pyr fire Greek
reg, rig, rect, reign government, rule, right, straight Latin
respond to answer Latin
rupt break, burst Latin
sacr, secr, sacer sacred Latin
sat to please Latin
sci to know Latin
scope to see Greek
scrib, script to write Latin
sed, sid, sess to sit, to settle Latin
sent, sens to feel Latin
sequ, secut to follow, sequence Latin
simil, simul, sembl together, likeness, pretense Latin
sol, soli alone, lonely Latin
solus to comfort, to console Latin
somn sleep Latin
son sound Latin
soph wise Greek
spec, spect, spic to look at, behold Latin
pond, spons to pledge, promise Latin
tac, tic silent Latin
techn art, skill Greek
temp time Latin
ten, tain, tent to hold Latin
tend, tens to give heed, stretch toward Latin
term boundary, limit Latin
test to witness, affirm Latin
the, them, thet to place, put Greek
theatr to see, view Greek
theo god Greek
topo place Greek
tract to pull, draw Latin
trib to allot, give Latin
vac empty Latin
ven to come Latin
ver truth Latin
vers, vert to turn Latin
vest to adorn Latin
vestig to track Latin
via way, road Latin

52
 Greek and Latin Roots, p. 5
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
vir manliness, worth Latin
vis, vid to see, to look Latin
viv, vit life Latin
voc voice, call Latin

53
 Greek and Latin Prefixes, p. 1
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
ab away Latin
acro top, tip, end Greek
ad, ac, at, as, ap, am, an, ar, ag, af to, toward, at Latin
ambi around, both Latin
amphi both, of oth sides, around Greek
ant, anti against Greek
ante before Latin
apo, ap, aph away from, off Greek
archa, arshae old, ancient Greek
auto self Greek
ben, bon good, well Latin
bi two Latin
co, con, com together, with Latin
contra, contro against Latin
de from, away, off Latin
dia through, across Greek
dis, dif apart, away, not, to deprive Latin
du double, two Latin
dys difficult, bad Greek
e, ex, ec out, beyond, from, out of, forth Latin
ecto outside of Greek
en in [intensifier] Latin
endo, ento within Greek
ep, epi upon, at, in addition Greek
eu good, well Greek
extra beyond Latin
Anglo-
fore before
Saxon
hmi half Greek
hetero various, unlike Greek
hier sacred Greek
holo whole Greek
homo same Greek
hyper above, beyond Greek
hpo, hyp under, less than Greek
ideo, idea idea Greek
in, ir, im, il not, without Latin
in, im in, on, upon, into, toward Latin
inter between Latin
itro within Latin
iso equal Greek
kilo thousand Greek
macro long, large Greek
magn, mag, meg, maj great Latin
mal bad, ill Latin
mega great Greek

54
 Greek and Latin Prefixes, p. 2
BASE MEANING ORIGIN
met, meta, meth among, with, after, beyond Greek
micro small Greek
migr to move, travel Latin
mill thousand Latin
mis less, wrong Latin
mono one Greek
multi many, much Latin
neo new Greek
non, ne not Latin
o, ob, oc, of, op against, toward Latin
omni all Latin
paleo long ago, ancient Greek
pan, panto all, every Greek
para beside, beyond Latin
penta five Greek
per through Latin
peri around, about Greek
pre before Latin
pro before, forward, forth Latin
pronto first Greek
poly many Greek
post after Latin
pseudo false, counterfeit Greek
quad, quatr four Latin
re again, anew, back Latin
retro back, backward, behind Latin
se, sed apart, aside, away Latin
semi half Latin
sover above, over Latin
sub under, below, up from below Latin
super, supra above, down, thorough Latin
syn, sym, syl together, with Greek
tele far off Greek
trans over, across Latin
tri three Latin
un not Latin
uni one Latin

55
 Greek and Latin Noun-forming Suffixes
Suffix Meaning Origin
age belongs to Latin
ance state of being Latin
ant thing or one who Latin
ar relating to, like Latin
ary relating to, like Latin
ence state, fact, quality Latin
ent to form Latin
Latin &
ic like, having the nature
Greek
ine nature of-feminine ending Latin
ion, tion, ation being, the result of Latin
Latin &
ism act, condition
Greek
ist one who Latin
ive of, belonging to, quality of Latin
ment a means, product, act, state Latin
or person or thing that Latin
ory space for Latin
ty condition of, quality of Latin
Greek &
y creates abstract noun Anglo-
Saxon

Greek and Latin Adjective-forming Suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
able capable of being Latin
al like, suitable for Latin
ance state of being Latin
ant thing or one who Latin
ar relating to, like Latin
ate to become associated with Latin
ent to form Latin
ial function of Latin
ible capable of being Latin
Latin &
ic like, having the nature of
Greek
ine nature of-feminine ending Latin
ive of, belonging to, quality of Latin
ory place for Latin
ous characterized by, having quality of Latin
Greek &
y quality, somewhat like Anglo-
Saxon

56
 Greek and Latin Verb-forming Suffixes
Suffix Meaning Origin
ate become associated with Latin
fy make, do Latin
ise, ize become like Latin

Greek and Latin Adverb-forming Suffixes

Suffix Meaning Origin
Latin &
ic like, having the nature of
Greek
ly like, to the extent of Latin
-Tammy McQuoid
“A Selection of Latin Roots and Greek Roots, Combining Forms, Words, and Prefixes”
Strathnaver Books (1994)
Republished by Buncha Roots

57
 Fig 14: A Comparison of Germanic and Latinate Derivations

GERMAN AND LATIN DERIVATIONS, p. 1

Germanic source Germanic Latinate Latin source
Old Norse angr anger rage rabis
Gmc *wraiþiþo wrath ire ra
inquire in + quaerere
WGmc *aiskon ask
request re + quaerere
Gmc *ga-waraz aware cognizant cognoscere
Gmc *beforan before prior to prior
WGmc *beo + *ginnan begin commence com + initire
Gmc *ga-laubjan belief creed crdere
Gmc *balgiz belly abdomen abdomen
Gmc *brþar brotherly fraternal frternus
Old English byldan build construct cnstruere < com + struere
Old English bisig + nisse business affair ad + facere
Gmc *bugjanan buy purchase pro- + captiare
WGmc *kalbam calf veal vitellus, vitulus
Gmc *kilþam child infant infns
Gmc *keusanan choose opt optare
Gmc *kaldaz cold frigid frigidus
Gmc *kweman come arrive ad + ripa
beef bs/bovis
Gmc *kuz cow
cattle capital
Gmc *dagaz + *likaz daily diurnal diurnalis
mortal mortlis
Gmc *daudaz + *likaz deadly
fatal fatum
Gmc *deuzam deer venison venti/nis
Gmc *drengkan drink imbibe imbibere < in + bibere
pigeon pibionem
Gmc *dubon dove
culver columbula
Gmc *erþ earth soil solium
Gmc *landom land terrain terrenum < terra
Gmc *austral eastern oriental orri
Gmc *etanan eat dine diseieunare < dis + ieiunare

58
 GERMAN AND LATIN DERIVATIONS, p. 2
Germanic source Germanic Latinate Latin source
finish fnre
Gmc *anðin end complete complre
discontinue dis- + continure
Old English fæstan fast rapid rapidus
Gmc *fadar + *likaz fatherly paternal paternus
sentiment
WGmc *fljan feeling
sensation
sensus, senti

Gmc *fullijan + *up fill up replenish re + plnus

Gmc *furistaz first primary prmus
Gmc *floþuz flood inundate inundre < in + unda
Gmc *fulgian fllow ensue in- + sequi
prohibre < pro + habre
Gmc *fur-*biudan forbid prohibit
inter + dicere, dictus
Gmc *fura + *taljanan foretell predict praedcere
Gmc *frijaz freedom liberty lberts < lber
Gmc *frijond + *likaz friendly amicable amicus
Gmc *gadurojan gather assemble ad + simul
Gmc *giftiz gift present prae- + essere
Gmc *geban give provide pro + vidre
joy gaudium
Gmc *glaþaz gladness pleasure placre
delight dlctre
Gmc *guþan god deity deus
Gmc *gothaz good beneficial beneficium
WGmc *gaian + Gmc *an go on proceed pro- + cedere
WGmc *gronja green verdant viridis
Gmc *getiskanan guess estimate aestimare
Gmc *arjaz + *berg harbour
port portus
Gmc *afnaz haven
Gmc *atojanan hate detest de- + testari
Gmc *auiþa height altitude altitd < altus
Gmc *elpan help assist assistere < ad + sistere

59
 GERMAN AND LATIN DERIVATIONS, p. 3
Germanic source Germanic Latinate Latin source
WGmc *annja hen pullet pullus
Gmc *ulnis hill mount mns, montis
Gmc *aujo + *landom island isle insula
WGmc *jukkjan itch irritate irritre
type typus
class classis
Old English cynd kind
sort sors
genre genera
Gmc *knoean know recognize re + cognoscere
Gmc *latas late tardy tardus
duke dux
Gmc *laiþjan leader
president praesidns
Gmc *langiþo length longitude longitd < longus
repose re- + pausa
Gmc *legjan lie (lie down)
recline re- + clinare
Gmc *lubo loving amorous amrsus
Gmc *managaz many multiple multi + plus
Gmc *ga-makon match correspond con + respondre
intend intendere
WGmc *mainijan mean
signify significare
Gmc *motijan meet encounter incontrre < in + contr
Gmc *medjaz + *dagaz midday noon nona
Old Norse mistaka mistake error rrrre
Gmc *mdar + *likaz motherly maternal mternus
novel novus
Gmc *neujaz new
modern modernus
Gmc *nat + *likaz nightly nocturnal nocturnus
WGmc *alda old ancient anteanus < ante
different differre
Gmc *anþaraz other
alter- alterare
kiln culina
Gmc *ukhnaz oven
furnace fornax
Old English rd road street strata
Gmc *rutjan rot putrefy putrefacere
Gmc *sewan see perceive per- + capere
Old Norse *sœma seem appear apparere

60
 GERMAN AND LATIN DERIVATIONS, p. 4
Germanic source Germanic Latinate Latin source
Gmc *saljanan sell vend vendere < venum + dare
WGmc *skæpa sheep
mutton med. l. mult
Gmc *lambaz lamb
WGmc *skæpa sheep
mutton med. l. mult
Gmc *lambaz lamb
WGmc *skuttjan shut close clausus
Gmc *skeu(w)az shy timid timidus
Gmc *se(w) sight vision vidre/vsum
Gmc *skaljo skill art ars
Gmc *skaljo + *fullaz skillful adept adeptus < adipisc
Gmc *slæpan sleeping dormant dormre
Gmc *smæl small minute mintus < minuere
Gmc *snakon snake serpent serpens
Gmc *surgo sorrow grief gravare < gravis
Gmc *sprekan speak converse con- + vertere
Gmc *talo talk discourse dis- + currere
Gmc *swnam swine pork porcus
Gmc *taikijan teach educate dcre < dcere
relate relatus < re- + ferre
Gmc *taljanan tell
narrate narrare
Gmc *þankjan thinking pensive pnsre
Gmc *þankjan thought idea idea
danger dominarium < dominus
Gmc *þreutanan threat peril periculum'
menace minaciae < minari
Gmc *tungon tongue language inguaticum < lingua
Gmc *under + *standan understand comprehend comprehendere
Gmc *up- + *luftijan uplifting elevating - + levre
Gmc *utizon utter pronounce pro- + nuntsecuiare
Gmc *utizon utterly totally ttlis
Gmc *wadjojan wage salary salrium
Gmc *wakan wait expect ex + spectre
Gmc *watskanan wash lave lavare
Gmc *wakan watch observe ob + servre

61
 GERMAN AND LATIN DERIVATIONS, p. 5
Germanic source Germanic Latinate Latin source
Gmc *weltlich worldly secular saeculris
Gmc *wopijanan weep cry quiritare
Gmc *wakan watchful vigilant vigilre
Gmc *weltlich worldly secular saeculris
Gmc *wopijanan weep cry quiritare
Gmc *wakan watchful vigilant vigilre
Gmc *weltlich worldly secular saeculris
Gmc *wopijanan weep cry quiritare
Gmc *westra western occidental occidere
Gmc *(ga)ailaz whole entire integer
Gmc *widas width latitude latitd < latus
savage silvaticus < silva
Gmc *wilthjiaz wild
feral fera
Gmc *wisaz wise prudent prudns < providns
Gmc *wunskjan wish desire desiderre
Old English wfman + Gmc *likaz womanly feminine femininus
Gmc *widuz wood (a wood) forest forestis
Old English weorc work labor labor
Gmc *writanan + *unga writing script scrptum < scriber
Gmc *jæram + *likaz yearly annual annalis
WGmc *gelwa yellow ochre ochre
WGmc *jugunthiz + *fullaz youthful juvenile iuvenis
Gmc *juwunthiz youth adolescence adolescere < ad + alescere
-Wikipedia
“List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English” (July 08, 2009)
Available under the Creative Common Attributions-Share-Alike License

62
 G. THE SYLLABLE
x Consonant sounds that precede the
nucleus are known as the onset.
x Consonant sounds that follow the
nucleus are known as the coda, or tail.
x An open syllable ends in a vowel
sound.
x A closed syllable ends in a consonant
sound.
x Rhyme refers to the combined sounds
of the nucleus and the coda.
Imagine a syllable as an atom. The vowel sound, its nucleus, forms its center and may be
surrounded by consonants, the electrons.
nucleus onset open syllable coda closed syllable rhyme

/V/ say

/E/ bay bait

/HL/ /U/ ray /W/ rate /HLW/

/G/ day date

/J/ gay gate

/SO/ play plate

Fig. 15: The Syllable

Image of atom courtesy of JupiterImages Corporation
Item #2113084
Accessed electronically December 10, 2009
Chart created by Lucy Silver

I have not mentioned the syllable as a part of the five discrete parts of language.
Syllables, like phonemes, are units of sound and create important segments in speech and
writing. My undergraduate students had a difficult time coming up with a definition of
the syllable; they found the concept to be surprisingly elusive. What is a syllable?

Syllables are formed from phonemes and create higher-level sounds, e.g., vod-ka, han-dy,
and su-per. The structure of a syllable radiates from its center, a vowel sound. The vowel
sound may or may not be surrounded by consonant sounds. Imagine a syllable as an
atom; the vowel sound, its nucleus, forms its center and may be surrounded by
consonants, the electrons. (Fig. 15) The problem begins with the simple fact that syllables
may sometimes be confused with morphemes because a morpheme and a syllable may
have an identical form. However, syllables and morphemes perform entirely different
functions. While a morpheme represents a minimal unit of meaning, a syllable
represents a minimal sequence of speech sounds. If a syllable contains meaning, the
meaning originates from its double as morpheme. For example, in the English language,
box functions both as a syllable and as a morpheme; it not only contains meaning but also
represents a minimal sound sequence, /E-D-N-V/. It must be noted that speech marks

63
syllabification; a string of graphemes cannot clarify syllabification. We read the words
rider and filet, but the letters alone do not tell us where each syllable’s boundaries lie:
e.g. the graphemes alone cannot indicate ri-der or *rid-er, fi-let or *fil-et!2

A further problem arises when we compare the different roles of the syllable in
monosyllabic and polysyllabic languages. In polysyllabic languages, one syllable in each
word carries the stress. The stress may fall on the last syllable, known as the ultimate
(e.g., frontier), the next to the last syllable, known as the penultimate (e.g., rainbow), or
the second syllable from the end, the antepenultimate (e.g., beautiful). Most polysyllabic
languages favor stress on the penultimate syllable and many employ diacritics such as
accent marks to indicate ultimate and antepenultimate stress. Monosyllabic languages,
found throughout Asia and the Mideast, tend to contain large numbers of homophones,
sometimes demarcated from each other by tone. From my work as a teacher of ESL to
speakers of monosyllabic dialects from Southeast Asia, I have discovered that such
speakers may experience difficulty hearing word boundaries and proper stress when
learning English, a polysyllabic language. Conversely, speakers of polysyllabic languages
such as English may experience difficulty hearing and mastering the tones of
monosyllabic languages. These problems are examined further in Chapter VI.

64
 CHAPTER IV: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LANGUAGE
LEARNING

A. WIRED FOR SPEECH

How comes it that human beings, whose contacts with the world are brief
and personal and limited, are able to know as much as they do know?
-Bertrand Russell
Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits

The faculty of language stands as the greatest and most prototypical of human paradigms.
Speech “happens” to every human. Speech is acquired, not learned. Barring extreme
disability or dysfunction, such as deafness or blindness, children absorb speech in all of
its permutations and demonstrate an amazing ability to make speech work for them
without a single lesson. It should come as no surprise that various theories have been
developed to explain this phenomenon. Nativist theory, developed through the work of
Noam Chomsky, hypothesizes that humans are endowed with a brain that is genetically
pre-programmed to process language input. Humans organize language through
Universal Grammar (UG), analogous to a biological “language organ” specific to
humans alone, containing domain-specific language faculties that develop according to a
genetically based timetable. All humans begin life with language as a unique, innate
endowment, destined to unfold in Platonic fashion in the human brain. Universal
Grammar presents a human infant with all of the parameterized options of all human
languages, such as how to create and process comprehensible utterances, how to organize
phrases, or how to form negative statements and interrogatives. The infant has only to
zone in on the options in his or her particular language, be it Telugu, Cantonese, Spanish,
or Tagalog. A baby born in Beijing would acquire the parameters of Mandarin, but if the
same baby were born in London, he or she would acquire the parameters of English.1
Michael Albert explains these phenomena in the following terms:

We may think of the language faculty as a complex and intricate network

associated with a switch box consisting of an array of switches that can be
in one of two positions. Unless the switches are set one way or another,
the system does not function. When they are set in one of the permissible
ways, then the system functions in accordance with its nature, but
differently, depending on how the switches are set. The fixed network is
the system of principles of universal grammar; the switches are the
parameters...When these switches are set, [a person] has command of a
particular language and knows the facts of that language: that a particular
expression has a particular meaning, and so on. Each permissible array of
switch settings determines a particular language.
-Michael Albert
“Universal Grammar and Linguistics”
Originally published by ZMagazine
Republished by University of Wuppertal, Denmark (November 2003)

66
The concept of Universal Grammar, setting the innateness, universality, species
specificity, and autonomy of human language capacity, has exerted an extreme impact on
psycholinguistics for fifty years.

To understand the miracle of human language development, biological and

anthropological evidence reveals a steady emergence of language ability during hominid
evolution and suggests that the capacity for language evolved gradually. For Terrance
Deacon, who performed breakthrough work in the field of comparative neuroscience, a
critical point in human evolution was the development of the prefrontal cortex, an area of
the brain where much language-related symbol manipulation takes place. The prefrontal
cortex is significantly more developed in humans than in apes. Deacon suggested that a
larger prefrontal cortex enabled humans to reason symbolically; this degree of greater
abstraction in human thought holds the key to the complexity of human language and
culture.2 From the vantage point of evolution, Ralph-Axel Mueller pointed out that
primate symbolic communication, involving gesture, kinesis, and body language, relates
closely to language and that dissociations between verbal and non-verbal communicative
development are most likely rooted in motor specializations and physiology rather than
the autonomy of a grammar module called Universal Grammar. Mueller emphasized that
the specialization of certain regions of the brain for language processing are not innate to
humans alone and that evidence of preadaptations for human language in primates
suggests a gradual emergence of language during hominid evolution.3

The field of artificial intelligence stands on the premise that humans and computers share
many parameters of information processing. For example, Bloom’s Taxonomy of the
Cognitive Domain, published in 1956, suggested that the size, efficiency, and operations
of the human brain, including language usage, change during the course of being used.
These changes are “progressive”; they begin with knowledge, move through
comprehension, application, and analysis, and end with synthesis and evaluation.
Computer programs change in much the same way.4 In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin
suggested that information is acquired by the brain analogously to the way a computer
operates, with mechanisms for input, output, internal processing, and storage buffers for
short- and long-term memory.5 J. Gerald Wolff expands upon human and computer
learning:

Humans and computers learn words, phrases, and grammars from

unsegmented linguistic input. Also, they learn them in the same order.
Both humans and computers are able to generalize grammar rules and to
correct overgeneralizations. In fact, they learn the “correct” forms despite
the existence of errors in linguistic data. Computers and people learn
transformative grammar. For example, they learn to make the subject-
predicate semantic shift when forming negative or interrogative
statements. The initial learning of humans and computers is very rapid, but
slows with development.
-J. Gerald Wolff
Unifying Computing and Cognition (2006)
AMC Digital Library, ID1212408

67
The constructivists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky believed that language acquisition
stands on an equal par to other human cognitive processes and that the innate component
of language capacity is most likely shared with other developmental domains. Therefore,
the theoretical work of both Piaget and Vygotsky extended beyond language acquisition
and attempted to explain how children acquire or learn all knowledge. Piaget postulated
that a child’s ability to conceptualize develops in a biologically pre-programmed way,
moving from a few innate reflexes, such as crying and sucking, to highly complex mental
activities. These developmental processes take place through equilibration, or
hypothesis testing. Children continually refine their concepts by finding new constraints
and discoveries; their current knowledge summarizes past experiences and constructs a
platform on which new schema are extrapolated and built. The developing child responds
to experiences within his or her environment by modifying cognitive structures, schema,
and concepts.6 Vygotsky postulated that learning, or cognitive maturation, happens
within a social context in which children and adults interact in shared experiences. This
interaction indicates the gap between what is known by the child and the experience and
knowledge of the adult, what Vygotsky called the Zone of Proximal Development.
Without social interaction, a child’s schema of his or her environment cannot grow. With
social interaction, children gradually piece together a construct of the world they live in.
A child’s schema of the world begins far from ultimate adult knowledge. The Zone of
Proximal Development defines the difference between what a child can do on his or her
own and what the child can do with the help of others.7

Are humans endowed with Universal Grammar? Do our brains work as a computer does?
Do we learn through trial and error? Do we come to understand the world through
exposure to adult experience and knowledge? Probably all play a significant part. A look
at how an English-speaking toddler acquires the grammar rules for past tense formation
of verbs in English illustrates that all these hypotheses hold kernels of truth. English has a
grammatical suffix, -ed, which indicates past tense; examples include helped, played, and
needed. However, English also contains a great number of irregular past tense forms,
such as ate or fell. During the process of socialization, English-speaking toddlers hear
both regular and irregular past tense as they interact with adults; they receive input for
both forms. They recognize irregular past tense (e.g., Daddy ate, Mommy fell) before
they recognize regular past tense because the irregular past tense can be easily
distinguished from the present tense. (When we consider this odd fact, it makes sense. Go
sounds very different from went, and is sounds not at all like was. However, play sounds
very much like played, and clean sounds very much cleaned). Children become aware of
the concept of past tense and begin to use it through the salient irregular forms. However,
English-speaking toddlers eventually come to hypothesize that -ed indicates past tense.
They test this hypothesis by overgeneralizing, or overextending and misusing, the -ed
rule; they add –ed to irregular verbs, creating past tense forms such as Daddy eated and
Mommy felled. As they listen carefully to the input, they realize that the irregular and
regular formations of past tense do not match! By trial and error, they reach an
understanding of the usage of irregular and regular past tense, ultimately achieving the
correct output for each verb. As Chomsky predicted, the child has “honed in” on how his
or her native discourse, English, creates past tense. For Piaget, the child has found a
linguistic truth by equilibration; he/she has tested a hypothesis. Vygotsky would stress

68
that the child has acquired the past tense through the zone of proximal development
created through social interaction with family members and significant others. As Bloom
would suggest, more efficient cognitive material has replaced the outmoded material.
And the mind has functioned very much like a computer, as Atkinson and Shiffrin would
suggest, with input, output, internal processing, and storage buffers for short- and long-
term memory!

A more difficult question remains: What explains the need for language teaching and
instruction? Nativist theory completely ignores this question because Universal
Grammar guarantees that every human will acquire the rules of his or her language
completely and that every human will have the ability to articulate whatever he or she
wants to say; it completely evades the issues and problems of dialect. Constructivist
theory comes much closer to offering a rationale for language learning. Piaget would
posit that equilibration replaces deficient grammar, and that formal learning turns out to
be nothing more than extended equilibration. Vygotsky would say that we advance our
language abilities and reduce the Zone of Proximal Development in language use through
social interaction with others. Furthermore,through the processes of hypothesizing and
socialization, children should be able to eradicate or delete inferior language input and
replace it with superior language input, analogous to changing data in a computer.

The statistics that document the failures of our attempts to teach Standard Common
English in our schools suggest that there is more complexity to language learning.

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 B. FROM COOING TO GRAMMAR

The convergence of thinking and speech constitutes the most important

moment in the development of an individual, and precisely this connection
places human thought at an unprecedented height.
-Jean Piaget and Barbel Inhelder
The Psychology of the Child

The social, interpersonal, communicative nature of humans stands as the portal to

language. Although young children are not given any special training or instruction in
speaking, they construct language through meaningful social interaction with parents,
caretakers, and other significant people around them. They acquire control of their dialect
by questioning, explaining, requesting, confronting, elaborating, hypothesizing, and
describing. The interactions between children and the people around them account for the
nebulous, subtle, indefinable extensions of language that computers cannot bridge.

At birth, the human infant cannot vocalize any sound other than crying. At three months
of age, when the hyoid bone has descended in the throat, the infant’s first true
vocalization, cooing, turns out to be a very pleasing sound. This proves to be no
coincidence. Cooing transforms a three-month-old infant into an irresistible, loveable,
social magnet who is played with and welcomed by everyone. All adults make fools of
themselves when attempting to elicit an infant’s delighted smiles and coos. Human
infants selectively respond to familiar, smiling faces and high-pitched, feminine, maternal
voices. Hence, in the presence of a baby, everyone smiles and raises his or her vocal
pitch. Our language becomes simplified and babylike; we use silly words to connect with
what is perceived to be the perspective of the baby.8 The relationship between mothers
and infants turns out to be especially significant. When nursing, a mother holds her infant
face to face, sharing proto-conversations. The mother gurgles and burbles, and the infant
laughs in delighted response. This provides the mother a means to unconsciously
encourage specific behaviors from the infant. When the mother requests a smile from the
infant, she is providing instruction in behaviors that build social skills. In these proto-
conversations, or turn taking, the mother presents her infant with models of statement
and response that establish patterns of dialogue.9

At six months of age, babies delight in experimenting with their new awareness of the
powers and possibilities of vocalization They spend hours babbling and practicing all the
sounds that can possibly be produced by the human vocal tract, from blowing saliva
bubbles to grunting guttural plosives. The musical components of language, e.g.,
consonants and vowels, the patterns of sounds that sing, gurgle, pop, click, and crack,
along with tones that rise and fall, serve as the focus of this next step in language
acquisition. The infant becomes an international citizen, prepared to master all human
sounds!

The family environment and this vocal practice fuse together when, at nine months,
babies master the intonation patterns of their language, for example the rising tone of
questions and the descending tone of statements in the English language. Intonation, the

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musical phrasing of language, makes English sound like English, French sound like
French, and Tagalog sound like Tagalog. Interestingly, in my experience as an English as
a second language (ESL) instructor, the mastery of intonation often proves to be the most
intractable element that separates native speakers from second-language learners.

Once intonation has been mastered, babies begin to acquire vocabulary. Just when the
first step is taken, at about 12 months of age, the baby utters his or her first word, a
single syllable. My daughter Sarah’s first word was baw, for ball; my son Benjamin’s
first word was ap, for apple. The first words drip slowly, as water from a leaking faucet,
but soon new vocabulary pours from the child’s mouth as forcefully as a torrential
downpour. Grammar structures practiced during this time tend to be two nouns, such as
Mommy and cookie, or Daddy and car. Word boundaries may not be firm; words may be
smashed together in meaning, just as they are articulated in our speech; “Daddyinacar”
means “Daddy’s in the car.”

Brown's Age in Mean MLU* Morphological Examples

Stages months MLU* range Structure
Stage I 15-30 1.75 1.5-2.0 sentence types: Comeame!
imperative and declarative Daddy ina car.
Stage II 28-36 2.25 2.0- present progressive gonnago
2.5 (-ing endings on verbs)
in inabox
on onatree
-s plurals (regular plurals) my cars
Stage III 36-42 2.75 2.5- irregular past tense me fell down
3.0 –s possessives mommy's hat
questions using the full form Isadaddy?
of the verb be when used as
the only verb
Stage IV 40-46 3.50 3.0- articles a, the uh book
3.7 regular past tense, ed She jumped,
He laughed
third person singular –s He swims,
regular present tense Man brings
Stage V 42-52+ 4.00 3.7-4.5 third person singular irregular She has,
He does
questions using the full form Is kitty
of the verb be when used as sleeping?
an auxiliary verb Is she coming?
the contracted form of the Mommy's
verb be when used as the ready.
only verb Daddy’s here.
*MLU (mean length of utterance) indicates the average number of morphemes in a child’s
utterances. The number increases over time.
Fig. 16: Brown’s Stages of Grammar Acquisition
-Roger Brown
A First Language: The Early Stages (1973): p. 271
(From Fig. 14: The order of acquisition of 14 grammatical morphemes in three children)

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Between eighteen months and two-and-one-half years, grammar is acquired in an
amazingly strict, progressive, rule-governed fashion, documented in Roger Brown’s
breakthrough 1973 study of the language acquisition of three children.10 (Fig. 16) By four
years of age, children tell stories, explain problems, and use metaphor. As they enter the
primary years of their education, their speech approximates the speech of the adults in
their community.

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 C: THE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

Children don’t have to go to school to learn to walk, talk, recognize objects,

or remember the personalities of their friends…They do have to go to school
to learn written language, arithmetic, and science…Children are equipped
with a toolbox of implements for reasoning and learning in particular ways
and those implements must be cleverly reinvented to master problems for
which they were not designed.
-Steven Pinker
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

In their acquired knowledge, children know far more than they have been taught. Long
before children reach school age, they develop incipient theories about perhaps a dozen
kinds of phenomena which provide them with a foundation for concrete operational
thinking. Young children hypothesize about the world around them, speculating on the
nature of cause and effect and the distinction between fantasy and reality. They
prototype, classify, and organize; they formulate categories such as familial relationships
(e.g., brother, grandmother, aunt, uncle) and animals (e.g., birds, fish, dogs, cats). Their
a-priori knowledge is organized and classified into intricate and internally consistent
working models of the world, built up through imagination and integrated into a coherent
personal encyclopedia of knowledge.

What small children hypothesize and theorize about the world does not appear to be
adequate. Through interactions with the adult world, particularly in the formal world of
school and education, children are presented with concepts such as gravity or mammal
that are counterintuitive, unnatural, and obscure. When children enter a school setting,
old, familiar schema is rendered insufficient and counterproductive. Their schema must
be unlearned and replaced with technical, nonspontaneous concepts, which are fragile
and readily overridden by the entrenched schema of earlier childhood. Deeper realities
and structures lie hidden, waiting to annihilate and replace the familiar hypotheses
formed in the preschool years. Old suppositions are replaced by mature observations and
reasoning, converting the child into the adult. For a child to evolve into an educated
individual, the comfortable, commonsense structures of early childhood must ultimately
give way to scholarly disciplines, such as physics, algebra, and the rules of Standard
language. Children are directly confronted with the discrepancies between their intuitive
theories and those that have been developed by experts in the academic disciplines.
Howard Gardner has suggested softening the dichotomy between intuitive and academic
learning by allowing students time to integrate the prescholastic with the disciplinary
ways of knowing; Gardner holds that teachers should approach subjects in ways that
draw upon students’ experiences, allowing students time to confront inconsistencies
between their various frames of reference.11 Certainly, educating children involves
designing educational environments and methods that help students synthesize their
several forms of knowing.

Let’s look further into how Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky attempted to explain how
children learn and how their knowledge comes to change over time. Piaget noted that all

73
young are born with reflexes. In other animals, these reflexes control behavior throughout
life. However, in humans, these reflexes are replaced many times over through the
process of adaptation, the construction of increasingly complex schema, or mental
organizations that represent knowledge of the environment. As schema become more
complex, they form larger entities, known as structures, and are organized in a
hierarchical manner from general to specific, e.g., animal/mammal/cat/lion. Adaptation
may be manifested in two forms. The first, assimilation, represents the process of using
or transforming the environment so that it can be placed within preexisting cognitive
structures; the second, accommodation, represents the process of changing cognitive
structures in order to adjust to the environment. The achievement of balance between
environment and schema has previously been mentioned as Piaget’s equilibration.12
Mastery of language represents the degree of equilibration achieved between the child’s
speech and the speech of the home, the community, the school, and beyond. (Fig. 17)

Stage Characterized by
Sensorimotor x Differentiates self from objects
(birth-2 years)
Pre-operational x Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and
(2-7 years) words.
x Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of
others.
x Classifies objects by a single feature: e.g. groups together all the red
blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of
color.
Concrete x Can think logically about objects and events.
operational x Can converse about number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age
(7-11 years) 9).
x Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in
series along a single dimension such as size.
Formal x Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses
operational systematically.
(11 years and x Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological
beyond) problems.
Fig. 17: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
-James. S. Atherton
“Piaget.: Stages of Cognitive Development.” Learning and Teaching

Humans are the only species to have created culture, and every human child develops
within the context of his or her culture. Vygotsky believed that all cognitive growth
comes from internalization, the process of learning, or internalizing, the wealth of
knowledge and thought within one’s culture. Through culture, children acquire
knowledge. Culture provides a child with the processes, or means, of thinking; it presents
the child with the tools of intellectual adaptation and instructs the child both what to think
and how to think. Cognitive development is achieved through experiences shared with
others, such as efforts in problem solving. These experiences serve as the primary conduit
between learner and teacher, expressing specifically the rich body of knowledge that
constitutes their culture. Every child develops within the parameters of his or her culture.
The learning of the child is filtered through the prism of dialect. for each culture holds its
own dialect, or discourse.13 However, for the child’s view of the world to expand,
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language must expand to include the secondary discourse of the broader world; children
must adapt a secondary discourse as they enter the larger world of education. As learning
progresses, the child’s own language, or idiolect, a blend of primary (acquired) and
secondary (learned) discourse, comes to serve as the primary tool of intellectual
adaptation. Initially, adults interacting with the child guide this process, but gradually this
responsibility is transferred to the child. Eventually, language is internalized to direct
linguistic behavior.14

The processes of equilibration and internalization elaborated upon by Piaget and

Vygotsky, as well as the dichotomies between intuitive and instructed learning, explain
the problem of learning literacy. Initially, when young children acquire their dialect,
sounds are seamlessly and effortlessly woven together into words and utterances.
However, to learn to read and write, this practice must be reversed; the sounds in speech
must be unnaturally forced apart, separated, and reconstructed into another code, the
symbols and graphemes of the written system of language. If the natural, spontaneous
rules of dialect persist as the only language rules existent in the child’s brain, writing
cannot be learned. In other words, when considering learning an alphabet system,
children must know language through two symbolic systems: (1) the shape and structure
of speech, formed through a group of phonemes, or sounds, and (2) the shape and
structure of text, formed by a collection of graphemes, or letters.15 Mastering the
relationship between phonemes and graphemes means the ability to transcode between
the two systems. This reality builds the basic foundation of my book.

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 CHAPTER V: THE THREE FACES OF LANGUAGE

A. FROM SOUND WAVES TO PEN STROKES AND BEYOND

…[D]espite a half century of research and discussion…we have not yet

succeeded in making our case to the world that (a) the cognitive processes
and cognitive structures of individuals are transformed in a conspicuous
way by the acquisition of natural language or (b) that the cognitive
processes and structures are significantly transformed by the acquisition
of our best recognized cultural (and intellectual) tool, namely,
writing…[I]t is not obvious why a secondary activity makes the primary
activity conscious, that is, why writing makes speech into an object of
consciousness.
-David R. Olson
“Writing and the Mind”

The origin of human speech remains shrouded in a nebulous past and will probably never
be unveiled. In Africa, the birthplace of humans, the communication of early humans
perhaps consisted of grunts, clicks, and squeals, evolving into the first human proto-
language. No one knows exactly what this first speech sounded like, but archeological
evidence suggests that the languages spoken by the Khosian people, who appeared in
southern Africa some 60 thousand years ago, may be among the most ancient of all
human tongues. Khosian languages include a large number of click sounds and are
spoken by the Khoi and Saan Bushmen of southern Africa and the Sandawe and Hadza of
eastern Africa.1 From Africa, humans branched out into the environments of the Middle
East, Europe, Asia, Polynesia, and the Americas. Speech permitted the transfer of
significant and complex information and enabled humans to mitigate dangers and
hardships. Spoken language stands as the most remarkable accomplishment of the human
species. It provided modern humans with an extraordinary survival tool, allowing us to
share information and to accumulate knowledge in a far more substantive manner than
any other species.

The origin of writing is better known, but still contains some mysteries. The cave
paintings of Neolithic man contain sophisticated graphic forms; drawings of animals
cohabit with dots, parallel lines, and abstract curves that suggest the very beginnings of
an attempt to notate concepts that stand apart from clear pictures of objects, e.g., a
counting system, or a calendar.2 The story of the relationship between language and
imagery includes the development of symbols into pictograms and graphemes that came
to represent language.

Stanislas Dehaene writes of tantalizing evidence that places the physical shapes of human
writing systems deep within our evolutionary past. Neurological studies hint at the
possibility that certain shapes constitute a “genetic alphabet” essential in parsing the
visual scenes of the natural world. The shapes T, Y, E, F, and L, for example, are
frequently encountered in the natural world. These shapes, or proto-letters, have become

76
so deeply embedded in our cognitive structure that they were selected to form the stock
of the writing systems of the world.3

Reading rests upon primitive neuronal mechanisms of primate vision that

have been preserved over the course of evolution. Animal studies show
that the monkey’s brain houses a hierarchy of neurons that respond to
fragments of visual scenes. Collectively, these neurons contain a stock of
elementary shapes whose combinations can encode any visual object.
Some macaque monkeys’ neurons even respond to line junctions
resembling our letter shapes (e.g., T, Y, E, F, and L).
-Stanislas Dehane
Reading in the Brain (2009): p. 121

However, these shapes constitute only a shadow of what was to come much later.
Humans who settled in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East learned the skills of
agriculture and animal husbandry and evolved from hunter-gatherer to farmer. The larger,
more certain supply of food brought about a population explosion and the new experience
of marketing. This required recording the transactions of food supplies, heralding the
development of writing. The agricultural revolution spread to Asia, Europe, and the
Americas, marking the division between prehistory and history.

Just as the human vocal tract enabled vocalization, evolutionary development freed the
human hand for the manipulative tasks of hunting, gathering, fishing, and tool making.
The physiological design of the human hand also permitted the expression of written
language. Totaling twenty-seven bones, the hand consists of the wrist, palm, four fingers,
and the very important opposable thumb, making possible precise movements such as
grasping small objects, tools, or writing implements. The wrist, joining the hand to the
forearm, contains eight cube-like bones arranged in two rows of four bones each. The
palm is composed of five long metacarpal bones. Fourteen phalanges constitute the four
fingers and thumb, three in each finger, two in each thumb. Ligaments interconnect the
bones of the hand; the bones of the digits are anchored to muscles in the hands, arms, and
shoulders through connections to tendons, permitting a wide range of movement. In
humans, the undersides of the fingers and palms have distinctive ridges, which improve
grip and can be used as identification marks.4 Our fingers divide into three joints, which
follow the proportions of the Fibonacci Golden Mean.5 Writing requires the development
of practiced control over the bones, muscles, and ligaments in the hand and the
coordination of hand and eye. As a complex fine-motor skill, the act of writing involves
all of the hand’s twenty-seven bones and forty muscles, which connect to the fingers by
an intricate set of tendons.

Writing constitutes a continuous, flowing activity and demands precise ordering and
timing. Maria Montessori recommended that children develop their fine-motor skills
through the practice of activities such as drawing, coloring, and tracing sandpaper letters
to prepare the hand for the production of graphic forms.6 Once the mechanics of text
production have been mastered, the act of writing is transformed into a system of first-

77
order symbolism in its own right and heralds the developmental watershed known as
literacy.

Today in the United States, instruction in proper forearm and hand position and seated
posture seems to be disappearing from the classroom. Children are no longer trained in
the mental and physical discipline required for cursive writing. In assisting elementary-
school children with their homework assignments, I find that all students print the
answers on their worksheets. However, they are very adept at using a keypad. According
to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 90 percent of
Americans between the ages of five and 17 use computers.7 Rachel Konrad reports that
children take keyboard lessons in third grade, precisely the developmental age they used
to learn penmanship, and suggests that cursive writing may disappear within a few
decades.8

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 B. SPEECH AND TEXT

Writing preserves the surface structure, the words themselves, which,

therefore, can be subjected to analysis, study, and interpretation, none of
which are encouraged by oral language.
-David R. Olson
“Writing and the Mind”

The primary language structure of speech and the secondary language structure of text
conform to separate cognitive and social parameters. Spoken language is marked by
occurrences and structures that are almost never discussed in a grammar class. A shared
time and space, known to linguists as a speech event, unites speakers and listeners in a
conversation. Statements in a speech event, known as utterances, occur spontaneously,
instantaneously, and come encoded in sentence fragments or one-word ejaculations such
as In the house! or Sure! The vocabulary used in oral communication derives from
informal, vernacular expressions, chosen both unconsciously and deliberately to bond
speaker and listener as co-members of a speech community. The communication
between speaker and listener is further aided because speakers and listeners experience
the same referents, or topics, and discuss common information. Proximity permits
listeners and speakers to question and clarify when misunderstandings or ambiguities
occur. Additional clues to meaning, such as intonation, pauses or hesitations, decibel
level, body gestures, and facial expressions, permit us to perceive information with
hidden implications. Speech is dressed in casual style; it wears jeans and a T-shirt instead
of a suit and tie.

Written language separates the writer and reader in time and space. Readers cannot
question or address writers directly, but must use knowledge, imagination, and
intelligence, collectively known as schema, to interpret the writer’s meaning. In order to
be comprehended, text must be written and crafted clearly, carefully, and without
ambiguity. Good writers employ several conventions to achieve these ends. For example,
they explain and define the meaning of words and phrases; they sprinkle their writing
with detailed descriptions of events, characters, and other content; they reintroduce
previously presented material; and they organize their writing in a circular fashion.
Beginning with the introduction of the theme or major idea, the theme is fully explained
in a development, and summarized in a recapitulation, or restatement, of the theme.

Speech and writing can be distinguished in terms of their modes of production,

transmission, reception, storage, and repetition. Anyone familiar with the children’s game
Gossip knows that the form and meaning of a spoken message changes as an utterance is
whispered around the circle from one player to another. The utterance that emerges at the
close of the circle sounds nothing like the beginning utterance. Imagine that each
consecutive player represents the next generation of a speech community, and you will
appreciate the rapid evolution of spoken language over time. In contrast, writing
conserves the stodgy configurations of Standard rules, stabilizing the structure and
uniformity of writing style and maintaining conformity to the grammar and spelling rules
of Standard written language. Writing is codified; its strict systems are firmly set; text

79
can be stored, preserved, and reread, remaining unchanged and unedited over an
indefinite time span. How different from speech, which might be either forgotten or
altered by faulty memory! Standard language, the written genre, changes over time at a
glacial pace, but dialect, our spontaneous, informal speech, is as settled as dry leaves
blown by an autumn wind. The grammar patterns and vocabulary of speech are
constantly displaced and replaced by the unceasing influx of new generations of
loquacious young people and the inevitable movement of populations from one
geographical location to another. Speech generates new language processes; writing
preserves language use. Through writing, language becomes Standardized.9

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 C. THE ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION

Language is the dress of thought.

-Samuel Johnson

The meaning of text is being redefined! Today, text refers not only to paper and the
printing press, or to the legible and proud cursive of our grandparents, but increasingly to
electronic media. Our carefully guarded rules of grammar have been replaced by the
relatively casual and careless expressions of electronic discourse. New grammars and
expressions that flow from our subconscious thought have entered our writing; we write
in a discourse and rhetoric that blurs the boundaries separating speech and writing.10
Recent electronic technologies have released the rules of text from the Standard we
know; they have created new symbols and acronyms that may be considered as new
members of our alphabet.

Let’s begin with e-mail, now well established in our communication repertoire. E-mail
supports notions of both spoken and written discourse, yet refuses to conform to either
domain; it constantly transgresses the boundaries separating the two! Although e-mail
may be perceived as text, its informal, short, quickly exchanged messages bear an
obvious resemblance to verbal conversation. The instantaneous and unpretentious nature
of e-mail encourages immediacy and spontaneity. It can be sent and replied to with great
ease and without much careful consideration, resembling the exchange of statement and
response that takes place in oral discussions.11

In face-to-face conversations, we orient ourselves not only by what is being said, but also
by the interpretation of how it is said. Speakers find innumerable ways of saying one
thing and meaning another. Irony, sarcasm, and figures of speech serve as our weapons of
true communication; in the right interpersonal atmosphere, they send a clear message of
the meaning of our communication. In e-mail, experienced participants manage to convey
these contextual cues semiotically, e.g., - or /. The regulations of e-mail print, created
spontaneously and followed modishly by e-mail users, differ radically from the print
rules of Standard Common English. Many e-mail writers consistently use lower-case
letters; they employ abbreviations of text, such as FYI and BTW. These simplify the
process of typing and approach the warp speed of spoken discourse. Additionally,
because speech is organized into complex combinations of tone and prosodic units, it
conveys our mood, intention, and frame of mind. We fulfill the need to convey the same
features in e-mail by using syntactic devices that convey features such as hesitation,
pause, and a higher pitch of voice, e.g., ... and !!. Emphasis on a certain word can be
made with uppercase letters, conveying amplitude of intonation, e.g., she FORGOT to
write. Yet e-mail retains many of the features that mark print. E-mail data can be shared
and copied easily. Quoting is made possible by the computer’s ability to easily “cut and
paste” text. E-mail may be stored on backup CDs, and, when a person retrieves, reads,
and even deletes a message, the message may still remain on the server. The ability to
compile and preserve large amounts of typed information in computers, servers, and
backup CDs resembles the ability to store written and printed material on bookshelves

81
and in libraries. Spoken words are ephemeral, but written, printed, and typed words are
not.12

ty or thnq: Thank You

ABT: About 4: For k or kk: Okay thnks, thnx, or thx:
Thanks
KEYA: I will key you
ABT2: About to 411: Information U: You
later
afk: Away From kwim: Know What I
4evr: Forever UR: You're / Your
Keyboard Mean?
UL: UploadUN4TUN8:
atm : At the Moment 4nd: Friend L8: Late Unfortunate URTM:
You are the man
AQAP: As quick (or LLS: Laugh(ing) Like URW: You are
E1: Everyone
quiet) as possible Shit welcome
lmao: Laugh(ing) My
AYT: Are you there? EF4T: Effort UW: You're welcome
Ass Off
lol: Laugh(ing) Out
b4: Before ez: Easy Loud or Lots Of VM: Voice mail
Laughs
FTW: Fuck The World,
B4N: Bye for now luv: Love W8: Wait
For The Win
WDYK: What do you
FYI: For Your lylas: Love You Like A
B8: Bait know?wdymbt: What
Information Sister
do you mean by that?
bak: Back, Back at lylab: Love You Like A WDYT: What do you
GOI: Get over it
Keyboard Brother think?
GOL: Giggling out 143 or <3: I Love You w/e: Weekend,
bbl: Be Back Later
loud (count or heart) Whatever
BFF: Best Friend
GR8: Great M8: Mate WU? : What's up?
Forever
GTFO: Get the Fuck WUU2: What are you
brb: Be Right Back n: and
Out up to?
WYD: What (are) you
btw: By The Way gtg or g2g: Got To Go ne1: Anyone
doing?
btycl: Bootycall h8: Hate ngl: Not Gonna Lie WTF: What the Fuck?
HAGN: Have a good OMG: Oh My God (or
c: See WTH: What the Hell?
night Gosh)
HAGO: Have a good OMFG: Oh My
CM: Call me w/ : with
one *freaking* God
HAND: Have a nice
cyl: See you Later ppl: People XLNT: Excellent
day
cuz: Because or HHRT: Hit Hard Right
qt: Cutie XME: Excuse Me
Cousin Through
Fig. 18: Examples of Text Messaging Abbreviations
-Vangil Beal
“Text Messaging and Chat Abbreviations” (February, 2010)
Webopedia

Text messaging, or texting, available today on most digital mobile phones, stands as the
latest example of the merging of speech and text. Texting is marked by all of the

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parameters of e-mail, but its hybrid nature reaches a newer, more extreme level. What
would previously have been a phone conversation is now written, with instant turntaking.
The small phone keypad and the small screen, limited in the number of characters it can
hold, have resulted in a number of adaptations of spelling. The use of CamelCase, the
practice of joining words without spaces and capitalizing them within the compound,
such as ThisIsVeryCool, has become the norm.

Texting is increasingly practiced behind classroom desks. In fact, the pervasive use of
texting, particularly among students and young business people, impacts classrooms,
business meetings, conferences, and cultural and social events.13 Texting has far-reaching
social implications and is changing the definitions of text and literacy. (Fig. 18)

83
UNIT II: WRITING AND CIVILIZATION

85
 CHAPTER VI: THE BEGINNING OF CIVILIZATION AND WRITING

A. THE ORAL LEGACY OF CIVILIZATION

Writing stretches the cognitive and organizational abilities of humans. The

mastery of written language facilitates and reflects a high level of
abstraction because written language distances us from the here and now.
-L. S. Vygotsky
Thought and Language

Reading and writing have enlarged human communication, but retain much of their
original oral nature and packaging. Long before the beginnings of writing, stretching
back to the nebulous, unknown dawn of human language, sacred teachings, histories,
dramas, poetry, and epics were created, delivered, and memorized orally. Orators
interlaced the stories, mores, practices, and traditions of their people through established
rhetorical patterns recognized by all listeners, employing “a vast array of compositional
devices…ranging in size and complexity from single lexemes, to narrative themes, to
entire story patterns, all of which function metonymically to summon traditional
meanings to given narrative moments.”1 The bards of the ancients were the inventors and
guardians of their civilizations. Great orators, such as Homer, wove from the warp and
weft of the fabric of their cultures; their spoken art was crafted and shaped by social
conventions and delivered and received in communal events.

Today, writers perform the same functions for their readers as the orators of old once did
for their audiences, preserving time-honored social traditions and creating transitory pop
cultures. Long after writing had been firmly established, the oral tradition guided the
nature of reading. The literate continued to read aloud to the illiterate, and reading was
recognized as an oral, public act. The verbs in Greek, anagignosko, in Latin, legere, and
in the Hebrew and the related Arabic, quara, have been incorrectly translated as read.
Instead, they connote the meanings of persuade, recite, or call out, implying that text is
oral, verbal, and constructed to be heard.2 Importantly, no ancient society developed a
popular literacy.3 Therefore, the practice of oral recitation of text by the literate to the
illiterate continued into the world of medieval Europe. Only after the thirteenth century
CE in Western Europe did reading become the silent, private, solitary pursuit that it is
today.4

Writing should not be taken for granted. Only five percent of the world’s languages have
ever been put to writing! The first true writing systems, Mesopotamian cuneiform and
Egyptian hieroglyphs, appeared approximately six thousand years ago after hunter-
gatherers had made the quantum leap forward into agriculture and animal husbandry in
the Cradle of Civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern Iraq) and in
Egypt, along the mouth of the Nile River. The agricultural revolution required methods to
keep inventories and to record the transactions of grain and livestock. Writing began as a
humble component of language, relegated to pragmatic commercial functions. Only much
later did the content of writing deepen to codify laws or to transcribe religious text,

87
usurping the fields the oral tradition had owned for millennia. The world’s oldest literary
texts may be found on Sumerian clay tablets and include the tale of Gilgamesh as well as
poems, hymns, laments, and prayers.5 Eventually, writing systems appeared throughout
other parts of the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, bearing witness to the
remarkably similar experiences and requirements of all human cultures.

True writing systems are based on sound, for writing represents segments of speech
sounds, namely phonemes, syllables, and morphemes. Theoretically, in an alphabetic
writing system, each grapheme represents a phoneme; in a syllabographic writing system,
each glyph represents a syllable; in a logographic writing system, each symbol represents
a morpheme. The determination of an appropriate writing system for a specific language
depends upon many factors. For example, is the language monosyllabic or polysyllabic?
Does the language contain infixes created from vowel sounds? Does the language depend
upon tones to provide word meaning?

When humans attempt to transform sound to text, problems surface. These problems are
found universally throughout all languages, epochs, and cultures. However, ultimately,
all writing systems find ways to use writing signs to represent speech segments, combine
morphemes, clarify pronunciation, indicate grammar, and differentiate between
homophones and homographs. Respectively, phonograms, syllabograms, and logograms
can perform some tasks, but remain incapable of performing others. For example, English
graphemes can assign different orthographies to homophones, words that mean different
things but sound alike, e.g., fair and fare; however, an identical orthography creates the
problem of homographs, words that sound alike but mean different things, e.g., pen (a
writing implement or an enclosed space) or bank (a repository of money or the side of a
river). In another example, basic Chinese logograms require additional information,
provided symbolically, to indicate a change or gradation in meaning. For example,
strokes added to the primary radical heart can build words of related meanings such as
love or heartsick.6 Let’s look at the unique ways ancient writing systems addressed these
problems.

88
 B. THE WRITING SYSTEMS OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA

Graphic symbols became signs only when the phonetic value of a symbol
began superseding its semantic value within a system of limited similar
values.
-Steven Robert Fischer
A History of Writing

Writing began around four thousand BCE with the agricultural revolutions in the Tigris-
Euphrates Valley and the mouth of the Nile River. The earliest writing specimens of
cuneiform were symbols used to record agricultural barter and were impressed on small
clay tablets. In its formative stage, cuneiform was originally written from top to bottom;
however, around 3000 BCE, its orientation changed from left to right.7 Over the course of
2,000 years, cuneiform evolved into wedge-shaped glyphs made with the strokes of a
stylus; the glyphs represented both syllables and words; therefore, the writing system was
logo-syllabographic.8

Mesopotamians extended the meaning of cuneiform glyphs by using the rebus principle;
a glyph containing a given meaning was used to represent a homophone. (As an example
of the rebus principle in English, a picture of a saw could be used to represent the past
tense of see. As an example of the rebus principle in Mesopotamian cuneiform, the sign
representing the noun ti, arrow, was used to represent the verb til, live).9

While the rebus principle provided a way to write a greater number of words, the problem
of distinguishing homophones and homographs remained! Therefore, cuneiform signs
were augmented to provide additional information. Glyphs began with a lead character
that contained a basic meaning, such as head, and additional strokes were added to clarify
the precise meaning of the new glyph. Thus, head could be modified to connote mouth or
eat; mouth could be modified to connote tooth or voice.10 (Fig. 19)

During its long history, cuneiform was used to inscribe four different Semitic languages:
Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian and Akkadian. Sumerian died out around the 18th century
BCE, but cuneiform continued as a learned written language, much as Latin did during
the Middle Ages in Europe; it was used continually until the first century CE, making it
one of the longest-used writing systems in history.11

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 CREATING NEW MORPHEMES

The symbol for head could be altered to indicate mouth and eat by adding additional signs.

head + stippling=mouth; mouth + bread=eat

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN HOMOPHONES

Homophones of the sound gu, flax, neck, voice, and ox, had different symbols.

flax neck voice ox

CREATING HOMOGRAPHS

Words of related meaning were indicated by the same symbol, a homograph.

zu, ku, and ga, (mouth, voice, and tooth,)

Fig. 19: Cuneiform, Combining Glyphs
-Lawrence Lo
“Cuneiform” Ancient Scripts
With permission

Hieroglyphs were the earliest form of Egyptian script, and also the longest lived. The
first hieroglyphs appeared on pottery around 3000 BCE in the late Pre-dynastic Period;
the last glyphs appeared on the island of Philae in a temple inscription carved in 394
BCE.12 The ancient Egyptians used pictograms, or logograms, to represent a consonant
sound; this meant that a hieroglyph could function both as a logogram and a phonogram.
The initial consonant sound of a pictogram could create a grapheme; for example, the
pictogram for miu, cat, represented the sound /P/.13 (Fig. 20a) Thus, Egyptians were able
to write out complete words using a series of hieroglyphs as graphemes, effectively
creating a rudimentary alphabet.14 (Fig. 20b) Because the Egyptian hieroglyphic system
recorded no vowels, words built from the same consonants formed homograms and
needed to be clarified; thus, Egyptians extended their use of logograms and phonograms
to form determinatives, or symbols which indicate the precise category and meaning of a
word.15 (Fig. 20c)

90
(a) Egyptian logograms also functioned as graphemes to sound out consonants.

(b) Writing the words crocodile (msh) and cat (miu)

(c) Examples of determinatives that clarify homographs

Fig. 20: Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Combining Glyphs

-Simon Ager
“Egyptian” Omniglot
With permission

91
 C. THE WRITING SYSTEM OF CHINA

One thousand years after the birth of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Chinese
began to scratch pictograms and ideograms on tortoise shell and ox bone for purposes of
divination.16 These pictograms and ideograms developed into the symbolic logograms of
Chinese script. Many of today’s logograms retain characteristics of these derivative
pictographs and ideographs; therefore, from these original signs, Chinese writing has
experienced a straightforward development throughout its history. Despite changes in
spoken languages, the meaning of Chinese symbols can be recognized across time,
enabling Chinese to access to their literature and history from preclassical times.17 A fast
version, Kai shu, became the Standard script and is still in use today. The Peoples’
Republic of China has recently simplified and modernized Chinese script in a style
known as Jan tzi.18 Even though some logographic adjustments may be used to
accommodate the linguistic peculiarities of other Chinese dialects and languages, the two
Standard writing systems, Kai shu and Jan tzi, are based on the national language,
Mandarin, and are now taught to all schoolchildren throughout China. The logographic
system cemented and unified the Chinese Empire, bridging a variety of languages,
cultures, and ethnic groups; it has been used to notate all of the many dialects and
languages throughout China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea. Literate people across Asia are
able to communicate, not through speech, but through writing. Chinese writing stands as
the world’s single remaining logographic system. It is used by a quarter of the world’s
population.19

The monosyllabic Chinese dialects and languages contain a great number of

homophones. In some Chinese dialects, one single syllable may represent ten or more
morphemes, or meanings! The different meanings of words created by the same syllabic
components are clarified in speech by employing tone variations: a flat tone, a rising
tone, a falling tone, or a combination of tones; the tone determines the meaning of a
word. For example, in Mandarin, ma means horse when articulated with a rising tone,
mother when articulated with a falling tone, and scold when articulated with a
combination of rising and falling tone. The problems created by homophony in Chinese
writing can be appreciated if we consider that one logogram may represent two or more
homophones that have the same sound and the same tone, the same sound but a different
tone, the same initial or final sound, or both a different sound and a different tone! 20

While logograms indicate broad meanings and categories, phonograms can indicate more
specific meanings and clarify pronunciations. The Chinese have combined their
logograms with phonograms to enable their writing system to clarify meaning and
pronunciation. Each Chinese sign exists within one virtual square frame, or block, and
contains two components. The semantic component, also known as the primary
radical, indicates the foundation of the word and represents a fundamental concept, e.g.,
earth. The phonetic component indicates a precise subcategory of meaning, e.g., white.
Together, they form a composite sign known as a semantic-phonetic compound, which
indicates the exact specific meaning and pronunciation of the word, e.g., clay. In other
examples, the primary radical, water, forms the semantic component of a character and is
combined with the phonetic component, hot, to create a semantic-phonetic compound,

92
 soup. Or, the primary radical, woman, forms the semantic component of a character and
is combined with the phonetic component, man, to create a semantic-phonetic compound,
good.21 (Fig. 21)

Primary Radicals

earth woman water sun

Compound Words

white + earth female + male hot + water sun + sun

clay good soup, hot water sunlight
There are three boxes. The primary radical, woman, There are three boxes. The main word,
The primary radical, is on the left. The primary radical, sun, is the
earth, is on the water, is on the left. primary radical.
bottom.

Fig. 21: Semantic-Phonetic Compounds

-Simon Ager
“Chinese” Omniglot
With permission

The formation and ordering of strokes and characters are critical lessons in Chinese
literacy. The primary radical is recognized by its position within the virtual block in
which it is written; its position is fundamental to the creation and interpretation of the
virtual glyph. Chinese logograms are ordered first by their primary radical and then by
the number of strokes they contain. Chinese writing consists of seven basic strokes,
written in a prescribed order; a single glyph may contain anywhere from one to sixty-four
strokes. For instance, the character mù, wood, must be written starting with a horizontal
stroke, drawn from left to right. Next, add a vertical stroke, from top to bottom, with a
small hook toward the upper left at the end. A left diagonal stroke, from top to bottom, is
written next, followed by a right diagonal stroke, from top to bottom.22 Written Chinese
has between 20,000 and 30,000 semantic-phonetic compounds, representing nine-tenths
of the entire repertoire of over 40,000 symbols.23

Lastly, Chinese writing is arranged from top to bottom, and the columns move across the
page from right to left. Outside of China, Chinese writing may move across the page
from left to right, imitating the Latin system.

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 D. THE WRITING SYSTEMS OF MESOAMERICA

Elaborate conventionalized symbols appeared throughout Mesoamerica as early as 3,000

years ago, but the first significant writing systems of the region developed much later.
The “mother” civilization of Mesoamerica, the Olmec, developed ideograms, numerals,
and the detailed Mesoamerican calendar system. Early Olmec glyphs and numerals have
been found in Oaxaca at the site of Monte Albán, later inhabited by the Zapotec, who
may have incorporated Olmec language and script.24 Monte Albán hosted the first true
writing in Mesoamerica, dating from 600 BCE.

All Mesoamerican writing systems, Zapotec, Mixtec, Aztec, and Mayan, vary in the
degree to which they incorporate language components. However, the similar look of
glyphs throughout Mesoamerica suggests that symbols were probably mutually
intelligible across diverse regions.25 Mesoamerican writing systems may have spread
across populations through warfare, through commerce, or through contact at important
cultural centers such as Teotihuacán. Zapotec writing, laid out in vertical columns, was
originally ideographic and contained numerals; it later became partly phonetic.26 The
Mixtec pictorial system could be interpreted by speakers of different languages. Mixtec
signs were often placed within a cartoon-like speech scroll, representing speech emitting
from the mouth of a human or an animal.27 Mixtec writing was dispersed throughout
Mesoamerica; it was ideographic, recorded names of persons and places, and conveyed
ideas that were not language-dependent. The Aztec, centered in the cities of Cholula and
Tenochitlán, may have derived their writing from the Mixtec writing system. Aztec
writing, was also ideographic, and could be read by people who spoke different
languages.28

Mesoamerican writing is best known from murals and stelae that relate historical,
political, genealogical information, and military and political “conquest propaganda.”
The names of sacrificed captives and conquered places were often featured.29 Writing
also occurred on softer surfaces. Thomas J. Tobin and Michael Ernest Smith,
respectively, describe how the Maya and Aztec had developed the art of paper-making;
the Maya began making paper in the fifth century CE. 30 Codices made of deerskin or
paper containing information concerning astronomical events, visions, and prophecies
were commonly used.31 They were opened and hung on a wall to be publicly read aloud.
(In the Aztec calmecac, or royal school, children were educated as priests and warriors
and were trained to read to the public).32 Aztec manuscripts written after the Spanish
Conquest used a mixture of Aztec symbols and Spanish words.33 The few Mayan codices
that have survived indicate that the Maya wrote with brushes capable of making thick and
thin lines.34 It bears noting that the majority of Mesoamerican codices deteriorated in the
tropical environment. Others were destroyed by the Aztecs’ aggressive campaign to
conquer neighboring states, or were burned by Spanish conquistadores.

The most complete writing system of Mesoamerica, developed by the Maya in Southern
Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, was represented in urban centers such as Copán,
Tiqál, and Palenque. Scholars originally conjectured that Mayan writing was purely
logographic because of the many hundreds of different glyphs. However, after a long

94
string of attempts to decipher the Mayan glyphs, it was discovered that the Mayan writing
system became increasingly syllabo-phonetic over time.35 There exist only about thirty
phonemes in Mayan dialects, so, in theory, a purely phonetic alphabet could have been
developed using thirty glyphs. However, such was not the case. Mayan writing ran the
gamut of logograms, syllabograms, and phonograms. (Figs. 22, 23)

Fig. 22: Mayan Logograms

-Simon Ager
“Mayan” Omnoglot
With permission

95
The phonograms continue: la, le, li, lo, lu, through m-, n-, n-, p-, s-, t-, tz-, tz’-, x-, and y-

Fig. 23: Mayan Syllabograms and Phonograms

-Simon Ager
“Mayan” Omnoglot
With permission

Mayan writing symbols ended in vocalic sounds; their syllabograms notated open
syllables and were not closed by a consonant.36 However, a great number of words in
Mayan dialects end in a consonant sound, forming a closed syllable. How did the Maya
write the final consonant? This problem was solved by synharmony, a process unique to
Mayan writing. When a word ended in a consonant sound, a syllable beginning with the
final consonant was added; however, the final vocalic ending was not pronounced.37 To
make writing even more complicated, the final vowel sound could be emphasized; the
syllabogram already containing the final vowel sound was often reinforced by ending
with the final sign for the vowel alone.38

Like Chinese writing, Mayan writing combined symbols to write new words. Mayan
glyphs have been identified that correspond to grammatical units such as verb, noun,
adjective, adverb, and particle. Nouns and verbs could be combined with their respective
modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, to represent abstract concepts. For example, a noun

96
and an adjective with specific, concrete meanings, white and flower, were combined to
represent an abstract concept, soul. (Fig. 24) In other words, Mayan writing included
affixes, appended as prefixes, superfixes, subfixes, postfixes, and infixes that indicated
Mayan morphology.

(soul)

sak + nik
a metaphor for soul

Fig. 24: Compounding and Word Creation with Logograms

-Simon Ager
“Mayan.” Omniglot
With permission

Mayan glyphs resemble Chinese compounds. The basic words, nouns and verbs, the
major parts of speech, were written out in their full forms, while their modifiers,
adjectives and adverbs, were written in abbreviated form.39 Like the Chinese, the Maya
arranged their signs within virtual blocks in rule-governed ways, mandating the
placement of the glyph that indicates primary meaning, appending other ancillary glyphs
and signs in a specified order. Mayan syllabographs within each block were written
according to a strict ordering system. The usual order of reading the glyphs is prefix,
superfix, main sign, subfix, and postfix.40 While Chinese blocks are read from top to
bottom and from right to left, Mayan blocks are arranged in complex groupings and
ordered to be read in pairs from top to bottom, and from left to right.41

However, importantly, unlike Chinese logograms, Mayan glyphs could indicate a great
amount of syntax, or grammar. For example, grammatical affixes appended to verbs
indicated verbal qualities such as transitive, intransitive, passive, or reflexive.42

With the Spanish Conquest, all Mesoamerican writing systems were obliterated within a
few generations. Martha Barton Robertson, Curator of the Latin American Library of
Tulane University, succinctly summarizes the loss of Mesoamerican writing and
disappearance of manuscripts:

Pre-Columbian “books” had no influence on printed books in Mexico after

97
The Conquest of 1519-1521. In the early colonial period the native
manuscript art was useful to the Spanish for a while and aided exploration,
government, and conversion of the Indians to Christianity. But by 1600
Indian painting (writing) was very much acculturated and almost
completely eclipsed by the widespread use of alphabetic script. Only a few
survivals appear in later centuries, primarily in rural areas, and in folk
art. Arriving in Mexico in 1528 [Fray Juan] Zumárraga immediately saw
the need for libraries and a printing press to aid in converting the Indians.
-Martha Barton Robertson
Early Chronicles of the Americas in Manuscripts and Printed
Books: Histories, Missionary Accounts, Indian Languages, and New
World Incunabula in the Latin American Library (July, 1991)
The Howard Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans

98
 CHAPTER VII: CONTEMPORARY WRITING SYSTEMS

A. THE BEGINNING

Alphabetic writing may be regarded as the culmination of a long history of

the development of human writing systems.
–A. C. Moorehouse
The Triumph of the Alphabet: A History of Writing

Fig. 25: The Phoenician Abjad

-Kryss Katsiavriades and Talaat Qureshi
“The Phoenician Alphabet” KrysTal
With permission

North Semitic (Ugaritic) 14th century BCE

Phoenician 11th century BCE
Greek 8th century BCE
Latin 7th century BCE
Arabic 4th century BCE
Hebrew 3rd century BCE
Brahmic 3rd century BCE
Runes 2nd century CE
Ge’ez 3rd century CE
South Arabian 9th century CE
Cyrillic 10th century CE
Fig 26: Abjad and Alphabet Genealogy and Timetable
-Wikipedia
“History of the Alphabet”
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Most syllabaries and alphabets can be traced to a single source, a North Semitic abjad
used by the Canaanites during the late Bronze Age. Later, the Canaanites, then known as
the Phoenicians, developed the Phoenician abjad, often called “the mother of all
alphabets.” (Fig. 25) The Phoenician abjad parented the Greek and Roman alphabets and

99
the consonantal systems of the Middle East, namely the Arabic abjad used throughout the
Islamic world and the Hebrew abjad of the Jewish people. It also parented the Brahmi
syllabaries used by Hindu and Buddhist peoples of South Asia, the syllabary of Ethiopia,
and the Tifinagh syllabary of the Tuarges people of Nigeria.1 (Fig. 26)

Syllabaries are built around the structure of syllables; a syllabary may be defined as “an
inventory of specific signs used purely for their syllabic sound value.”2 Theoretically,
syllabographic systems write only the consonants, the onset and coda, of the syllable. For
that reason, they are known as consonantal writing systems, or abjads. While the
consonants form a morpheme and provide a root with meaning, the vowel sound, or
nucleus, functions as an infix that provides additional grammatical information and
modifies the pronunciation and meaning of the root. 3 For example, in Hebrew, the root
consonants , , and , (/N/, /6/, and /U/), carrying the idea of clean, can become a verb,
kashar (to render acceptable for human consumption), or an adjective, kosher (clean and
acceptable for human consumption).

Speech would be impossible without vowel sounds; vowels lubricate our vocalization
from one consonant sound to another. Three vowel sounds—/L/ (the highest of all vowel
sounds), /D/ (the lowest and most open of all vowel sounds), and /X/ (the roundest of all
vowel sounds) —are common to all human languages. Inuktitut, spoken in Canada,
Greenland, and Alaska, contains only those three vowel sounds—consider the word
igloo! Abjads may notate vowel sounds and may begin to approximate complete
alphabets, opening the question: where does a syllabographic system end and an alphabet
system begin?

100
B: ARABIC AND HEBREW ABJADS

Arabic

Hebrew
Fig. 27 The Arabic and Hebrew Abjads
-Simon Ager
“Arabic” and “Hebrew” Omniglot
With permission

101
 no vowels

with nikkudim

cursive

Fig. 28: Hebrew

-Simon Ager
“Hebrew” Omniglot
With permission

with harakat
Fig. 29: Arabic
-Simon Ager
“Arabic” Omniglot
With permission

Even syllabaries such as the Arabic and Hebrew writing systems cannot be considered
complete without vowel indicators. (Fig. 27) Vowel indicators are realized in Arabic and
Hebrew as diacritics and are required when writing vocalized or recited text, referring
specifically to the sacred books of Judaism and Islam, the Torah and the Qur’an, which
are read aloud. Vowel indicators are also included in Arabic and Hebraic school
instruction and language teaching.

Hebraic diacritics, nikkudim, were first used to indicate pronunciation after the Romans
had expelled the Jews from their homeland at the time of the destruction of the Second
Temple; they consist of dots and dashes written above, below, or inside a Hebrew sign
and are always carefully placed so that they never alter the spacing of the line of text.4
(Fig, 28) Arabic diacritics, harakat, were added to aid in pronunciation and to avoid
confusions that arose between versions of Arabic text and pronunciation as Islam spread
throughout the world. They are placed above or below the consonant that precedes them.
(Fig. 29) In fact, Arabic script may be classified as an impure abjad because the

102
”universal” vowels mentioned above, the /D/, /L/ and /X/, represented in Arabic writing by
the signs alif, y', and ww, are always written. In vocalized, or recited text, such as the
Qur’an, the 'alif, y', and ww are written as diacritics, but in unvocalized text they are
represented by their signs, without diacritics.5 Except for these “universal” vowels,
Arabic handwriting, general publications, and street signs do not contain vowel signs;
speakers do not need to read or write with vowels because they are able to discern
meaning through context.

Analogous to the synharmony mentioned in Mayan writing (Chapt. VI, D), Arabic deals
with the issue of a vowel appended to the closing consonant of a word. If the closing
consonant does not carry a vowel, it is marked with a sukn, a diacritic that indicates that
the vowel is not sounded. For example, in writing, the suk n indicates the difference
between qalab, heart, and qalb, he turned around, both of which contain the consonants
/[/, /O/ and /E/. (/[/, a fricative, is an IPA symbol not included in the sounds of English).
Other Arabic diacritics include šhadda, signs that indicate a change in a consonant
sound, such as the doubling of the length of a consonant.6

103
 C. THE REASON FOR ALPHABETS

Each writing system has been chosen and developed to accommodate the particular
idiosyncrasies of the language it serves. Let’s examine why our own language, English,
requires an alphabet.

What happens when English words are written without vowels, as if they were an abjad?
If the words are mostly monosyllabic and begin with consonants, as in the sentence Th ct
drnk mlk (The cat drank milk), their meaning can sometimes be intuited and constructed
without the vowels. If the words are polysyllabic and some begin with vowels, as in the
sentence tmbls trvl t vrng vlcts (Automobiles travel at varying velocities), the effort to
interpret the sentence becomes much more difficult. If all words begin with vowel sounds
and most are polysyllabic, as in tng ppls s njbl (Eating apples is enjoyable), the attempt to
intuit meaning becomes hopeless.

The Greek language contains many polysyllabic words and words that begin with vowel
sounds, so we can begin to appreciate the reason why ancient Greek writing required an
alphabet with vowel notation!7 Therefore, around 800 BCE, the Greeks devised vowel
symbols. (Fig. 30)

Fig. 30: The Greek Alphabet

-OCAL
Ben Greek Alphabet clip art
Clker

The first letter, aleph, A, begins all syllabaries and alphabets. Technically, aleph does not
represent a vowel. The Phoenicians pronounced the aleph as a glottal stop, //, a complete
closure of the glottis. Today, in modern Arabic and Hebrew, the aleph functions as an
appendage to the repertory of consonant signs. In Hebrew, it either becomes quiescent or
is associated with a vowel sound.8 In Arabic, it is used to stretch or elongate the
pronunciation of /a/.9 Aleph was adapted by the Greeks as their first vocalic grapheme,
alpha, written as an inverted A, a triangle, a stylized depiction of the head of an ox with
horns.10

The Greek alphabet devised seven monophthongs and seven diphthongs to notate Greek’s
fourteen vocalic sounds.11 The Latin alphabet adapted five Greek vowel graphemes to
represent Latin monophthongs that shifted slightly in pronunciation between long vowels
and short vowels, depending upon the position of the vowel in a word.12 In addition,
Latin contained six diphthongs. (Fig. 31) The Greek and Latin systems set the
background for vowel sound and notation used throughout most of the world’s alphabets.

104
 a. Greek Vowels b. Latin Vowels
as pronounced as pronounced
Vowel IPA Diphthong IPA Vowel * IPA Diphthong IPA
D /4/// DL /DL/ D: /D/ 4 /DL/
H /H/ HL /HL/ D /4/ DX /DX/
K /H/, /H/ RL /RL/ H:  /H/ HL /HL/
L /L/, /I / DX /DX/ H /(/ HX /HX/
R /R/, /D/ XL /8L/ R: /R/ RH /RH/
Z /8/, /R/ HX /HX/ R // XL /XL/
X /X//L/ RX /X/, X: /X/
/RX/ X /8/
L: /L/

L /,/
YGreek /L/
* A Latin vowel was long (:) when it was the first vowel in a two-syllable word, as in Roma or
fides, or was followed by two consonants, as in acquiescat.
Fig. 31: Latin and Greek Vowels
Chart created by Lucy Silver from the following sources
(1) Jonathan Robie
“The Greek Alphabet,” Learning New Testament Greek, Little Greek 101
(2) Harry Foundalis
“Alphabet,” About the Greek Language, Foundalis
(3) Joan Jahnige
“Latin,” Pronunciation of Vowels, Kentucky Educational Television

How do alphabets compare and contrast to logographic writing? To achieve even basic
literacy in China, four thousand logograms must be mastered; Chinese scholars must
learn more than ten thousand. This contrasts spectacularly with alphabet systems, which
require a mastery of approximately thirty graphemes. In theory, complete alphabets allow
the phonemes of speech and the graphemes of text to transcode, or correspond, in two
directions. A writer should be able to encode, or predict, the spelling of a word, given its
pronunciation. A reader should be able to decode, or predict, the pronunciation of a word,
given its spelling. However, complete alphabets rarely represent spoken language so
easily, and adjustments between sound and letter must be made. Alphabetic writing
combines and uses phonemes, morphemes, and syllables in complex ways. For example,
to understand the word fulfillments, the brain must parse the word into a number of
linguistic parameters. (Fig. 32) Some have suggested that logographic systems present a
clearer, more facile method of reading and writing than an alphabet; each sign is a gestalt,
and perceived quickly.13

105
 one complete word: fulfillments
four morphemes: ful- fill - ment -s
three syllables: ful-fill-ments
eleven individual phonemes: /I8OI,OP(QWV/
nine distinct graphemes: f–u-l-i-m-e-n-t-s
twelve total graphemes: f u l f i l l m e n t s

Fig. 32: Dividing the Word Fulfillments

Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

However, it should be remembered that Chinese logograms must be dissected into their
semantic and phonetic components, a process not unlike putting together a string of
graphemes. In fact, the acts of reading and writing across all writing systems involve the
same neurological processes. Graphemes, syllabograms, and logograms are stored and
recognized in the left occipitotemporal fissure of the brain, known to neurologists as “the
brain’s letterbox.”14 After the visual recognition of a writing symbol, graphemes,
syllabograms, or logograms fire neurologically as sounds. Once the sight and sound of a
symbol are recognized, a variety of distinct representations must be brought into contact,
such as their root words, their meaning, their sound pattern, and their motor articulation;
however, the precise pathways in the brain as symbols move to meaning are not yet fully
understood.15

Currently, there are, perhaps, 16 complete alphabets used in the world today, many of
them derivatives of the Greek or Latin alphabets.16 From the Greek alphabet come both
the Coptic alphabet, once used in Egypt, and the Cyrillic alphabet, currently used
throughout a major portion of the Slavic world. The Latin alphabet has been adapted to
serve a variety of languages, and new letters and diacritics have been created to
accommodate their specific sounds. Other alphabets derive from the specific insights of
their innovators and users. (Fig. 33) The basic modern English alphabet, a derivative of
the Latin alphabet, consists of at least fifty-two symbols. These include both upper and
lower case letters for print and cursive, ten numerals, punctuation marks, and a variety of
other symbols, such as &, %, $, ©, and @.

106
sˆ›•
Greek Cyrillic

Fraser Georgian nKo

Armenian Bassa
Tailue

Hangul

Manchu
Mongolian

Pollardmiao Thaana

Kalmyk
Fig. 33: A Sample of Alphabets of the World
-Simon Ager
“Alphabets” Omniglot
With permission

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 D. OTHER SYLLABARIES

Tifinagh, an abjad, contains no vowels. It is used by the Turages, who trace the origin of
their writing to the second century BCE, when their ancestors, the Numidians, a Semitic-
Berber people of North Africa, built a mighty empire that transcended even the
Phoenician capital of Carthage. The Numidians adopted the Phoenician alphabet and
added some of their traditional symbols as letters. Driving camel caravans for a thousand
years, the Tuarges have dominated the trade routes of the Sahara. They prefer Tifinagh to
the Arabic abjad or the Latin alphabet.17

In India, the Brahmi syllabary evolved from the North Semitic Phoenician abjad circa
500 BCE. In addition to being used to write the many dialects spoken in India, variations
of Brahmi are used to write Burmese, Cambodian, Thai, and Tibetan. Considerable
modifications have been made to suit the phonologies of these respective languages and
dialects. The notation of sound is handled in a thorough way in Brahmi; each consonant
carries an inherent vowel, and each vowel has two forms: an independent form when not
part of a consonant, and a dependent form when attached to a consonant. Consonants can
be combined through ligatures. The most prominent member of the Brahmi script family
is Devanagari, used to write several dialects of India and Nepal.18 Devanagari is
compounded from the Sanskrit words deva, god, and nagari, city, meaning city of the
gods, the city being the body of each individual human. When one meditates on a specific
sound of Devanagari, a syllable, the written form appears spontaneously in the mind.
Devanagari has 34 consonants and 12 vowels.19

The Ethiopic syllabary can be traced back to 500 BCE, when Sabeans from South Arabia
(Sheba) crossed the Red Sea and founded the Kingdom of Axum, now Ethiopia, taking
with them a South Semitic abjad. During the early fourth century CE, the 22 consonants
of the abjad took on vocalic graphemes from the Greek alphabet to notate the seven
vowel sounds of their spoken language, Ge’ez. The vowels were written as small
appendages added to the consonant letters. In its classic state, Ethiopic writing has a total
of 182 syllographs, arranged in seven columns, each column containing 26 syllographs.
Ethiopic is a knowledge-based system because it is organized to represent philosophical
features such as ideography, mnemonics, syllography, astronomy, and grammatology. It
is created to holistically symbolize and locate the cultural and historical parameters of the
Ethiopian people. Today, the Ethiopic syllabary is used to write the national language,
Feedel.20

The Vai syllabary of Liberia, a unique writing system, constitutes the first of several new
writing systems in Africa developed by native speakers to protect and promote their own
languages and cultures. Vai, a member of the Mande group of Niger-Congo languages, is
spoken by about 75 thousand people in Liberia. It is believed that Mamolu Duwalu
Bukele either invented the Vai script or transformed an ancient picto-ideographic system
into a phonetic syllabary. Or, perhaps he received the idea of a syllabary from a half-
Cherokee, half-African man who settled in Vai country around the time the Cherokee
syllabary was invented in 1821. Vai writing remains a remarkable creation because it is
easily learned and is well-suited to the Vai language. The present set of 212 symbols

108
results from simplification over the years. In spite of the presence of the Latin alphabet,
Vai writing continues to be widely used for correspondence, to codify edicts, to record
traditional tales, to keep accounts, and for translations of the Bible.21

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 E. ASIAN SYLLABARIES AND ALPHABETS

The infusion of Chinese culture and civilization throughout all of Asia was made possible
by the spread of Chinese logograms. Common writing, not common dialect, unified Asia.
However, Chinese writing was not suitable for the written expression of many Asian
languages, particularly Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. The Vietnamese alphabet
represents an adaptation of the Latin alphabet; Japanese Hirigana and Korean Hangul
were created to answer the problems caused by Chinese logograms that proved unable to
meet the requirements of the Japanese and Korean languages.22

From the ninth century CE, Vietnamese had wanted to write their literature in their own
language. They adapted Chinese characters to Vietnamese, called Nôm, or Chú Nôm,
“script of the spoken language.” Europeans arrived in Vietnam in the 16th century CE,
and, to pronounce Vietnamese, they tried writing it in the Latin alphabet. A French Jesuit
missionary, Alexandre de Rhodes, developed an efficient version of the Latin alphabet
for Vietnamese. At the turn of the 20th century, there were four writing systems in use in
Vietnam: Chinese, Nôm, French, and de Rhodes’. In the 1940s, the de Rhodes alphabet,
called Qúoc Ngú, or “national script,” was determined to be the most suitable.
Vietnamese has 11 vowels, six of which are distinguished from the other five by a
diacritic, and six tones, five of which are written with a diacritic above the vowel and one
written with a diacritic below the vowel. Both the need to position two diacritics above a
vowel and the fact that several of the diacritics are unique to Qúoc Ngú orthography
created technical problems. Today nearly all speakers of Vietnamese are literate in Qúoc
Ngú.23

The Japanese language differs radically from Chinese dialects because it consists of
polysyllabic words and contains many smaller parts of speech and grammatical
inflections absent from Chinese dialects. The adaptation of Chinese logograms to the
Japanese language was achieved through a compromise. To represent most words,
Japanese script uses Chinese logograms, known to the Japanese as kanji. Nevertheless,
kanji cannot represent Japanese grammar or smaller parts of speech. For that reason, it
became necessary to invent a way to represent them phonetically. Using simplified
Chinese characters as phonograms, two systems were developed, katakana and
hiragana. While katakana is used to notate words of foreign origin, kanji and hiragana
carry the weight of Japanese writing. Japanese words begin with Chinese logograms, and
hiragana is added for the required additional small words and grammar.24

Hangul was meticulously crafted specifically to represent the Korean language; its story
is unusual. In the 15th-century-CE, most Koreans were illiterate. The Korean language,
similar to Japanese and Vietnamese in its structure, is unsuited to logographic writing.
Writing in Chinese logograms was difficult for common people to master; moreover,
only male members of the aristocracy received the training and had the time to become
literate. Today, Korea enjoys a remarkable literacy rate of 100 percent; Hangul, for all
practical purposes an alphabet, has become the native writing system of the Korean
people. Hanja, or the Chinese logographic system as known in Korean, is rarely used,
except perhaps in newspaper headlines. Hangul was promulgated by King Sejong, one of

110
the most remarkable phoneticians of Asia. The 24 Hangul letters consist of 14 consonants
and 10 vowels. Each Hangul sign is formed within a virtual block and contains at least
two of the 24 letters. King Sejong differentiated consonants by their place of articulation
(bilabial, palatal, velar, and, glottal) and by their manner of articulation (plosives,
sibilants, and affricates). The vowels are distinguished by the principles of yin and yang;
a horizontal line reflects the yin vowels of the earth, a single point reflects the heavenly
yang vowels of the sun, and a vertical line reflects a human figure, representing the
neutral vowels standing between earth and sky. Hangul writing also incorporates an
unusual and complex feature known as vowel harmony, whereby the quality of the
middle and final vowels of a word are changed to match the quality of the initial vowel.25

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 CHAPTER VIII: THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH

A. OLD ENGLISH
Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings
won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he
throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his
mandate,
gave him gifts:
Fig. 34: Beowulf
-Translated by Niall Killoran
Courtesy of Simon Ager
“Old English” Omniglot
With permission

Let’s look at language and territory, specifically, English and England. English, a
member of the Indo-European family of languages, belongs to a sub-family of West
Germanic languages. West Germanic languages descend from Proto-German, what
historical linguists have reconstructed to represent what might have been the original
Germanic tongue. The British Isles were settled in the third century BCE by Celtic
peoples who populated a large part of Western Europe and clashed continually with
Etruscans and Romans in Europe. In the first century BCE, under Julius Caesar, Rome
occupied and set up camps in Britain.1 The story of the English language began in the
fifth century CE, when Western Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and
Friesians, settled England and southern Scotland. The Angles took their name from
Engle, their land of origin; their language was called Englisc, from which English was
forged.2 The Celts were pushed into Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany (in
France), where Celtic, or Gaelic, dialects are still spoken. Surprisingly, only twelve Celtic
words ever entered the English language!

Much of Englisc remains in modern English; Englisc forms the base and heart of modern
English, determining its fundamental sound system, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
A vocabulary of about five thousand words from Englisc forms the skeleton of modern
English; these words contain the basic vocabulary of daily life and include pronouns,
prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, household words, and the names of common
animals.3 (Fig. 35)

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 Old English Modern English
wicu week
syning king
scort short
gurs grass
eor兟 earth
deor deer
cniht knight
(boy)
bat boat
bac back
fdan feed
helpan help
sittan sit
lf life
god god
gd good
Fig. 35: Examples of Old English Vocabulary in Modern English
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
Linguistic Research Center of the College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas
Old English Online
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Many of the “irregular” features of modern English grammar may be traced to Englisc
vowel shifting; a simple shift of vowel sound could create the plural form of a noun, the
past tense or past participle form of a verb, or the comparative form of an adjective;
vowel shifting could change a part of speech, e.g., a noun could become a verb. Examples
include goose/geese, tooth/teeth, mouse/mice, louse/lice, man/men, old/elder, long/length,
food/feed/ whole/heal, see/saw/seen, sing/sang/sung, take/took/taken, and
give/gave/given.4 In this way, vowel sounds acted as grammatical morphemes in Englisc,
much as they do in languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, which are written syllabically.

Much of modern English differs importantly from Englisc. Unfortunately, the

pronunciation of Englisc would be unintelligible to speakers of modern English.
Although the sound of Englisc has not been heard for perhaps over a thousand years,
scholars have attempted to reconstruct the pronunciation of Englisc from various sources,
including what we know of Latin pronunciation, comparisons with modern Germanic
languages, and the accentuation and quantity of syllables in Old Norse poetry, such as
Beowulf. 5 (Fig. 36)

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 Vowels Consonants

Englisc sounded Englisc sounded

IPA IPA
grapheme like grapheme like

a /D/ hot F /N/ cold

ae /4/ bat & /W6/ church

e /H/ ate FJ /G=/ judge

i /L/ eat I /I//Y/ fee, visit

ie /,/ it J /J//J+/ go, huff

o /R/ oat Ƥ /M//1/ yell, king

u /X/ ooze K /;//W6/ harsh, chime

y German fuse V /V//]/ sin, zoo
über
VF /6/ shoe

Þ/ð /7//'/ ether, the

Fig. 36: The Sounds of Old English
-Peter S. Baker
An Introduction to Old English (2003)
Vowels 2.1.1, p. 11
Consonants 2.2.2, p. 14
With permission

A wealth of contributions from other languages has been grafted onto the basic
lexicon of English. Languages that have contributed words to English include German,
Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Italian, Malay, Dutch, Farsi,
Sioux, Inuit, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi, and Ewe; their contributions have made
English the richest of the world’s languages. Words borrowed from these languages
include names of animals (e.g., giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (e.g., pajama, turban,
shawl), foods (e.g., spinach, chocolate, orange), scientific and mathematical terms (e.g.,
algebra, geography, species), drinks (e.g., tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (e.g., Jesus,
Islam, nirvana), sports (e.g., checkmate, golf, billiards), vehicles (e.g., chariot, car,
coach), music and art (e.g., piano, theatre, easel), weapons (e.g., pistol, trigger, rifle),
political and military terms (e.g., commando, admiral, parliament), and astronomical
names (e.g., Saturn, Leo, Uranus).6

Unlike contemporary English, Englisc was a highly inflected language and depended
upon noun, pronoun, and adjective declension and verb conjugation. Englisc used three
genders and four cases to decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. Its verbs were
conjugated by person, number, and tense. (Figs. 37 a,b, and c) Nevertheless, Englisc was
not “free form.” Patterns of word order governed Englisc. SVO (subject-verb object)
word order and OVS (object-verb-subject) word order were both common. The verb
often began a clause and initial placement of the main verb still occurs today in questions

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with the verb be, such as Are you sleeping? If an independent clause was introduced by
an adverb, the verb was placed first.7 Placing the verb before the subject still occurs in
modern English with cleft sentences, using the constructions there is/there are, such as
There are plenty of fish in the sea.

a. Nouns in Old English

singular case plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
name ear sun name ear sun
naman eare sunne nominative naman earan sunnan
naman earan sunnan accusative naman earan sunnan
namen earan sunnan genitive namena earena sunnena
namam earan sunnan dative namun earum sunnun

b. Pronouns in Old English

case singular plural
nominative I I w we
accusative me, mec me us us
genitive min my ure our
Dative e me us us

c. The verb BE in Old English

Singular plural
Person all persons
1st eon I am
2nd eart you are sind are
3rd is he/she is
Fig. 37: Old English Inflection
-Peter S. Baker
An Introduction to Old English (2003): p. 34-40
With permission

In the ninth and 10th centuries CE, Norsemen invaded the British Isles. These were the
Vikings, who spoke Old Norse, another offspring of Proto-German. Old Norse and
Englisc were most likely mutually comprehensible, for they carried similar lexemes. For
example, sister was sweostor in Englisc and systir in Old Norse, and both Old Norse and
Englisc used hross for horse.8 However, their inflectional morphemes were dissimilar. To
facilitate communication, declensions of nouns and adjectives and conjugations of verbs
were simplified. Eventually, English grammar lost most inflection. Today, English
inflection is limited to personal pronouns and adjectives and eight grammatical
morphemes. We rely on word order to inform us what words are doing to each other.
(Chapt. VIII, D)

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 B. MIDDLE ENGLISH

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heath
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
–Geoffrey Chaucer
Canterbury Tales, Prologue

The Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066 CE divided English society between the native
Saxons and the Norman invaders, pitting the Norman, French-speaking conquerors
against the Saxon commoners who spoke Englisc. The conquest of England by the
Normans was a cataclysmic event that signaled the beginning of Middle English. While
the Saxons continued to use Englisc, Norman French became the powerful language of
government, jurisprudence, and social prestige. Legal and scholarly literature from this
period was written in either Norman French or Latin. It wasn’t until the 14th century that
the English language regained its preeminent position in Britain when, in 1399, King
Henry IV became the first king of England since the conquest whose mother tongue was
English.9

The changes in the English language brought about by the Normans created what
language historians call Middle English; Middle English lasted through the writing of
Chaucer. It lies beyond the scope of this book to examine all the changes in the English
language that ensued because of the Norman invasion; suffice it to say that the English
lexicon was augmented by 10 thousand additional French words! Life experiences could
be described on a two-tiered level in either Old English or Norman French; the choice of
vocabulary mirrored the social stratification between Normans and Saxons. For example,
Saxons provided food and cooked for Norman nobles; therefore, the Englisc terms for
domesticated and hunted animals, such as ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine, and deer, were
used when describing work related to farming, animal husbandry, or hunting. French-
derived words, such as beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, poultry, and venison, were
adopted to describe the more genteel experience of dining. While Saxons lived in houses

116
and slept in rooms, Normans lived in mansions and slept in chambers. Norman words for
sensory experiences included vision and odor, while the Saxon equivalents included sight
and smell. Normans closed doors and windows; Saxons shut them. Normans demanded
and responded; Saxons asked and answered.10

The profound changes that resulted from the mixture of French and Englisc are echoed in
the English of today. Some vowels shifted slightly from Englisc in the way they were
pronounced. For example, there was a diphthongization of /H/ and /H:/ before the sounds
/K/ or /[/, a glottal fricative found in German (e.g., Bach). That sounds complicated, but
consider these familiar words: the Englisc word ehta came to be pronounced as eight,
streht came to be pronounced as straight, and heh came to be pronounced as high.11 The
pronunciation of middle /O/ was dropped from many words (e.g., calf and half).
Strangely, in some French words, such as faute, a middle /O/ was added, creating the
modern fault.12 Saxon plurals, such as housen and shoen, were replaced by the French
plural marker, -s, becoming houses and shoes. Ultimately, only a few Englisc words
retained their Saxon plural form; these include men, women, oxen, and children.13

In writing, Normans disregarded traditional Englisc symbols and transcribed Englic, as

they heard it, with the Latin alphabet. The French distinguished the voiceless and voiced
pair /I/ and /Y/, creating the differences between wife and wives and life and lives. New
symbols from the Latin alphabet, such as g and th, replaced the Futhark and Irish uncial
symbols used in Old English. The Latinate qu replaced the Old English cw, and words
such as cween became queen.14

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 C. MODERN ENGLISH

And such a one doe I professe my selfe, — for sir,

It is as sure as you are Roderigo, Were I the Moore, I would not be Iago
In following him, I follow but my selfe.
Heauen is my iudge, not I,
For loue and duty, but seeming so,
For my peculiar end.
For when my outward action does demonstrate
The natiue act, and figure of my heart,
In complement externe, tis not long after,
But I will weare my heart vpon my sleeue,
For Doues to pecke at,
I am not what I am.
–William Shakespeare
Othello, Quarto 1, 1622

Sound changes occur continuously in every language; dialects evolve as generations of

speakers modify pronunciation. However, the Great Vowel Shift changed the
pronunciation of English vowels in a time frame stretching only half a century, between
the years 1400 and 1450, just after Chaucer’s death. The changes in pronunciation of
English at this time illustrate how the irregularities and difficulties of English
orthography came to be and serve to prove that such “irregularities” turn out to be quite
regular and rule-governed. A complete explanation of the processes that swept the
English countryside lies beyond the scope of this book, but we can begin with familiar
ground: the vowel sounds as they are currently taught through phonics lessons in our
schools as the long and short vowels.

The Great Vowel Shift involved a rule-governed movement of the places of the
articulation of the vowels pronounced as hay, he, high, hoe, and hue, referred to in
phonics lessons as the long vowel sounds. I like to point out that these are the sounds of
the vowels in the English alphabet as recited by children, the familiar A, E, I, O, and U.
These vowel sounds contrast with pat, pet, pit, pot, and put, referred to in phonics lessons
as the short vowel sounds, which are, importantly, not found in the recitation of the
alphabet.

Let’s reconsider these vowel classifications. A more accurate description would be to

refer to the long vowel sounds as diphthongs, a merging of the sounds of two vowels;
they occur in stressed syllables. The short vowel sounds represent monophthongs, or
single, simple vowel sounds; they occur in unstressed syllables. The Great Vowel Shift
affected the pronunciation of long vowel sounds, or dipthongs.15 (Fig. 38)

118
, Fig. 7
Diphthongs Monophthongs
/HL/ ate /4/ bat
/LM/ eat /(/ egg
/DL/ ice, my /,/ itch
/DX/ out /D/ hot
/MX/ you /8/ foot
/oL/ boy // under
/X/ ooze
/R/ open
/o/ awe

Fig. 38: Diphthongs and Monophthongs in Modern English

Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

If you refer to the IPA vowel triangle (Chapt. III, Fig. 7) and compare it with the vowel
movement in the Great Vowel Shift (Fig. 39), you will notice that the front vowels
moved up one notch in pronunciation. For example, in the front vowels, what had been
pronounced as /H/ became /L/, explaining why see is pronounced /VL/ and he is
pronounced /KL/. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the name of the grazing animal,
once pronounced as shape became sheep. The highest vowel, /L/, fell into center vowels
of the vowel triangle and came to be pronounced as the diphthong /DL/, which explains
why bike is pronounced /EDLN/. Likewise, the back vowels each moved up one notch.
The roundest vowel, /X/, fell into the center of the vowel triangle and was pronounced as
the midvowel diphthong /DX/, which explains why hus became house.

Position Level Shift Modern Pronunciations

HIGH /L/ ---> /DL/ sheep
MID /H/ ---> /L/ she
FRONT VOWELS
LOW /4/ ---> /H/(later) --> /L/ meet
LOW /D/ ---> /HL/ maid
HIGH /X/ ---> /DX/ mouse
BACK VOWELS MID /R/ ---> /X/ boot
LOW
/o/ ---> /R/  sew
Fig. 39: Vowel Movement in the Great Vowel Shift
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

These changes in pronunciation were accomplished through several linguistic processes.

(1) Compensatory lengthening created a diphthong from a monothong. For example,
the /J/ in the word magde became /M/, elongating the vowel to a diphthong, /DL/, and the

119
word was pronounced as maid. (2) The final e, which was pronounced in Middle
English, became silent; eventually, it functioned to shift the sound of the first vowel in a
word from a monothong to a diphthong. This phenomenon is found in myrad words, such
as pike, site, take, cake, and use. (3) Vowel laxing shifted a vowel from tense to lax;
16
/ELW/, beet, became /E,W/, bit.

At the same time that the Great Vowel Shift was changing English pronunciation, the
printing press surfaced as a cataclysmic technological innovation. Hand-penned scrolls
and codices had been scarce and precious, available only to the wealthy nobility or the
church, but now a new emerging middle class, the bourgeoisie, hungry and ready for
literacy, could gain access to multiple copies of text. For the first time in history, literacy
became available to a general population! To meet the needs of this new technology,
Richard Mulcaster codified the first governance of English spelling in his 1582
publication Elementarie.17 Mulcaster’s orthography was derived largely from Middle
English pronunciation; therefore, English printers continued to regulate their spelling
according to the norms of Middle English pronunciation and ignored the shift in the
pronunciation of the English language that was exploding around them. This unfortunate
disconnect between language change and technology remains the cause of many of the
spelling peculiarities of English today. Spellings that approximate Middle English
pronunciation have been retained in Modern English orthography, where they seem
nonsensical and continue to complicate alphabetic regularity and compound the
ambiguity of the relationship between symbol and sound.

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 D. INFLECTION AND WORD ORDER
(demonstrative) + (adjective phrase) + noun
(the) (smart) boy, boys, (those) chairs
noun phrase
pronoun
I, he, she, it, we, you, they
(intensifier) + adjective
adjective phrase
(very) poor
auxiliary verb + main verb
has eaten
verb phrase
The main verb is always preceded by an auxiliary verb.
John does eat, John has eaten, John is eating, John will eat, etc.
(intensifier) + adverb
adverb phrase
(extremely) fast
prepositional preposition + noun phrase
phrase to the store
subject + verb phrase + (object/complement)
clause, simple Mary has been elected (class president).
sentence Bob likes (ice cream).
This apple is (red).
clause + subordinator + clause
complex sentence After I exercise, I feel relaxed.
I feel relaxed after I exercise.
clause + conjunction + clause
compound sentence
John likes soup but Mary likes salad.
Fig. 40: Contemporary English Word Order
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Today, the blueprint of English lies in its word order. When I taught Linguistics 101 to
undergraduates, I found that most of my students understood the meaning of SVO word
order: subject/transitive verb/object. English generally shows the subject and the object
of the verb by their position relative to the verb; the subject of the verb comes before the
verb; the object follows it, e.g., The girl saw the dog. An English speaker knows that the
sentence does not mean The dog saw the girl because girl precedes the verb, and dog
follows the verb.

My students were less familiar with the concept of SVC word order: subject/linking
verb/complement: John seems unhappy, or Mary was elected president of the senior
class. Unhappy and president do not function as objects; they refer to the subject and are
known as complements. English shows the subject and the complement by their position
relative to the verb; the subject precedes the verb; the complement follows the verb.

Of course, my students constructed any and all English phrases, clauses, and sentences
with no problem; however, they were surprised to learn that all English phrases, clauses,
and sentences are governed by word order. (Fig. 40)

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 The small boy looked nervous.
I was very tired before you arrived home.
John gave a bracelet to his wife on her
birthday.
Jack and Barbara worked late into the
evening.
Jane, please bring me a cup of coffee.
We went to the beach last summer.

Fig. 41: Noun Phrases

Chart created by Lucy Silver

English German Greek Latin Russian Sanskrit

Vocative Vocative Vocative Vocative
Nominative Nominative Nominative Nominative Nominative Nominative
Genitive Genitive Genitive Genitive Genitive Genitive
Accusative Accusative Accusative Accusative Accusative Accusative
Dative Dative Dative Dative Dative
Ablative Ablative
Instrumental Instrumental
Locative Locative
The vocative: used to address a person.
The nominative: the subject of a sentence.
The genitive: possession or source.
The accusative: the direct object of a sentence or motion towards.
The dative: the indirect object of a sentence.
The ablative: motion away from
The instrumental: the agent for the passive voice.
The locative: location.
Fig. 42: The Cases of Noun Declination in Indo-European Languages
-Kelly L. Ross
“Knowing Words in Indo-European Languages” Linguistics
Friesian

Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and demonstratives all form noun phrases. Noun phrases are
centered around a noun or pronoun and may contain an adjective phrase and/or a
determiner. A noun phrase may perform a number of functions in a sentence. It may
serve as the subject or object of a verb phrase, the object of a prepositional phrase, or an
indirect object of a verb phrase. It may indicate location, possession, or serve to address
someone. (Fig. 41)

In an inflected language, noun phrases are declined by using grammatical morphemes to

indicate person (first, second, or third), number (singular or plural), gender (masculine,
feminine, or neuter), and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental,
ablative, locative, or vocative). The case serves to clarify the grammatical function of the
noun phrase in the sentence. (Fig. 42) All elements within a noun phrase must agree with

122
each other; the declination of the Latin noun, stella, exemplifies the morphemic changes
a noun experiences. (Fig. 43) English has become a relatively uninflected language; the
components of a noun phrase are not declined, but are word ordered. The single
exceptions can be found in the personal pronouns and adjectives in today’s English. (Fig.
44)

Case singular plural meaning

A star is shining.
The star is shining brightly.
nominative subject stella stellae
The stars are very bright
tonight.
The birth of a star
genitive possessive stellae stellarum The star’s planets
Of the star’s classification
Planets create changes to
dative indirect object stellae stellis
the star’s color spectrum.
How do we study stars?
accusative direct object stellam stellas The rocket is going to the
stars.
The early navigators
ablative relation stellá stellis
traveled by the stars.
Fig. 43: Feminine Latin Nouns, -a (stella)
Chart created by Lucy Silver

nominative objective possessive reflexive possessive

adjective pronoun pronoun
Singular
1st I me my myself mine
2nd you you your yourself yours
3rd he him his himself his
(hisself)*
she her her herself hers
it it its itself its
Plural
1st we us our ourselves ours
2nd you you your yourselves yours
3rd they them their themselves theirs
* African-American dialect
Fig. 44: Personal Pronouns and Adjectives in Contemporary English
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Verbs are also formed in phrases. Finite verb phrases are centered around a main verb
and constitute the predicate of every clause. In an inflected language, finite verb phrases
are conjugated by person (first, second, or third), number (singular or plural), tense and
aspect (temporal relationship of events), and mood (conditional, possible, probable,
obligatory, etc.).18

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A comparison of the highly conjugated verb system of Latin and the less conjugated but
more complex English system is presented below. (Figs. 45, 46) In English, every finite
verb phrase contains a main verb and an auxiliary verb, do, have, be, or a modal.

present imperfect future perfect

amo amábáo amábo amáví
I love I used to love I shall love I loved
amás amábás amábis amávistí
you love you used to love you will love you loved
amat amábat amábit amávit
he/she loves he used to love he/she will love he loved
amámus amábámus amábimus amávimus
we love we used to love we shall love we loved
amátis amábátis amábitis amávistis
you love you used to love you will love you loved
amant amábant amábunt amávérunt
they love they used to love they will love they loved
Fig. 45: Latin Verbs, -are (amare)
Chart created by Lucy Silver

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 simple continuous perfect
do be have
+ basic form + present participle + past participle
(-s, -ed) (-ing) (-en, -ed)
present past
present past present past
(-s) (-ed)
do/does did am/is/are was/were have/has had
work work working working worked worked
(works) (worked)
conditional, subjunctive future
am/is/are
or
will/shall simple present
modal was/were
+basic form with adverbial
+ basic form + going
+ infinitive
simple present past implicit
can, could, may, might,
shall/will am/is/are was/were I work
must, should, would
work going going tomorrow
work
to work to work

continuous perfect continuous alternative modal

imperfect past
modals modals forms
modal
modal
have
+ be
would used +been have ought
+-ing
+ basic + +- ing + to be + to be
form infinitive future or + -ing +- ing
future or conditional
conditional
perfect continuous
continuous

should/may/
should/may/
might/would/
might/would/
could/can/ have ought
would used could/can/
will/shall/must to be to be
work to work will/shall/must
have working working
be
been
working
working

Fig. 46: The Conjugation of English Verbs

Chart created by Lucy Silver

This chapter may be summed up by acknowledging that all Indo-European languages are
highly inflected languages. However, save for its personal pronouns and adjectives and
the eight grammatical morphemes, English has lost its inflections. (Fig. 47)

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 -s plural of nouns apples
-s possessive of nouns John’s
-s 3rd person singular of verbs sees
-ing present participle of verbs going
-en, -ed past participle of verbs eaten, rated
-ed past tense of verbs wanted
-er comparative of adjectives, adverbs slower
-est superlative of adjectives, adverbs slowest
Fig. 47: The Eight Grammatical Morphemes in Contemporary English
Chart created by Lucy Silver

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 CHAPTER IX: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH
ALPHABET

A. THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET

Letters have leapt from language to language throughout history.

-David Sachs
Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of our Alphabet from A to Z

Literacy in Standard Common English may be measured by the degree of control a writer
demonstrates over the abnormalities inherited from its history. Some of the abnormalities
in Modern English, such as irregular plurals, past-tense verbs, and past participles, stem
from the development of the sounds of English and its grammar. Other aberrant,
irregular, and problematic features of writing in the English alphabet are inherited from
its predecessors, the Runic, Greek, Etruscan, Latin, and Unical alphabets.

Neither Englisc nor Old Norse was written with Latin graphemes. People who spoke Old
Germanic languages carved magical symbols known as Futhark, which can still be found
in Bronze Age rock carvings in Sweden. Futhark symbols were merged with North Italic
graphemes from a version of the Etruscan alphabet and became the Germanic Futhark
alphabet, or Runes. The original Germanic Futhark alphabet consisted of 24 graphemes,
but some symbols were added to accommodate Englisc, creating the alphabet known as
Anglo-Saxon Futhark.1 (Fig. 48) Conversion to Christianity brought Roman Unicals to
the British Isles; unicals were a square-shaped, unrounded, version of the Latin alphabet.
(Chapt. IX, C) Anglo-Saxon Futhark was widely used until the Norman Invasion.2

Fig. 48: Anglo-Saxon Futhark (Runes)

-Simon Ager
“Runic” Omniglot
With permission

127
 B. THE GREEK, ETRUSCAN, AND LATIN ALPHABETS:
THE LEGACY OF DIGRAPHS, DIPHONES, AND BI-FORMS

Let’s consider consonant sounds. It makes sense to intuit that a single consonant
grapheme would represent one consonant phoneme, but writing phonemes proves to be
more complex. Two consonant graphemes may combine to represent a single phoneme,
creating a diagraph. For example, the thorn, /'/, was a Futhark grapheme used to write a
particularly Englisc phoneme, the sound found in determinatives such as the, this, that,
these, and those. The Norman French found it necessary to represent the sound with two
graphemes, -th.3 Conversely, one consonant grapheme may represent, or blend, two
distinct consonant phonemes, forming a diphone. For example, the English letter, x,
represents two phonemes, /N/ and /V/. Diagraphs and diphones are found in the Greek
alphabet, which includes five diphones and four diagraphs. English orthography contains,
arguably, two diphones and eleven digraphs. Objections may be made to any attempts to
classify the affricates, /G=/ and /W6/, or the syllabic /1/. (Fig. 49)

Greek Diphones Greek Digraphs

&chiropractor /E/ PS (mu + pi)
)pharmacy /G/QW(nu + tau)
Ttheology
/J/JNgamma + kappa)
;xenophobia
<psychology /WV/ WV(tau + sigma)
English Diphones
grapheme phoneme examples
X /NV/ tax, relax
j or soft g * /G=/ judge, jump, jury, gentle, giant
English Digraphs
grapheme phoneme examples
sh /6/ shine, rush, sheen
ch** /W6/  choice, kitchen, teach
th /7/ thunder ,ether, fifth
th /'/  the, this, that, weather writhe
kn /n/ knight
gn /n/ gnu
ng*** /1/ king, sing, wrong
wh /Â/ which, where, what
ck /N/ kick, lick, slick, slack
gh /I/ rough, tough, cough
ph /I/ philosophy, pharmacy
* /G=/ is represented in English by the single graphemes, j and g;
**/W6/ is represented in English by ch, two consecutive graphemes.
***/1/, a nasal, is linguistically classified as a syllable and contains the qualities of a vowel.
Fig. 49: Diphones and Digraphs
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

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Many people seem unaware that digraphs must not be confused with consonant blends.
Every language contains its own rules of tactile permissibility, a term used by linguists
to describe which consonants may blend or “touch “one another. English rules of tactile
permissibility come from our language ancestors, German, Latin, and Greek. English
speakers are unconsciously able to red-flag non-English consonant combinations, such as
dgat, or bhkit. Please refer to Chapt. III, Fig. 6, to follow the rules below.
x A fricative may precede an unvoiced stop (e.g., steak, spell, skill).
x A fricative may precede a liquid (e.g., freak, sleep, fleece, shrink, slink).
x The approximate /Z/ may follow the alveolar fricative /V/ (e.g., swim, swing).
x A stop may precede a liquid (e.g., creep, clap, play, pray, break, drink, gleam).
x A fricative may precede a stop and a liquid (e.g., sclerosis, strike).

The Latin alphabet, a blend of the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, evolved around 800
BCE. Of the original 26 original Etruscan graphemes, the Romans adopted 21; thus, the
original Latin alphabet inherited orthographic complications from the Etruscan alphabet.4
(Figs. 50, 51) The Etruscan and original Latin alphabet help to explain the anomalies
found in English graphemes that form bi-forms, or symbols that can represent two
different sounds when they occur in different environments. In both the Etruscan and
Latin systems, the grapheme C was derived from the shape of the Greek letter gamma,
*and became a bi-form, a symbol that represented two different sounds, /J/ and /N/, in
different environments.5 (Fig. 52)

Fig 50:The Etruscan Alphabet

-Simon Ager
“Etruscan” Omniglot
With permission

Fig. 51: The Ancient Latin Alphabet

-Simon Ager
“Latin”Omniglot
With permission

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Before long A:, /D/, C was sounded as /J/, e.g., CAIUS /JDMXV/.
Before high vowels such as /L/, /H/, /( /, /DL/, and /4/, the short A, C was sounded as /k/,
e.g., CIVIS /NLYLV/, CENTUM /N(QWXP/, CATO /N4WR/, and CAESAR /NDLVDU/.
When followed by the grapheme V, the phoneme /N/ was written with Q, e.g., QVIS
/NZLV/ and QVID /NZ,G/. QV always represented the sound /NZ/.
The Latin V later became the modern u.
Fig. 52: Bi-Forms in the Roman World
Chart created by Lucy Silver

In today’s English, our bi-forms reflect this history.6 Note that the explanations and
examples are complex. (Fig. 53)

g and j as /G=/
1. /G=/ from Latin: Followed by high vowels /L/, /DL/, /e/ or /(/: general, gentle, giant.
2. /G=/ from Greek: gypsy and gyro followed by a Greek Y, pronounced respectively as
/,/ and /D,/. George, from the Greek

 , gergos (farmer), assumes a soft g. The
vowel is sounded as /R/ in English.
3. /G=/ with j: followed by low or back vowels: judge, jug, jump, June, Jane, January;
followed by high vowels: jeep, Jesus, jip, jitters, jet, Jennifer, Jeffrey.
4. /J/ always with low or back vowels: go, gut, aggregate, or good.
5. /J/ from Englisc: followed by high vowels /L/,/,/, /DL/, /e/ or /(/: geese, give, get, gift
Note: The letter j was added to the alphabet much later as variant of the letter i.
c as /N/ and /V/
1. /V/: Before the high vowels /L/, /,/, /H/, and /(/: Latinate words such as ceiling, cent,
and cistern.
2. The rule “i before e except after c,” was a practice that originated from the formation
of Latin diphthongs and ligatures: piece, but receive, perceive, or deceive.
From Englisc, e precedes i and came to be pronounced as /H/: neighbor, weigh.
3. /N/ From Englisc: followed by a high vowel (/L/, /,/, /DL/, /e/ or /(/): kiss, kite, kettle,
king, key, keep.
4. /F/ always with low or back vowels: cause, cope, cape, cut, or coop. The grapheme
k may not be followed by low or back vowels; words such as kangaroo are borrowed.
qu as /NZ/
Q, sounding like /N/, must always be followed by u (/X/), as it was written with the
Latin symbols QV. Examples include quick, queen, queer, or quiet,
Note: U is a later variant of V.
Fig. 53: Bi-Forms in Contemporary English
Chart created by Lucy Silver

130
 C. WRITING ENGLISH

Writing that is full of errors is not only difficult to read, but may be
misinterpreted if you have failed to provide clarity of meaning through the
use of correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
-http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com

In the ancient world, readers worked through large blocks of majuscule letters with no
boundaries between words, phrases, or clauses.7 Experienced readers read outloud and
provided sense and meaning to text by pausing after each phrase and adding intonation
Regulatory improvements governing English writing have been in place since the 17th
century. The most important components include the space left blank between words, the
double spacing between paragraphs, punctuation, knowledge and use of print and cursive,
and the uppercase letter written at the beginning of a sentence, a proper name, or a
title.8These processes, learned in school, make reading and writing comprehensible, but
are all taken for granted. Word separation, minuscule letters, clear print or cursive, and
regulated punctuation serve to decode and decipher text and speed up the processes of
reading and writing. However, these elements surfaced slowly and gradually in the
history of writing development. Some highlights of the history of English writing
regulations are roughly presented in this section.

The Church of Rome gave the Latin alphabet to the newly-converted. With the advent of
Christianity to the British Isles in the fourth century CE, Irish monks began to pen
manuscripts on smooth parchment and velum surfaces. The monks wrote in Irish
uncials, based, in part, on the Latin alphabet, initiating a number of remarkable
improvements in writing; they separated words and included punctuation marks such as
the period, comma, and semicolon.9 Reading was, therefore, made easier because text
was broken into comprehensible units. Irish monks eventually devised Irish half uncials,
which assumed some characteristics of majuscule and some characteristics of minuscule
forms and approximated our current use of the uppercase and lowercase alphabet.10 (Fig.
54) Half uncials are spectacularly exemplified in the Book of Kells, with each word
carefully separated and even decorated with animals!

Diphones
Fig. 54: Irish Unicals
-Simon Ager
“Irish” Omniglot
With permission

131
In the meantime, the Latin alphabet had evolved. J was added as a variant of the Latin I,
and u became a rounded variant of the Latin V. W, a double-V, came to distinguish the
sounds /Y/ and /Z/. From the Greek alphabet, Y, a vowel symbol retained by the Romans,
became a Greek I. In English, y came to be used as the vowel /DL/, as in the word my. It
also functioned to diphthongize a vowel, e.g., you, yellow, and yacht.11

During the eighth and ninth centuries CE in Western Europe, writers of the Carolingian
Renaissance combined various continental minuscule scripts and Irish half unicals to
create a script that was uniform, rounded, disciplined, and legible. Minuscules and
majuscules were clearly distinguished, and spaces between words became the Standard.
Ligatures, widely used in other writing systems, were greatly diminished, and modern
glyphs began to appear, particularly the shapes of s and v (written in other scripts as  and
u) and the lower-case dotted i.12 Carolingian script spread throughout Western Europe, as
far east as modern Slovenia. The Carolingian Renaissance boasted scholars of antiquity
who sought out and copied many forgotten Roman and Greek texts into the new, legible,
Standardized writing. In fact, most of our knowledge of classical literature from ancient
Greece and Rome derives from copies made in the scriptoria of Charlemagne. The
Western European Renaissance was introduced to the writings of the ancients through
these penned texts and modeled its penmanship on Carolingian script. In turn,
Carolingian script was passed on to the printing press, becoming the basis of our modern
typefaces!13 However, all of these changes achieved Standardization only after the
invention of the printing press.

Inspired by classical Arabic script, which joins one letter to another in a continuous
flowing line, the graphemes in our alphabet gradually assumed an additional cursive
form. Arabic cursive requires that each letter have four forms, depending on whether the
letter is written in isolation, at the beginning of a word, in the middle of a word, or at the
close of a word.14 In English cursive, similar adjustments were made to allow letters to be
connected to one another. In the 17th century, a cursive style known as Secretary hand
was the first English cursive widely used for both personal correspondence and official
documents in England.15 However, it was not until the latter half of the 19th century that
modern connections of cursive letters became Standardized. Standard cursive forms
married the art of writing and Standard literacy; a graceful, legible cursive became the
hallmark of a literate person. However, in the 1960s, cursive writing instruction was
deemed to be more difficult than it needed to be, and, for the most part, has disappeared.
Handwriting has been de-emphasized in schools and has generally been reserved for
special situations with a writing component. Even these “special situations” are
disappearing and falling out of favor, and many children and young adults no longer use
cursive at all.16

Word separation and the distinction between and use of minuscules and majuscules assist
importantly in reading and writing. So, too, does punctuation. The process of pausing has
been synchronized in human speech to create sense; each language has determined how
pauses assist in denoting meaning. In English, we pause at designated times during a
conversation so that phrases, linguistically defined as groups of words that belong

132
together, such as an adjective and noun, will not be separated. We breathe between
clauses to indicate that a statement has been uttered and finalized. We breathe between
and after elements of a list of like items in a manner that both separates them and links
them together. Intonation assists in the recognition of emphasis, and distinguishes
between a question and an answer. Punctuation represents an effort to mark the breathing
spaces, pauses, and intonation that occur naturally in speech and make speech intelligible.
Punctuation renders and translates what makes speech intelligible into something that
makes writing intelligible. With the printing press, elements of literacy that had not been
Standardized, especially punctuation, required regulation. William Caxton, the premier
printer of England, used only three punctuation marks: the stroke (/) divided word
groups, the colon (:) marked long pauses, and the period (.) marked the end of sentences
and brief pauses.17 An example of Caxton’s punctuation in The Book of the Craft of
Dying and other English Tracts Concerning Death is provided by Greg Hill.

The thyrde temptation that the deuyl maketh to theym that deye.
is by Impayence:
that is ayenste charyte/
For by charyte ben holden to loue god abouve alle thynges.
-Frances M. M. Comper (editor)
The Book of the Craft of Dying and Other English Tracts Concerning Death
Anthology of the writings of Caxton, Seuse, and Congreve, 1917, p. 12
Caxton’s punctuation provided by Greg Hill in Greg’s Weekly Column

At the present time, there exist (perhaps) eleven traditional Standard punctuation marks.18
(Fig. 55)

The period (.) marks the end of a sentence or an abbreviation.

The semicolon (;) separates related dependent clauses. In a long, complex sentence, it may
precede a coordinate conjunction.
The comma (,) can separate clauses, phrases, and particles, mark non-restrictive adjectivials, or
mark adverbials moved.from their original position.
The exclamation (!) marks surprise.
The interrogation (?) marks a question.
The apostrophe (') marks elisions of speech or the possessive case.
Quotation marks (" ") define either quoted words or words used with special emphasis or
significance.
Interpolations in a sentence are marked by various forms of brackets [ ] or ( ) parenthesis.
The colon (:) indicates the beginning of a list, summary, or quotation. It marks a transition point
of the sentence.
The dash (--) marks abruptness or irregularity.
The hyphen (-) divides words that do not fit on a justified page and hyphenated compound
words.
Fig. 55: Punctuation in Contemporary English
-Encyclopedia Britannica (2010)
“Punctuation in English since 1600” Punctuation

133
The most problematic marks, the comma and the hyphen, require extensive explanation.
The comma in any notation, including music, indicates a pause, or breath, yet the comma
represents the most commonly misused mark of punctuation. (Fig. 56)

Commas separate equal words, phrases, and clauses.

Jane went to bed late, woke up early, and arrived at work on time.
I enjoy singing, swimming, biking, and walking.
John ordered soup, but Mary decided on salad.
Commas mark unique references, non-restrictive adjectivials.
Chicago, a city in the Midwest, is the third largest city in the United States.
Fort Worth, where the murder took place, was filled with members of the press.
Mary Jones, a third grade teacher, planned the school picnic.
My grandmother, who is ninety years old, lives in Milwaukee.
Commas are not used with non-unique references.
My grandmother who is ninety-years old lives in New York. My grandmother who is
eighty-eight lives in San Antonio.
Commas indicate adverbial movement.
I vacuumed after I dusted. After I dusted, I vacuumed.
I went home because I was tired. Because I was tired, I went home.
Commas are used with ablatives.
Having eaten, Jane retired to bed.
Commas are used in quoting.
The crowd shouted, “Yes, we can!”
Commas are not used in indirect quoting.
John said that he would fly to New York on Saturday.
Fig. 56: The Comma in Contemporary English Punctuation
Chart created by Lucy Silver

The hyphen deserves special mention. Hyphens function to separate or compound words
or morphemes. Hyphen use is regulated, but not all issues regarding word separation or
word compounding have been completely resolved. In word separation, words are
generally divided by syllables; however, words must be divided morphemically, by root
word, prefix, and/or suffix. Exceptions exist. For example, record (a verb) is divided as
re-cord. When a noun is formed, a syllabic, not morphemic, division is permitted; record
(a noun) may be divided as rec-ord. In word compounding, the issues remain even more
complex. Open words remain unhyphenated, e.g., real estate, hyphenated words are
written with hyphens, e.g., mass-produced, while solid words are joined, e.g., makeup.
Yet, some words remain in flux, e.g., good will, good-will, or goodwill.19 Additional rules
about hyphen usage suggest that hyphens may be used with compounds to form a single
adjective before a noun (e.g., a well-known actor), but are not used when the adjective
serves as a complement in the predicate (e.g., The actor is well known).20

The rules of capitalization and punctuation today remain wide open to change. Some new
punctuation signals include the smiley face (-), combinations of punctuation marks (!?),
and new uses of capitalization (BTW, FYI).

134
UNIT III: THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERACY

135
 CHAPTER X: THE FABRIC OF LITERACY

A. THE RELIGIOUS FABRIC OF LITERCY

And the word was made flesh…

-John 1:14
The New Testament

Religions Writing Systems

Roman Catholic
Latin alphabet
Protestant
Greek/Cyrillic alphabets
Eastern Orthodox
Mixed Latin and Cyrillic alphabets
Sunni
Arabic abjad
Shia
Judaism Hebrew abad
Hinduism
Brahmic abjad
Buddhism
Chinese philosophies Chinese logographic
Shinto and Buddhism Mixed logo-syllabographic systems
Traditional and Tribal --
Tribal and Christian Latin alphabet
Tribal, Christian, and Muslim Mixed Latin/Arabic systems
Fig. 57: The Religions and Writing Systems of the World
Chart created by Lucy Silver

All sociocultural institutions, the political, legal, economic, and artistic structures of
civilizations, have recorded their accomplishments in writing and have been instrumental
in the development and dispersion of literacy throughout the world. Kings have had their
triumphs and conquests carved on obelisks, their laws codified on clay tablets, and their
treaties sealed on parchment scrolls. Poetry, prose, and drama, the literary arts that
celebrate the human spirit, have been penned on paper. However, the religions of the
world have proven to be the chief motor for the spread of literacy. Writing reflects the
distribution of the world’s religions far more exactly than it reflects the distribution of
language families! The Latin alphabets of the Roman and Protestant churches, the Greek
and Cyrillic alphabets of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Brahmic and Devangari
syllabaries of Hindu India and Buddhist Southeast Asia, the logographic system of the
Taoist and Confucian philosophies of East Asia, the Hebraic syllabary of Judaism, and
the spread of Arabic script throughout Arabia and the entire world of Islam summarize
the world’s writing systems. (Fig. 57)

The origins of writing are linked to the holy. Egyptian hieroglyphs, which constituted the
initial conception of our modern alphabets and syllabaries, were known to the Greeks as
ta hieroglyphica, the sacred carved letters. Wilson points out that the Egyptian word for
the pictorial writing was medu-netjer, which means words of god; indeed, Egyptians
credited the beginnings of their hieroglyphs to the ibis-headed god, Thoth, the scribe of

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the gods and the patron deity of writing.1 The manifestations of writing are sealed in the
sacred. The glyphs in religious writing contain spiritual significance and may embody
mystical properties. Devanagari, the name of the syllabary used to write sacred Sanskrit,
translates as “the script of the City of the Gods.” 2 When the sound of a Devanagari glyph
is repeated in meditation, the glyph appears spontaneously in the mind.3 Kabalistic
gemmatria assigned numerical values to Hebrew syllabograms to uncover covert,
divinely inspired codes in the Torah.4 Once penned, religious texts, such as the Vedas and
Upanishads, the Torah, the New Testament, and the Qur’an, record eternal truths. Jewish
law requires that every Torah scroll, a sefer, must be copied without error on parchment
by a trained scribe, a sofer. Written divine scriptures cannot be changed; copying
religious text is proscribed by strict rules that guard against any deviation.5

Religions established, codified, sowed, and cemented the classical writing systems of
human civilizations. Mahayanist missionaries from India spread Brhami writing systems
throughout Buddhist Cambodia, Nepal, and Tibet.6 In the Jewish Diaspora, where the
spoken languages were Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, and Aramaic, classical Hebrew was
preserved through the study of the Torah, Haftarot, Megilot, and the Book of Psalms.7
Koine Greek, the lingua franca of the Hellenistic world, became the literate script of the
new Christian faith as it spread into Asia Minor, North Africa, and Europe; it is
represented even today in the Septuagint Bible.8 After the Great Schism between Rome
and Byzantium in 1054, Latin was used throughout Western Europe for worship and
scholarship, represented by the Vulgate Bible of St. Jerome.9 Classical Arabic descends
from the refined Arabic spoken and written at the time of Muhammad that constitutes the
language of the Qur’an. While local Arabic dialects represent the informal spoken
discourses of people throughout the Arab world and a Standard Modern Arabic serves to
unite Arabic speakers and readers today, classical Arabic functions as the prestigious,
perfected Arabic.10

Dating the writing of religious scripts remains historically vague. Hindu Vedas had been
transmitted orally for 1,000 years before they were first written, around 500 BCE.11
Jewish tradition holds that both the written and oral Torah were revealed to Moses on
Mount Sinai, but most scholars agree that the written components of the Torah consist of
various writings which were gradually edited and conflated into a single set of
manuscripts over a span of centuries.12 In the Christian tradition, most Biblical scholars
believe the gospels were written within the first century after Christ died.13 Islamic text,
because it happens to be more recent, can be dated with some certainty. The Qur’an is
believed to consist of revelations from the angel Gabriel to Muhammad from 610 to 632
CE. The Qur’an was most likely initially recited because Muhammad was illiterate, but
was written soon after Muhammad’s death, probably during the caliphate of Abu Bakr.
There existed a number of slightly different versions of the Qur’an, which were finally
compiled in a final, definitive form, known as the Uthmanic recension.14

Religion and literacy continue to intersect and intertwine with the lives of people
throughout the world.

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 B. THE TECHNICAL FABRIC OF LITERACY

With the advent of the printed word, the visual modalities of Western life
increased beyond anything experienced in any previous society.
-Marshall McLuhan
Understanding media: the extensions of man

Over the approximately six millennia of writing, glyphs have been extended and
modified in their form, function, and presentation to reflect the components and
organization of the different languages they have come to represent and to meet the needs
of the writers and readers of particular places and time periods. Innovations in writing
styles originate from the materials used in writing and from improved technologies.15 In
the beginning, all writing was epigraphic, carved or chiseled in rock, bone, shell, or
stone. Such hard surfaces limited writing to unconnected signs composed of straight
lines, circles, and semicircles. The discovery and fabrication of soft surfaces such as
papyrus, parchment, and paper facilitated and sped up the writing process. Soft surfaces
permitted paleographic writing, characterized by rounded, curved, connected features.
The history of Egyptian writing illustrates how papyrus, a subtropical plant, provided a
soft writing material and encouraged Egyptian writing to evolve from hieroglyphics to a
faster writing style known as hieratic writing, used by priests. A strong relationship
between the hieroglyphic and hieratic forms was retained; groups of hieroglyphic signs
were reduced to a single hieratic sign, or ligature, as we sometimes join æ.16 Around the
fifth century BCE, a highly cursive Egyptian script, demotic writing, came to be
popularly used for most daily writing activities.17

For educational purposes and note keeping, clay and waxed tablets with pliable, erasable
writing surfaces became popular writing media. Small clay tablets were used for
correspondence throughout the ancient world. Leaves of papyrus or parchment could be
joined to fashion portable scrolls or folded into codices.18 Gradually, parchment, a
common soft surface from animal hide, began to replace papyrus throughout the
Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire when, according to the Roman historian, Pliny,
demand for papyrus depleted the supply.19 During the early centuries of the CE, a Greek
cursive was developed in the Hellenistic world that employed slanted, semi connected
majuscules with many ligatures. Simultaneously, a Latin cursive writing style was used in
the Roman Empire that simplified and rounded Latin majuscules.20 However, even in
their cursive manifestations, Greek and Latin graphemes remained majuscule and
separated from each other. Words, phrases, and clauses ran together in one block of
script, to be separated by skilled readers.

Moving east from the ancient Mediterranean world to China, the original writing
materials of China were ox bone and tortoise shell. Bronze followed bone and shell, but
proved to be heavy; it was replaced by the lighter, softer surfaces of silk and bamboo.
Bamboo was awkward to transport, and silk was expensive and labor intensive; the time
had arrived for a smooth, inexpensive writing material.21 Chinese legend holds that paper,
originally made from bamboo fiber, was first presented to the emperor of China in the
first century CE by Cai Lun.22 Archeological evidence, however, suggests that paper had

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already been in use for two hundred years before that date.23 Whatever the truth, the
Chinese were significantly ahead of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds because paper
proved to be the perfect writing surface. From the advantage of writing on a paper
surface, even logographic Chinese writing developed a very fast cursive style, Co sh
that gives the impression of anarchy to the reader, but affords considerable freedom on
the part of the calligrapher.24

The art of papermaking gradually spread from Asia to the Middle East and the Islamic
world, finally reaching Europe in the 11th century CE. Paper ignited a technical explosion
and enabled the invention of moveable type, credited first to Bi Sheng in China in 1045
CE.25 Interestingly, moveable type did not significantly impact Chinese society because
thousands of logograms need to be fashioned separately; while an alphabetic system uses
approximately 30 characters, an average Chinese newspaper uses 5,000 characters or
more!26

As the Renaissance blossomed in Western Europe, one might have predicted that its
worldly, scientific, and materialistic zeitgeist would sever the connection between
religion and literary. Instead, a fresh and personal vision of faith, the Protestant
Reformation, heralded the greatest spread of literacy the world has ever witnessed. This
occurred because the Protestant Reformation coincided with the most important
technological innovation to date: Guttenberg’s printing press. From Latin, the Bible was
translated into the vernacular languages of Europe, such as French, German, and English,
and Protestant worship was conducted in the dialects of the faithful. Copies of sacred and
non-sacred texts were available in vernacular languages to the emerging class of the
bourgeoisie, Europe’s shopkeepers, artisans, millers, bakers, carpenters, tailors, and small
entrepreneurs. The control that Roman Catholicism and the Latin language had held over
literacy in Western Europe was ruptured forever. Guttenberg’s printing press spread
throughout Europe as a forest fire races through dry brush, generating text in the
languages spoken by the people. In England, the wizard of printing, William Caxton,
published such masterpieces as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the waning Middle
English of his day. For the first time in history, popular literacy became a possibility.27

We are now entering the electronic phrase of literacy, heralding a revolution in literacy
that promises to surpass the revolution of paper and the printing press. Through the
explosion of audiovisual technology, including radio, television, cinema, CDs, DVDs,
iPods, MP3s, video, Xerox, the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, Kindle, Facebook, texting,
and Twittering, electricity has become the modern paper and printing press. Its
impact is occurring worldwide at light speed in a way so profound that I can do little
more than acknowledge its occurrence.

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 C. THE EDUCATIONAL FABRIC OF LITERACY

He is to be educated because he is a man, and not because he is to make

shoes, nails, and pins.
–William Ellery Channing, Unitarian Minister

For millennia, the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student took place in the
oral venue. Long after writing had been established, educational institutions and systems
throughout all ancient civilizations continued to share common features derivative from
the oral processes of learning.28 Instruction was centered on the memorization and
recitation of text, and curricula were generally limited to religious, philosophical, and
moral instruction, training in the martial arts, and mathematical calculation.

In different places at different times, study took place in day schools, boarding schools,
religious institutions, and through private tutoring. Mores governing class consciousness
and gender discrimination generally reserved formal education for noble males; in most
ancient societies, girls were instructed in domestic skills, such as weaving and cooking,
and boys of common birth were apprenticed into the trades of their fathers. There were
exceptions. For example, in China, boys from poor families had opportunities to pass the
keju, a demanding civil service exam, ensuring exalted employment in the government.
During China’s feudal era, 1046-711 BCE, schools were established for both nobles and
commoners that instructed in ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and math.29
Aztec boys of noble birth resided at a religious facility, the calmécac, where they were
instructed in the martial arts, astronomy, music, history, and public speaking; however,
the calmécac was occasionally open to exceptional common boys and even girls.
Graduates of the calmécac became the priests and constituted the literate members of
Aztec society. Aztec boys of common birth attended the telpochcalli, the House of
Youth, and studied history, religion, ritual, proper behavior, music, singing, dancing, and
military training.30 Athenian schools, offering instruction in music, physical discipline,
and the recitation of text, were open to all who could afford to attend; most Athenian
boys studied for at least a brief period of time. Education was also possible through
private tutoring, such as that experienced by Plato and Aristotle, students of Socrates.31

Educational systems spread from one center of civilization to another. From India,
throughout Tibet, Cambodia, and Nepal, gurus instructed young boys in Brahmin Vedas
and Buddhist Tripitaka, logic, metaphysics, philosophy, grammar, and debate.32 The
extension of the Chinese Empire throughout Asia led to a remarkable intellectual legacy
of schools that blended contending philosophical systems, including Taoism, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Confucianism.33 From Greece, the Romans copied and extended the
Athenian system; Roman post-pubescent boys of noble birth studied Latin and Greek
grammar and literature. An even higher, extended education in Rome involved the study
of political rhetoric, grammar, logic, geography, medicine, and political theory.34

With the fall of Rome, education in Western Europe fell to the Church of Rome, and
evolved into the tradition of medieval Scholasticism. The basic principle of Scholasticism
was the formation of a rational consistency of the writings of the ancient Greeks and

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Romans with the Christian faith as written in the Bible and as understood by the Church
of Rome.35 Boethius, who lived in the fifth century CE, is generally known as “the first
Scholastic” because he provided the first Latin translations of Aristotle’s logic and other
basic works used in the schools of the early Middle Ages; Boethius’ translations became
a prerequisite for education.36 In the early period of Scholasticism, the dominant
philosophical influence was Platonism or Neo-Platonism, particularly as it was reflected
in the writings of Saint Augustine in the fourth century CE.37 Thomas Aquinas’ Summa
Theologicae in the 14th century CE is widely regarded to be the pinnacle of Scholastic
theology. Scholasticism has been deftly defined as “the close, detailed reading (lectio) of
a book recognized as an authoritative work of human or divine origin” (e.g., Aristotle in
logic, Euclid in geometry, Cicero in rhetoric, the Bible in theology) and “the open
discussion (disputatio) in strict logical form of a relevant question (quaestio) arising from
the text.”38

For many reasons, from the 12th century on, there emerged a reevaluation of medieval
assumptions about human existence. The disastrous Crusades of the 12th and 13th
centuries impoverished, demoralized, and exhausted the populations of Europe. The
Bubonic plague of the 14th century unleashed a rampage of death unprecedented in
recorded history. The Church of Rome was in turmoil and dishonor, with multiple popes
in Rome and Avignon, causing the “Great Schism” among kings and princes who
recognized different “true” papacies. The emerging bourgeoisie, or merchant class,
birthed a secular, urban culture at odds with the traditional medieval, agrarian, religious
ethos. New technologies and discoveries, such as the mechanical clock, eyeglasses, the
microscope, the telescope, and the compass, expanded our knowledge of living organisms
into the microscopic, our celestial alignment from earth-centric to solar-centric, and
reconfigured the world from one hemisphere into two. A flood of new Latin translations
of classical philosophers from Greek and Arabic texts, including all of Aristotle, opened
Europe to the worldly insights of the ancient classical world. Art and literature were
incorporated from classical subject matter and built on idealized realism; they were
valued for the sake of beauty, truth, and moral didacticism.39 A new interest in the
material world and an appreciation of the value of life on earth flooded human thought.

Scholasticism was increasingly rivaled by humanism, “which had as its aim a new
evaluation of man, of his place in nature and in history, and of the disciplines which
concern him.”40 Humanist learning was omnibus, or for everyone. Its objective was to
facilitate life in this world and to concentrate on the human individual and the here and
now. Its rhetoric focused on how to use language effectively. The art of politics and
governing was presented bluntly and frankly by Nicolo Machiavelli. Practical knowledge
exploded outward, through the telescope, into our earthly environment and the
surrounding universe, and inward, through the microscope, into the structural and
functional systems of living organisms.41 The changes experienced by the humanist
revolution were profound, ushering in the technological and social movements of the
modern world, as well as the nascent modern experiences of stress and depression.

Ultimately, popular literacy and humanist philosophy created the possibility of a popular
education. The discovery of the New World and a heliocentric solar system in the 15th

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century, the birth and expansion of global shipping and commerce in the 15th and 16th
centuries, and the industrial revolution of the 18th century shattered the concept of a
classical Latinate education restricted to the privileged nobility. Western European
empires lost little time understanding the competitive importance of popular literacy for
their male citizenry, and education was focused on the transmission of skills required for
large nation-states fueled on commerce and industry. Education became a training tool
for the newly created middle class that served the dominant political and economic forces
of the nation-state, assuming a new, practical nature, generating cataclysmic scientific
and technological changes. It also became an institution designed to regulate, temper, and
control social organization and structure.

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 D. THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF LITERACY

Illiteracy perpetuates myths exemplified by statements such as “We are all

equal and equally treated,” or “If you work hard, you will succeed in the
system.”
-Blanca Facundo
Issues for an Evaluation of Freire-Inspired Programs in the United States
and Puerto Rico

TECHNICAL REVOLUTIONS SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS

Primitive Symbolic Systems Hominoid Evolution
Oral Language Homosapiens
Hunter-gatherers
Early Writing Agriculture
Commerce
Manuscript Literacy The Foundation of Religious Institutions
Legal Codes The City State
Print Literacy The Monarchy
The Renaissance
The Protestant Reformation
The Enlightenment
Liberal Democracy
The Industrial Revolution
Video/Digital/Multimedia/Hypertext Literacy The Electronic Revolution
Globalization
Virtual Reality The Future
Fig. 58: Technical and Social Revolutions
-Adapted from B. C. Bruce
“Literacy Technologies: What stance should we take?”
Journal of Literacy Research 29, vol.21 (1997): pp. 289-308
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Technical innovations redefine social structures, human abilities, and personal

expectations. Therefore, technical and social revolutions flow together and feed upon one
another.42 The most far-reaching human technical revolution, spoken language, developed
from the communicative symbolic systems of the earliest hominoids, creating and
defining our species. The shift from life as nomadic hunter-gatherers to life in farming
settlements brought about the next significant technical revolution, the ability to
coordinate sound and symbol into the act of writing, changing humans profoundly.
Communication specialists such as Marshall McLuhan have posited that the development
of writing in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley brought about monotheism, science, deductive
logic, objective history, and individualism.43 Robert Logan has further suggested an
“alphabet effect,” meaning that the relatively small set of symbols contained within an
alphabet fostered a greater level of abstract thought, analysis, coding, and classification.44
Elizabeth Einstein has posited that the spread of literacy through the printing press
fostered the emergence of the scientific method, the Enlightenment, and the triumph of
liberal democratic political processes.45 (Fig. 58)

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The components of literacy may well be tied to the unfolding of civilization. The Golden
Age of Western Civilization witnessed the establishment of the colonial empires of
Western Europe and the heady realization by Europeans that their civilization was
expanding to include the entire world. Europeans felt an obligation to introduce the
backbone of their culture, Christianity and the Bible, to the indigenous peoples caught in
this inevitable march of history. Jesuit and Franciscan monks and priests and Evangelical
Protestant missionaries translated the Bible into the discourses of indigenous peoples for
religious instruction and transformed the Bible into a portal leading to reading and
writing. In the Americas, Asia, Polynesia, and Africa, with only a few broad guidelines,
the Latin alphabet was twisted, expanded, squeezed, and contorted to transcribe the
sounds of indigenous unwritten languages. British missionaries usually attempted to
“transcribe consonants as in English and vowels as in Italian.”46 Other missionaries
unhesitatingly adopted digraphs and trigraphs from their own writing systems to
symbolize indigenous sounds.47 For unfamiliar sounds, missionaries innovated notation
through the use of diacritics or the doubling of letters.48 Religion became the impetus for
a global spread of literacy. Below, the Gospel of St. Matthew has been translated into
Swahili.

1. Yesu Kristo alikuwa mzawa wa Daudi, mzawa wa Abrahamu. Hii ndiyo

orodha ya ukoo wake:
2. Abrahamu alimzaa Isaka, Isaka alimzaa Yakobo, Yakobo alimzaa Yuda
na ndugu zake,
3. Yuda alimzaa Faresi na Zera (mama yao alikuwa Tamari), Faresi
alimzaa Hesroni, Hesroni alimzaa Rami,
4. Rami alimzaa Aminadabu, Aminadabu alimzaa Nashoni, Nashoni
alimzaa Salmoni,
5. Salmoni alimzaa Boazi (mama yake Boazi alikuwa Rahabu). Boazi na
Ruthi walikuwa wazazi wa Obedi, Obedi alimzaa Yese,
6. naye Yese alimzaa Mfalme Daudi. Daudi alimzaa Solomoni (mama
yake Solomoni alikuwa mke wa Uria).
7. Solomoni alimzaa Rehoboamu, Rehoboamu alimzaa Abiya, Abiya
alimzaa Asa,
8. Asa alimzaa Yehoshafati, Yehoshafati alimzaa Yoramu, Yoramu
alimzaa Uzia,
9. Uzia alimzaa Yothamu, Yothamu alimzaa Ahazi, Ahazi alimzaa
Hezekia,
10. Hezekia alimzaa Manase, Manase alimzaa Amoni, Amoni alimzaa
Yosia,
11. Yosia alimzaa Yekonia na ndugu zake. Huo ulikuwa wakati Wayahudi
walipopelekwa uhamishoni Babuloni.
12. Baada ya Wayahudi kupelekwa uhamishomi Babuloni: Yekonia
alimzaa Shealtieli, Shealtieli alimzaa Zerobabeli,
13. Zerobabeli alimzaa Abiudi, Abiudi alimzaa Eliakimu, Eliakimu
alimzaa Azori,
14. Azori alimzaa Zadoki, Zadoki alimzaa Akimu, Akimu alimzaa Eliudi,

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 15. Eliudi alimzaa Eleazeri, Eleazeri alimzaa Mathani, Mathani alimzaa
Yakobo,
16. Yakobo alimzaa Yosefu, aliyekuwa mume wake Maria, mama yake Yesu,
aitwaye Kristo.
“Matayo 1: Ukoo Wa Yesu Kristo,”
[Matthew 1: Who Was Jesus Christ]
Swahili New Testament, translated by Biblica
Bible Gateway

Reading and writing strengthen and exercise human intelligence. Literacy empowers
individuals to think critically and reflect abstractly; it enforces the development of logic,
promotes analytical, linear thinking, builds complex organizational skills, stretches
memory, and provides access to knowledge. The mastery of written language opens and
facilitates new opportunities, placing the human mind on a higher, more philosophical
and abstract plane than might ever be reached through spoken language alone. Literacy
has enabled civilizations to construct and organize elaborate social, religious, political,
and economic bureaucracies. Literate civilizations record their beliefs, glories, and
achievements and document their commerce, history, law, philosophy, history, poetry,
drama, science, and inventions. No one argues the desirability of the spread of literacy.
Even the achievement of a small literacy function, something as simple as the ability to
sign one’s name, can create miracles in a human life. No matter how it is learned, literacy
makes a tremendous difference in what humans are able to accomplish! However, behind
all of these positive effects, there lurks another, darker reality: the wide chasms that
separate not only literate and illiterate but also literate and semiliterate have sliced and
cut cruelly through human social fabric, separating “those who can” from “those who
can’t.” Illiterate and semiliterate individuals stand impotent beside their literate fellow
men.

The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire preached that bringing literacy to underprivileged
sub-populations could harbinger social equality. Dedicating his life to the belief that
literacy could transform and empower individuals and groups, Freire trusted that when
the unschooled learned to read and write, they would gain power, and the existing social
chasm would shrink. Freire’s belief was that, through the process of conscientization, the
awareness that comes from reading and writing, the newly-literate could be encouraged
to question the status quo and change it for the better. Through literacy, a downtrodden
populace could gain the skills necessary to recognize and fight injustice and to prevail
against the underlying social, demographic, and political structures of the dominant
ruling class. The needs and requirements of indigenous or impoverished population
groups, including the legal and economic status of sub-Standard speakers, the gaps in the
educational structures of communities, and the availability of literacy instruction, could
finally be recognized, and social injustice could finally be addressed.49

However, in his idealism, Freire neglected to acknowledge the historical weight of the
inevitable economic, political, cultural, social, and biological realities of human
inequalities. In all societies, literacy was, is, and always will be distributed, quantitatively
and qualitatively, differently and unequally among individuals, social classes, and ethnic
groups. The specific functional literacy requirements were, are, and always will be
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closely tied to relationships between vested political and economic interests and the daily
labor of non-privileged persons. Literacy was, is, and always will be tied to the
maintenance of vested interests in an existent and shifting structure of power.

To answer the questions that surround literacy, we have to acknowledge that literacy does
not exist as an absolute that individuals either do or do not possess. In the final analysis,
literacy exists as a composite of skills that build in complexity on many different levels.

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 CHAPTER XI: LITERACY

A. LITERACY DEFINED

The mark of an educated person is measured by how closely his/her speech

stands to the written, Standard language.
-Steven Robert Fischer
A History of Writing

What constitutes “literacy”? How do we define a “literate” individual? A proposed

operational definition for the purposes of measuring literacy was formulated during the
Education for All Literacy Assessment Expert Meeting of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in June of 2003.

Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,

communicate, and compute, using printed and written materials associated
with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable
an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge
and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.
-UNESCO
Quoted in “Chapter 2: The many meanings and dimensions of literacy”
The Plurality of Literacy and its Implications for Policy and Programmes”
Education Sector Position Paper, 2004

Accordingly, an “illiterate” person may be able to write figures, his or her name, or a
memorized ritual phrase, but unable to read or write a short, simple statement on his or
her everyday life. In its 2000 survey on worldwide literacy, UNESCO determined that,
worldwide, one in five adults over the age of 15 qualified as “illiterate.”1 Statistics
indicate that 98 percent of the world’s illiterates live in developing countries. Seventy
percent of the world’s illiterates are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, South and West
Asia, and North Africa. In developing countries, 85 percent of children between six and
11years of age attend school, but in the least developed countries, the figure falls to 55
percent. In sub-Saharan Africa, 50 percent of children attended primary school. Less than
60 percent of the population living on the African continent is literate. Fifty-two percent
of all illiterates live in India and China. East Asia and the Pacific report an overall
literacy rate of 86 percent, with an estimated total illiterate population of 185 million.
Latin America and the Caribbean region have an illiterate population of 39 million, or 11
percent of the total adult population. Women have less access to education and account
for two out of three illiterate adults. This gender gap is most pronounced in the Arab
States and North Africa, and in South and West Asia.2

During the history of the United States, the definition of a “literate” individual has
evolved and changed, reflecting the difficulties of achieving a complete and final
understanding of the term. From our colonial era through our Revolutionary War, literacy
was inferred by indicators such as signatures on wills, marriage licenses, military records,
or other legal documents. Later, during the 19th century, U.S. Census enumerators simply

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queried respondents: “Can you read and can you write?” Because of the numerous
numbers of immigrants in the first decades of the 20th century, respondents were asked if
they could read or write in their native language. After 1930, formal education was used
as an indicator of literacy, and respondents were asked to provide the highest grade level
they had completed. Adults with less than an elementary school education were
considered “functionally illiterate.”3 More recently, in its 1991 National Literacy Act,
Congress has defined literacy as

…an individual’s ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute
and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the
job and in society, to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge
and potential.
-National Literacy Act of 1991
Quoted by Paul M. Irwin
National Literacy Act of 1991: Major Provisions of P.L. 102-73
CRS Report for Congress (November, 1991)
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service

Thus, a hierarchy of measurable and definable skills, or functions, indicates specific,

different literacies in reading, writing, and comprehending a variety of kinds of text.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) provides the most comprehensive,
statistically reliable source of data on literacy in the United States. The 2003 National
Assessment of Adult Literacy surveyed persons 16 years of age or older, measuring their
ability to perform a range of literacy tasks adults are likely to face in their daily lives. The
survey distinguished three different categories of literacy: (1) prose, (2) document, and
(3) quantitative. The survey also distinguished four different levels of proficiency: (1)
below basic, (2) basic, (3) intermediate, and (4) proficient. The levels of proficiency were
graded by the complexity and/or length of the printed matter.4 (Fig. 59)

Literacy functions vary in their complexity; they are determined by the abilities,
environment, and requirements of each individual, learned through an educational or
instructional process, and perfected through practice. Literacy refers to the composite of
skills that suffice to meet personal and occupational needs and relates to membership in a
social class. Individuals living in a lower-class status require less literacy than individuals
living in a middle- or high-class status. Individuals with less-than-basic literacy skills are
restricted to a small, immediate environment, but the opportunity to extend one’s
environment and community increases with greater literacy. An intermediate, higher-
functioning level of literacy offers the promise of a comfortable and secure lifestyle. The
highest level of literacy, critical literacy, refers to the ability to perform tasks that require
superior proficiency in the use of text. High-level literacy is usually achieved through the
successful completion of a university education, where students are expected to write
about text and to bring understanding and insight to text through superior thought and
reasoning. Students gain familiarity with higher functions of numeracy, technical and
scientific rhetorical styles, academic exposition, and literature of high artistic merit. They

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learn to author well-reasoned, organized text that complies with the rigorous standards of
the grammar, punctuation, and orthography of Standard Common English.5

a. Categories of Literacy
Prose literacy: knowledge and skills needed to search, comprehend, and use information
from continuous text, with paragraphs. Examples of continuous text include
editorials, news stories, brochures, and instructional materials.
Document literacy: knowledge and skills needed to search, comprehend, and use
information from non-continuous text. Examples of non-continuous text include job
applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and drug and food
labels.
Quantitative literacy: knowledge and skills required to identify and perform computations
using numbers embedded in printed materials. Examples include balancing a
checkbook, figuring out a tip, completing an order form, and determining the amount
of interest on a loan.
b. Levels of Literacy
1. Locate easily identifiable information in
short prose text.
Level I No more than the simplest,
2. Locate and follow simple instructions.
below basic most concrete literacy skills
3. Locate numbers and perform simple
quantitative operations, such as addition.
1. Read and understand information in short
Necessary to perform simple prose.
Level II
and everyday literacy 2. Read and understand short documents.
Basic
activities 3. Locate quantitative information and use it
to solve simple one-step problems.
1. Read and understand moderately dense
prose; understand the author’s intentions.
2. Locate information in dense documents
Necessary to perform
Level III and make simple inferences about the
moderately challenging
Intermediate information.
literacy activities
3. Locate less familiar quantitative
information; define the arithmetic operation
necessary to solve problem.
1. Read lengthy complex abstract prose,
synthesize information, and make complex
inferences.
Level IV Necessary to perform more 2. Integrate and synthesize multiple pieces
Proficient challenging literacy activities of information in complex documents.
3. Locate abstract quantitative information
and infer how to solve arithmetic problems
using multi-step solutions.
Fig. 59: Categories and Levels of Literacy
-U.S. Department of Education
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy Survey of 1992
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Do our institutions of higher learning today graduate students who have achieved
superior, critical literacy? The answer is probably both “yes” and “no.” Secondary
schools and colleges are inundated with an increasingly diverse student population
carrying a wide range of literacy skills. Some students enter the rarified atmosphere of

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higher learning fully literate and well prepared to successfully complete a challenging
education; other students are unable to structure and use Standard Common English
effectively. Students who enter higher education with a firm foundation in Standard
Common English and have mastered a variety of rhetorical styles emerge polished and
strong from their university training, ready and able to contribute to the existing body of
research and philosophy in their field of expertise. Students who enter higher education
with a weak command of Standard Common English and who are unable to control a
variety of writing styles struggle throughout their university experience.

Beyond that, defining “mastery” of literacy functions has become a complex issue. The
ability to interpret income tax forms, to compare and calculate insurance information,
pension benefits, and even to parse cell phone bills requires more than simple literacy
skills. As people depended upon scribes in the ancient world, many highly educated
people now depend upon editors, executive assistants, accountants, lawyers, and business
consultants to assist them in polishing their writing and in negotiating the mazes of
tables, charts, fine print, and legal restrictions tucked within text.

The story does not end here. Dialect and Literacy will examine the possibility that
literacy is quickly evolving, entering new and uncharted territory. As we move into the
21st century, Morris and Tchudi have noted a new category of literacy, dynamic literacy.
They stretch the definition of literacy to include components that transcend print; they
speak of a new, composite literacy that integrates symbolic languages and audiovisual
media, including text, illustration, film, video, photography, charts, and electronic
technology, and requires the ability to interface and communicate on multiple levels and
to think and act critically, creatively, and imaginatively. Dynamic literacy may express a
21st century vision of a literate person, someone who is skilled in symbolic languages and
capable of integrating them to produce text and other communication modes that
complement his or her professional or personal life, or both.

Formidable constraints exist that prevent some individuals from achieving critical
literacy; among these might be problems posed by an individual’s spoken dialect, social
class, accomplished education, and innate intelligence. For better or worse, dynamic
literacy does not imply or necessitate a mastery of Standard language. Individuals with a
limited education can develop a rhetorical style that blends a personal voice with the
specific technologies and symbolic languages available to them. Such individuals enjoy
the ultimate personal satisfaction that literacy can bring; they can express who they are
and what they do.6

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 B. LITERACY AND EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

There has never been a golden era of literacy in this country. In fact, we wonder if the
rate of basic literacy in America—for all men and women of every religious and
cultural persuasion—has ever been higher than it is right now.
- Paul J. Morris and Stephen Tchudi
The New Literacy

The NAAL of 2003 determined that 23 percent of all adults in the United States, 44
million, scored at or below Level One literacy. Adults at Level One can perform simple
tasks, such as signing their name, identifying a country in a short article, locating one
piece of information in a sports article, locating the expiration date information on a
driver’s license, or totaling a bank deposit entry. One quarter of the adults tested at Level
Two. Adults at Level Two are able to perform more complex tasks, such as determining
eligibility from a table of employee benefits, locating an intersection on a street map,
finding two pieces of information in a sports article, identifying and entering background
information on a Social Security card application, or calculating total costs of purchase
from an order form. Forty-five percent tested at Level Three; they are able to understand
a magazine article, calculate unit pricing, and perform other (relatively) more complex
functions. Only 13 percent of the adults tested achieved Level Four, the level of superior,
critical literacy. To some extent, the educational levels of individuals tested correlated
with their respective levels of literacy; approximately 80 percent of the adults with less
than an eighth-grade education scored at Level One. However, 20 percent of adults with a
secondary school diploma also scored at Level One! Less than 50 percent of adults with a
four-year college degree were able to perform at the higher-functioning Level Four.7 In
fact, one in five high school graduates cannot read his or her diploma!8

The percentage of young people who complete a secondary school education paints yet
another portrait of literacy achievement. The Statistical Analysis Report of November
2001, issued by the National Center for Education Statistics, reported a discouraging
dropout rate for the year 2000. From a total of approximately 36 million young people
ranging in age from 15 to 24, almost two million had dropped out of school .That number
represents 11 percent of the total student population, meaning that less than 90 percent of
our young people receive a secondary school diploma.9

Students usually drop out of school in the ninth grade, when unprepared students are not
passed on to high school. The dropout age begins at 14 and accelerates as students reach
the age of 16. If high school is not completed by the age of 18, older students experience
a significantly higher dropout rate. These numbers reveal disturbing differences between
different populations. Three-quarters of white American student’s complete high school
compared with little more than half of African-American and Hispanic-American
students.10 (Fig. 60) The American Youth Policy Forum estimates that 13 percent of all
17-year-olds in the United States can be considered functionally illiterate; among
African- and Hispanic-Americans, functional illiteracy may run as high as 40 percent.11
Moreover, the American Youth Policy Forum points out that the numbers used to indicate
the percentage of students who complete high school include young adults who have

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completed a GED program. When GED graduates are not counted, a total of only 71
percent of all high school students were awarded diplomas in 1998.12 (It should be
mentioned that some researchers find moderate benefits from receiving a GED for certain
groups.13 No research supports the claim that the GED is equivalent to a traditional high
school diploma).14

Age of Percentage Percentage Percentage of Percentage Percentage of

students of total of white- African- of Hispanic- Asian-
who student Americans Americans Americans American
dropped population
out
15-24 4.8 4.1 6.1 7.4 3.5
16-24 10.9 6.9 13.1 27.8 3.8
18-24 86.5 91.8 83.7 64.1 94.6
Fig. 60: Percentage of Students Who Dropped Out in the Year 2000
(The Population Aged 15 – 24 Enrolled in High School Programs)
U.S. Department of Education
Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000
NCES Publication 2000-114
Statistical Analysis Report, November, 2001
(From Table A. Percentage of 15-through 24-year-olds who dropped out of grades 10-12
in the past year, percentage of 16-14-year-olds who were dropouts, and percentage of
18-14-year-olds who had completed high school by race/ethnicity: October, 2000)

The graduation rates of high schools across the United States in 2001 point to a greater
than 20 percent disparity between the graduation rates of white American students and
their African-American and Hispanic-American counterparts. While 75 percent of white
American students graduated, only 50 percent of African-American students and 53
percent of Hispanic-American students graduated.15

The achievement of each ethnic group is also reflected in their verbal SAT scores. The
verbal SAT scores for 2003 showed that white Americans averaged 70 points higher than
Hispanic-Americans, and 90 points higher than African-Americans.16 (Fig. 61)

Ethnic White- African- Puerto- Other Native Asian

Group American American Rican Hispanic- American American
Americans
Verbal 529 431 448 457 480 508
Score
Fig. 61: SAT Verbal Scores by Ethnicity, 1999
College Entrance Examination Board
Group Differences in Standardized Testing and Social Stratification
College Board Report No 99-5
(From Table 1: Group Means (and Standardized Differences) on Tests by Ethnicity and
Race)

To summarize, 25 percent of the adult population is “functionally” illiterate; 21 million

Americans simply cannot read. Excluding GED recipients, almost 25 percent of the

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population of the United States has not achieved a secondary education. Little more than
half the African-American and Hispanic-American students receive a high school
diploma.17

The ethnic disparities present a particularly sobering reality for a society that believes in
equal opportunity for all. Statistics reveal that this problem is reflected across the United
States. The issue of class membership can be inferred; for the most part, districts with
low African-American and Hispanic-American graduation rates also have relatively low
white graduation rates. However, a glance at a small segment of the graduation rates for
the year 2001 listed by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research indicates wide
disparities for student graduation rates between school districts.18 (Fig. 62)

school district all students African- Hispanic- White-

American American American
Albuquerque 83% 66% 70% 99%
Public Schools
Boston School 82% 85% 68% 87%
District
Memphis City 42% 39% INS 50%
School District
Los Angeles 56% 56% 48% 81%
Unified
New York City 55% 42% 45% 80%
School District
Fig. 62: Sample Graduation Rates for Students by School District and Ethnicity
Jay P. Greene
High School Graduation Rates in the United States
Civic Report, November, 2001
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
(From Table 6: Graduation Rate by District and Race for the Class of 1998)

Literacy is absolutely essential for the success of any society. Policy analysts consider the
literacy rating of a nation to be a measure of its human capital and stress that human
capital is tied to access to higher education and job opportunities. These numbers paint a
discouraging picture; the problems they represent profoundly impact our social structure.
I offer a few preliminary observations:

Literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterate people. Literate people
generally enjoy a higher socioeconomic status and experience better health and
employment prospects. According to the NAAL report, 43 percent of adults who scored
at Level One live in poverty, compared to only four percent of those at Level Four.
Adults scoring at Level One earn a median income of $240 per week, compared to $681
for those scoring at Level Four, and three out of four food stamp recipients performed at
the two lowest literacy levels. Adults scoring at Level One work an average of 19 weeks
per year, compared to 44 weeks per year for those at Level Four.19 Seventy percent of
Americans who are arrested are illiterate. Seven in ten prisoners perform at the lowest
two literacy levels.20 Eighty-five percent of unwed mothers are illiterate.21 The costs of
illiteracy are estimated to reach $225 billion a year in lost productivity.22

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These issues, practical and important, need to be addressed.

On a larger philosophical plane, there remain underlying questions. What obligations

does the state have to extend, sustain, provide, limit, or control the education of its
citizenry? Can we offer all students a robust literate and numerate education? Might all
individuals be maximally developed to become independent, critical thinkers? If not, how
do we control the educational process so that each individual receives the literacy
appropriate for his/her social status, social community, and vocation? What criteria,
decisions, and implementations are required to ensure that individuals are educated so
they can contribute to the general well-being of the nation?23 These questions seem
complex, controversial, and, possibly, incomplete. They remain incomplete because the
very nature of literacy is changing
.

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CHAPTER XII: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LITERACY

A. WHAT CHILDREN LEARN

Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.

-Emilie Buchwald, author of children’s books

Children appreciate the acts of reading and writing at a very early age. The preschool
period provides us with a window of opportunity to take advantage of what Maria
Montessori called the “absorbent mind” of the young child, a mind that soaks up
information as a sponge soaks up water.1 All children recognize the symbols from boxes
of breakfast cereals and the logos of fast-food chains. More importantly, all children
mimic the literacy practices of adults; they emulate adults reading newspapers and
magazines, writing notes and letters, or typing at a keyboard. A child’s success in literacy
is influenced by the quality of the social contacts formed with the significant people in
his or her expanding world and dependent upon the quality of language he or she
experiences. Adults who harbor a familiarity with a child’s background and who are
tuned in to the child's interests and level of understanding are best able to share stories
and books with the child, marking the difference between success or failure in future
learning.2 Additional research suggests that a child’s ability to understand more complex
grammar constructions correlates directly with the quantity of story reading he or she has
been given and with the quality of the linguistic complexities within those stories.3

Children benefit especially from interactive and repeated readings of their favorite
stories. Interactivity calls for adults and children to participate together as partners in the
reading process, pausing to ask questions about the story and to discuss how the story
unfolds: “What has happened?” “What is happening?” “What will happen?” “What is the
hero or villain thinking or doing?” Interactive reading provides children with
opportunities to discuss and retell stories and to ask questions. It provides them with
opportunities to talk about, act out, and play with story language and to embellish their
oral language with the new words and book phrases they have learned. Through
interactive reading, children incorporate story words and phrases into their personal
discourse. For example, starting their stories with Once upon a time and ending them
with and they lived happily ever after.4

Repetition allows children to focus their attention on story information, improve their
listening comprehension, acquire story structure, and expand their vocabulary and
grammar. Repetition helps children to gain familiarity with the structures of written
language, such as beginning, middle, and end, to learn to juxtapose good and bad
characters, to follow the development of a plot, and to recognize the organization of a
story through a theme or moral.5 Repetition fosters the development of letter knowledge
and phonological awareness connected to later word and letter recognition and provides
children with opportunities to memorize text and to recite it as though they were reading.6
Reading the same large, clear print time and again helps children learn about the form of
print and how language is graphically represented.7

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When children experience interactive and repeated readings at home, they enter school
knowing a great deal about the purpose and nature of written language. If no reading
occurs in the home, children come to school knowing comparatively little about literacy.
A 1991 Carnegie Mellon University survey of 7,000 kindergarten teachers found that
they reported that 35 percent of their collective school population started school
unprepared to learn the basic elements of phonics and literacy.8 Even with help in
kindergarten, phonemic awareness escapes roughly 25 percent of American first-graders,
and, were the samples restricted to children from print-poor home environments, that
percentage would be substantially larger.9

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B. THE FUNCTION OF ILLUSTRATION FOR LEARNERS

For that which writing makes present to the reader, pictures make present
to the illiterate, to those who only perceive visually, because in pictures
the ignorant see the story they ought to follow, and those who don’t know
their letters find that they can, after a fashion, read.
-Claude Dagens
Saint Greguire le Grand: Culture et experience chretienne

Something magical happens as an illustrated storybook unfolds; the images of the

characters, their time, place, personalities, and features spring to life. Small children
gleefully recognize beautiful, brightly colored pictures of their favorite characters,
enriched by the techniques of gifted illustrators. Young readers can identify the
characters, the setting, the time and place, and the season(s) of the year in the story.
Illustrations provide sharp details and information through the facial expressions of the
characters, their actions, body language, gestures, and clothing. Pictures easily explain
the meaning of words such as carriage, dwarf, or castle and enable children to memorize
some of the text and to associate the organization of the plot with the organizations of the
pictorial storyboard. Pictures encourage children to ask questions, such as “What is this
story about?” or “Where does this story take place?” and to guess the answers to such
questions. Illustrations correlate with the story as it progresses. By going from the first
illustration to the second and on to the third, young readers can create a storyline,
allowing them to predict the plot and to verify their predictions. Looking at a picture
creates a story in our minds; we can formulate a plot to match the characters, time, and
place in the picture.10

The connection between illustration and text might begin as a picture book without
words, teaching the learner story structure through pictures that relate a story by
portraying its characters, outlining its plot, and stating its moral.11Young children can
interpret a story through the creation of their own illustrations, and the parents can record
the child’s words as he or she explains the illustrations. When children are old enough,
they can retell a familiar story in their own drawing and writing. The artwork and the text
may be “bound” together and “published.”12

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C. SURFACE AND DEEP STRUCTURE

Linguists talk about deep structure and surface structure. Surface

structure is the actual grammatical structure of a particular sentence or
phrase or utterance as found in reality. Deep structure is the so-called
"kernel" sentence or essence that underlies the surface structure. A
passive sentence is the classic example.
–Random Colin
“Deadwood and Deep vs. Surface Structure”

Every word is built on its physical components, sound and symbol, or phonemes and
graphemes. Beginning readers concentrate on these surface structures of language.
Surface structure comprises all of the observable characteristics of language that exist in
the world around us, forming the parts of language accessible through our ears and our
eyes. In text, surface structure constitutes the visual information of written language, the
source of information that is lost to the reader when the lights go out. In speech, surface
structure exists as audio information, the part of communication that is lost when a
telephone connection is broken.13 The characteristics of surface structure are measurable.
In spoken language, surface structure exists as place and manner of articulation,
vibration, decibel level, duration, and pitch. In written language, surface structure may be
found in the number, size, shape, direction, position, and other contrastive features of
marks on a surface.

Deep structure can be found in the intention of the speaker or writer and in the
interpretations of listeners or readers. Unlike surface structure, deep structure can be
neither directly observed nor measured. Consider our practice of splitting a single thought
into either active or passive voice: The cat chased the mouse, or The mouse was chased
by the cat. Both sentences share an abstract level of representation that underlies their
syntactical structure. Both sentences correspond in their surface structures. Noam
Chomsky proposed that these surface structures are derived from a common underlying
grammatical representation, their deep structure, depicting the grammatical relationships
between the various constituents that make up the sentence, such as the noun phrases “the
cat” and “the mouse,” and the verb phrases “chased” and “was chased.” The application
of what linguists call transformational grammar produces the surface structures seen
above.14

Surface and deep structure of language must be viewed as separate and unrelated
components. They “represent neither opposite sides of the same coin, nor mirror
reflections of each other.”15 There is no one-to-one correspondence between the surface
structure of language and its meaning. Meaning lies beyond sound or print and cannot be
derived from surface structure. Spoken language is not comprehended by decoding
phonemes, and reading is not a matter of decoding graphemes; they must be mediated
through meaning.

Successful beginning readers quickly move beyond transcoding the surface structures of
sound and text. They learn to search for the meaning of language, its deep structure,

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buried underneath and behind the elements of surface structure.

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D. TRANSCODING AND BEYOND

Children need to “learn to attend to that which (they) have learned not to
attend to…Writing…requires deliberate analytical action on the part of
the child. In speaking, (the child) is hardly conscious of the sounds he/she
produces and (is) quite unconscious of the mental operations he/she
performs. In writing, the child must take cognizance of the sound structure
of each word, dissect it, and reproduce it in alphabetical symbols which he
must have studied and memorized before.”
-L. S. Vygotsky
Thought and Language

The hard work of learning literacy begins when students open their first primer and
complete their first worksheet. For the first time, they move between two sets of symbols,
sound and letter. Reading involves decoding letter to sound; writing involves encoding
sound to letter. Beginning readers and writers must learn to connect sound to letter,
phoneme to grapheme. The elements that relate the surface structures of sound to letter
must be thoroughly mastered.16 This initial stage of literacy unlocks the door to future
success, but proves to be difficult for many children. The relationship between phoneme
and grapheme remains a major stumbling block for poor readers. (Fig. 63) While
successful readers soar ahead, poor readers remain “stuck” in the process of transcoding
and fail to achieve reading fluency.

x sound-to-letter correspondence: bite = /EDLW/

x sound-to-word matching: /EDLW/ = bite, not bit
x word-to-word matching: read = read, not reads
x recognition of rhyme: my, sigh, die
x sounds in isolation: /L/ = me, eat
x counting the phonemes and graphemes: read = 4 graphemes; /ULG/ and
/U(G/ = 3 phonemes
x consonant blending: br, bl, pr, pl, tr, dr, fr, fl, st, sp, sc, scl, scr
x deletion of phonemes: plant v. plan
x specifying which phoneme has been deleted: plant, plan (/W/)
x phoneme substitution: /PDL/, /PL/ ; my, me
x minimal pairs: words that differ by one phoneme: (1) initial: pat, fat, bat
(2) medial: fat, fit, foot (3) final: sap, sat, sack

Fig. 63: Measuring the Ability to Transcode

Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

The three years spanning kindergarten through second grade constitute the foundation of
school learning. A well-planned reading program during those years introduces new
vocabulary with each reading effort. As children are exposed to new words, their sight

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vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds. When children are able to identify or
automatically recognize words, they grow daily in the ability to comprehend text and can
focus on word meaning. The ability to link the skills of word recognition and word
meaning continues as text expands into more complex material and students make sense
of larger groupings, including phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs. By the age of
seven, successful students read rapidly and fluently and recognize many words
automatically. Students excel or fail, coast or sink, evaluated by their teachers, until the
third grade, when a great divide opens between those students who are “good” in
language skills and those students who are “language deficient.” At that point, students
cross that enormous canyon dividing reader from non-reader.17

Explained within a linguistic framework, students must pass through three reading stages
or processes. First, the grapho-phonemic process of transcoding grapheme and.phoneme
must be understood and learned. The level of phonemic awareness of preschoolers
strongly predicts their future success in learning to read and correlates with future reading
success. Secondly, the semantic process of defining word meaning through context must
be practiced and mastered. Finally, the syntactic rules that govern reading and writing,
the grammar of Standard Common English, must be understood.18

Success in literacy depends upon processes that transcode surface structures and move
into deep structure. Poor readers struggling in the third grade have entered school with
poor phonemic awareness. Language-deficient students seem destined to manifest
weakness in all areas of learning, creating the body of students who eventually drop out
of the educational system, usually when asked to repeat the ninth grade. Sadly, the
possibility of language-deficient students overcoming their handicap decreases
exponentially as students grow older and entrenched, chronic reading problems become
unsolvable! Remedial classes appear to have a minimal effect in helping poor readers
catch up. There exists a critical point beyond which learning becomes increasingly
difficult. Once students pass the age of eighteen, the likelihood of achieving a secondary
school diploma drops dramatically. Almost 86 percent of the students over 18 who
attempt to earn a high school diploma fail.19

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E. SKILL-BASED AND WHOLE- LANGUAGE LEARNING

The Whole-Language versus Phonics debate has gone on for years. To

remind you, Phonics-based instruction basically follows the theory that
reading is learned by making sense of the smallest components of
language (letters), then progressing toward larger components of sounds,
words, and sentences. Whole-Language based instruction follows the
theory that students can learn to read and develop phonemic awareness
through daily writing and reading without the need for rote teaching.
-Bridget Slayden
“The Whole-Language vs. Phonics Debate Continues…”

Cognitive and developmental researchers have extensively evaluated the processes by

which children learn to read and to write, and the theoretical and empirical bases
provided by these studies have been used to generate texts and other materials and to
improve instructional models. Their studies have investigated instructional methodologies
rooted in fundamentally opposite philosophies.

Let’s compare the differences, in which the form and meaning of text are approached
differently. Skill-based learning emphasizes surface structure, decoding grapheme to
phoneme; Whole-Language instruction stresses deep structure, the meaning and free
interpretation of text. 20 Skill-based learning stresses a great deal of exposure to phonics,
the sounds graphemes make in different environments, e.g., bit versus bite; Whole-
Language instruction encourages the study of phonics when the meaning of a word is
understood in context and grammar.21 Skill-based learning covers spelling rules; Whole-
Language permits “inventive spelling.”22 (A second-grade teacher showed me a student’s
paper and asked if I could interpret a student’s word, ctor. Of course! Store!). In reading,
Skill-based students read selected fragments or small portions of controlled texts in a
uniform and controlled order; Whole-Language students read high-quality, multicultural
literature independently and in groups.23 Whole-Language students are read to by
teachers who feature different genres each month, e.g., realistic fiction, fables, science
fiction, or biography.24 The advocates of the two major methodologies, Skill-based and
Whole-Language instruction, remain trapped in a fruitless debate. An appropriate
literacy curriculum is constructed from both daily skill practice and authentic reading and
writing.

Let’s explore their differences further. Skill-based instruction programs begin with a
structured and progressive program that encourages learning through skill drills,
presented and organized according to the perceived level of difficulty of the students. The
Skill-based approach is rooted in the proven theory that reading and writing are not
acquired, innate skills; they must be learned. The weakness of the Skill-based approach
lies in the format of its ancillary activities, which dominate much of the classroom
activities. Skills are introduced systematically and simultaneously to all children, no
matter what their individual weaknesses and needs might be. Additionally, these
activities are, by nature, objective, generated from fill-in-the-blank worksheets or
workbooks.25

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Whole-Language instruction programs grew out of Noam Chomsky’s conception of

Universal Grammar, positing that language is acquired holistically, with all linguistic
parameters cooperating in tandem. A Whole-Language program operates on the premise
that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” and is based on the belief that it is not
possible to understand reading and writing by analyzing small chunks of text.26 The
weakness of Whole-Language instruction remains its refusal to reduce a portion of
instruction to the practice of specific reading and writing skills. Students need practice
sheets when learning transcoding skills; they need lists of spelling words to memorize.
The greatest strength of Whole-Language instruction can be found in its regard for
students as authentic readers and writers, capable of producing complete, original stories,
poems, and essays.27 Students are actively engaged as co-partners and co-creators of
classroom activities. The development of critical thinking skills stands as the primary
goal of Whole Language, believing that this effort will instill in the children a lifelong
awareness and love of literature in all its forms. The use of quality literature and the
emphasis on daily reading and writing stand as the best features of Whole Language,
encouraging the deep-structure, critical-literacy skills that enable individuals to
comprehend and appreciate text.28

After the Whole-Language approach was adopted in the 1990s, there were significant
declines in student achievement nationwide. Two large-scale studies in 1998 and 2000
that cataloged the most important elements of a reading program found that the neglect of
phonics instruction contributed to lower rates of achievement and that the teaching of
reading required solid skill instruction, including phonics and phonemic awareness.29
Consequently, school systems have returned to phonics lessons. There remains much to
be said for controlled, progressive skill practice; organized and systematic learning has
been proven to be necessary and effective, and many children learn best by rote and
pattern drills. However, a concentration on only skill drills shortchanges children who are
weak in reading and writing practice; therefore, skill work should constitute only a
portion of classroom activity.

An important reason that many students lack the skills to succeed in school is articulated
in the following statement: students are no longer required to read or write! Teachers
today require little writing and reading. For example, exams have become objective:
cloze, fill-in-the-blank, or true/false. Admittedly, objective tests have several advantages.
Teachers prefer objective tests because they may be easily graded and the numerical
evaluation may be easily justified. An additional burden lies in the reality that teachers
must offer oral or written feedback for all student writing. School life may be easier
because of objective tests, but the ultimate price is paid when students are graduated with
inferior language skills and minimal writing experience. Students should read and write
daily about a wide variety of subjects in a wide variety of rhetorical styles.

What’s the best way to keep students reading and writing? There is no reason why skill
materials must always be derived from the one-word, fill-in-the-blank variety. For all
children, the requirement to write full sentences and paragraphs stands as the most
effective learning practice. Children learn how to read by reading, and how to write
by writing. Children can practice critical literacy, responding to literature by writing

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about it and constructing, sharing, and building on knowledge rather than simply
receiving it. All students are capable of writing a great deal about topics with which they
are familiar. Children at all grade levels need to practice reading and writing all genres of
authentic literature; they might write poetry, create a short story, establish a class
newspaper, maintain a daily journal, critique a story of their choice or the writing of their
fellow students. In fact, allowing children opportunities to learn to critique and evaluate
the writing of their fellow students is rarely attempted, but could be the most important
literacy activity of all! The possibilities are as wide as the imagination of the instructor!

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CHAPTER XIII: CHANGES IN LITERACY AND EDUCATION

A. THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

From the landing at Plymouth Rock to today, educators and community

members have debated over the best way that government should fulfill its
responsibility to educate citizens. Underlying these debates are three
central questions: What is the purpose of a public education? Who is to
receive the educational services provided by the public? And, how does
government ensure the quality of these educational services? In various
forms, these questions lay beneath all educational changes and reform
measures in American history.
-PBS
“Roots in History” The Story of American Education

Americans have always valued a capitalistic, entrepreneurial drive and spirit. Admittedly,
exceptions exist, but from the beginnings of the settlement of the thirteen colonies, we
have deliberately cultivated a society that places a pragmatic, functional literacy above a
rigorous, academic, liberal literacy. By and large, our scholarship has been neither
classical nor theoretical, but practical. The driving force for popular education in the
United States, envisioned by educators such as Horace Mann and John Dewey, has
sought to produce a citizenry productive in labor and educated to manage the
requirements of living within a genteel social structure.1

The foundations for our present-day public school system were laid early in the colonial
period in New England, where Puritan religious beliefs determined that young men
should read the Bible. To that end, public elementary schools were established for the
moral and religious education of boys.2 This basic arrangement for a common school set
the stage for the emergence of the tax-supported school system. A Massachusetts law of
1647 provided that every town having fifty householders should appoint a teacher of
reading and writing. The town was to provide for “his” wages in such manner as the town
might determine. Every town having one hundred householders was to provide a
grammar school to prepare youths for the university, under a penalty of five pounds for
failure to do so.3 Massachusetts claims the first publicly supported secondary school,
Boston Latin, which offered a rigorous classical education. 4

At the same time, schools offering a separate, private, classical education for men and
women were established throughout the northern and southern states.5 It eventually
became clear that a more directly relevant schooling for greater numbers of young people
was necessary to meet the requirements of industrial growth in the United States. From
the 18th century well into the 20th century, industrialization and the demand for skilled
workers led to the development of an educational system that prepared the young to enter
the workforce. Overcoming resistance from private schools, conservative taxpayers,
church schools, and other vested interests, publicly supported schools were established in

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most northern states by 1850. Following the Civil War, by 1880, each of the thirty-eight
states then in the Union had public schools, including both elementary and high schools.6
The education of African-Americans presents a separate history from the education of
white Americans. Because the blueprint of education was practical, the nature of African-
American education was largely determined by the answer to the question, “What do
African-Americans need to know to function within the general social structure?” To
some extent, the answer was determined by location. In the South, prior to the American
Civil War, education for African-Americans was considered unnecessary; any education
depended upon the goodwill of slave masters. Sometimes, the more socially advanced
African-American church congregations provided instruction in the reading of the Bible.7
When the Civil War was over, it became possible for African-Americans to attend public
segregated schools. The Freedmen’s Aid Society, an association of progressive Northern
churches, provided economic aid for the education of Southern African-Americans.8
However, even in the Northern states, the opportunity to gain more than the most basic
rudiments of reading and writing was difficult to come by for African-Americans. Some
schools were established to help the escaped or newly freed slaves gain the skills they
needed to work. New York City opened the first African Free School in 1797.9 As
education for African-Americans became more available, so did institutions of higher
learning created specifically for them. African-American colleges sprung up, partly
because there were large numbers of African-Americans to be educated, and partly
because the traditional colleges, public or private, would not accept more than a token
number of African-American students. Thirty-seven African-American colleges were
established between 1864 and 1894. There remain over 100 African-American colleges
today.10

When the landmark school desegregation case of Brown vs. Board of Education was
decided in1954, it was expected to bring substantial changes in the enrollment patterns in
U.S. public schools. The decade of the 1970s witnessed a reduction in school segregation,
brought about through legal pressure on local school districts. However, a large-scale
exodus of middle-class whites from the inner cities clearly dampened the impact of
school desegregation and interracial contact, and, more than 50 years after Brown v.
Board of Education, a surprising amount of uncertainty remains about the ultimate effects
of school desegregation on the academic, social, and employment outcomes for African-
Americans. At the present time, racial separation in public schools today is primarily
attributable to residential segregation. Systematic decisions about neighborhood and
school choice by parents are well-documented and correlate with family characteristics
such as income, education, and ethnicity. The reality remains that families with greater
resources and a commitment to quality education seek out quality schools, which tend to
have lower African-American enrollment.11

Thomas Sticht has summarized a few of the historical highlights of the role the military
in public education. General Washington's desire to communicate with his troops in
writing led him to direct chaplains to teach the soldiers at Valley Forge basic literacy
skills; therefore, the Continental Army set the precedent for federal provision of adult
literacy education when chaplains tutored the troops fighting the Revolutionary War.12 In
the 19th century, during the Civil War, the Union Army provided African-Americans and
other soldiers with literacy education, and, following the war, during Reconstruction, the
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War Department took initial responsibility for the Freedmen’s Bureau and the education
of former slaves.13

The military exerted its greatest influence on adult education in the 20th century. During
World War I, the U.S. Army sponsored the development of the first group-administered,
standardized tests of “intelligence.”14 This had the immediate effect of providing
“objective” evidence that large numbers of native-born young adults were not literate and
that large numbers of immigrants were neither literate nor functional in the English
language. This information fueled the cause of advocates of adult education, who could
claim that large numbers of adults were in need of literacy education and that millions of
immigrants needed education to help them become “Americanized.” On the one hand, the
World War I experience with “intelligence” testing convinced some people that most
adults, both native- and foreign-born, were mentally incapable of benefiting from adult
education.15 On the other hand, in what has been a second major influence of the military
on adult education, it has repeatedly demonstrated that thousands of adults considered
“uneducable” could acquire at least basic literacy skills within fairly brief periods of
instruction, lasting from six to 12 weeks. In World War I, literacy education for both
native- and foreign-born young adults was accomplished in so-called Development
Battalions. Nearly 25 thousand illiterate and non-English-speaking troops had received
such training by February 1919.16

The achievements of the educational system in the United States should not go
unrecognized. During the 20th century, the rise in secondary-school attendance stands as
one of the most striking developments in U.S. education. While only eight percent of
American adolescents completed high school at the beginning of the 20th century, just a
century later, including those who complete GED requirements, almost 90 percent of
Americans complete a secondary education each year.17 The Morrill Acts of 1862 and
1890 provided federal financial support to state universities, and many land-grant
colleges and state universities were established through gifts of federal land to the states
for the support of higher education. Financial support extended to the universities led to
increased research.18 The annual number of males graduated from colleges increased
more than fivefold in the span of five years, 1946 to 1950, when millions of World War
II veterans took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights to go to college.19 Another steep rise
in the mean level of education took place with the educational deferments available
during the Vietnam War. Near the end of the 20th century, more than 60 percent of the
college-age population was enrolled in over 35 thousand four- and two-year colleges.20
Only one person in 50 completed college in 1900, but, a century later, in the year 2000,
one-quarter of the adult population graduated from college.21

All of these trends represent a massive upgrading of the nation’s human resources that
have enabled and sustained technological progress, the expansion of knowledge in every
field, the continuing shift from blue-collar to white-collar occupations, and the
adjustment to an increasingly complex social environment. From this historical
perspective, we need to make a fresh assessment of the failures and achievements of our
educational system.

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B. DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES

Almost all reading and phonics programs that I have seen are based on
the assumption that all students have the same underlying forms for words
and the same grammar. They are therefore optimally designed for those
students whose mental dictionaries, grammars and phonologies are
closest to SCE: in other words, for those students who need the least help.
-William Labov
“Can reading failure be reversed? A linguistic approach to the question”
Literacy Among African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching,
and Schooling, 1995

Differences between populations extend beyond the linguistic components of grammar

and vocabulary; they reach into the cultural components of attitudes, modes of learning,
and perceptions of future possibilities. The strands of culture and dialect spin a double
helix of DNA marking each population. Language use, social habits and mores, collective
life experiences, and expectations are fashioned from primary dialect and culture. Our
introduction to unfamiliar dialect and culture, i.e., secondary discourse and mainstream
culture, most often begins within the school system. In recent decades, diverse dialects,
foreign languages, and non-mainstream cultures have surfaced and reverberated
throughout the hallways of our schools. Linguistically, each distinct student population
determines its own forms, rules, and usage of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics,
and pragmatics. And each distinct student population sets its own parameters for topics of
casual conversation. Each determines the limits of the appropriate decibel level of
conversation and business within the school. Each population recognizes its own rules of
proxemics and kinesis, e.g., appropriate touching, eye contact, etc. Each carries its
particular perceptions of time that impact absences, tardiness and completion of
homework assignments. Each population adheres to a philosophy of social engagement;
while some populations value individualism and self-interest, others value a communal
empathy and group identification.

Hispanic- and African-Americans share some commonalities in their educational

experiences. Many African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans come from relatively
low socioeconomic backgrounds. Many members of the current generation of these
populations might well be the first in their families to imagine a high school graduation
and a college education. The dropout and graduation rates for African- and Hispanic-
Americans appear to be similar; 56 percent of African Americans and 54 percent of
Hispanic-Americans manage to graduate from high school.22 Both share similar SAT
scores. In both populations, especially in the case of young men, peers seem to serve as a
major distraction from education. However, data exist that suggests that the two
populations actually perform differently in school. While only six percent of African-
American students are placed in honors or advanced-placement (AP) English or math
classes, the number rises to 13 percent of Hispanic-American students, the same
percentage as white Americans!23 (Fig. 59)

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Percentage in AP classes Percentage of student population

African-American 06.4% 13.4%

Hispanic American 13.6% 13.4%
Asian American 10.5% 05.2%
Native-American 00.5% 01.1%
White-American 63.4% 66.2%
Fig. 64: Percentage of Students in AP Classes by Ethnicity
-College Board A P Central
Advanced Placement Report to the Nation, 2006
College Entrance Examination Board
(From Fig. 5: The Class of 2005: Race/Ethnicity of AP Examinees vs. Graduating
Seniors in U.S. Public Schools)

This surprising disparity often goes unnoticed when basic numbers are crunched. An
examination of its importance and meaning lies far beyond the scope of this book, but it
should be noted that the general foci of research on the two populations is very different,
implying that the two populations face different problems within the educational system.
On the one hand, research on African-American students tends to focus on classroom
behavior, the low expectations their teachers have for their success, and the match or
mismatch of academic content with student schema and interests. On the other hand,
research on Hispanic-American students examines the expectations of Hispanic-
American families and makes frequent reference to the shyness and lack of self-esteem of
Hispanic-American students. The conclusion to be drawn seems to be that the two
populations share similar problems and experience similar educational results, but differ
in how the problems and results manifest themselves. Let’s examine each population
more closely.

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C. THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENT

Whatever authority figures decide, students will go on constructing their

own voices. The African-American voice in school is the problem. Our
task is to harness it and use it as the beginning of a path to the solution.
-Michele Solá
“The Struggle for Voice: Narrative, Literacy, and Consciousness in an
East Harlem School”

The 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, making integration the
law of the land, hasn’t worked. Middle-class whites emptied schools of their children by
fleeing the inner cities for the suburbs, and seemingly ineradicable, intractable problems
continue to plague our educational endeavors. In schools where both whites and African-
Americans are enrolled, many researchers worry that teachers tend to harbor lower
expectations for African-American students; students are segregated, de facto, by
performance.24

More importantly, the wounds of past discrimination continue to bleed, no matter how
tightly the tourniquet might be pulled; they are pervasive enough to extend into African-
American middle-class families. For example, the value placed on academic achievement
by African-Americans represents a subtle and painful problem. John Ogbu studied
African-American male students who failed to function well in a quality suburban school
in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He claims that such students take refuge in the psychological
black holes of “victimhood and underdoggism” and continue to perceive themselves as
victims of racism, perpetuating the cycle of underachievement and the pathology of
helplessness.25 John McWhorter concurs, stressing that a large swath of African-
Americans regard academic achievement to be “white.” Thus, many African-American
students are discouraged from excelling academically by peer pressure, for a scholarly or
“nerdish” African-American male can risk social ostracism because he “acts white” and
has “sold out.” For many African-American youth, academic studies represent a dead
end. Success comes in other venues, such as hoop dreams or hip-hop stardom. For some,
coping devices can be found in self-destructive reactions to the harsh realities of school,
such as gang membership, alcohol, drugs, or crime.26

African-American students often react in classrooms with a sub rosa discourse that seems
to convey negative attitudes about school, including defiant body posture, very loud
speech, or whispering.27 Traditional teachers understandably desire a quiet, efficient,
controllable class. However, the tradition of noisy participation seems to be so ingrained
in African-American discourse that, if students are passive, they may not be learning.
(Chapt. XIV, B) Some African-American educators have suggested that encouraging
students to “respond” to the teacher’s “calling” in class might unlock a wealth of talent
and passion, stressing that teachers should permit some noisy behavior from their
African-American students. “It means they diggin on what you sayin.”28

Some African-American educators have suggested that mainstream schooling conflicts

with certain themes underlying African-American culture, such as spirituality, harmony,

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movement, verve, affect, expressive individualism, communalism, a socially defined time

perspective, and orality. Wade Boykin voices his concerns in the following paragraph:

When children are ordered to do their own work, arrive at their own
individual answers, work only with their own materials…When children
come to believe that getting up and moving about the classroom is
inappropriate… When children come to confine their “learning” to
consistently bracketed time periods… When they are consistently
prompted to tell what they know and not how they feel…When they are
led to believe that they are completely responsible for their own success
and failure…When they are required to consistently put forth considerable
effort for effort’s sake on tedious and personally irrelevant tasks ... Then
they are pervasively having cultural lessons imposed on them. They are
being sent powerful cultural messages.
-Wade Boykin
“The triple quandry and the schooling of Afro-American children”
In The School Achievement of Minority Children (1986): pp. 81-82

Many educators have found an answer in African-centered pedagogy, formed through an

African-centered culture, African-American dialect, and a base of knowledge that imparts
a positive, self-sufficient image to African-Americans. The use of African-American
dialect bonds the African-American community. Community ties are encouraged and
reinforced by the promotion of positive social relationships with all members of the
community, with the expectation that, when students experience an education that reflects
their values and their community, they will more likely be willing participants.29 In recent
decades, there has been movement towards these ends. Inner-city schools with a majority
of African-American students and faculty focus on biographies of African-American
leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Louis Farrakhan, and Malcolm X. The
Middle Passage, the transporting of slaves across the Atlantic, tops the list of historical
events to be studied. The music heard in these schools seldom strays from rap or hip-hop.
There have been great efforts to build strong community structures through the school
systems.

Although most educators applaud such changes, some worry that “overemphasis” on
African-centered curricula may be causing a decline in educational standards because it
detracts from a focus on basic skills and knowledge.30 In contrast to what Ogbu found in
Shaker Heights, these educators cite evidence that African-American students with high
potential have the greatest chance of success if they attend traditional quality schools.31

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D. THE HISPANIC-AMERICAN STUDENT

Science is often counterintuitive. Its breakthroughs tend to upset common-

sense notions, not to mention cherished myths. Linguistics is no exception.
-James Crawford
Bilingual Education
Issues in U.S. Language Policy

Common sense suggests that learning Spanish as a first language would be a formidable
barrier to successful education in the English language. It seems logical to blame the
difficult problems Hispanic-Americans children experience in school on the simple fact
that they speak Spanish. The reality is found elsewhere! Speaking Spanish as a first
language does not impede student achievement. In fact, Hispanic-American students who
are literate in Standard Spanish perform better on achievement tests and have higher
educational aspirations than those who cannot read or write Standard Spanish.32
Valsiviesio and Davis point out that it seems likely that socioeconomic status plays a
more important relationship to student achievement, pointing out that “…Cuban-
Americans have the highest educational level of all Hispanic-Americans, yet they are the
most likely to speak Spanish at home. The higher-performing Cuban-Americans are more
likely to come from middle-income backgrounds than other Hispanic-American
children.”33

All Hispanic populations share core cultural norms, basic concepts, and expectations that
differ sharply from Anglo culture. The values that determine Hispanic parenting practices
are expressed by the terms familismo, respeto, personalismo, and simpatia.34 Parental
decisions and actions are explained and understood through tradition.35 Efforts are made
by parents to build and improve relationships. During the adolescent years, parents
maintain warm and supportive relationships with their offspring, characterized by high
levels of parent-adolescent interaction and sharing. Hispanic parenting practices ensure
the close monitoring of adolescents.36 Importantly, Hispanic parenting practices are
differential, based on an adolescent’s gender; while boys are provided a measure of
freedom and permitted to dream of alternative life-style possibilities, girls are closely
monitored and expected to become good wives and mothers.37

Hispanic childrearing practices are markedly different from the general pattern found in
the United States. Hispanic children play with their siblings and cousins without
significant exposure to children outside of their extended families. The classroom may be
the first time a Hispanic-American child is immersed in an environment with a different
culture, language, and set of expectations for behavior.38 Hispanics perceive formal
teaching to be the purview of teachers; therefore, Hispanic parents tend not to read to
their children and may not realize that most children entering kindergarten already know
their ABCs, colors, and numbers.39 The term una buena educación translates best as a
proper upbringing, meaning giving respect to elders and behaving properly. The child
enters the classroom instructed never to act out in public, never to interrupt or bother
adults, and always to obediently comply with an adult’s request. To show respect to a
teacher, a well-brought-up child remains quiet and never speaks unless called upon.

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Children are not encouraged to “perform on command” or “show off.” Thus, they
frequently feel uncomfortable speaking in front of the class or displaying information
upon request.40

What teachers expect of Hispanic-Americans parents and students and what Hispanic-
Americans expect of teachers do not mesh; adjustments and understanding are required
on both sides. Just as Hispanic-American students may fall short of the expectations of
teachers in the United States, teachers in the United States do not meet the expectations
of Hispanic-American parents and students. Immigrant Hispanic-American parents may
work long hours and may be illiterate. Hispanic-American parents may not understand
that a teacher’s request to bring in supplies (e.g., pencils, crayons, notebooks) is to be
followed, that classroom open-houses are normally attended by parents, or that
homework frequently comes before family time in American households. Consequently,
Hispanic-American children lack a strong foundation on which to build literacy skills.41

Teachers in the United States reward students who care about the course material, obey
rules, complete assignments, and eagerly display knowledge. They perceive good
students as “individual maximizers,” students who drive for success independently of the
teacher. In contrast, teachers in Latin America strive to construct loving, caring
relationships with their students. While many teachers in the United States see adolescent
Hispanic students as not sufficiently interested in school, Hispanic-American students see
their teachers as not sufficiently caring about them and, therefore, remain unresponsive in
the classroom. In the high school years, teachers may misinterpret this quiet behavior as
disinterest in school subjects.42 A survey of Hispanic-American high school students
indicated that 91 percent of Mexican-American and 84 percent of Puerto Rican students
reported that they liked school; however, only 47 percent liked their teachers, and 50
percent felt that their teachers favored white American students more.43 Hispanic-
American students frequently prefer a model of schooling that typifies teacher/student
interaction in Latin America; it includes a respectful, caring, reciprocal dialogue between
student and teacher. While the teacher displays genuine concern for the student’s general
welfare, emotional well-being, and personal growth, the student responds by poner
ejemplo, or paying attention. Without authentic caring relationships with educators,
Hispanic-American students may feel disillusioned with school.

Expectations for school-based relationships can have a direct influence on a student’s

achievement and most likely factor importantly in high dropout rates among Hispanic-
American high-school students. Hispanic-American students benefit from programs that
include mentoring, connecting students to an attainable future, personal bonds with
teachers, targeted academic assistance, and recognition and status for academic work.44

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E. BILINGUAL AND BIDIALETIC EDUCATION

Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary

makers, but is something arising out of the words, needs, ties, joys,
affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad
and low, close to the ground.
-Noah Webster
American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828

English reflects the basic parameters that organize our identity as a nation; it forms a
shared cognitive and communicative construct; it creates a cohesive citizenry. The
English language bonds all native-born citizens of the United States, from Florida to
Alaska and from Hawaii to Massachusetts. We have not legally enshrined English, either
as our national language or as an official language.45 Since 1981, 23 states have passed
various forms of English-only legislation. A federal English-only constitutional
amendment has never come to a congressional vote.46 The recent unprecedented numbers
of Hispanic immigrants has created an intense controversy revolving around the
emerging possibility that the United States may become a bilingual nation, divided
between English and Spanish. Although Spanish has not been recognized as an official
language of the United States, it coexists alongside English. Public information and
education in Spanish have become the norm in our major metropolitan areas and all
places where Hispanic-American populations have reached significant numbers. In the
city of Aurora, Illinois, I visited an elementary school that posted notices for parents in
Spanish only, with no English translation!

The history of the United States stands as unique. The population of the United States has
been basted together like an unfinished quilt, composed of immigrants from Europe,
Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Although immigrant groups have learned English, we
babble the unblended sounds of a nation of peoples with mixtures of primary discourses,
such as the residual Yiddish accent of the New York Jewish community, “So walking I
don’t like too much!” and the Swedish twang of Minnesota Scandinavians, “Ya! I know
that, Margie!”All of this diversity has enriched our nation, but the high dropout rates in
our African-American and Hispanic-American speech communities reflect our inability
to complete the quilt.

The literacy and secondary-school graduation rates of the United States have been judged
harshly against the seemingly perfect literacy and secondary-school graduation rates of
Western European countries and Japan. We tend to forget that their results may, in large
part, be credited to their ethnic homogeneity. The homogeneity enjoyed by Western
European countries is disappearing because Western Europe now contains unprecedented
numbers of Muslim immigrants, and its member countries are now experiencing the
stress that minority cultures and languages place on educational systems. Nineteen
Western European countries count a total population of 450 million people; of that
number, the Muslim population currently totals almost 15 million, three percent of the
population.47 The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life comments:

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For Europeans, too, Muslim immigration poses special challenges. Unlike

the United States—a land of immigrants with no dominant ethnic group—
most nations in Europe are built around a population base with a common
ethnicity. Moreover, these countries possess deep historical, cultural,
religious, and linguistic traditions. Injecting hundreds of thousands, and in
some cases millions, of people who look, speak and act differently into
these settings often makes for a difficult social fit.
-Pew Charitable Trusts
“An Uncertain Road: Muslims and the Future of Europe”
Forum on Religion and Public Life (December 2004)

Is it possible to educate all children in a Standard language while balancing competing

languages and dialects? In the United States, can African-Americans maintain their
dialect and master Standard Common English? Can Hispanic-Americans blend English
and Latino idioms, yet learn Standard Common English and Standard Spanish? The
history of the United States as a nation of immigrants and speakers of sub-Standard
dialects places us in a unique position to find solutions to the completion of the quilt.
With such diverse populations in our schools, we are faced not only with challenges but
also with opportunities.

Everyone wants all children living in the United States to understand, speak, read, and
write “English.” However, there exist different philosophies as to how to accomplish this
goal. Those who advocate that schools instruct in “English only” argue that young
children absorb language naturally. They remind us that children of immigrants from past
generations appear to have absorbed English with no problem. This argument seems
perfectly reasonable, for it is true that young children sponge up language easily.
However, a closer look at the realities of language acquisition and literacy learning
suggests otherwise. Immigrant children acquire dialect from their peers and their
playmates, but literacy is learned, not acquired. Becoming literate requires the mastery of
a complex configuration of language abilities learned through guided, intensive study
over an extended period of years.48 Speakers of other languages must master additional
sounds, word meanings, grammars, and language usage, making English literacy a
doubly difficult process for them. Without a carefully planned instructional program,
immigrant children have little possibility of mastering Standard Common English. Extra
time and effort in literacy practice must be provided if children who speak a second
language are to succeed in literacy learning.

Surprisingly, this might be best accomplished by providing quality instruction in the first
language. Literacy skills can be learned in any language, and skills learned in the native
tongue can be transferred to the process of learning new language codes. Instruction in
the native tongue can make the organization of the English language comprehensible.49
For example, metalinguistic concepts such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases,
clauses, and sentences are most easily explained, recognized, and learned in the native
language, and can be transferred to English. If literacy stands as the primary goal, it can
be learned by comparing and contrasting two languages. A learning program that presents
literacy instruction in the native language might be followed by a presentation of

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analogous instruction in Standard Common English. For example, in a sample exercise,

students might be asked to practice writing sentences using the names of the days of the
week and the months of the year. The teacher may develop a discussion on how the rules
of capitalization differ between Spanish and English (e.g., septiembre and September)
and how capitalization constitutes an integral part of literacy. Other sample exercises
might be learning to recognize cognates between Spanish and English (e.g., tomate v.
tomato), practicing the pronunciation of the Spanish dental /W/ and the English alveolar /W/
(e.g., tengo vs. take), or comparing the uses and formations of verbs tenses and pronouns
(e.g., No se encuentra vs. He’s not here). An advantage of bilingual and biliterate
education becomes obvious when we consider that academic material is most easily
absorbed in one’s native language. For example, when Hispanic students have learned
something about dinosaurs in Spanish, a lesson on dinosaurs makes sense when the
instruction shifts to English.

The effectiveness of bilingual education continues to be disputed because both successes

and failures have been documented among the pedagogies, schools, students, and
communities that have been researched. However, one important fact stands out: there is
a marked difference between bilingual education and bilingual and biliterate
education. Some programs generate students who truly become bilingual and biliterate;
others produce students who are functionally illiterate and sub-Standard speakers in both
Spanish and English. The most extensive evaluation study to date, a four-year
longitudinal study of two-thousand Spanish-speaking students in five states, found “late-
exit” developmental bilingual programs superior to “early-exit” transitional bilingual, and
English-only immersion programs.50 When students had participated in programs that
began with native language literacy, those in late exit programs read better in English,
performed better on standardized tests, and had a better than 80 percent chance of making
it to college.51 An excellent education is possible through programs that include reading,
writing, and basic skill instruction and that seriously strive to strengthen literacy in both
the native language and in English. Ideally, literacy practice and basic skills are given in
the student’s native language, and parallel lessons in literacy and basic skills are adapted
to the student’s level of English proficiency.52 Successful literacy instruction includes a
firm grounding in the Standard in the native language and a transition to a firm grounding
in Standard Common English, executed through an integrated, knowledgeable plan of
instruction. If the objective is to graduate students literate in English, the sink-or-swim
solution of an English-only program, or even a bilingual program, has not been proven
effective.

There exists a strong analogy between learning English as a second language and
learning Standard Common English as a second dialect. Even though native speakers of
English might reside within the same city, the speech communities of mainstream
English and sub-Standard dialects of English remain estranged from each other. Speakers
of African-American dialect stand as far removed from speakers of mainstream dialect as
do speakers of different languages. The dialect we speak describes who we are, defines
our persona, and relates our sense of self to others. Our response to dialect reflects our
close, natural bond to those who speak “just like us.” Over many decades, the question of
“what to do” about African-American dialect remains unanswered but will not disappear.

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Maybe, therein lies a clue to an answer. If African-American dialect remains an ongoing

problem, might it not serve as part of the solution? Is there a way to employ a dialect to
teach Standard Common English?

Some have envisioned this possibility. All language learners encounter difficulties,
produce developmental errors, and progress through recognized stages; they depend upon
the rules of their primary discourse to fill in what they have not yet learned, creating a
hybrid of two systems. The solutions to the problems of Hispanic-Americans and
African-Americans may both lie in their interlanguage, or mix of what they know and
what they are learning.53

One experiment, The Bridge Program, developed by Gary Simkins, used African-
American dialect to teach reading and writing by building upon the dialect system that
African-American children bring to school. The Bridge Program was tested in five
locations in the United States. It involved 540 students, 530 of them African-American,
14 teachers, and 27 classes from the seventh through the 12th grades. Classes using the
Bridge Program showed a significantly larger gain in reading than the six control classes:
an average gain of 6.2 points over four months of instruction as compared to 1.6 points
for the control group! On the basis of this impressive finding, the program was marketed
nationally by Houghton-Mifflin, but encountered social obstacles; the publishers received
numerous objections from parents and teachers regarding the use of African-American
dialect in the classroom and ceased promoting it. Further development has been
shelved.54

Can bidialectic education transition students to the rigors and strictures of Standard
Common English, just as bilingual education transitions students to Standard Common
English? The initial small success of the Bridge Program suggests that there may be
benefits when the permutations of dialect are included in literacy instruction, but the
benefits or drawbacks regarding bidialectic education have not been resolved. Educators,
parents, and others regard African-American dialect to be nothing more than “error-
ridden English.” Their principle objection stems from the notion that instruction using
African-American dialect appears to put the school system in a position of endorsing,
promulgating, and teaching “bad” or “useless” English. Other problems with bidialectic
education include the difficulties in planning a successful transition from reading and
writing in African-American dialect to Standard Common English. An instructor in the
Bridge Program addressed his class in the following manner:

What’s happenin’, brothers and sisters? I want to tell you about this here
program called Bridge, a cross-cultural reading program. Now I know
what you thinkin’. This is just another one of them jive reading programs,
and that I won't be need no readin’ program. But dig it. This here reading
program is really kinda different. It was done by a brother and two sisters,
soul folk, you know. And they put sump’m extra in it, they put a little taste
o’ soul. Matter of fact, a lot of soul. No jive, that’s what they put in it, a
little bit of soul, something you can relate to. And check this out, quiet as
it’s kept, you do need this here readin’ program. If you be sittin’ in this

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class, you don’t be readin’ any too cool. Now don’t be lookin’ around! I’m
talkin’ about you, here, right over right over there in the corner now,
unless you the teacher, I’m talkin’ ’bout you. Now I know what you gon’
say. I don’ need to be readin’ no better, I get by! I don’t dig no readin’.
And they ain’t nothin’ I want to be readin’ nohow. But dig! I know where
you been, and I know where you comin’ from, too. When you was jus’
startin’ in school, readin’ got on yo’ case, now didn’t it, got down on you.
hurt your feelings. In the second grade, readin’ jus’ smacked you all
upside yo’ head, dared you do sump’m about it. In the third grade, hum,
readin’ got into your ches’, knocked you down, dragged you through the
mud, sent you home cryin’ to yo’ mama. Now, by the time you got to the
fo’th grade, you jus’ about had enough of messin’ around with this here
readin’ thing. And you said to yourself, I ain’ gon’ be messin’ with this ol’
bad boy no more! You jus’ hung it up. But you had to keep your front. So
you say, I don’ need no readin’, it ain’ nothin’ I want to read nohow. And
it wasn’, you know, all front, cause that stuff was pretty borin’. So
anyway, you stopped tryin’, so you was just sick and tired of gittin’ done
in, bein’ bored all the time by that readin’ stuff. But dig! like I said now,
this here program is kind of different. I want to hip you to that. It can help
you git it together. You know, keep you from bein’ pushed around by
reading. And it ain’t borin’. Cause it’s about really interesting people.
Matter of fact, it’s about the most interesting people in the world, black
people, and you know how interesting bloods can be.55
-Bridge Program teacher
Quoted by William Labov
“Can reading failure be reversed? A linguistic approach to the question”
Literacy Among African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching, and
Schooling, pp. 39-68
Republished by the University of Pennsylvania

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F. LEARNING THE GRAMMAR OF DIALECT

Should grammar teaching be mended or ended?

-Noam Chomsky
Statement delivered informally in a debate with Professor Peter Geach
at the University of Birmingham School of Education

English teachers have noticed a problem with the instruction of Standard Common
English: it doesn’t seem to be working! The rules taught “are here today and gone
tomorrow” or “go in one ear and out the other.” Grammar texts vary in their level of
sophistication, ranging from simplistic definitions of grammar terminology and language
structure to grammar critiques that assume a robust knowledge of language terminology
and provide literate but sometimes misguided suggestions for language usage. Students
are presented with insufficiently defined metalinguistic terms and incomplete theories of
sentence structure. Teachers mandate Standard Common English, but fail to explain it.
Even mainstream speakers are presented with grammatical imperatives that they routinely
neglect to follow. Common examples of errors made by mainstream speakers may be
found in the use of the objective pronoun in such sentences as “I didn’t mind you coming
late,” when Standard Common English mandates the use of the possessive pronoun, “I
didn’t mind your coming late,” or “If I was a stockbroker, I’d be wealthy,” when
Standard Common English demands the unreal subjunctive “If I were….” This problem
is compounded exponentially when we consider speakers of sub-Standard dialects. Given
no explanations for language variations and anomalies, many English speakers become
nervous about “making mistakes” and suffer from linguistic insecurity. The problem
begins with the simple fact that most people remain unaware of the miracle of the real,
operative, subconscious grammar system that governs our language.

Linguists recognize two approaches to grammar: prescriptive and descriptive. The

prescriptive approach is associated with a Standard, fixed presentation of grammar; for
the English language, this means traditional English language instruction. Prescriptive
grammar informs the student of what is required in Standard grammar. The descriptive
approach is anchored in the premise that language instruction should focus on language
usage; it employs the science of linguistics to study, investigate, compare, and contrast
dialects. Phonemes, morphemes, semantics, the formation of phrases, clauses, and
sentences, and their appropriate uses are dissected and considered. The data to be
examined consist of our everyday, natural linguistic behavior. Using the same scientific
method applied in chemistry or physics, hypotheses are formulated and tested.
Descriptive inquiry turns out to be appropriate for everyone! Not only are we always
interested in theorizing about our own behavior, but also the data stand immediately
available for our inspection and cost nothing! Such examinations of dialects and Standard
Common English foster authentic scientific experiments. In the descriptive approach,
students become co-experts in engaging in an examination of their particular language
usage, which they know implicitly. The teacher’s expertise lies not only in his or her
explicit knowledge of Standard Common English, but also in his or her knowledge of
how language is built, constructed, changed, and used. The teacher’s effectiveness lies in
his/her ability to deconstruct and reconstruct both Standard Common English and sub-

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Standard dialect. Students can be encouraged to investigate a discrete segment of dialect

from their speech communities, and the teacher can guide them into an investigation of
the parallel construction in Standard Common English.

An analysis of grammar should include a parallel study of dialect and Standard Common
English, and all dialects students bring to school present this opportunity. Students can
begin with their dialects and move gradually into the rules of Standard Common English.
For example, speakers of African-American dialect may say, John sick, or, if John has
been sick for a while, the students may say, John be sick. The teacher could introduce the
sentence, John is sick and ask how the constructions are similar, but different. Students
can try out any hypotheses that they can think of; the teacher’s job is to help them test
their hypotheses and guide them gradually to the knowledge of Standard Common
English. Beginning writers can use their speaking skills as a foundation on which to build
their writing skills. A teacher who acknowledges and draws upon what a student already
knows in his or her primary discourse can measure the student’s transition into secondary
discourse and encourage the student toward the mastery of literacy.

Objections to a purely descriptive approach might be raised. It might be argued that there
remain additional components to literacy learning that must be covered. For example, it
might be recommended that instruction emphasize those grammar constructions that are
particularly generic to writing, such as combining independent and subordinate clauses.56
I would be the first to agree, stressing that, throughout the educational experience of each
child, the descriptive approach must be augmented and complimented with the study of
orthography, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, capitalization, and punctuation.
Basic patterns in vocabulary and spelling should be explained through the prism of
language history. Students should be exposed to the history of the English language,
know of the development of its alphabet, and recognize diphones, digraphs, and
consonant blends. They should maintain an ongoing study of the meaning of Latinate,
Greek, and Germanic root words and affixes. Such a curriculum would make it possible
to master discourse and rhetoric in a far more thorough way than traditional grammar
study. Teachers should require that every student engage in daily reading and writing,
systematically building and organizing sentences and paragraphs into coherent discourse.
Daily reading and writing practice in a variety of rhetorical styles and regular discussion
and analysis of what has been read and written would round out an ideal learning
experience of language.

These techniques require great effort on the part of both teacher and student, but prove to
be ultimately purposeful and even enjoyable! The goal for every child, mainstream or
non-Standard, should be the ability to appropriately “code-switch” between dialect and
Standard Common English. Students come to an awareness and appreciation of the
differences between those occasions when the use of Standard Common English and its
rules are required and those occasions when the use of primary discourse with its rules
stands as appropriate. In written language and formal and academic speech, the norms of
Standard must be used. In the cafeteria and on the school playground, primary discourse
remains appropriate.57

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G. ADULT LITERACY INSTRUCTION

If it were admitted that the great object is to read and enjoy a language,
and the stress of the teaching were placed on the few things absolutely
essential to this result, all might in their own way arrive there, and rejoice
in its flowers.
-Harriet Beecher Stowe
“The Chimney Corner”

The possibility of learning literacy can, theoretically, be extended beyond something that
happens only in childhood. In the United States today, literacy classes for adults are
divided between native speakers of English (Adult Basic Education, or ABE) and
immigrant populations (English as a second language, or ESL). The General
Educational Development test, or GED, is the ultimate achievement for ABE students.
Developed by the military in 1942, the GED provided a chance for members of the
military service to qualify for a high school education equivalency certificate. For tens of
thousands of members of the armed services who had cut short their high school
education to serve the nation during World War II, obtaining the equivalent of a high
school education made it possible for them to get jobs and to use the GI Bill to pursue
further vocational training or a college education. Many of the GIs who did go on to
college became the first in their families to earn a university degree.58 Today, the GED is
widely used in both the United States and Canada to certify high school equivalency.
ABE and ESL programs have become familiar components of community colleges and
community-based organizations, or CBOs, across the nation. In the last decade of the
twentieth century, nearly 40 million people enrolled in the programs of the U.S. Adult
Education and Literacy System, AELS.59

Adult education originated from several different sources. Its beginnings can be traced to
the 19th century, when education was provided for former slaves by a variety of service
organizations.60 Later, somewhat educated middle-class women founded literary clubs
that formed the beginnings of the women’s movements for suffrage and temperance.61
However, the greatest impetus for adult education came in the early 20th century, when
thousands of immigrants entered the United States. Most of them were poor and
undereducated, and their plight created a persistent need for a system of adult education
that could provide instruction in the English language and knowledge of “American”
culture. Initially, settlement houses, such as Hull House, provided basic reading, writing,
and English-language training. Between 1915 and 1919, the Federal Bureau of Education
gave extensive professional aid to other organizations to provide schooling in evening
classes in public schools.62 The growth of the public school system brought parallel
growth in evening classes for working adolescents and adults. For the most part, these
evening schools served young people who worked during the day. These evening schools
laid the foundation for today’s adult education programs in the public schools.63

Although an incredible wealth of information exists regarding the instruction of children

(pedagogy), a comparable research agenda and empirical database for the instruction of
adults (andragogy) has not yet emerged, making the educational effort required to

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provide literacy instruction to adults formidable. Many factors may be cited to explain
this.

To begin with, because adult student populations prove to be incredibly diverse, there
exists an inherent difficulty in classifying and defining adult learners. The cognitive
characteristics and learning history of each adult learner present unique barriers for
theoretical generalizations and conclusions.64 ABE students come from disparate cultures
and speech communities, such as Center City Detroit, Appalachian West Virginia, the
Mississippi Delta, Dallas, or Southside Chicago. Each ABE student carries an individual
history of life experiences and encounters with education. Some have never experienced
school, while others carry memories of past failure. Unfortunately, ingrained fears of
failure and old habits create severe handicaps. After the age of 18, almost 87 percent of
adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who attempt to return to complete a General
Educational Development, or GED, do not complete the program.65

The diversity becomes even stronger when the population of adults learning English as a
second language is examined. ESL adult students range from illiterates in their native
language to those who have university degrees from their country of origin. Some
second-language learners arrive in the United States having mastered many of the
functions of language and literacy, while others enter their first ESL class in the United
States as rank beginners. ESL students may speak languages with no writing system (e.g.,
Hmong), languages that use logograms (e.g., Chinese dialects), languages written with
syllabograms (e.g., Arabic), or languages that employ non-Latin alphabets (e.g., the
Cyrillic alphabet or Hongul.) Even speakers of languages using the Latin alphabet may
find the system of transcoding in English completely foreign (e.g., Vietnamese.) Of
course, all second-language learners must face unfamiliar phonological, morphological,
lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic systems.

Additionally, most adult literacy students are poor; the ESL student population comes
from immigrants, and the ABE student population is formed from school dropouts.
Typically, adult literacy students are unemployed or hold minimum-wage jobs. Their
lives may best be described as stressful, and financial and family responsibilities tend to
overtax their time and energy. The effort required to attend class regularly can be
overwhelming, exhausting, and beyond the ability of many adult students. I have
personally observed that a large number of students attend ABE and ESL classes
sporadically, or drop out after a short period of time because of personal pressures. Of
course, some adult students come from the elderly population and struggle with the
problems of aging, such as reduced vision and hearing, impaired blood circulation,
depression, stress, and chronic illness, which impact their cognitive abilities. Older
learners are often confused and discouraged by new electronic technologies and seem
unable to adapt to new ways of doing things.66 Most have limited access to electronic
devices, such as laptops.

All adult literacy learners, ABE or ESL, face problems that children do not. Adults have
jobs, families with children, and are responsible for rent, utilities, food, clothing, and
health care. Adults must fill out medical questionnaires and job applications; they must

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pay rent and electric bills. Therefore, adult literacy is based on learning to manage real-
life tasks and situations. Although the best instructors attempt to create self-directed
learning and motivation, adult literacy remains simple, unacademic low-road learning;
the gate is closed to high-road learning, the training for a critical, reflective approach to
literacy.67

However, adults carry a wealth of experience and schema that children lack, making it
easier for them to comprehend reading material and make competent and efficient use of
information gathered from text. Adults evidence a strong ability to focus on salient
information and form decisions without extensive searching and processing of data. And,
as adults gain literacy skills, they usually come to summarize important information in
text. Many educators suggest that low-level skills, involving surface structure, can be
strengthened in adulthood by techniques such as spelling and punctuation games, free
writing, rewriting, and by encouraging correct word usage and vocabulary expansion.
High-level skills, involving deep structure and the comprehension and interpretation of
text, may be strengthened by an extensive array of exercises, including discussions of the
meaning of a writing passage, peer revision of writing assignments, and visualization of
the process of composition.68 All educators agree that adult learners can benefit from a
wide variety of writing assignments, such as journaling and essays. Again, we learn to
read and write by reading and writing.

Sadly, adult instruction has been assigned a low priority in the world of education. As an
ESL instructor, I have found that community-based programs are funded on shoestring
budgets; textbooks and materials may be shared or copied, instructors tend to be
volunteers with little experience or training, and the rate of instructor turnover remains
high. Not surprisingly, the use of primers prepared for children can be insulting and
inappropriate for adult sensibilities, but there exists little material specifically prepared
for illiterate adults. Reading material prepared for adult learners is limited to simple
biographies of other adult students or abridged versions of outdated news stories.

In sum, most adult students belong to “at risk” populations; they form the most difficult
and intractable groups to work with and teach, identified in numerous studies and reports
as being unlikely to seek such education. Of the more than 31 million enrollees in the
Adult Education and Literacy System, AELS, from 1992 through 1999, 7.9 million were
the working poor, more than 3.3 million were welfare recipients, 9.3 million were
unemployed, and 2.2 million were incarcerated.69 More than two-thirds of the 15 million
enrollees during 1992-1996 had not completed 12 years of education or received a high
school diploma, and more than 3.4 million were immigrants.70 Yet, they continue to
enroll in instruction in increasing numbers!

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UNIT IV: THE ORAL CONNECTION

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CHAPTER XIV: AFRICAN-AMERICAN DIALECT

A. THE HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN DIALECT

I say black English is cool, ain’t nuttin’wromg wit it. I’s da fact dat you
speak whatever you feel, okay? Dos who can’t understan’, I’s dey
problem.
-18 year-old male guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show

Almost 40 million African-Americans live in the United States.1 The relationship of

African-American dialect to Standard Common English remains a debated and difficult
issue, not because there is lack of information about African-American dialect, but
because attitudes and sensitivities of both African-Americans and white Americans are
tender.

Everyone can agree upon historical realities. West Africans shipped to the Americas as
slaves communicated with their captors and with each other in a pidgin, a simple dialect
with little or no grammatical structure that evolves spontaneously to enable
communication between distinct speech communities for purposes of trade and
commerce. While distinctive features of African-American dialect originate from Niger-
Congo languages, other features emanate from the English of Shakespeare! When
grammar structures are added, pidgins evolve into creoles, a more linguistically complete
and complex form of discourse. The children of West African slaves had no a-priori
knowledge of grammar; however, they instinctively superimposed grammar onto the
pidgin of their parents. Within a short span of time, their speech expanded and evolved
into a rule-governed discourse, creating the foundation of African-American dialect.2
The dialects that exist today in the descendants of West African slaves can be explained
as a continuum of language styles, respectively referred to by linguists as basolect,
mesoect, and acrolect. The basolect contains strong traces of creole spoken by slaves and
may still be heard as the primary discourse of people living on the coastal islands off of
South Carolina as Gullah, or in Jamaica as Jamaican. African-American dialect, spoken
by a majority of African-Americans living in the United States, refers to the mesolect, a
social dialect bridging creole and mainstream. For the most part, middle- and upper-class
African-Americans tend to speak mainstream Standard Common English, the acrolect.3

Dialects evolve and diverge within and between geographic boundaries. The paucity of
middle-class, mainstream speakers in the inner cities of the United States have created a
central core of young African-American residents who live in linguistic isolation.4 Inner-
city youth wear their unique primary discourse as a badge of pride, constantly recreating
new variants to distinguish “us” from “them”; their dialect is continually being reinvented
and refined in the linguistic fermentation of the inner cities. However, a large number of
African-Americans, including many living in the same inner-city neighborhoods and
speaking the same African-American dialect as the isolated youth, experience broader
occupational, political, or social connections, providing them with frequent face-to-face
encounters with mainstream speakers. They are able to code-switch between strong

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African-American dialect and mainstream English. The critical distinguishing factor

between these two different groups of African-Americans seems to be the frequency of
personal interactions with speakers of mainstream dialects.5 The exchange of dialect
builds a two-way street; while African-Americans may be exposed to mainstream
speakers, youth of other ethnicities shop “down-market” in the inner cities for new
language and fresh expressions.6

Might this linguistic cocktail turn out to be a positive development? If suburban young
pick up African-American dialect, and, if African-Americans continue to code-switch
between a basolect, a mesolect, and an acrolect, could “American” speech eventually
morph into a homogenous “American Standard?” Might American speech evolve the way
“American” music did, blending African-American and white American musical formats,
including classical, gospel, country, Broadway, blues, Latin, jazz, rock, rap, and hip-
hop?7 Perhaps. Whatever the future, the influence of African-American dialect on our
oral discourse widens an already great divide between spoken dialect and written
Standard.

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B. THE ORAL NATURE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN DISCOURSE

Teacher: They don’t call it no “oral tradition” for nothin’!

Class: SAY WHAT?
Teacher: What do we call that? Class?
Class: LEARNIN WITH FLAVA! GET DOWN, BABY! GO’HEAD!
Teacher: A person, place, thing, or quality is a…?
Class: NOUN!
Teacher: A descriptive word is an…?
Class: ADJECTIVE!

You call, they respond. And the learning begins.

-Geneva Smitherman
Talkin’ and Testifyin’

African-Americans have inherited a vibrant oral tradition from the African continent.
Through this tradition, African-Americans have maintained important continuities with
their African past. African-American performances echo the drum and heartbeat of Africa
and renew the experiences and highlights of African ritual.8 Like their African
predecessors, African-American storytellers have been a source of delight and
stimulation to their audiences. Their narratives ring with chant, mimicry, rhyme, and
song, and buzz with animation and electricity. The most effective orators grab the
imagination of the listener and hold on to it for as long as possible. They conjure up
images of the good and the bad, the weak and the strong, the trickster and the fool.
Levine writes, “Nothing has proven too difficult for orators to represent; the sounds of a
railway engine, the cries of barnyard animals, the eerie moans of spectral beings, and the
voices of the city have formed an integral part of the African-American tale.”9 Orators
today go by many names: reporter, historian, preacher, healer, hipster, teacher, comedian,
blues singer, poet, and rapper.

Many times during a performance, the audience comments and responds to the orator,
concurring and laughing. This phenomenon demonstrates the most unique feature of the
African-American oral tradition, the call-response, a dialogue pattern that has shaped all
African-American rhetoric and has been used without fail at all African-American
gatherings.10 The call-response pattern involves a continual process of acting and reacting
between orator and audience; their constant exchanges feed each other’s energy. Well-
known examples of call-response may be found in the interaction between the preacher
and his congregation or in the exchanges between performer and audiences in
contemporary Def comedy. Call-response seems to be such a natural, habitual dynamic
that African-Americans do it quite automatically and unconsciously. Between African-
Americans and white Americans, this may cause cultural miscommunication. When an
African-American is “calling” and a white American does not “respond,” the African-
American assumes that the white American is not listening. Conversely, when a white
American is “calling,” the “response” from the African-American makes the white
American think that the African-American is interrupting.11

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African-American dialect captures other subtleties and expressive nuances that cannot be
translated across dialects or rhetorical styles; these expressions carry their own unique
tonal semantics, a particularly distinctive vocal rhythm and tonal inflection, and are
liberally seasoned with word play.12 Verbal skills provide cohesion in African-American
culture. For example, the art of punning provides a great deal of improvised humor in
any African-American conversation. An African-American commentator on WBEZ,
Chicago Public Radio, could not resist bringing levity to a serious conversation by
purposely phrasing the statement “I resent your accusations” as “I resemble your
accusations.” At the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, where I once worked,
as federal workers were waiting for the control room to unlock a gate, someone cried,
“Open Sesamus!”13In yet another example, Yo Mama jokes always prove to be popular
(e.g., “Yo mama so fat she need two buses t’ go downtown!”). The dozens, exemplified
in “The Thirteens” by Maya Angelou, provides us with a sample of highly prized verbal
work.

The Thirteens Black

Your Momma took to shouting

Your Poppa’s gone to war,
Your sister’s in the streets
Your brother’s in the bar,
The thirteens. Right On.
Your cousins’ taking smack
Your Uncle’s in the joint,
Your buddy’s in the gutter
Shooting for his point
thirteens. Right On.
And you, you make me sorry
You out here by yourself,
I’d call you something dirty,
But there just ain’t nothing left,
Cept
The thirteens. Right On.

The Thirteens White

Your Momma kissed the chauffer,

Your Poppa balled the cook,
Your sister did the dirty,
In the middle of the book,
The thirteens. Right On.
Your daughter wears a jock strap,
Your son he wears a bra
Your brother jonesed your cousin
In the back seat of the car.
The thirteens. Right On.

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Your money thinks you’re something

But if I’d learned to curse,
I’d tell you what your name is
But there just ain’t nothing worse
Than
The thirteens. Right On.14
-Maya Angelou
from the collection Just give me a cool drink of water ’fore I Diiie
part two: Just Before the World Ends
Republished in The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, 1994

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C. AFRICAN-AMERICAN RHETORICAL STYLE

The word is total:

it cuts, excoriates
forms, modulates
perturbs, maddens
cures or directly kills
amplifies or reduces
According to intention
It excites or calms souls.
-Praise song of a bard of the Bambara Komo society
Quoted by Adama Doumbia, Naoim Doumbia, and Adam Ken Doumbia
The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality and Tradition

In the realms of academia and business, writing and formal verbal presentations are
organized into an obligatory three-part structure. The opening informs the reader or
audience of the theme or topic to be explored. The development presents and explains
the theme as the author/speaker slices it into subtopics, providing information and details
to fill and support each section. Finally, the recapitulation revisits the opening, re-
explaining the meaning and importance of the topic. This organizational structure is
frequently absent in the speeches and literary endeavors of African-Americans. Instead,
the organizational features of African-American rhetoric are generated from its oral
features. The distance between the speaker/listener and writer/reader remains fixed in the
mode of informal speech and carries assumptions of physical and temporal proximity that
are considered inappropriate for Standard written discourse and verbal presentation.

In African-American rhetoric, the opening theme or main point may be delayed and
foregrounded by other information. Gee has provided an example of the rhetorical
organization of a young African-American student attempting a formal verbal
presentation to her classmates and teacher. Her organization derives from informal
speech and relays events in their chronological order.

My Puppy

1. my puppy came
2. he was asleep
3. an’ he was
4. he was
5. he tried to get up
6. an’ he ripped my pants
7. an’ he dropped the oatmeal all over him
8. an’
9. an’ my father came
10. an’ he said “did you eat all the oatmeal”
11. he said “where's the bowl”
12. he said “I think the dog

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13. “I think the dog…took it”

14. “well”
15. “think I’ll have t’ make another can”
16. An’ so I didn’t leave till seven
17. An’ I took the bus
18. An’
19. my puppy
20. he always be following me
21. he said
22. uh
23. my father said
24. um
25. “he—you can’t go
26. An’ he followed me all the way to the bus stop
27. An’ I hadda go all the way back
28. by that time it was seven-thirty
29. an’ then he kept followin’ me back and forth
30. an’ I hadda keep comin’ back
31. an’ he always be followin’ me
32. when I go anywhere
33. he wants to go to the store
34. an’ only he could not go t’ places
35. where we could go
36. like to
37. like t’ the stores
38. he could go
39. but he have t’be chained up.
Child’s formal verbal presentation to class
Transcribed by James Paul Gee
“The Narrativization of Experience in the Oral Style”
Rewriting Literacy: Culture and the Discourse of the Other (1991)
pp. 77-102

Additional markers of oral style may be found in two GED practice essays I have
included from my work at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Actions Do Not Speak for Themselves

Opinions may change over a period of time for a lot of different

reasons. It may change for best of situations, like to be apart [[sic]
of something, breaking up with someone, or even getting back
together.

The opinion was crazy because I thought being with someone or a

part of a relationship would change me. In one case it did because I
wasn’t alone but problems came along and I wanted to get out.

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My opinion was if we break-up that I would be single again and all

my problems would go away. I was wrong, because I felt bad
about leaving her and the problems and the situations we were in
would’ve worked out. Now I’m sitting here lonely and thinking
about getting back together and fixing our problems.

Now getting back together was another thing because I thought I

would could change my opinion too, but I was better off getting
back together because I was happy and not confused anymore with
my situation. So we talked things out and got back on track.

In conclusion, opinions may vary in how they change over a period of

time. Like being apart [sic] of something, breaking up, or getting back
together.
Moses Motto
GED practice essay, written at the Metropolitan Correctional Center
Chicago, Illinois, November 15, 2002
With permission

The structure of Actions Do not Speak for Themselves uses a specific African-
American rhetorical feature, a tropic device, a change in verb tense that marks a
pivotal point in a story.15 In the third paragraph, the writer makes a decisive
decision that stands as the critical turning point of the story. The shift in verb
tense from the past (was, felt, were) and conditional (if we break up…I would
be…would’ve worked out) to the present continuous (I’m sitting…thinking)
informs the reader that the crisis is immediate and demands a resolution. A reader
who is unfamiliar with tropic devices may not recognize its importance or
appreciate its function.

Another rhetorical device, parallelism, functions in Actions Do not Speak for Themselves
to create the story’s introduction and recapitulation.16 Parallelism informs the reader of
the writer’s dilemma; it states the writer’s confusion about resolving the relationship; it
illustrates the choices the writer is faced with; it informs the reader “Here I state my main
point.”

…like to be apart of something, breaking up with someone, or even

getting back together.
…like being apart of something, breaking up, or getting back
together.

The second essay, An Opinion, provides us with examples of the use of oral grammar in
much African-American writing. Sentence fragments, which we use in speech all the
time, are not permitted in Standard, but are used naturally by the writer, e.g., When
women give birth and do jobs that normally men do.

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The writer also uses a different case of pronouns from Standard grammar, e.g., would not
spend time with my sister and I…

The grammar in An Opinion highlights an issue particularly problematic when attempting

to explain the differences between Standard Common English and African-American
dialect: the confusion between the past tense and the past participle, as in I seen and I
have an opinion changed…

An Opinion

An opinion I’ve had was that men are stronger and better than
women. I always had that opinion growing up, but it gave a 360o
turn, and now my opinion changed. When women give birth and
do jobs that normally men do.

My opinion changed when I was 7 years old. It changed when I

found out that my mother had raised me and my sister by herself.
She had to work 2 jobs constantly to feed us, to clothe us, and to
give us an education. It also changed when I seen so many other
single moms struggling to give their children a better life.

I have an opinion changed when my mother had to work two jobs

at a time. She would not get enough sleep. She would not eat
healthy meal, and specially she would not spend time with my
sister and I, to give us a good life.

Another reason I changed my opinion on women, when I seen

single moms suffering with their children but growing stronger
every day. Another reason why my opinion changed is when I
would be driving by a street, and I seen females doing construction
work. With the high temperatures and the heavy equipment, that
made me changed my mind. But the most important reason, which
I consider the best reason, is that women can get pregnant, carry a
baby growing inside of them for nine months, and give birth. And
they do it again, and again. When if a man could do that from my
point of view would only do it one time.

In conclusion I always had a really bad opinion about women, but

after going through everything I went through. After everything I
saw, and everything I’ve heard, my mind is set. We are all equal.
Men and women.
-James Sales
GED practice essay, written at the Metropolitan Correctional Center
Chicago, Illinois, November 18, 2002
With permission

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D. AFRICAN-AMERICAN PHONOLOGY AND GRAMMAR

Grammar is a piano I play by ear. All I know about grammar is its power.
-Joan Didion
“Why I Write”

The rules of dialect are acquired and used automatically, unconsciously, and remain
forever embedded in our brains as guideposts of comprehension and usage, resembling
grooves in an old phonograph record. They function not only as language regulators but
also as a source of social cohesiveness. Their idiosyncrasies remain strong and stubbornly
resistant to all efforts to assimilate, change, or eradicate. Like an old phonograph record,
the needle follows the grooves.

The grammar structures of African-American dialect are derived from its pidgin and
creole origins, which set it apart from Standard Common English in complex ways.
Both African-American dialect and Standard Common English share basic rules that
define their common membership in the community of English-language dialects. For
example, they both obey the same rules of word order. However, they diverge
importantly in specific linguistic parameters. Easily identified examples include
differences in intonation (e.g., police vs. police), morphology (e.g., hisself vs. himself),
and semantics (e.g., fly, a style of dressing vs. fly, an insect.) There exist metatheses, or
exchanges or shifts of phonemes in words (e.g., aks vs. ask). Surprisingly, aks harkens
back to the Englisc, aksian, which coexisted with askian, illustrating that African-
American dialect draws some features directly from the history of the English language
in unexpected places!

Unfortunately, the lines of demarcation between African-American dialect and Standard

Common English go much deeper than these surface features and become subtle and
deceptive, creating differences in pronunciation, word formation, grammar, vocabulary,
and speaking style which may be dismissed, ignored, or misinterpreted by those
unfamiliar with African-American dialect. These realities present grave problems in any
effort to teach literacy.17

The phonology of African-American dialect intensifies the already fragile phoneme to

grapheme correspondence that plagues English writing. In African-American dialect,
specific sounds are shifted to a new place of articulation. For example, the unvoiced th,
7 becomes the unvoiced /I/ in the middle of a word, producing burfday instead of
birthday, while the voiced th, ' follows logically as the voiced /Y/, producing uhva
instead of other. Voiced th, ' becomes voiced /G/ at the beginning of a word, creating
da Bulls instead of the Bulls.18

Additionally, other sounds undergo reduction or deletion, a process known as

phonological simplification. Sentences articulated in African-American dialect face
harsh judgments from grammarians. (Fig. 65)

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As pronounced in
Standard Common Deleted or shifted
African-American
English consonant
Dialect
misses, takes, crosses, grammatical morpheme
miss, take, cross, do
does -s

missed /mist /miss grammatical morpheme miss

passed / past / pass ed pass

boot final phoneme boo

seat/seed /W/, /G/ see

four final phoneme fo

I’ll, you’ll, etc. /U/, /l/ I, you, etc.

told final phonemes toe

help /OG/, /OS/ hep

the (initial th-) initial, medial, final da

birthday, mouth /'/ burfday, mouf
(medial, final -th)

Fig. 65: Examples of Phonological Shift and Simplification

Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

In effect, these sound changes create a separate grammar structure for African-American
dialect, for phonological simplification affects the articulation of grammatical
morphemes that indicate the simple present tense -s (added to the third person singular),19
the regular past tense –ed (e.g., played, cooked, or waited), and the past participle –ed/-en
(e.g., have played,)20 The regular simple past tense sounds of /W/ (e.g., passed) and /G/
(e.g., played), are omitted in African-American dialect. This omission makes words like
passed sound like pass and played sound like play; their absence creates confusion
between the spelling of the past tense and the present tense. I passed the test becomes I
pass the test; I missed the bus sounds like I miss the bus. A noun such as past suffers the
same fate; in the past becomes in the pass, also causing orthographic confusion

Additionally, vowels may be simplified in pronunciation, one vowel sound blending into
another, causing different words to acquire the same vowel sound and become
homonyms. Teacher and student soon discover that vowel simplification creates
uncomfortable orthographic problems, such as I pen the hem of my dress.21 (Fig. 66)

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Standard
pronunciation/writing
pen, pin
fail, fell, fill
find, found, fond
African-American
dialect
/S(Q/
vowel simplification
/I(O/
diphthong simplification /IDXQ/
Fig. 66: Homonyms
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

Direct instruction of Standard Common English grammar and phonology can be difficult
for a number of reasons. Some suggestions for teachers have been proposed below, but
they require some knowledge of how adjacent phonemes react to each other.

Teachers should be aware that two grammatical morphemes mentioned in the previous
paragraphs, -s and -ed, are both realized by three different sounds, known by linguists as
allomorphs. The fact that a single grammatical ending is unconsciously realized as three
different sounds surprises most English speakers. The different sounds of the
grammatical morphemes -s (which indicates not only the third person singular present
tense, but also the plural of nouns and the possessive forms of nouns) and -ed (which
indicates the regular past tense and some past participles) are determined by the final
sound of the word to which they are attached. When preceded by a voiced sound, –s
becomes a voiced /]/, e.g., belong, belongs (/]/); –ed becomes a voiced /G/, e.g., seem,
seemed (/G/). When preceded by an unvoiced sound, –s becomes an unvoiced /V/, e.g.,
walk, walks (/V/); –ed becomes an unvoiced /W/, e.g, walk, walked (/W/). The most salient
allomorphs of -s and -ed are those formed by the addition of an extra vowel sound, the
schwa, / /, known as vowel epenthesis. The /G/ forms words such as needed or wanted,
verbs that terminate in /W/ or /G/; the –/V/ forms words such as watches, changes, or
boxes, words that end in a fricative or an o. (Fig. 67)

The salient quality of each allomorph should be considered carefully by teachers. Let’s
begin with the most salient allomorphs, the /G/ and the /V/. All English speakers
distinguish the third-person singular with vowel epenthesis, e.g., washes or watches,
more easily than in works or sings; all English speakers distinguish the past tense with
vowel epenthesis, e.g., started, ended, or expected, more easily than in passed or rolled.
Using words with vowel epenthesis to avoid phonological deletion may be helpful. The
third person singular -s, a difficult concept for speakers of African-American dialect, is
best introduced after verbs that end in a vowel, where it is pronounced with the more
salient /]/. Thus John goes (/]/) home is easier to hear than John walks (/V/) home. The
sound of the possessive -s, e.g., in John’s car, may be absent in African-American
dialect. The plural -s is securely in place for most African-American dialect noun
phrases, but phrases like ten cent and five mile are not uncommon.

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Third Person Singular

+v -v after a fricative
examples of verbs play, land work, help change, watch, seize
pronunciation plays, lands works, helps changes, watches, seizes
3rd person singular –s /]/ /V/ /]/
-s is pronounced as
/z/ after a voiced sound
/s/ after an unvoiced sound
/z/ after a fricative
regular past tense
+v -v after t or d
examples of verbs play, ski work, help want, need
pronunciation played, skied worked, helped wanted, needed
past tense –ed /G/ /W/ /G/
-ed is pronounced as
/G/ after a voiced sound
/W/ after an unvoiced sound
/G/ after a /t/ or /d/ 
Fig. 67: Allomorphs
Chart created by Lucy Silver with Sil Manuscript

Teachers should emphasize final consonants when speaking. Final consonant sounds
might be realized more clearly if teachers present sounds in their extended context. For
example, words with final consonant clusters like test should be presented as test of math
or testing rather than “This is a test.” Words like old should not be presented as “He is
old,” but rather in phrases like old shoes. Consonants are heard more clearly in bad idea
than He is bad. Additionally, it is best to use the full forms of words and avoid
contractions. Speakers of African-American dialect have great difficulty in recognizing
the relationship between contracted and full forms, though both may be present in their
speech. Use full forms like “I will go,” and “He is my brother,” instead of contracted
forms, such as “I’ll be there,” and “He’s here,” which are often not perceived in
speech.22

Some of the root grammar of African-American dialect involves even deeper differences
than phonological simplification. For example, there exists no past participle form of
some verbs. He has written his mother becomes He’s wrote his mother, and She has
eaten dinner is articulated as She’s ate dinner. The third person singular -s, known as
subject-verb agreement, is absent in African-American dialect, presenting a constant
source of headaches for writing teachers. John likes ice-cream. may become John sho do
like ice cream! The verb particles be, done, and been form verb tenses that run separately
from but parallel to the simple tenses, the continuous tenses, or the perfect aspects of
Standard Common English. An abbreviated explanation of verb usage in African-
American dialect is presented here as an introduction to the complexity of the differences
between Standard Common English and African-American dialect.

198


Be provides one of the most salient divergences between Standard English and African-
American dialect. In the simple present tense, it may or may not be articulated, as
exemplified by the sentences Tamika be good lookin’ vs. Tamika lookin’ good tonight. Be
is never inflected and remains unchanged in person and number. The articulation or non-
articulation of be carries entirely different meanings. When articulated, be indicates
something habitual. When be is unarticulated, its absence indicates something temporary.
Be is never articulated in interrogative and negative sentences.23 (Fig. 68

PRESENT TENSES
be omitted, temporary He sick. (He’s temporally sick.)
be articulated, habitual He be sick. (He’s chronically ill.)
continuous (be) + verb + -in’: We (be) workin’ now.
PAST TENSES
simple -ed, phonologically simplified: We ta (talked) yesterday.
*imperfect be + verb + -in’: We be swimin’ in the pond.
continuous be + verb +-in’: I be walkin' to da sto when…
PERFECT ASPECT
present perfect done + past tense verb: Joshua done wrote da letta.
past perfect been + past tense verb: They been left.
future perfect be done + past tense verb: My ice cream be done melt by da
time we get dere.
*FUTURE
be + verb + in’: Shamika be visitin’ you Sunday.
gonna +verb: She gonna visit you Sunday.
* The modals would and will are omitted in African-American dialect.
The imperfect past of Standard Common English, expressed as would or used (e.g., We would go
or used to go swimming every afternoon), may be expressed in African-American dialect as be
with the addition of a main verb in the –ing form, e.g., We be dancin’ every night.
The future tense, will, (e.g., John will be home soon), may be expressed by a simple be.
Speakers of other dialects might assume that will has been ungrammatically omitted, but no such
use of the modals occurs in African-American dialect.
Fig. 68: Be
Chart created by Lucy Silver

Done structurally forms a verbal auxiliary in African-American dialect, analogous to the

auxiliary have/has in the Standard present perfect. The function of done may be semantic,
meaning already, connoting or implying a change of state from a recent past, e.g., He
done finish his work. (He has already finished his work.) or really, intensifying the verb
e.g., He done work har! (He has really worked hard!). Done may also refer to a situation
that expresses moral indignation and may be translated by the phrase had the nerve to,
e.g., He done broke his nose! (He had the nerve to break his nose!). Be done may indicate
the possible result or outcome of a future action, analogous to a future perfect tense, e.g.,
My ice cream be done melt by da time we get dere! (My ice cream will have melted by the
time we get there!).24

Been creates a structure culturally specific to African-Americans: it precedes a preterit

verb form to describe a recent past. The recent past can reference “hot news,”e.g., She
been married. (She got married!). The recent past can also reference something that has
been true for a while. For example, been can proceed be + ing, e.g., He been bein’ gone a

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while. (He has been gone awhile). The remote past, formed by been done + a past tense
form, indicates something that happened before another action. Note that the past
participle and past tense verb forms are not differentiated; African-American dialect
mixes them, using them as one and the same form, e.g., He seen it! (He saw it!) or He
done wrote it! (He has written it!).25 (Fig. 69)

African-American dialect example Meaning

a recent condition They been gone. They have already gone.
a condition that is
She been marry. She’s just been married.
recent news
a condition that has A: Are those new earrings?
I’ve had these earrings a
been true for a long B: I’ve been had em.
long time.
time
They shoulda been realize They should have already
dat. realized that.
an adverb, meaning A: You gonna quit?
I have already quit.
already B: I been quit.
A: This is Bill.
I already knew his name.
B: I been know his name.
been + being + past
He been bein’ gone a while. He has been gone a while.
tense
He been done finish ‘fore He had finished before we
been done
we come. came.
Fig. 69: Been
-Lisa G. Green
African-American English: A Linguistic Introduction (2002)
Chart created by Lucy Silver

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E. AFRICAN-AMERICAN DICTIONARIES

anudduh another
answer, answers, answered, answering also used for message,
ansuh especially for one requiring an answer; as:
"uh sen' uh ansuh to de gal fuh tell'um uh wan' hab'um fuh wife"
ap'un apron, aprons
aruh each, either
ashish ashes
attacktid attacked (see "'tack"' and "'tacktid")
attuh after
atthr'um after him, her, it, them
attuhw'ile after a while
augus' august
axil axle, axles
ax'me ask, asks, asked, asking me
ax'um ask or asked him, her, it, them
baa'buh barber, barbers
baa'k (noun and
bark, barks, barked, barking
verb)
baa'nyaa'd barnyard, barnyards
bactize baptize, baptizes, baptized, baptizing
bad mout' bad mouth-a spell, a form of curse
baid beard, beards
baig beg, begs, begged, begging
baig'um beg, begs, begged, begging him, her
bait'um bait, baits, baited, baiting him, her
bakien bacon
bandun abandon, abandons, abandoned, abandoning
baptis' baptist, baptists
barril barrel, barrels
barruh barrow, a bacon hog
bawn born
bayre bare bares, bared, baring
beabuh beaver, beavers
beagle fox hound, fox hounds
b'dout without, unless, except
beehibe beehive, beehives
b'fo' before; as: "befo' de wah"
b'fo' day before day (see "crackuhday," and "'fo' day")
b'habe behave, behaves, behaved, behaving
b'hin' behind
b'kause because
Fig. 70: The First Page of a Gullah Dictionary
-Ambrose Elliott Gonzales
The Black Border: Gullah stories of the Carolina coast (1922)
Reprinted digitally by Google books

201


411 = I need information

5-0 = police, run like hell
areous = area
aw-ite = acknowledged
axe = to ask
bal out = leave
be = are
befo = before
bemah = automotive vehicle manufactured by the b.m.w
bent = wasted
b.m.w. = black man working or black man's wheels
bo jangling = not paying attention, or being stupid
bomb = something that is considered popular
boo = close friend
booty = buttocks
boyz = gang friends
brick = see phat
brurva = a male acquaintance
buck wild = really crazy
bud = marijuana
buggin' = not socially acceptable
bumping = it is to my liking
bust out = to leave
busta white = a person who hangs around but is not wanted
busta cap = shoot a gun, fire a bullet
busta move = to act quickly
cent = cents
cakes = buttocks
cap = bullet
cavy sack = a bag of marijuana
chillin = relaxing
chronic = marijuana
curb job = a thrust of the jaw of a adversarial gang member onto the cement barrier
of a road
cold-lampin' = relaxing or hanging out
cop-blockin' = interfering in one's relations
cream = money, riches, valuables
crib = place of residence

Fig. 71: The First Page of an Urban Dictionary

Urban Dictionary

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CHAPTER XV: HISPANIC-AMERICAN DIALECTS

A. WHO ARE THE HISPANIC-AMERICANS?

Spanish is one of the most beautiful languages…(but) Spanglish is a

monstrous, ugly-sounding hybrid. We do not have the right to mistreat the
language of San Juan de la Cruz and of Cervantes.
-F. J. Diez Vegas
“Nota sobre el Uso del Idioma”
Introducida en la tesis doctorarl, UNED, Madrid

Over 47 million documented Hispanic-Americans now live within our borders.1

Hispanic-Americans constitute our largest minority population, passing African-
Americans in their numbers.2 The current wave of Hispanic immigration has proven to be
both qualitatively and quantitatively different from any other immigration in our history.
Hispanic-Americans straddle the geographic proximity between the United States and
their homelands, belonging to both the Latino and Anglo worlds. They remain trapped in
labyrinth corridors of lost identity and location, vacillating between cultures and locales,
between dream and reality, between reason and madness. For them, La Vida Es Sueño
(Life Is a Dream), the title taken from the drama by Pedro Calderorn de la Barca. Their
existence is split, as the English verb be is split between the Spanish verbs ser and estarr.
While ser connotes a permanent state of being or identity, estarr connotes a temporary
condition or a location. Together, ser and estarr illustrate the conundrum of Hispanic-
American life and mirror the questions plaguing the Hispanic-Americans: ser or estarr? To
assimilate or to remain Hispanic?

Hispanic-Americans are united as Latinos, but remain separated by social class, ethnicity,
national history, and dialect. The three Hispanic-American groups Dialect and Literacy
concerns itself with, the Mexican-Americans, the Puerto Ricans, and the Cuban-
Americans, have all experienced strained and uneasy relationships with the United States.
The undercurrents of the economic dominance of their northern neighbor flow strong and
deep beneath these histories; all have felt the overwhelming power and influence of the
United States.

Mexican-Americans constitute almost 70 percent of the Hispanic-American population.3

The population of Mexico is classified as mestizo, a mixture of Spaniards and the
indigenous populations of Mexico, including Aztec, Mixtec, Toltec, Huichorl, Zapotec,
Maya, Yaqui, and others. Puerto Ricans constitute nine percent of the Hispanic-American
population, and Cuban-Americans, a small but influential almost four percent of
Hispanic-Americans.4 The populations of Puerto Rico and Cuba may be classified as
criollo, created from a union of Spanish landowners and West African slaves. Puerto
Ricans also carry the racial heritage of the island’s indigenous population, the Taino.
Other Hispanic-American communities originate from Central America, South America,

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and the Caribbean, with widely varying mixtures of indigenous, European, African, and
Asian origins.5

Hispanic populations speak radically different dialects. Traces of Amerindian languages

have penetrated the Spanish of Latin American countries, including Mexico, Guatemala,
Honduras, Ecuador, Columbia, and Peru. Around the Caribbean, especially in Venezuela,
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and la Republica Dominicana, the spoken language has been heavily
influenced by the pidgins of West African slaves brought to the New World. Today, the
primary discourses of Cubans and Puerto Ricans are creoles.

All Hispanic-Americans have remained loyal to their mother tongue. Spanish

reverberates in the streets and on the airwaves of Hispanic radio and television, e.g.,
Telemundo and Univisiorn, and serves to fence in the barrios, or Hispanic neighborhoods,
from the gringos or gavachos, the Anglo-Americans. However, Hispanic-Americans have
modified el idioma español, changing its rules and adding newly coined lexicons to new
primary discourses that differ from their naive dialects.

It should be no surprise that the literacy skills of Mexican-American youth compare

poorly with those of other populations in the United States. In the year 2000, 63 percent
of Mexican-American males of high school age were dropouts, and less than four percent
of all Mexican-American males registered for higher education.6 The movement away
from any Standard Spanish, sprinkled with a non-Standard English discourse is creating a
handicap for Hispanic-American youth and looms large as a prescription for illiteracy.7

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B. THE UNITED STATES AND ITS NEIGHBORS TO THE SOUTH

The relationships between the United States and its neighbors to the south have been
studded with difficulties. The bitterest disputes have been over our border with Mexico.
Even before Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803 called into question the hegemony over the territory that is now the
state of Texas. In the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, the United States obtained
the territories of Texas, northern California, southern Arizona, and southern New
Mexico. American business interests in Mexico, particularly concern over the control of
petroleum, were important catalysts in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. After the
Revolution, Mexico strengthened its laws to protect its national interests.8

Underneath this troubled history flows the torrential current of the economic disparity
between the United States and Mexico. Chronic unemployment in Mexico has made the
opportunity to work in the United States irresistible, creating an unprecedented flood of
immigration, both legal and illegal. At the present time, the numbers of Mexicans who
filter through our porous frontier with Mexico can only be estimated. Many Mexicans
spend six months of the year in the United States performing menial labor and return to
Mexico for the remaining half of the year. From my ESL students, I have learned the
importance of the income from their labor in the United States that supports their families
and communities in Mexico.

Issues of separation, independence, and nationhood have also colored our relations with
the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Until recently, both Puerto Rico and
Cuba depended upon agrarian economies, and the United States was the major importer
of the coffee and sugar grown on plantations worked by immigrant African labor. The
strategic importance of both islands, which lie close to the United States mainland, has
never been lost on the United States government. To this day, the United States maintains
naval bases on the Isla de Vieques in Puerto Rico and in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Historically, there have been many attempts by the United States to take possession of
Cuba; the last bid to purchase Cuba from Spain came only a few days before the Spanish-
American War of 1898. The war began when the battleship the USS Maine was
mysteriously “bombed” in the port of Havana, and the United States found a pretext to
finally fight Spain. When the war ended, Cuba became a Republic. Cuba experienced a
faltering economy and years of political instability, which finally culminated in the
successful 1958 December 31st victory of the revolution of Fidel Castro against Fulgencio
Batista.9 The city of Miami, Florida, was flooded with Cuban refugees in the early 1960s.
Many of the original Cuban refugees were educated upper- or middle-class professionals
with bank accounts in Europe and the United States.10 The existence of a Cuban
Communist state in the Western Hemisphere has never been formally recognized by the
United States, and Communist Cuba remains a source of irritation for Cubans living in
the United States.

Puerto Rico, a densely populated island, holds four million people in its three thousand
square miles, more than a thousand persons per square mile.11 After the Spanish-

205


American War, Puerto Rico was declared a U.S. territory as booty from Spain, and all
Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship.12 In the 1950s, Puerto Rico was given
commonwealth status, and an immediate exodus for jobs in the United States brought
great numbers of Puerto Ricans to the United States mainland; their numbers altered the
racial composition of major cities such as New York and Chicago.13 Puerto Ricans pay
federal income tax and Social Security, receive federal welfare, and serve in the armed
forces of the United States.14 Until 2008, they did not vote in presidential primaries.15 To
this day, the ultimate decision of the question of Puerto Rico’s status remains unresolved:
should Puerto Rico remain a commonwealth or become the fifty-first state?

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C. SPANGLISH

The palabras de mi cabeza became un jumble, el vocabulary de picadillo.

-Ed Morales
Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America

In the 1970s, Spanglish assumed its place in the United States as a fresh, hip idiom. The
term serves as an umbrella that includes the numerous dialects of Hispanic-American
speech communities living both as Hispanic and as “other.”16 What is spoken as
Spanglish differs from one population of Hispanic-Americans to another. Spanglish not
only relates to the hybrid reality of Hispanic-American linguistic expression, but also
distinguishes Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban-American hispanidard from a
variety of perspectives. Spanglish blends Latino-, Anglo-, and African-American idioms
and cultures, filtering Anglo- and African-American cultures and dialects through a
Latino prism.

Each group of Hispanic-Americans uses specific terms for self-reference that underline
their uniqueness and separateness. Mexican-Americans refer to themselves as Xicanos or
Pochos, terms that differentiate anglicized Mexicans from Mexicanos, those who were
born in Mexico and have lived permanently in their native land. Xicano or Pocho
Spanglish and culture reflect the lives of Mexican-Americans who have lived in the
United States.17 (Fig. 72) Puerto Ricans call themselves Ricans, referring to a pride in
community. In the 1960s, Boricua, from Borinquen, the Taino name for the island of
Puerto Rico, was coined to describe the Puerto Rican civil rights movement. In the 1970s,
Nuyorican came to delineate the separate identity of mainland Puerto Ricans from those
remaining on the island; however, since the 1980s, the term has referred to a hip,
commercial, performance-oriented poetry with its own lexicography.18 (Fig. 73) The
Cuban idiom is known as Cubonics; Cuban-American dialect, mores, and habits are
called Cubanismos. Cuban-Americans have never acknowledged the reality of a
Communist homeland, and some continue to anticipate their return to a non-Communist
Cuba, referring to themselves as Cubanos.19 The wealthy Cuban-Americans with high
educational and professional credentials who streamed into the United States in the early
1960s with the status of refugees from Communism created a “Little Havana” out of
Miami. They were later joined by a population of poorer Cuban refugees, primarily of
African heritage, with less education. Still, most Cuban-Americans enjoy a more affluent,
middle-class lifestyle than the majority of Xicanos or Nuyoricans.20 A distinct Miami
dialect has developed, strongly influenced by Cuban creole, forming an English modified
by somewhat subtle creole inflections, especially in the vowels. It is spoken primarily by
second-generation Cuban-Americans and has been referred to as “an English with a
superimposed cadence and rhythm” placing stress on the wrong syllables, which make
sentences sound somewhat choppy.21 (Fig. 74)

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English Translation Xicano Literal translation

I hit a home run!
I missed!
If you were any closer, it
would bite you!
Don’t deceive me.
Don’t make waves.
Sangre de perrito que se Dog’s blood that it makes a
vaya derechito. hit.
Sangre de venado que se Buck’s blood that it goes to
vaya por un lado. one side.
Si fuera vibora, te mordiera. If it were a snake, it would
bite you.
No me chingues, Juarn Don’t fuck with me, man!
Dominguez.
No le muevas el agua que el Don’t move the water in a
rio esta inudado. flowing river.
Fig 72: Xicano Spanglish
-Roberto Galvanr and Richard V. Teschne
El diccionario del espanÁol chicano, 1995

Boricuan Explanation Meaning

1. If he gets closer,
If he hits me, I’m I’m going to kill him.
Si se me pega, voy a
going to give it to 2. If she gets closer,
darle.
him she wants to fuck
me.
Capicu is an
expression used in
P.R. when playing The game is won by
Capicú, llegó el frontú.
dominos. Frontú is smarts.
someone who has a
big forehead.
Speed up your
Acelera duro ese cucú. Speed up your ass.
buttocks.
Tatuaje en la vejiga. Tattoo on the bladder Sexual conquest
Culipandeo (an
expression of African
En el culipandeo ella mata origin) refers to sexy She has the best sex
la liga hips movements moves.
when a woman is
walking.
If you’re not doing it
Si no estas perreando con If you’re not dancing
doggie style with her,
ella, salte. with her, get out!
get out.
Fig. 73: Boricuan Spanglish
-Jared Romey
Speaking Boricua

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Cubanismos Spanish meaning Spanglish meaning

No me importa un pito. I don’t care a whistle. I don’t give a damn.
Me importa trers I don’t care three I don’t give a shit.
cucumbers.
pepionos.
Me sacaron el higado. They took out my liver. They ripped me apart.
Me sacaron el kilo. They took the penny out They worked me like a
of me. slave.
Le pusistes la tapa al You put the top on the You really fucked up this
pomo. jar. time!
Vamaos a echar un pier兟. Let’s throw a foot. Let’s dance!
Estas comiendo de lo You’re eating what the You’re wasting your time
que pica el pollo. chicken nibbles. in foolish things.
Sigue dormiendo de este Keep on sleeping on that Keep on waiting.
lado. side.
Te la comiste. You ate it. You did great!
Te estas metiendo en You are getting into an You’re getting into big
camisa de once varas. eleven-yard shirt. trouble.
Eramos pocos, y parior We were few, and There were a few people
Cantana gave birth. here, but more showed
Cantana.
up!
Es un arroz con mango. It’s rice with mango. It’s very complicated.
Fig. 74: Cuban Spanglish
-Joser Sanchez-Boudy
Diccionario mayor de cubanismos (1999)

Spanglish dialects, extensions of myriad forms and meanings of words in Spanish and
English, have become a primary discourse for many Hispanic-Americans. Spanglish
dialects have also provoked unceasing argument. Critics insist that Spanglish dialects are
primarily used by uneducated Hispanic-Americans or by Hispanic-American youth.
However, many well-educated people use Spanglish dialects in business, mass media,
technology, education, and literature. Splanglish dialects pepper advertising, the pop-
music industry, and bilingual publications. Examples include Ricky Martin’s Living la
Vida Loca (Crazy Life); DJs on Spanish-language radio and billboards use the new
language to attract the readers and consumers. Latina, a bilingual magazine published in
New York, uses headlines such as Mi vida (My life) en fast forward, When do you need
an abogado (lawyer)?, or When He Says Me Voy (I’m leaving)…What Does He Really
Mean? Cyber-Spanglish uses terms like chatear (chat), forwardear (forward), deletear
(delete), dragear (drag), linquiar (link), printear (print), cliquiar (click), and el maus
(computer mouse). Some see the hybrid Spanglish dialects as a threat to Standard, literate
Spanish and appear to be alarmed by the fact that Spanglish dialects are advancing and
strengthening. There are those who defend Spanglish dialects, arguing that they offer a
path for Spanish-speaking immigrants to preserve Hispanic traditions while living within
the alien Anglo culture and language of the United States. Still others view Spanglish as
an interlanguage, a middle ground between two languages that provides a transitional
discourse while learning English.22

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Spanglish tends to defy a single definition, but it might be initially explained as mixing or
code-switching elements of both English and Spanish, or of word coinage.

In the first mode of code-switching, Spanish and English elements remain isolated from
one another. Phonemes, affixes, and morphemes remain pure and unchanged and respect
the rules of their language of origin. This specific mixture of Spanish and English
produces statements such as Me fuirral cine y I didn’t like it. (I went to the movies and
I didn’t like it). While the first clause in the sentence obeys the rules of Spanish, the
second obeys the rules of English.

In the second mode of code-switching, elements and rules between two languages are
mixed. It might be Cuando lonchamos? (When are we going to eat lunch?) or El coche
estar en el parquedero! (The car is in the parking lot!) The English words, lunch and
parking lot have been transformed by Spanish rules. Sometimes, almost comically,
Spanglish sprouts from a direct translation and interpretation of an idiomatic American
English phrase into Spanish. (Fig. 75)

Standard Spanish
Spanglish
Te llamo mars tarde.
I’ll call you back. Te llamo patrars.
I’ll call you back.

Maria loves her new chicken (kitchen).

Fig 75: Examples of Spanglish Based on English Sound
Chart created by Lucy Silver
All sketches courtesy of JupiterImages Corporation
(1)Back:Number 1116536
(2) Woman on phone: Number 15358607
(3) Woman in kitchen: Number 15641876
(4) Woman with chicken: Nummber 15348221
All accessed electronically August 20, 2009

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Aside from the exchange of linguistic items from one language to another, particular
confusions occur because the Spanish language is blessed with a remarkably regular
relationship between its phonology and orthography; it is pronounced as it is written. This
contrasts sharply with the phonemically and morphemically complex structure of
English. Therefore, Hispanic-Americans who are learning English are often overwhelmed
by English irregularities in pronunciation and spelling. The complex vowel sounds of
English, particularly the unstressed, weak vowel sounds such as the vowels in the, a, hit,
or foot, do not occur in Spanish. Final consonant sounds are often devoiced, or softened,
in Spanish. Again, these complications sometimes present a bit of humor. (Fig. 76) For
example, with a small spelling change, the sign on a delivery truck I saw in Chicago,
Deliveramos grocerias (We deliver groceries) becomes Deliberamos grosseros (We think
about dirty words).

Problems Examples
/L/ - /,/-- beach - bitch
vowel shifting X/ - /8/--foot – fut
/,/ - /(/--sit – set
/e/ epenthesis
speak - espiik
before initial /s/
dish – ditch
6W6 shampoo – champu
wash - watch
/E/, /Y/ very – berry
/W/, /G/, -ed endings wait - wai
Fig. 76: English Pronounced with Spanish Constraints
Chart created by Lucy Silver

In the third mode of code-switching, common Spanish words.are painted with fresh
meaning and are often colored with sexual overtones.23 This phenomenon, known to
linguists as word coinage, stands apart from an examination of the marriage of Spanish
and English in the Hispanic communities in the United States. Underlying the wide
differences between the populations of Hispanic-Americans, specific word coinage varies
from one Hispanic community to another. What Puerto Ricans in New York coin as new
and unique idioms is not necessarily used byXicanos in California. Galvarn and Teschner
provide examples of word coinage from Xicano Spanglish. (Fig. 77)

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Spanish Xicano- Spanish Spanglish

Spanglish meaning meaning
tener coitis chingar have sex fuck
persona manga
sleeve sharp dresser
elegante
masticar martillar chew
observar licorear observe
penis chicote male organ penis / dick
placticar sacar la garra chat gossip
adelante elante go forward go forward
erecciorn traer la dura have a hard on
cojorn mocho one-legged broken
mujer de la mochera
prostitute
calle
novia morra girlfriend
el inglers totacha xicano
slang/English
great- looking
mamasota (mamacita) little mama
woman
querrira quedrira used to love
acagar acargarcira carry shit a load
marijuana lenÁa wood pot, marijuana
esquintla, chicle
gum / tar pest
mosca
ganar pelucar clean someone
cut hair
out in gambling
Fig. 77: Examples from Xicano Spahglish
-Roberto Galvarn and Richard V. Teschner
El diccionario del espanÁol chicano (1995)

Code-switching and word coinage occur as facts of linguistic reality in the world of
African- and Hispanic-Americans. Code-switching expands the primary dialects of
African- and Hispanic-American dialects and bridges the realms of Standard Common
English and Standard Spanish. Word coinage snuggly and comfortably defines the
boundaries of each particular speech community; it provides a voice that encapsulates the
population of its speakers.

Code-switching and word coinage among young, Hispanic-Americans and African-

Americans form an important focal point of the remainder of this book.

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CHAPTER XVI: NEOCREOLES AND NEOLITERACY

A. THE LANGUAGE OF YOUTH

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even
in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His
might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand
be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
-Khalil Gibran
The Prophet

Dialects undergo constant regeneration and reinvention by children, who reflect the world
in their particular idiom. The young befriend, emulate, mimic, and learn from one
another, forming their own microsocieties and microcultures with carefully honed
language, mannerisms, tastes, and habits that deliberately distinguish the “us” from the
“them.”1 The power of the discourse of children cannot be infused into the adult world;
the speech of childhood is carried on a fast-flowing, whitewater current that cannot be
captured and never reaches a still, calm pool. This proves to be particularly true for
African-American and Hispanic-American youth; their dialects mutate with lightning
speed from one mini-generation to the next. African-American and Hispanic-American
children are required to become unusually creative and productive in their language
constructions. Novel meanings are assigned to commonly used words, words are coined,
and syllables or morphemes are shifted to serve new functions and to represent something
original.

For different reasons, the lives of both African-American and Hispanic-American

children result in unusually strong development of discourse. According to a 2001 study
conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, over 40 percent of African-
American homes with children have no father, and almost 10 percent are classified as
parentless.2 These realities may impact the development of discourse because many
African-American children depend upon their peer group and older siblings for learning
experiences typically delegated to parents or other adults. In order to survive with
spending money, food, payment for small jobs, and other favors, African-American

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children must “talk the talk and walk the walk” of their contemporaries and their brothers
and sisters. The same study found the situation to be oddly reversed for Hispanic-
American children. Almost 90 percent of Hispanic-American children live in a two-
parent family home.3 However, Hispanic-American parents are often monolingual; their
children are required to “translate” in situations such a visit to a medical clinic or a social
service agency, bringing about an unnatural relationship between parent and child: The
children, not the adults, must assume the dominant role in the use of language.

African- and Hispanic-American performers, poets, and writers have used the innovations
of their childhood discourse to forge their new dialects, influencing the rhetoric of not
only young people in the United States but also that of the young who live well beyond
our borders. The rhythms, intonations, and vocabulary of the speech of African-American
and Hispanic-American youth have permeated Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
The language of African-American, Xicano, and Boricua youth is colored, like the oral
art of their ancestors, with wordplay that manipulates rhythm and rhyme, syllable and
morpheme, to mutate into something totally new. I have named the dialects of youth
neocreoles, languages that express the concerns of the young.

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B: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Always there is need for song. And every human has a poem to write, a
compulsion to contemplate out loud, an urge to dig out that ore of
confusion locked up inside. But with the contradictions of privilege and
caste, of class and gender distinctions regulating access, of those ever
present distortions in textbooks with their one-sided measure of human
worth, and with the culture of white man still serving as ultimate yardstick
to what is acceptable as matter, not everyone is permitted to learn to read,
much less to study poetry or hone the art and take the risk of putting one’s
self on paper.
-Louis Reyes Rivera
“Inside the River of Poetry”

The experiences and attitudes of African-Americans, Xicanos, and Nuyoricans are forged
in the spoken words of the neocreole artists, who rap twenty-syllable couplets, spin free
verse and internal rhyme schemes, and paint unfettered metaphors that reflect their
unique histories. Neocreole art is incubated in noisy city streets, housing projects, dusty
factories, and sandy avocado fields, and presented raw, unrefined, and unfiltered.
Performances may be marathon jams, poetry slams, or recitations. They may take place
on street corners, in auditoriums, cafes, galleries, student unions, taco shops, pulquerias,
or cantinas. The local places where people congregate and check out what’s going on in
the neighborhood serve as metaphors for the places where both artists and audience have
grown up; they become havens where people are bonded against the parallel white
American world.

Niggar

In the 1800s, you called me a “Nigger.”

By the 1900s, I was a “Negro.”
In the 1950s, I was “Colored”
and by the 1970s, I had somehow become “Black.”
Now, two years into the new millennium,
I am “African-American.”
But I’ve never changed.
And never will…
…History has proven to be
violently brutal to “The Nigger”
and hatefully cruel to “The Negro,”
Viciously bitter to “The Coloreds”
and deliberately unjust to “The Blacks.”
And no matter where I find myself,
I must stare down that reality like the enemy that it is.
So regardless of what I accomplish,
or how much I attempt
to delude myself into thinking

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that I have become something else,

…I cannot for one second
afford to forget what I really am
and will always be:
An African in America.
-Cynthia Highsmith Hooks
The Soul of a Black Woman: From a Whisper to a Shout, 2002

African-American neocreole art both creates and reflects its audience, pointing with
moral indignation and raw disdain at the white American “them.” African-American
word artists season and spice their performances with racial and sexual overtones,
deliberately chosen to titillate the palate of their audience; they employ terms forbidden
to the politically correct, such as niggar, ho, bitch, fucker, and dawg, even changing
spellings to demarcate their new special usage. (Note how Cynthia Highsmith Hooks has
used nigger, a pejorative, and has deliberately given her poem the title Niggar, a different
spelling of the word that reflects a different social perception of her race). Their
performances revolve around getting people excited about what is said, reminding the
audience that life’s realities can sparkle and explode when passed through the prism of
vernacular language. Their vocabulary, concepts, images, and symbols can be layered in
perceived multiple levels of significance that, supposedly, are recognized only by the
cognoscenti, the audiences who share the background of the artists. (In truth, the
transparency of these elements and their meanings can hardly be missed by anyone). Or
they may be couched in deliberately provocative language, daring the white world to
retort or retaliate.

“Ain’t got nothing”

Bitches get a boot, I ain’t trickin all the loot

Sick of lyin to them hoes, I'ma tell ‘em all the truth
A brother doin bad, buy your own fuckin drank
Get yourself up in the club, stop reachin for my bank
I’m a miser, that mean I’m tight as a jew
So if you’re, lookin for love bitch you know what to do
Find a man, cause I ain't givin nuttin but dick
If you insulted? Grab your fuckin pussy and split!
Callin my phone, tryin to get in V.I.P.
I’ll get you in but my niggaz want some head for free
If you’re, wit it I’m wit it, if you’re not get-the-fuck ho
Thinkin a nigga get you treated like a buck ho

Let me hold somethin Banner—look you cain’t hold shit

Nigga buy your own drink, stop beggin like a bitch
Get some motherfuckin nuts, be a motherfuckin man
Y’all them same niggaz laughin when I step off in that van
Bootlegger cocksuckers in my face, you a fan ho
Get up off my nuts and start your own fuckin band ho

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Grab some fuckin chalm sticks, get off of a nigga dick

Even if you had a pussy bitch I wouldn’t splurge trick
Man I’m comin down hard, pullin pussy niggaz cards
If you don't like it KNUCKLE UP and take it to the yard
Dead but you won’t get a cent from me
But you can get a good ass kickin for free, punk bitch!

Now when I step off in the club, all the bad girls scream
Holla “Boosie bad-ass, let me hit ya cup of lean”
Told her no way, look like you be-fo’play
I hit you with this dick and I'm gon’ make you run like O.J.
Now they got redbones, blackbones, horses, and stallions
But if you got that fire cat {?} Boosie he ain't gone
You want your bread fire really you can get it
But we linin like we dope and all my niggaz wanna hit it
I’m a fool in Mississippi, I’m lovin the hype
Everything I drop it they gon’ cop it like I’m Tina & Ike
I got a clique of real niggaz and we ready to fight
And we fo’ sho’ to hittin somethin at the telly tonight
I’m at the suites with two freaks, I’m slappin ’em on they cheeks
I’m hittin ‘em from the back off a David Banner beat
Now I’m skeetin on the sheets, headed to another city
Where we go and get some cat and we ain’t gotta pay a penny
nigga
-David Banner
Lil’Boosie, MagicAlbum
All the Lyrics

Some African-American discourse, such as gangsta rap, contains elements deliberately

cultivated to be incomprehensible to mainstream speakers.

…I’ll Kut yO ass wit my nife yea that’s Right kept thkin about Raskals
and that’s why I took yO life, nigga Ima tRue Rebel they all call me the
fucking devil, now whats up is you think you haRd then buck go head and
say what you going say yO ass going get spRayed at the end of the day,
Slugs dead in yo chest oh yO bad u fogot yo vest? nigga yawh gay I’ll take
the Rest, TRG is what I claim if you aint like that shit go ahead and
complain I’ll just feed slugs too yO bRain my Ryhmes make yawh ass go
insane, yea you can’t fuck wit ME I’ma T-Raskal-G I’ll thRo my R’s In
yO face cause you a Big GANG discraces, Im gRey’d up form toe to head
put my R’s down and I’ll knock yO head TRG so bad that’s the shit that I
tag. whats up RASKALS shit like my scrap?…
-Robert Hood
“Tiny Raskal Gang Nigga!!’s Blurbs”profile, MySpace
With permission

217


[translation]…I’ll cut your ass wit my knife. Yeah that’s right! Keep
thinking about RASKALS. That’s why I’ll take your life, nigger. I’m a
true rebel. They all call me the fucking devil. Now, if you think you’re
tough, boy, go head and say what you’re going to say. Your ass is going to
get sprayed at the end of the day, and there’ll be slugs in your chest/ (Oh,
you were bad and forgot your vest?) Nigger, you’re a sissy. I’ll take the
rest. Tiny Rascal Gang is what I claim. If you can’t compete, go ahead and
complain. I’ll just put slugs into your brain. My rhymes will make your
ass go insane. Yeah, you can’t fuck with me. I’m a Tiny Rascal Gang. I’ll
throw my Rascals in your face because you’re a big gang disgrace. I’m
dressed up right from toe to head; Put my Rascals down and I’ll knock off
your head. And that’s my story. What’s up Rascals? Do you like the way I
fight?…
Translated by Lucy Silver with the use of Urban Dictionary

The content of such writing may be disturbing to some, but there can be little doubt that
the author carefully crafted his use of majuscules, his spelling, his choice of words, and
his grammar to utilize a strikingly new and effective writing genre. The fact that it
required translation into Standard stands as highly significant.

Neocreole artists use language as a tall, sharp, barbed-wire fence. Through language,
African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and (occasionally) other ethnic groups, such as
Native Americans and Asian-Americans, defiantly separate themselves from anything
mainstream. In Nuyorican poetry, Texano cumbias, Def comedy, and other genres,
neocreole artists work through the knowledge that they differ in language from white
Americans. The common thread running through all neocreole discourse can be described
as one unchanging and unvaried single theme: “we” are distinguished from “them,” the
white American establishment. The metaphors and symbols of neocreole rhetoric radiate
an urban theme punctuated by a hip-hop beat. Neocreole artists wear ghetto bling, leather,
or western boots and hats. Their visceral, in-your-face monologues, poems, short stories,
rap, hip hop, or comedy may offer an intimate autobiography or suggest experiences
shared with their audience.

Some judge neocreole art to be nothing more than self-promoted creations of primitive,
facile, unaccomplished, and self-taught artists who have never learned their craft.
Harvard professor Helen Vendler quipped, “Do not give the honorific name of ‘poetry’ to
the primitive and the unaccomplished. The word ‘poetry’ is something we reserve for
accomplishment.”4 Jonathan Glassi, president of the American Academy of Poets,
described spoken-word art as a “kind of karaoke of the written word.”5 Baraka, a poet
with ties to the Nuyorican Poets Café, claimed that spoken word artists “make the poetry
a carnival. They…give it a quick shot in the butt and elevate it to commercial showiness,
emphasizing the most backward elements.”6 Neocreole artists claim no roots in the
literary past and harbor no pretense of having read any literature or poetry. They proudly
disavow any prior influence of classically recognized writers, performers, or poets. Louis
Reyes Rivera comments, “Sad to say that too many of today’s Spoken Word Artists lack
an understanding of their own context. So focused on the immediacy of their own

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moment of breath, they are not as well studied into the history and evolution of this art
form for the vocation that it is. In short, they have not really read or been taught to
engage the works of those who came before them.”

But neocreole art springs from the African and indigenous roots of the entire hemisphere;
it echoes the dirge sung on the slave ships bound for Charleston and the wailing of Aztec
women as the population died of smallpox. It has been represented by artists such as
Oscar Brown, Jr., Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday, by Hollywood movies (Mo’ Better
Blues, Soul Food, and Boyz ’N the Hood), by television sitcoms (“Moesha,” “Bernie Mac
Show,” and “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper”), and by comedy (Dave Chappelle, Shang, and
Side 2 Side). Neocreoles bathe written text in dialect and widen the already gargantuan
chasm separating strong dialect from traditional solid, stalwart Standard Common
English.

In Hispanic-American neocreoles, English and Spanish intertwine and intersect. English

settles like dust over Hispanic-American environments and experiences. Xicano artists
express a deeply emotional connection with Mexico and its culture, but wonder if they
have been irrevocably severed from their native roots; they admit an adversity to the
unspiritual Anglo world, yet feel its strong, provocative pull.

What Do the Entrails Know?

What do the entrails know

about the necessity of being white
—the advisability of mail-order parents?
…Perhaps tomorrow
I shall burst these shackles
and rising to my natural full height
fling the final parting laugh
O gluttonous omnipotent alien white world.
-Angela de Hoyos
Arise Chicano and Other Poems (1975)

Rascuachismo, the singular, raw style used by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera to
capture the symbols of the mestizo, indigenous culture of Mexico, has inspired Xicanos
to create rascuachismo en exilio. Xicano art expresses rascuache, the mental, physical,
and spiritual experiences of Xicanos. The Xicano soul may be likened to a tree trunk that
holds fast to the roots of its Mexican heritage. Its tall, extended branches remain invisible
to the Anglo, but, nonetheless, are blown by the harsh, cold, violent winds of the Anglo
world, a metaphor of the Mexican immigrant who suffers a life of thankless and
unacknowledged hard labor, yet remains inconsequential and hidden from the white
America of el norte.

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de viaje

Marido sin mujer

Padre sin hijos
Ciudadano sin partria
Imajinador de lengua atada
Sexo agredido
Visiorn nublada
Maleta de palabras
Es abrirl.
Va de viaje.
- Gloria Enedina Arlvarez
Chicana creativity and criticism
New frontiers in American literature (1996): p. 115

[translation] A husband without a woman

A father without children
A citizen without a country
Living in a made-up language
An unestablished gender
A clouded vision
A blur of words
It’s April.
Time for a journey.

Salvadorr

Salvadorr Valtierra preaches on the corner of Fifth and Broadway

The bus depot and crossroad for pedestrian masses
This is the corner where the stock market crashed
Where Reagonomics and its cranes revived a financial district
Booming with peep-show parlors, residence hotels and adult bookstores
Now it’s the corner of ninety-nine cent stores
And ninety-nine cent lives
Lives lived out with stubby fingers
Clorox cracked skin and tennis elbow
From pushing vacuum cleaners.
-Taco Shop Poets
Track 4 of Chorizo Tongue fire
Spoken word CD (1999)

To crystallize their point, Xicanas (women) often frame their art within the traditional
Mexican home and family.

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Yerba Buena

My folks planted the yerba buena

Yesterday,
Where sprigs of yerba buena swim greenly
In teapots of boiling water, fragarant haikus
In oceans of prose.
Cuando acabaron con el jardincito
They pulled each other up off their knees,
Arranged a few stray leaves
And looked at me.
- Cordelia Candalaria
Chicana Poets and their poetry (1980)
Republished electronically by Ra-Hoor-Khuit

The Symphony in the Kitchen

It's the symphony in the kitchen:

la cuchara canta
el molcajete baila
to the concert of hands at work
mixing: it’s the hum of life
unhurried; the ballet of
fingers, spreading
—with patience of the saints—
ý ý ý ý ý ý each tiny blanket,
ý ý ý ý ý ý colchita de masa
upon the water-softened husk of corn;
then comes the filling, now the folding,
and into the pot of steaming broth…
-Angela de Hoyos
Artist Pages
Voices from the Gaps

Boricuan art focuses on issues of language and the cultural identification of Nuyoricans
on the mainland of the United States. Like Xicano artists, Nuyorican artists feel not only
undecided in their destiny but also reluctant to enter the mainstream culture of the
continental United States.

Ode to an Effigy

when i look at you, when i look at you

what do i see? what stands before me?
when i look at you, when i look at you
i see my heart’s desire, i see the world on fire
all the plans and potential seem to glitter and sway

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all the pain and decay seem to wither away

for you promise nothing less than a world filled with love
a place in which justice prevails for us all
a home in the heart for the poor and the small
but, then i look at you, then i look at you
and, what do i see? what stands before me?
a ghost of a dream of a world which was ours
a lovely illusion that we held such powers
a chance to do nothing but bow down to you
while the real world continues to crumble in truth
when i look at you, when i look at you
what do i see? what stands before me?
when look at you i feel my heart retire,
i feel the straits are dire
for you gave us nothing but shrines of deceit
as you lined your pockets with blood from our streets
and you would now have us believe you a king
messiah—a liar—who rapes spirits at whim
now, when i look at you, when i look at you
what do i see? what stands before me?
when i look at you, when i look at you
i know my heart’s desire, i know the dreams aspire.
-Marina Ortirz
Boricua Poetry (1993)
Virtual Boricua

Boricuans perceive themselves as unrecognized, incomplete American citizens; they

identify themselves as mainland residents, but maintain close emotional ties to their
island home, dreaming of their origins of tropical sun and sea.

Boricua en la Luna

Desde las ondas del mar

que son besos a su orilla,
una mujer de Aguadilla
vinor a New York a cantar
pero no sólo a llorar
un largo llanto y morir.
De ese llanto yo nacír
como en la lluvia una fiera.
Y vivo en la larga espera
de cobrar lo que perdír.
Por un cielo que se hacia
más feo que más más volaba
ar Nueva York se acercaba

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un peón de Las Marías.

Con la esperanza, decía,
de un largo día volver.
Pero antes me hizo nacer
y de tanto trabajar
se quedó sin regresar:
reventó en un taller.
De una lágrima soy hijo
y soy hijo del sudor
y fue r mi abuelo el amor
único en mi regocijo
del recuerdo siempre fijo
en aquerl cristal de llanto
como quimera en el canto
de un Puerto Rico de ensueño
y yo soy puertorriqueño,
sin ná, pero sin quebranto.
Y el echón que me desmienta
que se ande muy derecho
no sea en lo más estrecho
de un zaguán pagua la afrenta.
Pues según alguien me cuenta:
dicen que la luna as una
sea del mar o sea montuna.
Y así le grito al villano:
yo sería boricano
aunque naciera en la luna.
-Juarn Antoñio Corretjier
Boricua Poetry
Virtual Boricua

[translation] From the waves of the sea

that kiss the shore
a woman from Aguadilla
came to New York to sing,
but also to cry
a great scream and to die.
I was born from this wail,
like a wild beast in the rain,
And I live in the great hope
of regaining what I lost.
Through a sky
uglier than any other he had ever flown through
a man on foot from Las Marias
approached New York.

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Hopefully, he kept saying,

there would be of a great day of returning.
But he had been born
to hard work.
He stayed without returning;
he ended up in a workshop.
I am the son of a tear
and the son of sweat.
My grandfather was
the only love I knew.
He’s always a cold memory
a wail frozen like a glass pane,
burning in the song
of a dreamy
Puerto Rico;
and I am Puerto Rican,
with nothing, but with nothing broken.
And that spurs me on,
urging me to walk very straight
and not become so small and narrow
as to be set back by insult.
Well, someone tells me,
they say that the moon
might appear to be sea or mountain.
And so I shout to my fellow countrymen
I will be Boricano
even though I may have been born in the moon.
Translated by Lucy Silver

Until recently, the major publishing outlets ignored and rejected African- and Hispanic-
American literature. The claim has been made that non-Standard literature did not
represent mainstream themes, but I submit that African-American and Hispanic-
American writers were ignored because their writing did not concord with Standard
Common English. The Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s exploded with small press
and self-publishing outlets for non-Standard dialect, launching the careers of neocreole
writers such as Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Ntozake Shange. These included
Dudley Randall’s Broadside Press, Haki Madhubuti’s Third World Press, Freedomways,
Journal of Black Poetry, Hambone, Callaloo, Literati Chicago, the Rican Journal,
Quinto del Sol, Black Classics Press, Yardbird Reader, Mango Publications, Arte Publico
Press, Black World/First World, Poettential Unlimited, Shamal Books, Bola Press,
Kitchen Table Press, Single Action Productions, Blind Beggar Press, Drum Voices
Revue, and Harlem River Press.7

Today, neocreoles permeate the publishing world; sample literature includes A Dollar
Outta Fifteen Cent by Caroline McGill, Girls from da Hood by Chunichi, and A Project
Chick by Nikki Turner. Neocreole artists attempt to raise dialect to a new dimension,

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revealing the living heart and soul of its speakers through sound, rhythm, and meaning.
Neocreoles have crowned dialect with a new importance.

Dialect has reappeared in the creation and presentation of poem and story, opening a new
world of rhetorical possibilities to an audience uninterested in Standard Common
English. To that audience, Standard Common English represents stiff, stilted,
meaningless words printed on the yellowing pages of a musty book. Neocreole artists
bring full circle the history of dialect and literacy; their patterns of language have blurred
the accepted boundaries between the spoken and written word.

The quantification of literacy functions and the qualification of who is literate need to be
reconsidered.

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C. INSIDE THE RIVER OF POETRY

by Louis Reyes Rivera
Excerpted from In Motion Magazine, May 19, 2002
Republished by ChickenBones/Nathaniel Turner

…Today, what was once called poetry is referred to now as Spoken Word Art…Rappers
have Hip Hopped twenty-syllable couplets into a steadfast beat, and Spoken Word Artists
have returned to free verse oration exhilarated by internal rhyme schemes and unfettered
metaphors that speak directly to inner city blues. The news of the day, testament and
affirmation, current and advanced, informs this form of poetry that outlines the
immediate and understudied aspirations of African and Latino Americans caught in the
crossfire between skin game caste and an ever shrinking planet of high tech advances.
Their names are many and they come from everywhere, like Jamaican Dub Poets or
Nuyorican Poets in the Bronx.

Poetry, you see, is as old as breath itself. For when human beings across the planet
simultaneously uttered that first initial sound, they gave rise to the same echo heard in the
wail of every newborn child. The sound of that cry might be onomatopoeic, but its
meaning is quite literal. “I am here, now!” This is the essential affidavit that serves as
testament inside every person's compulsion to give voice to the voice, as condition urges
vision, vision provokes thought, and thought pronounces the name of God: “I matter,
too!” Thus the birth of the word, the root of every language. Poetry. The strength of the
people. The finest manifestation of craft, content and intent in every written and oral
expression. The basis upon which all other literary genres have evolved. From poetry, not
only the lyric, but as well drama and narrative, the expository and the thematic, the
didactic and the ideological as root to all our scripture, sacred and profane.

It began as a blending of sound (the rhythm), sense (the experience), and color (the given
image). A voice raised in celebration of itself. Chant and dance, music and tone, mystery
and miracle forged into the embodied literature of people passing it on, by speech and
sight, to each subsequent generation, asking and answering the fundamental question:
How do we live?…

This is also why poetry is considered the most dangerous art form, why it is not honestly
taught and thoroughly nurtured into our youth in the schools, among our adults in the
factories and fields, inside our homes, churches, offices. It cannot be diluted, bought,
sold, compromised or traded without treason to its beauty, its necessity, its meaning. The
poet learns to care about every word.

What we often view as a national literature is but one of many rivers coursing its way
into the ocean of all our knowledge. In the general sense of world literature, we’re
supposed to bear in mind the ocean into which every river flows; with the particular local
canon, however, we are actually cheated from studying all those droplets comprising both
rivers and streams (the ethnic and the national), despite the fact that without them, there'd
be no water to feed into that ocean. African American poetry is not restricted to the
United States. It is a hemispheric phenomenon as old as the dirge and the moan heard

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inside those first slave ships bound for the slave-breaking islands of the Caribbean, to
Hispaniola and Mexico, long before they landed in Virginia. In the U.S., where drums
were outlawed, it manifested as folklore, Spirituals and the Blues; in the Caribbean as
Plena (Barbados), Bomba (Puerto Rico), Ska (Jamaica), with conga and steel drums, as
with Merengue (Haiti) Mambo (Cuba) Calypso (Trinidad), like Samba (Brazil). With
European influences setting up the parameters over form and acceptability, here or there
the poem was separated from music. Thus, slave narratives grew into novels and African
poetry in the Americas often took on the semblance of European meter, pace and nuance.

As with the many African and Latino American poets practicing the art today, the list of
folks involved back then is endless. In addition to critics, researchers and activists, like
Ida B. Wells, William Monroe Trotter, Carter G. Woodson, Richard B. Moore, Alain
Locke, J. A. Rogers, Zora Neale Hurston, W. E. B. DuBois, and with people like Arturo
Alfonso Schomburg serving as natural bridge between the English, Spanish, French
diasporic communities, the poets themselves comprised a river of personnel: Pablo
Neruda, Luis Pales Matos, Jose de Diego, Nicolas Guillen, Juan Antonio Corretjer, Julia
de Burgos, Clemente Soto Velez, Alfredo Miranda Archilla, Aime Cesaire, Leopold
Sedor Senghor, Leon Damas, Countee Cullen, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes,
Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Sterling Brown, and so many others who've not been as
extensively published or read as these few. But their collective impact ushered in new
forms and a continuum of literary stalwarts like Richard Wright, Margaret Walker
Alexander, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, and John Oliver Killens. Killens, by the
way, along with historian John Henrik Clarke, co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild, the
one group that definitively bridged the Harlem Renaissance of the ‘20s/’30s with the
1960s Black Arts Movement and the 1970s Nuyorican Poetry Phenomenon.

With the Black Arts Movement, the proverbial Pushkin spark turned into flame as the
1966 National Black Writers Conference at Fisk University…gave cognizance to what
had already been taking place; thus we have the new poet-theoreticians, like Amiri
Baraka and Larry Neal, Askia Toure, Ishmael Reed, Audre Lorde, Henry Dumas,
alongside new critics, like Addison Gayle and Hoyt Fuller, new venues, like Umbra,
Cannon Reed & Johnson, or the Watts Writers Workshop, through which Jayne Cortez
and Quincy Troupe had developed their skills, or like Detroit-based Dudley Randall,
through whose publishing efforts began the careers of Haki Madhubuti, Carolyn Rodgers,
Sonia Sanchez. Like The Last Poets, many of them were as influenced by Malcolm X as
by Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes, Margaret Walker, Paul Robeson and DuBois.
By the late 1960s, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Jesus Papoleto Melendez and Felipe Luciano
became the latest spanning between African American and Puerto Rican literature that
had been previously bridged by the likes of Schomburg, Guillen and Jesurs Colorn. As the
1970s took off, a Nuyorican mix began its own sidestream fruition to both African
American and Puerto Rican orthodoxy. Spanglish took its place beside AfroAmericanese
as a new idiom, with poets Miguel Algarin, Lorraine Sutton, Americo Casiano, Miguel
Pinero, Sandra Maria Esteves, Julio Marzan, Lucky Cienfuegos, Roberto Marquerz, Josre
Angel Figueroa, Tato Laviera, Noel Rico, Magdalena Gomez, Susana Cabanas and Pedro
Pietri serving as initial progenitors to another poetic sensibility. Its availability and
earned place has often been hindered by Anglo arrogance and Hispanophilia, caught, as

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these poets were, between an evolving aesthetic-in-exile influenced by Ebonics on the

mainland and an active insular and extremely cultural nationalism in Puerto Rico that at
first refused to even recognize this hybrid created out of U.S. colonialism.

During this same period, from the late 1960s straight into the 1980s, the tradition of small
press and self-publishing (traceable to the 1730s, when Europe began allowing colonies
to own printing presses) had expanded into roughly 1,000 independent magazines and
publishing outlets under the influence or control of African and Latino Americans:
Freedomways, Journal of Black Poetry, Hambone, Callaloo, Literati Chicago, The Rican
Journal, Third World Press, Third Press, Quinto del Sol, Black Classics Press, Yardbird
Reader, Mango Publications, Arte Publico Press, Black World/First World, Poettential
Unlimited, Shamal Books, Bola Press, Kitchen Table Press, Single Action Productions,
Blind Beggar Press, Drum Voices Revue, Harlem River Press, just to name a few.

Thus, sandwiched between the Black Arts Movement and the rise of Hip Hop is a linking
generation of African and Latino American poets, producers and publishers who had
come into their own (and many of them by the mid-1970s) to serve as the latest bridge
connecting the continuum of an hemispheric African American literary canon. These
were the students of Malcolm and Martin and H. Rap Brown, entering the new decade
with their own resolve, reading, performing and organizing everywhere: in prisons,
community centers, cafes, in homes and on the streets, at Kwanzaa festivals and Malcolm
X commemoration programs, at political rallies and in the schools. These sidestream
stalwarts, most abundant in places like New York, were the immediate parents of those
who would later become Rap and Spoken Word (Chuck D., Reg E. Gaines, Bruce
George) Artists…They had entered the ’70s knowing that the major publishing outlets
had already slammed its doors on Black Literature. Thus, they became the generation that
had proliferated the publishing world with their own gumption, giving rise to, if not
solidifying the careers of an Alice Walker, a Toni Morrison and an Ntozake Shange.
Poets-publishers-organizers who did the basework while working a 9-to-5, raising a
family, studying and performing their craft. In New York City alone, these included
Yusef Waliyaya from The East’s African Street festivals, John Branch from the Afrikan
Poetry Theatre, Rich Bartee of Poettential Unlmtd., Lois Elaine Griffith of the Nuyorican
Poets Cafe, George Edward Tait of the Afrikan Functional Theatre, Gary Johnston and C.
D. Grant of Blind Beggar Press, Layding Kaliba now with African Voices, Barbara Smith
of Kitchen Table Press, Abu Muhammad of Nubian Blues magazine, Glen Thompson of
Harlem River Press. From them and through them, such poets as Safiya Henderson-
Holmes, Akua Lezli Hope, Zizwe Ngafua, Dawad Philip, B. J. Ashanti, Ted Wilson,
Malkia M’buzi Moore, A. Wanjiku J. Reynolds, and many others previously mentioned
either began or continued finding outlets for their works to appear in print.

Meanwhile, music and poetry never did finalize the divorce Euro-Americans insisted
upon. Not only were Hughes and Hurston experimenting with the “jazz poem” and the
intonations of northern and southern folklore back in the 1930s, but from the BeBop and
Afro-Cuban Jazz era straight through to the present Rap/Spoken Word epoch, musicians
and poets have consistently uncovered the African tradition of incorporating sound and
sense into a wholistic art form. Literature, music and dance. Louis Armstrong, Sun Ra,

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Charlie Mingus, King Pleasure, Slim (Gailliard) & Slam (Stewart), Alvin Ailey had all
eloquently continued that course. Singers Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, Oscar Brown,
Jr., and, of course, Nina Simone, had long ago fused poetry into the jazz voice (Billie
Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” was actually a poem someone had given her). Of equal
significance is the immediate link to Rap and Spoken Word. Musicians Weldon Irvine,
Ahmed Abdullah and Oliver Lake, like their literary counterparts, Gil Scott-Heron, The
Last Poets, Jayne Cortez, Sekou Sundiata, Tom Mitchelson, Yusef Waliyaya, Cheryl
Byron, Atiba Kwabena Wilson, Ngoma Hill, each in their turn, have preceded Sharif
Simmons, UniVerses, 2nd To Last, etc., in fusing the poem with the idioms of music and
dance.

And so the insistence that music and word are inseparable elements to the voice raising
up and rising up comes full circle inside the currents of modern poetics. It’s part of an
ongoing continuum in constant evolution, an unfinished renaissance establishing its own
parameters on its own terms. Like Sterling Brown once posed, “If it took Europe 300
years to unfold its renaissance, what makes you think that we can do it in six?”

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CHAPTER XVII: SOME CONCLUSIONS

A. DIALECT AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

…If you spoke as she does, sir, instead of the way you do,
Why you might be selling flowers, too!

…There even are places where English completely disappears.

In America, they haven’t used it in years!
-Lerner and Lowe
“Why Can’t the English Teach Their Children How To Speak?”
My Fair Lady

Let’s revisit the concept of language. To begin with, language represents a broad
category of discourse that may divide into any number of mutually intelligible variants,
or dialects. On first blush, that appears to be a simple enough statement. However, all
attempts to examine and explain divisions within a language family lead to water
muddied by deep complexities.

English, in particular, proves to be a complicated language specimen for many reasons.

First, English has a hybrid ancestry and evolution. The mitochondrial DNA of English, its
unchanging maternal material, originates from Englisc, the ancient West Germanic
dialect. But English has many fathers. The fractured and multiple sources of its Y
chromosomes originate from genetic material that spans the globe. (Chapt. VIII)
Secondly, English serves as a lingua franca, providing a useful, important common
vehicle of communication worldwide. Varieties of the English language span the globe;
under the broad umbrella of the English language rest numerous sub-Standard English
dialects, pidgins, and creoles that contain sub-Standard elements of phonology,
morphology, lexicography, syntax, and pragmatics. All varieties must be considered as
members of the English language family. (Fig. 78) Thirdly, our laboratories of English
study might logically begin with Great Britain, the geographical mother of English, and
the United States, where English bonds its citizens. However, which specimen(s) of
English should we examine? Can we acknowledge “British English” when, throughout
the British Isles, usage ranges from the “ticked r” of the Scottish burr, the lilt of Irish
brogue, the “h-drop” of East London cockney, and the Monty Python-like pomposity of
BBC broadcasts? Can we acknowledge an “American English” when, in the United
States, the drawl of Texans (e.g., I was fixin’ to go with y’all to the pictura show!) differs
from a Minnesotan twang (e.g., Ya got that right!), the middle /r/ epenthesis of Midland
speech (e.g., He’s gone t’ warsh the car!), or the final /r/ epenthesis of New England (e.g,
Don’t get that idear!)?(Fig. 79)

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, we can detect minor differences between the usage of
English in Great Britain and the United States, such as center versus centre, colour versus
color, on holiday versus on vacation, in hospital versus in the hospital, or wait in line vs.
wait on line. However, the fundamental regulations of English remain surprisingly
constant even after several centuries of separation. In fact, differences between varieties

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of English dialect are greater within the United States and Great Britain than between the
United States and Great Britain!Throughout this book, I have referred to the American
version of Standard English Standard Common English. What is meant by a Standard
British English is best known as Received Pronunciation, or RP. The name implies a
correct, learned (educated) version of English. There exists a general understanding of
Standard English across the English-speaking world, but, unlike some other languages,
English does not have a governing body, such as the Accademia della Crusca, the Rearl
Academia Española, the Académie française, or the Dansk Sprognævn, to establish and
dictate usage.

Afro-Seminole Creole Colon Creole Saint Kitts Creole Miskito Coastal Creole
Aku (Gambia) Czenglish Saint Martin Creole Montserrat Creole
Anguillan Creole Englog San Andres- Nauruan Creole
Provedencia Creole
Angifuan Creole Engrish Saramaccan language Nigerian Pidgin
Australian Creole Grenadian Creole Spanglish Norfuk language
Bajan Gullah Sranang Tongo Vincentian Creole
Belizean Creole Hawaiiann Pidgin Tobagonian Creole Virgin Island Creole
Bocas del Toro Creole Ingles de excalerilla Tok Pisin
Cameroonian Pidgin Jamaican Creole Torres Strait Creole
Cayman Creole Japanese loanwords Trinidadian Creole
Chinese Pidgin Pitcairnese language Turks-Caicos Creole
Chinglish Rio Abajo Creole Limon Coastal Creole
Fig. 78: English Pidgins and Creoles
-Todd Loretto
Pidgins and Creoles, 1990

American Regional Dialects American Social Dialects

New England (Boston) African-American Dialect
North Atlantic (New York, New Jersey) General American Dialect (TV newscasters)
Northeast Interior (West New York State) Nuyorican
South Atlantic (Baltimore, Charleston) Hawaiian Pidgen
Gulf Coast (Mississippi Delta, New Orleans) Xicano English
Midwest (Minneapolis-St. Paul) Amerindian English
Midland (Indianapolis) Pennsylvania Dutch English
North Midland (Pittsburgh) Yiddish English
West Midland (Nashville)
West Coast (California)
Fig. 79: American English Dialects
-Wikipedia
"North American English Regional Phonology"

With all these differences, what is Standard English? How is Standard English
determined? Extending the concept of Standard to all languages, how do we find or
distinguish a Standard?

Let’s begin with these facts, which seem to be obvious once they have been presented.

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x The Standard version of any language is distinguished by an established

dictionary that mandates Standardized spelling and vocabulary.
x The Standard is governed by a recognized grammar, used in writing and in all
language instruction.
x The Standard is recognized in spoken language by a “proper” and “educated”
pronunciation, free from regional markings. (I have referred to this particular
speech in the United States as “mainstream” dialect, a dialect that uses the neutral
vowel qualities of the Midwest).
x The Standard is employed in all academic, political and legal work.
x The Standard contains a canon of literature and boasts authoritative translations of
sacred texts.
x The Standard version of a language embodies certain social, cultural, political,
and linguistic perceptions.1

Those who speak and write in Standard represent the literate, the educated, and the
privileged. Ultimately, the American Standard Common English is represented by that
version of English prescribed in American textbooks and literacy instruction.

Today, English is spoken as a first or second language in many countries of the world
that range from the Caribbean to South Africa and from India to Hong Kong. Each locale
contains its own unique English dialect, pidgin, or creole, born from the historical
contacts and collisions of trade, war, slavery, the plantation system, and colonialism. The
English of each locale has developed its own unique pronunciation, grammar,
vocabulary, and orthography which are used along with other discourse, which may be
either Standard Common English another dialect, or another language!2 Accordingly,
these varieties of English reflect social, political, and economic hierarchies.

This reality brings us face to face with a sociolinguistic phenomenon known as diglossia,
a term used by linguists to assist in describing and examining the tangled relationships
between language, dialect, and Standard. Simply stated, the term diglossia reflects an
assumption that when two or more discourses coexist simultaneously in the same place
and at the same time, they represent different social realities. A high, prestigious, written
discourse, the discourse of the elite, is used to conduct political, legal, economic, and
educational affairs. A low, common discourse that differs from the written Standard
remains as the vernacular of the less-powerful strata of society.3 Examples of diglossia
have been mentioned in previous chapters of this book. They include the unequal
relationships between the languages of indigenous peoples of the colonial empires and
the written languages of their European masters. Echoes of diglossia are heard in the
power of Norman French as it clashed with Saxon Englisc in 11th century England.
Diglossia is reflected in the reverence reserved for the written, prestigious classical
languages of Sanskrit, Hebrew, Latin, Koine Greek, and classical Arabic as they were
superimposed upon common dialects such as Hindi, French, Spanish, Italian, Yiddish,
Ladino, Aramaic, non-Standard Greek dialects, or non-Standard Arabic.

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The question may now be posed: Why not write in the low discourse? Just as French,
Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, daughters of Latin, were crafted into written languages
from the Latin alphabet, many English pidgins and creoles are now being crafted into
written forms using the English alphabet.

This transformation into writing can happen only when certain procedures are followed
and specific criteria are met. On the one hand, writing of sub-Standard dialect must
acknowledge and honor the blueprint of the greater language family it belongs to. The
lexicography, orthography, morphology, and skeletal grammar of the larger parent
language must be reflected and retained. On the other hand, new features must be devised
in writing that clearly delineate the specific rule-governed differences that distinguish the
sub-Standard discourse from all other varieties of the language, including the Standard.
The ease or difficulty of creating these new rules to write sub-Standard dialect follows a
linguistic inverse square law: the greater the distance between the Standard and the sub-
Standard variety, the easier it becomes to construct and express the sub-Standard in
writing and to identify and clarify needed adjustments!4

The relationship between African-American dialect and Standard Common English can
serve as an example of this rule. Both varieties share linguistic parameters that mark them
as members of the English language family, and these elements must be retained in any
writing. For example, both varieties adhere strictly to the demands of English word order
in phrases, clauses, and sentences. However, the rule-governed linguistic differences that
separate them must be reflected in rule-governed ways through carefully considered
writing adjustments. These linguistic features include ways to mark sound changes (e.g.,
phonological simplification, fo’ vs four,) grammar differences (e.g., the verb be: He be
sick or He sick vs He’s sick,) morphological differences (e.g., He bathe hisself vs He
bathes himself,) and semantic variance (e.g., He strapped vs He has a gun.)

The relationship between Spanglish and Standard Common English exemplifies and
reflects the difficulties of translating cultural concepts that are understood differently by
mainstream speakers and speakers of the sub-Standard dialect. For example, cabrorn,
literally translated in Standard Spanish as old goat, has become a Spanglish pejorative
that signifies stubborn asshole. The word informal in English connotes something
innocent and fun; however, in Hispanic culture, informarl implies something not merely
casual, but risqué and improper. Developing a writing system for a sub-Standard dialect
poses thorny issues that cannot be resolved without collective planning and communal
agreement. On the one hand, this process may take place implicitly within an entire
speech community, with sub-Standard speakers collectively creating a writing that
mirrors their speech. On the other hand, it may take place explicitly, with “language
experts” making decisions and leading the way.

At what point does the effort to develop a writing for sub-Standard become necessary or
worthwhile? To answer that question, two criteria must be met. First, the sub-Standard
must reflect a separate cultural history or ideology of its speakers. In the case of African-
American dialect, it may be argued that the acknowledgment of African origin and four
hundred years of foraging African-American culture might best be expressed in writing

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through African-American dialect. In the case of Spanglish, the dialect seems to uniquely
blend the hispanidard of Hispanic-Americans with the language and culture of el norte.5
Secondly, the sub-Standard must serve as a primary discourse for a large segment of the
population. Collectively, African-American dialect and Spanglish reflect the primary
discourse of almost 90 million people living in the United States.6

In the end, once the rules of a dialect have been written, they are firmly set in stone, and
the dialect acquires the elements that define a Standard. In other words, it becomes a de
facto new Standard for its speakers, effectively creating a new diglossia and power
structure! Globally, such phenomena offer fresh perspectives on the definition of literacy.
Throughout China, Latin America, Australia, Polynesia, Indonesia, and Africa, the
world’s languages, currently estimated to be around six thousand, are rapidly being
replaced by powerful major languages such as English, Spanish, French, or Mandarin.
This process is happening so fast that many of the world’s indigenous languages will
probably not survive the 21st century! As these weaker languages disappear, much of the
specific culture reflected throughout their linguistic structure is, sadly, lost. However,
each instance of loss creates opportunities to birth new cultures and dialects. In turn, each
new discourse will come to relate hierarchically, or diglossically, to other discourses, and,
within and among those newly established discourses, new Standards will continue to
evolve.

Once any one dialect becomes unintelligible to speakers of other varieties of the parent
language, it becomes a separate language. In the case of English, at what point does any
one variant of English become a separate language and establish its own Standard?
Jamaican, the national language of Jamaica, exemplified by prophets such as Bob
Marley, serves as a case study; it lies in the midst of a question mark as to where it
belongs in the continuum stretching between dialect and language. Jamaican is a proud
discourse that forms the soul of an island people and overflows with African memory.
The phonology, grammar constructions, and lexemes of Jamaican stand so far removed
from Standard Common English that a spoken conversation would most probably be
incomprehensible to mainstream speakers.

1. Bredrin, wa gwaan?
2. Bwai, ya done know seh mi deya gwaan easy.
3. Yes I, a so it go still. Not ’n na gwaan, but we a keep di faith, nuh true?
4. True. How de pickney dem stay?
5. Bwai, dem aright. One a dem wan tun DJ an bus. Nex one wan go a
foreign an bus. A try mia try reason with dem still.
6. Yeh man, a so pickney stay fi real. Dem fi know seh every mikkle mek a
mukkle.
7. True. Mi deh pon haste, ya hear? A faawod mi a faawod.
8. Yeh man, likkle more, seen?
9. Likkle more.

[translation]
1. What’s goin’ on, brother?

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2. Boy, you know I’m just here takin’ it easy.

3. Yeah, that’s how it still goes. Nothing is improving, but we keep the faith,
right?
4. Right! How are your kids doin’?
5. Boy, they’re all right. One of them wants to make it big-time as a DJ. The
next one wants to immigrate and make it big-time. I’m still trying to
reason with them.
6. Yeah, man. That’s the way kids are. They have to learn that things come
little by little.
7. Right. Listen, I’m in a hurry…I’ve gotta go.
8. Yeah, man. See you later?
9. Later.
-Dialogue and translation provided by Hannah Appel
“Language: Can you speak Jamaican?” (October, 2007)
Programs in the Americas
Global Exchange

However, Jamaican has already evolved into its own written form, and most English
language readers can understand a Jamaican story as written. The story of “Jamaica
Child: Big Bwoy and Likkle Bwoy” illustrates the balance between features of Standard
Common English that must be retained and features of creole that must be crafted when
writing Jamaican.

Big Bwoy and Likkle Bwoy

Once upon a time dere was two bradders one name Big Bwoy and de ada
name Likkle Bwoy. Big Bwoy was de oldest, but ’im was a bit stupid in
de ’ead. Likkle Bwoy was de cleva one, he always tricking Big Bwoy. So
one day, Likkle Bwoy tell Big Bwoy dat if Big Bwoy get in a crocus bag
and let ’im tie up de top den ’im could sell it like banana and den dem
could mek a lata money. Big Bwoy t’ink fa a while, but all ’im was
t’inking of was de big bulla cake ’im could buy in de shop. After Big
Bwoy drop dreaming ’bout de cake dem, ’im agree.

Big Bwoy got in de crocus bag and Likkle Bwoy tie it up quick, quick wid
a piece of wiss, den ’im bore small small ’ole in de bag, so dat Big Bwoy
could breathe. Likkle Bwoy, neva plan fe give Big Bwoy any a de money,
’im did want it all fa ’imself. He carry Big Bwoy to de roadside and every
baddy pass, Likkle Bwoy tell dem dat ’im have some banana in a de
crocus bag, and if dem want fe buy it.

Likkle Bwoy was dere a lang time, but nobaddy never want no banana.
Likkle Bwoy was jus’ a go let Big Bwoy out de crocus bag, when a man
ask ’im wat ’im a sell. Likkle Bwoy tell ’im, ’im a sell banana, so de man
buy de banana dem.

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De man was a big ad strong, im tek up the crocus wid Big Bwoy in it and
trow it pan ’im shoulders, like it was really a likkle banana in de bag.
Likke Bwoy tek off at top speed when vim get ’im money. De man neva
lookin a de bag, but jus’ pick it up and walk away. Likkic bwoy t’ink dat
when de man fine Big Bwoy in he bag, ’im woulda beat ’im and tek ’im to
de police, to put in jail. But de man neva do that, when ’im fine out, cause
when ’im a walk down de road he ’ear sunting a breathe ’ard in de bag,
and ’im know dat banana no breathe.

De man put down de bag, an fine Big Bwoy in it, wid crocus bag fluff in a
’im hair and pan ’im face. De man ask Big Bwoy wey ’im a do in de bag,
an’ Big Bwoy tell ’im dat ’im bradder trick ’im. Big Bwoy start fe like
sumbaddy a kill ’im but de man feel sarry fe Big Bwoy and give ’im lata
money, cause ’im was kind and know dat Big Bwoy was a bit fu-fool. Big
Bwoy pic’ up de crocus bag an’ tek aff fa de shop fe buy ’im bulla cake.
Den ’im go an’ show Likkle Bwoy all de money ’im did ’ave. When
Likkle Bwoy see all de cake dat Big Bwoy gat ’im vex, ’cause Big Bwoy
mek more money dan ’im. Next day Likkle Bwoy tell Big Bwoy fe tie up
de crocus bag wid ’im in it. Big Bwoy neva t’ink two time dis time, ’im tie
up de Likkle Bwoy in de crocus bag and tek ’m down to de roadside an
stan’ dere. Big Bwoy neva stan’ dere lang before de same man dat give
Big Bwoy de money de day before come an buy de bag wid Likkle Bwoy.
When Likkle Bwoy feel de bag liff up in de air ’im start fe t’ink ’ow de
man a go give ’im a lat a money, den ’im a go run wey an nobaddy a go
ketch ’im. Big Bwoy never stop fe share de money wid Likkle Bwoy, ’im
tek aff fe buy ’im bulla cake. Likkle Bwoy feel when de man put down de
crocus bag, an’ get ready fe come out. Likkle Bwoy start fe fret, when de
man tek so lang fe open de bag. Den ’im greediness lef ’im, ’im decide fe
run wey, when de man open de bag. But de man never open de bag, ’im
goan cut a big guava whip an give Likkle Bwoy some rawted licks. Dats
time Big Bwoy a sit down a ’eat ’im cake dem. After a while de man open
de bag. Likkle Bwoy tek off faster dan lightning, nat even de wind coulda
ketch’im.’Im was black and blue all over. From den on, Likkle Bwoy neva
trick Big Bwoy again.
-Errol O’Connor
Jamaica Child, 1978

Interestingly, there can be found a common thread of phonology and grammar

simplification among English creoles that emanated from West Africa. The Wonderful
Tar Baby Story, written by Joel Chandler Harris, used a balance between Standard
Common English and Plantation Gullah.

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The Wonderful Tar Baby Story

“Didn’t the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy
the next evening.

“He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho’s you born--Brer Fox did. One day
atter Brer Rabbit fool ’im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en
got ’im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun
w’at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot ’er in de
big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine
ter be. En he didn’t hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer
Rabbit pacin’ down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez
sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin’ ’long
twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he
wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay
low.”

“‘Mawnin!’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee—‘nice wedder dis mawnin,’ sezee.”

“Tar-Baby ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, en Brer Fox he lay low.“

“‘How duz yo’ sym’tums seem ter segashuate?’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.”

“Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain’t
sayin’ nuthin’. “

“‘How you come on, den? Is you deaf?’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. ‘Kaze if
you is, I kin holler louder,’ sezee.”

“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.”

“‘You er stuck up, dat’s w’at you is,’ says Brer Rabbit, sezee, ‘en I’m
gwine ter kyore you, dat’s w’at I’m a gwine ter do,’ sezee.”

“Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-Baby ain’t
sayin’ nothin’.”

“‘I’m gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter ‘spectubble folks ef hit’s de las’
ack,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. ‘Ef you don’t take off dat hat en tell me
howdy, I’m gwine ter bus’ you wide open,’ sezee.”

“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.”

“Brer Rabbit keep on axin’ ’im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on sayin’

nothin’, twel present’y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his fis’, he did, en blip
he tuck ’er side er de head. Right dar’s whar he broke his merlasses jug.

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His fis’ stuck, en he can’t pull loose. De tar hilt ’im. But Tar-Baby, she
stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.”

“‘Ef you don’t lemme loose, I’ll knock you agin,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee,
en wid dat he fotch ‘er a wipe wid de udder han’, en dat stuck. Tar-Baby,
she ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, en Brer Fox, he lay low.”

“‘Tu’n me loose, fo’ I kick de natal stuffin’ outen you,’ sez Brer Rabbit,
sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain’t sayin’ nuthin’. She des hilt on, en de
Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same way. Brer Fox, he lay low.
Den Brer Rabbit squall out dat ef de Tar-Baby don’t tu'n ‘im loose he
butt’er cranksided. En den he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox,
he sa’ntered fort’, lookin’ dez ez innercent ez wunner yo’ mammy’s
mockin’-birds.”

“‘Howdy, Brer Rabbit,' sez Brer Fox, sezee. ‘You look sorter stuck up dis
mawnin’,’ sezee, en den he rolled on de groun’, en laft en laft twel he
couldn't laff no mo’. ‘I speck you’ll take dinner wid me dis time, Brer
Rabbit. I done laid in some calamus root, en I ain't gwineter take no
skuse,’ sez Brer Fox, sezee.”

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the ashes.

“Did the fox eat the rabbit?” asked the little boy to whom the story had
been told.

“Dat’s all de fur de tale goes,” replied the old man. “He mout, an den agin
he moutent. Some say Judge B’ar come ’long en loosed ’im—some say he
didn’t. I hear Miss Sally callin’. You better run ‘long.”
-Joel Chandler Harris
Legends of the Old Plantation (1881)
Republished by Amerian Studies of the University of Virginia

Will English literacy fracture into separate dialects and languages with their own
Standards? Will the strictures of Standard Common English be shattered and
reconstructed for the writing of myriad discourses? Such events seem to be already in
progress; they are important.in understanding the underlying social, demographic, and
political structures of the English-speaking world. The social, legal, and economic status
of speakers of sub-Standard, the value of dialect, and the cultural structures of entire
communities will all be affected.

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B. DIALECT AND TECHNOLOGY

Whatever form writing may take in the future, it will remain central to the
human experience, empowering and memorializing.
-Steven Robert Fischer
A History of Writing

Each population, in its own way, has experienced the impact and importance of writing.
Developed, wealthier countries, which boast documented histories, civilizations and
cultures, perceive writing as a natural progression of the inevitable, comfortable
unfolding of their past into their present and future. However, indigenous peoples, who
have held and transmitted their memories and mores orally through recitation and
memory, have experienced writing as something alien and potentially destructive. Their
customs, beliefs, and norms, carefully protected and guarded through oral traditions and
initiations, have been lost, misrepresented, and presented inappropriately to the
uninitiated in the written venue.7 Despite this unfortunate dichotomy between literate and
non-literate cultures, literacy has come to be recognized as desirable and even necessary
for every individual. All of the world’s populations, illiterate and literate, are aware of the
power of writing and are affected by it. The relationship between the oral and the written
has always evolved and shifted with technological innovations and social revolutions.

The expansion of literacy throughout the world might suggest that the balance between
oral and written cultures would continue to shift toward the literate. Considering
worldwide literacy, there may be some very good news! Using the UNESCO definition
of literacy (Chapt. XI), global literacy has increased from 52 percent of the world’s
population in 1950 to 82 percent of the world’s population in 2008!8 However, an
important caveat remains: as the world’s population grows beyond seven billion people,
the number of people classified as illiterate will also continue to increase.

The impact of these statistics may unfold in an unexpected way. An important new
wrinkle that qualifies and quantifies literacy has surfaced in both the developed and the
developing worlds: the language rules that govern speech are reappearing in text and
redefining literacy. Writing was generated from symbols that represented segments of
human speech. Writing has matured to assume its own rules and structures. The rules of
literacy in the Western world had a slow and gradual beginning, but were finally firmly
codified and solidified by the technology of the printing press. Until now, the rules
developed by the printing press have controlled and stabilized writing. However, today,
they are being shattered by electronic technologies. Through electronic communication,
they are being augmented and even replaced by the rules of speech. This means that a
growing number of people, many with only a smattering of literacy functions, can rely on
electronic and audiovisual media and use their lap top, pc, and mobile phone, along with
their monitor, screen, and keypad, to find their voice in writing.9 Everywhere in the
world, many now have access to this new technology and are able to use it effectively.
We are approaching a critical point where the need to redefine and reevaluate literacy can
no longer be ignored.

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It is becoming increasingly obvious that, the more closely literacy becomes knotted with
electronic technology; the more it will be transfigured. In all ways and by all definitions,
electronic technology is expanding, shrinking, changing, developing, promoting, and
hindering literacy. Electronic technology benefits both the stalwart academic researcher
and your friend on http://www.facebook.com. There remain many unanswered questions
about the impact of this new technology. As this technology evolves into its new formats,
such as http://www.twitter.com, which can provide instant news and messages to millions
of people, we should continually revisit and reassess the ways it is changing literacy.
What will be the nature of the diglossia and class divide the new technologies will create?
How can we analyze and track the impact of this technology on our lives? How can we
predict and judge its potential promises and perils? What are we gaining and losing as we
shift from cursive writing with paper, ink, and pen to the printer, the keypad, and the
monitor? The trade is inevitable; how can we make it worthwhile?10

Certainly, the new literacy is replacing the old. The old literacy represents the millennia
of effort made to put sound to text. As the possibilities and venues of writing increased
and evolved, as writing moved from epigraphic to paleographic and as paper and the
printing press replaced parchment and the quill, writing regulations were gradually
fossilized into Standards. Standards change slowly and evolve with the speed of glacial
flow. In contrast, the new literacy is nurtured from speech; it is changing so rapidly that
new developments are noticed almost daily. These developments are augmented by and
reflected in every new generation of electronic technology, such as the mobile phone that
now has text, photo, MP3, and Internet capacity. Today, the people of the world are
blending and melting into a smaller planet. Ethnicity and 21st century technology have
merged; the voice of the people has mated with the people’s machine. Those with
basic functional literacy can e-mail, text, and tweet, blending and compressing image,
writing, and sound.

Fischer writes,

Orality is still defying literacy…The oral feeds the literate…until the

literate consumes the oral. It is a question of stages, not opposites, and the
process will continue to be enacted throughout the world until the
universally literate planet will mean the death of orality.”
-Steven Robert Fischer
A History of Reading (2003): p. 317

I disagree with his ultimate prognosis that a literate planet will mean the death of orality.
The fact remains that speech defines our species, and text will always remain the
handmaiden of the spoken word. Even after four millennia of writing, dialect remains the
primary discourse of every human.

Standard Common English has been an instructional tool and the language of scholarship
and law for four centuries, governed by the strictures of its past history. It will not go
gently into that good night, but it will change. The destabilization and loosening of
Standard rules will most certainly have serious consequences. The current blending of the

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oral and the literate seems to have rendered Standard rules as unnecessary or
meaningless. Yet, the historical persistence of diglossic relationships and the inevitable
lifecycle of the construction and petrification of Standard rules suggest a future that will
evolve much like the past evolved. Writing began with speech and has changed through
technological innovations; most likely, literacy will continue to evolve through speech
and technological innovations. New Standards will be created from dialects, pidgins, and
creoles through emergent technologies. Their grammars will require new adjustments to
be applied to text.

The varieties of literacy for individuals, communities, and nations have exploded. The
definitions and descriptions of literacy functions are becoming increasingly personal,
specific, localized, and specialized. Yet, the features that enable the sharing of
information are becoming increasingly public, general, global, and accessible. The
changing qualities and quantities of literacy functions can invigorate individual lives,
accelerate a nation’s economy, and positively affect communities and populations. They
can also complicate literacy education and fracture agreement on issues related to literacy
between individuals and populations.

We can only wait and see what unfolds in the future.

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APPENDIX: WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN ENGLISH CLASS?

1. Action words may function as nouns or adjectives.

x Jane enjoys biking.
x I have a skating date with Bob on Saturday.
x To dance is to float across earth and air.
x Skiing is one of winter’s great joys.

2. Events occur within other events, between other events, or simultaneously

with other events. Events may happen only once, or may be repeated time
after time. Our verb tenses and verb aspects reflect this complexity.
x Modals: Helen should take a vacation because she’s tired.
x Future perfect: By the time John finishes his biology paper, he will have learned a
great deal about insects.
x Future perfect continuous: By noon, John will have been working for six hours.
x Future indicated with an adverb: My parents fly to New York tomorrow.
x Imperfect and simple past: John was eating dinner when the phone rang.
x Present perfect: I have traveled to France twice.
x Past perfect: I had eaten snails only once before I traveled to France.
x Simple present tense: John usually eats dinner at six o’clock.
x Continuous present tense that refers to future time: We are eating dinner at seven
o’clock tonight,

3. Subjects or objects may be gerunds, infinitives, noun phrases, noun clauses, or

pronouns.
x Swimming is my brother’s favorite sport.
x That Jim knew algebra made no difference on the test.
x I like to rest after a hard day’s work.

x A pronoun takes the place of a noun phrase, not a noun.

x The tall student in blue jeans is an eighth grade student.
x She is an eighth grade student.
x *The tall she in blue jeans is an eighth grade student.

5. The case of a subject can vary for structural reasons. In the following example,
“her”, which takes the objective case because it follows the verb, becomes a subject.
“Believe” governs our decision to use the objective case, functioning in linguistic
terminology as “a governor”.1
x She is innocent. (She is the subject of the clause).
x I believe that she is innocent. (She is the subject of the nominative clause).
x I believe her to be innocent. (Her is the subject, but is in the objective case).

6. Every clause has a subject and a verb.

x Fragments: (1) because Tom was late, (2) where Jane was born

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x Subjects and verbs may be compounds: The vegetables and fruits were in season.
x A sentence may have an infinite number of clauses: This is the man who
made the chair that stands in the living room that I decorated when I was
a student.

7. We speak in sentence fragments.

Jackson shrugged, “Probably was. Happens a lot.’Cause he’s black.’Cause he’s
poor. Either one is bad, the combination is very bad.”

8. Explicative and cleft sentences place a holder at the beginning of a clause. They
delay the subject until later in the sentence, hence highlighting it. This constitutes a
part of transformational grammar, the generation of a surface structure of a
statement with meaning derived from deep structure.
x There is a book on the table. (A book is on the table).
x There are three marbles under your chair. (Three marbles are under your
chair).
x What fell into the creek was the ball. (The ball fell into the creek).
x It was the ball that fell into the creek. (The ball fell into the creek).

9. Although the subject form of the pronoun is required by the rules of prescriptive
grammar, even the most educated and polished speakers and writers of English
naturally and automatically use the objective form in the situations below. This is an
example of operative grammar working by rules above and beyond Standard.rules.2
x Nominative complement: It’s me. It’s her. It’s him. (Prescriptive: It’s I. It’s she.
It’s he).
x A subject of comparison: Mary is smarter than me. *Mary is smarter than me (am
smart). (Prescriptive: Mary is smarter than I).

10. Prescriptive grammar addresses whom as though the problem with it had arisen
only recently. In fact, from about 1500, who came to be used instead of whom, and in
many cases modern editors print whom where the old editions of Shakespeare have
who. Dropping whom appears to be an example of something that has become the
operative grammar of English.3
x Prescriptive: Whom did you see?
x Common accepted usage: Who did you see?

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Glossary

ABE: Adult Basic Education; instruction for adults in literacy and numeracy.
Abjad: A syllabic writing system represented only by consonants. Abjads are also known
as consonantal writing, or syllabaries.
Accommodation: According to Piaget, a form of adaptation that represents the process
of changing cognitive structures in order to adjust to the environment.
Active voice: Used when a subject acts upon an object. In passive voice, the subject
receives the action; the subject is acted upon.
Acquired: A skill that is not formally learned or taught, such as speaking.
Adaptation: According to Piaget, the construction of increasingly complex schema, or
mental organizations, that represent knowledge of the environment.
Affix: A bound morpheme that contains meaning and is attached to a free morpheme.
Affixes (bound morphemes) cannot stand as words. In the English language,
affixes occur as prefixes or suffixes. In some other languages, they occur as
infixes, subfixes, superfixes, or circumfixes.
African-American dialect: A social dialect of English spoken by many African-
Americans, sometimes known as Ebonics, Ebony Phonics, AAVE, or Black
English.
Allographs: Alternative ways of spelling a morpheme, e.g., Christmas and Xmas, or light
and lite.
Allomorphs: Alternative phonetic realizations of a morpheme. For example, /V/, /]/, and
/V/ are the alternative pronunciations of the third-person singular (e.g., writes,
stays, and rises), possessive nouns (cat’s, dog’s, church’s) and noun plurals, (cats,
dogs, and kisses).
Allophones: Different predictable phonetic realizations of a phoneme. For example,
when /S/ occurs as the first sound in a word, it is aspirated with a puff of air, as
h
/S /. Place your hand in front of your mouth, and say “put.” Now say “spell.” You
will notice the aspiration in the first, and the lack of aspiration in the second.
Allophones in one language may be phonemic in another. For example, in English
/O/ and /U/ create different phonemes; light and right. In Asian languages, /O/ and
/U/ are allophones of the same phoneme.
Alphabet: A standardized set of graphemes, or letters, each of which roughly represents
a phoneme. A complete alphabet represents both consonant and vowel sounds. An
abjad represents only consonant sounds.
Alphabet effect: The hypotheses that phonetic writing and alphabetic scripts in particular
have served to promote and encourage the cognitive skills of abstraction, analysis,
coding, decoding, and classification. It was first proposed by Robert Logan in The
Alphabet Effect: A Media Ecology Understanding of the Making of Western
Civilization.
Analytic intelligence: An intelligence recognized by Robert Sternberg that encompasses
skills specific to reasoning and problem solving, but is poorly reflected in IQ tests
or school exams. Analytic intelligence is truly measured when it is applied to
understanding or solving unique experiences or problems in unique ways.
Aspiration: A puff of breath when pronouncing a phoneme, noted by linguists as h.

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Assimilation: According to Piaget, a form of adaptation by using or transforming the

environment to fit within preexisting cognitive structures.
Auxiliary verb: Verbs that co-occur with the main verb in a finite verb phrase. The
auxiliary verbs, do, have, and be, and the nine modals are mandatory in the
grammar of English. Auxiliary verbs provide tense and meaning and determine
the form of the main verb. A finite verb phrase may contain as many as three
auxiliary verbs: e.g., I will have been driving six hours.
Babbling: The repeated vocalization of human sounds made by an infant.
Biform: A grapheme, such as c or g, realized as different sounds in different
environments, e.g., cat/ceiling; gate/gentle.
Bound morphemes: Affixes that occur only when attached to free morphemes.
Case: A declension of nouns, adjectives, and determiners realized by morphemic change
that indicates the function of the noun phrase (e.g., as a subject, object,
possessive, etc.). In English, the declension of case is limited to pronouns.
Circumfix: Bound morphemes placed both before and after a free morpheme. English
contains no circumfixes.
Clause: A group of words that contains both a subject and a finite verb phrase. A clause
may be independent or dependent. Clauses form simple, complex, or compound
sentences.
Code-switching: Moving in speech between one discourse and another. It represents an
ability to work with both disourses.
Cognates: Words that experience regular phonemic changes from one language family or
dialect to the next, but retain a recognizable base form.
Compensatory lengthening: Creating a diphthong from a single vowel sound, a process
that occurred in English during the Great Vowel Shift.
Complement: A linguistic element added to complete the required information needed in
discourse.
Conjugation: The addition of bound morphemes to a main verb to indicate person,
number, gender, and tense. For example, the English language adds ed to a main
verb to indicate past tense.
Conscientization: Consciousness-raising, or critical consciousness, coined by Brazilian
educator Paulo Friere in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It describes the unfolding of
a perception of social inequalities.
Consonants: A speech sound articulated by a complete or partial closure of that part of
the vocal tract that lies above the larynx. Consonants contrast with vowels. The
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) assigns a unique symbol to each attested
consonant.
Consonantal: A writing system that usually notates only consonant sounds.
Constructivist theory: A theory of knowledge, epistemology, which argues that humans
generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Piaget’s theory of
constructivist learning stresses that learners should be challenged with tasks that
refer to skills and knowledge just beyond their current level of mastery.
Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development describes the distance between the
actual potential level and the developmental level of the learner. Constructivism
has influenced the course of programming and computer science.

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Cooing: The first pleasing sound of human babies, usually made around the third month
of life.
Creative intelligence: An intelligence recognized by Robert Sternberg that measures an
individual’s spatial visual, physical, or musical ability, or the ability to
conceptualize the scientific world. Individuals with high creative intelligence are
able to combine seemingly unrelated facts to form new ideas and imagine and
perform tasks in novel or unusual ways.
Creole: A stable dialect that originated as a pidgin. Creoles are rule-governed and
acquired by children as their primary discourse.
Critical literacy: The ability to move beyond the literal meaning of text; a deep
understanding of text; an instructional approach to literacy that advocates the
adoption of a critical perspective toward text, meaning that text is used to write
about and explain text.
Cuneiform: Along with Egyptian hieroglyphs, one the first writing systems. It was
developed in ancient Mesopotamia and used by other peoples, including the
Sumerians. It evolved into wedge-shaped glyphs made with the strokes of a
stylus. The glyphs represented both syllables and words; therefore, the writing
system was logo-syllabographic. It was used until the first century CE.
Dead language: A language that no longer has speakers who acquire it as their primary
discourse. A dead language may be spoken and written, but is always learned as a
second language.
Declension: The morphemic changes of nouns, adjectives, and determiners to indicate
the function of a noun phrase.
Decode: To move in reading from letter to sound.
Demotic writing: A writing system used during the 25th and 26th dynasties in Egypt. It
was a further evolution of hieratic writing, for the strokes of the reed brush or the
reed pen were even quicker and more casual. Entirely new signs, unknown in
hieroglyphic or hieratic writing, were shaped. Demotic was mostly used in
administrative and private texts. The last demotic inscription was found in the
temple of Isis on the island of Philae.
Descriptive grammar: Rules of grammar determined by users of the language, not by
language experts. Descriptive grammar attempts to explain how speakers use their
language.
Determiners: Small functor words that mark a noun phrase. Examples in English include
definite and indefinite articles (the, a, an) relative pronouns and adjectives (this,
that, these, those), and possessive pronouns and adjectives (my, mine, his, her).
Devanagari: Called the script of the city of the gods, a form of Brahmi writing. It was
used to write Sanskrit.
Diacritics: Additional markings on written symbols used to specify various phonetic
properties such as length, tone, nasalization, or stress. In some languages,
diacritics mark vowel sounds. Hebrew diacritics are known as nikkudim; Arabic
diacritics are known as harakat.
Dialect: A specific variety of a language used by a particular speech community. Dialects
differ in systematic ways from each other, but are mutually intelligible by all
speakers of the larger language to which they belong.

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Diphone: Two consecutive consonant phonemes (sounds) that are written with one
grapheme (letter.)
Diglossia: A social, political, cultural, and economic divide within a given geographic
area reflected in the use of different discourses.
Digraph: Two consecutive consonant graphemes (letters) that are pronounced as one
phoneme (sound). Examples include the English th, sh, and ch.
Diphthong: Two combined vowel phonemes.
Discourse: Speech or conversation.
Document literacy: The literacy required to find and use information in forms,
schedules, charts, graphs, and other tables.
Donor language: The stronger language that lends lexemes to a weaker language when
two language populations converge.
Dynamic literacy: The literacy required to interpret and use text, film, video, the
Internet, and other electronic media; literacy that extends beyond text.
Encode: To move in writing from phoneme (sound) to grapheme (letter).
Englisc: The first English, spoken by the Angles and Saxons who settled Britain.
Equilibration: Piaget’s theory of learning, explaining how children progress through
hypotheses-testing from one level of knowledge to another.
ESL: The study of English as a second language.
Ethnic group: A group of people who share distinctive dialect, customs, ancestry, place
of origin, food habits, and style of dress.
Final e: The silent e found at the end of many English words. Our silent e once had
meaning and was pronounced; today it functions to shift the sound of the main
vowel in a word to a “long” vowel, or diphthong, e.g., from bit to bite, /,/ to /aL/.
Free morphemes: Single morphemes that constitute words.
Futhark: An alphabet created from a blend of Etruscan and North Italic found first in
Bronze Age Sweden. Its letters were used to write Englisc sounds.
GED: General Equivalency Diploma, representing a secondary education diploma.
Gender: The designation of an object or person as male, female, or neuter.
Genetic drift: Specific genetic mutations that occur within a geographically isolated
population.
General norm: A reference to the “average” IQ score of 100 points. Each ethnic group
has established its own norm. African-Americans average a score of 85, while
Ashkenazi Jews average a score of 115. Both groups lie at one standard deviation,
15 points, from the mean score of 100 held by white Americans.
Grammar: The rules governing a language or dialect, including its phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Grammar represents a mental
map of how each individual uses language.
Gene flow: the exchange of genetic material between populations that were previously
geographically separated.
General factor: A composite, or general, IQ score, known as intelligence.
Grammatical case: In inflected languages, a grammatical case is the morphological form
of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and articles indicating their relationship
to the verb. For example, is a noun used as a subject or an object? In non-inflected
languages, the grammatical case is indicated in other ways. In English, the
grammatical case is indicated by word order.

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Graphemes: Written symbols that represent sound.

Gullah: An African-American creole spoken on islands off the coast of South Carolina.
Harakat: Arabic diacritics used to indicate vowel sounds.
Hieratic writing: A faster way of writing Egyptian hieroglyphs; many of the hieroglyphs
were abbreviated. Hieratic writing was used mainly by priests of Egypt.
Hieroglyphs: Pictographs. The term hieroglyph is generally used when referring to the
writing system of ancient Egypt and specifically acknowledges the divine origin
of writing from the ibis-head god, Toth.
Homographs: Words with the same spelling, but with different pronunciation and
meaning. Examples include: tear (n) vs. tear (v), or read (basic form) vs. read (pt).
Homonyms: Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but with different
meanings. Examples include: bank (financial institution) vs. bank (of a river), or
pen (enclosure) vs. pen (writing implement).
Homophones: Words with different meaning, but with the same pronunciation.
Examples include: their, they’re, there; to, two, too; or fare, fair.
Hyphen: A punctuation mark used both to separate and to compound words or
morphemes.
Idiolect: The unique speech of each individual, constituting the unique blend of primary
and secondary discourse and the composite of linguistic parameters that mark
speech production.
I-mutation: A sound change in which a back vowel is fronted and/or a front vowel is
raised. I-mutation affects the inflectional and derivational morphology of Old
English. Examples include singular and plural forms foot-feet, mouse-mice;
comparatives and superlatives old-elder-eldest; and changes of parts of speech
food-feed; strong-strength, whole/hale-health and foul-filth.
Indo-European languages: A family of languages currently spoken throughout India
and Europe.
Inflection: The addition of bound morphemes added to a word that provide grammatical
(relational) information, such as gender, tense, case, or person. Two traditional
grammatical terms refer to the inflection of specific word classes: (1) declension
of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, demonstratives, involving number, case, and
gender, and (2) conjugation of verbs involving number, person, tense, and mood.
English does not depend upon inflection; it depends upon word order.
Infix: A bound morpheme placed within a free morpheme. English has no infixes.
Interlanguage: An emerging discourse used by learners of a second language who have
not become proficient in the second language. The emerging discourse preserves
some features of their first language to compensate for linguistic features of the
second language they have not yet mastered.
IQ: The ability to perform a variety of testable and measurable skills. The scores are
factored into a general factor, or g, a composite, or general, IQ score, known as
intelligence.
Internalization: The process of perfecting or mastering skill or knowledge.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): A complete phonetic alphabet used to
accurately represent all sounds found in all human languages.
Intonation: The rhythms and changes of pitch in each language that clarify meaning.
Irregular past tense: An English-language simple past tense that does not end in -ed.

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Isogloss: A social, geographic, or temporal boundary of a specific linguistic element.

Dialects, languages, and language families are demarcated by bundles of
isoglosses, or rule-governed differences.
Kinesis: Body movement or body language.
Language: A body of lexemes and methods of combining them into meaningful phrases,
clauses and sentences used and understood by a broad community including
speakers of different variants, or dialects. The term may be extended to meaning
communicated through kinesis and facial expression.
Lax/tense: Qualities referring to the relaxed or tense way a vowel is articulated. An
example is the difference between /L/ (tense) and /,/ (lax.)
Learned: A skill requiring instruction, such as reading and writing.
Lengua franca: A language that functions as the primary vehicle of communication
between speakers of a large number of languages.
Linguistic insecurity: The degree to which a person feels his or her speech differs from
the Standard.
Linguistic sign: Fernand de Saussure divided the construct of a word between its shape
in phonemes and graphemes, (the significant), and its referent or mental concept,
(the signifié).
Logogram: A grapheme that represents a word or a morpheme.
Manner of articulation: A description of how a consonant sound is articulated; it may
be a stop, fricative, nasal, approxinate, or a liquid.
Main verb: The verb part in a finite verb phrase that provides the verb’s semantic
meaning.
Mean length of utterance: The average number of morphemes in a child’s utterances at
a given point in time
Monophthong: A vowel containing one single sound.
Morphemes: Units of sound that convey meaning. Free morphemes constitute complete
words; bound morphemes are added to words to provide additional meaning.
National language: A language or dialect connected to a people and the land they
occupy. A national language may represent a national identity or may designate
one or more territorial, regional, or common languages spoken as primary
discourses within a country. “National” language and “official” language are best
understood as two concepts or legal categories with ranges of meaning that may
coincide or may be intentionally separate.
Nativist theory: A theory holding that humans are born with an innate propensity for
language acquisition. Nativists view language as a fundamental part of the human
genome, and its acquisition as a natural part of maturation. Noam Chomsky
expanded this idea into Universal Grammar, a set of innate principles and
adjustable parameters that are common to all human languages. According to
Chomsky, the presence of Universal Grammar in the brains of human infants
allows them to deduce the structure of their native languages.
Natural selection: A theory proposed by Charles Darwin suggesting that differences in
habitat and hereditary traits enable some members of a population that inherit
favorable traits to survive and have more offspring.
Neocreoles: Non-Standard dialects used in performance art and writing.
Nikkudim: Hebrew diacritics used to indicate vowel sounds.

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Non-verbal communication: Communication by means not involving vocalization.

Number: In grammar, number distinguishes between singular and plural.
Official language: A language that is given a special legal status in a particular country,
state, or territory. Typically an official language will be used in the courts, in the
parliament, and in the administration of legal affairs. A national language
declared by legislation could be the same as an official language. Official, legal
status can also be granted to an indigenous language, even if that language is not
widely spoken. Non-national or supranational organizations, such as the United
Nations and the European Union, may also designate official languages.
Old Norse: A North Germanic language spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and
inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300.
Overgeneralization: The misapplication of a rule of language beyond its acceptable
extension. An example might be extending the reflexive, “He gave them to
myself.”
Paleography: The study of ancient handwriting and the practice of deciphering and
reading historical manuscripts.
Passive voice: The subject of a verb in the passive voice corresponds to the object of the
same verb in the active voice. English’s passive voice does not have a one-word
passive form; English passive voice is formed using be with the past participle of
the main verb.
Phonemes: Individual sound segments, the basic building blocks of language. Phonemes
are contrastive; different phonemes create different meanings, e.g., /p/ as in pit vs.
/b/ as in bit.
Phonetic component: The portion of a Chinese logogram that indicates pronunciation or
precise meaning.
Phonological simplification: Reduced, simplified pronunciation made possible by the
elimination of a phoneme, e.g., four pronounced as fo. Additionally, phonemes
interact with one another and become simplified in natural speech.
Phonogram: A grapheme, or letter, which represents a phoneme or a combination of
phonemes.
Phrase: The smallest group of words that function as a single unit. Each phrase has a
head, underlined in the following examples: noun phrase (the athlete), adjective
phrase (the great athlete), finite verb phrase (is running), adverb phrase (swiftly),
and prepositional phrase (on the track.) Phrases are word ordered.
Pidgin: A simple, quasi-language developed for communication among speakers of
mutually unintelligible languages, often based on the donor, stronger language.
Place of articulation: The location in the vocal tract where a consonant sound is
articulated. It may be labial, labial-dental, interdental, alveolar, palatal, uvular,
velar, or glottal.
Practical intelligence: Robert Sternberg’s intelligence that deals with the ability to
understand self and community.
Pragmatics: The study of how the social context and situation determines language use.
Prefixes: Bound morphemes that occur before a free morpheme. Prefixes change the
meaning of the bound morpheme, e.g., from legal to illegal.

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Prescriptive grammar: Rules of grammar decided upon by grammar “experts” who

determine correct usage. Prescriptive grammar attempts to explain how speakers
should use language.
Primary discourse: The dialect acquired by each individual from the speech community
he/she is born into.
Prose literacy: Understanding and using information found in newspapers, magazines,
novels, brochures, manuals, or flyers.
Proto-German: A reconstruction by historical linguists of what is believed to be the
original German language.
Quantitative literacy: Also called numeracy; the quantitative reasoning capabilities
required of citizens in today’s information age. In addition to using text, literacy
implies the ability to add, subtract, multiply, divide, or calculate to obtain and
understand information.
Rebus principle: The use of a pictogram to represent a syllabic sound. A precursor to the
development of the alphabet, this process represents one of the most important
developments of writing.
Recipient language: The language that borrows lexemes from the donor language when
two language populations converge.
Received Pronunciation (RP): A form of pronunciation of the English language
(specifically British English) which is perceived as uniquely prestigious among
British dialects. About two percent of Britons speak with the RP accent in its
purest form.
Referent: A prototype giving meaning to a word.
Reflexive pronoun: A pronoun form used when the object of the verb is the same as the
subject.
Regional dialect: A variety of a language spoken by a speech community residing in a
specific geographical location.
Regular past tense: An English language grammatical morpheme, -ed, indicating the
simple past tense.
Šadda: Arabic Diacritics that indicate a change in a consonant.
Sanskrit: A historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism
and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. The position of
classical Sanskrit in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia is akin to that of
Latin and Greek in Europe; it has significantly influenced the modern languages
of Nepal and India. The pre-classical form of Sanskrit, Vedic Sanskrit, dates back
to as early as 1500 BCE and constitutes one of the earliest members of the Indo-
European language family.
Schema: Elaborate abstract mental structures that represent one’s knowledge.
Secondary discourse: A Standard version of a language learned through interaction with
broader social institutions, such as religious, educational, or political institutions.
Semantics: The meaning of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences.
Semantic component: The primary radical of a Chinese logogram, representing a
fundamental concept such as heart, earth, woman, water, and sun. It indicates the
fundamental, conceptual meaning of the logogram. The composite sign, known as
a semantic-phonetic compound, indicates both meaning and pronunciation.

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Sentence: A group of one or more clauses; at least one clause must be an independent
clause. Sentences are classified into three types: simple, complex, and compound.
Significant: The shape of the word in phonemes (sounds) or graphemes (letters) from
Fernand de Saussure, known as surface structure.
Significé: The mental concept of the word, (from Fernand de Sassure).
Simple present tense: The tense representing a habitual action, marked by -s in the third-
person singular.
Social class: A group of people who share common dialect, economic and educational
backgrounds, living styles, cultural preferences, and working environments.
Social dialect: A variety of a language spoken by a speech community tied together by
ethnicity and/or social class.
Spanglish: A variety of dialects blending the languages of English and Spanish.
Spanglish reflects the lives of Hispanic-Americans.
Speech community: A group of speakers who share the same dialect.
Speech event: An utterance or group of utterances.
Standard Common English: The variety of English considered to be the norm, deemed
by grammarians to represent correct usage, and used in written English. The term
applies to the basic Standard English agreed upon by grammar “experts” in the
United States and Great Britain.
Standard deviation: A measure of the variability or dispersion of a data set. A low
standard deviation indicates that all of the data points are very close to the same
value (the mean), while high standard deviation indicates that the data are spread
out over a large range of values. When applied to the measure of IQ in the United
States, from the mean IQ score of 100, one standard deviation constitutes 15
points.
Standard language: A particular variety of a language that is the form promoted in
schools and the media and is considered by grammar “experts” to be “more
correct” than other dialects. A Standard is defined by the selection of certain
regional and class markers and the rejection of others. It is the version of a
language that is typically taught to learners. Text follows the spelling and
grammar norms of Standard.
Structures: According to Piaget, large entities organized in a hierarchical manner from
general to specific, e.g., animal/mammal/cat/lion.
Sukn: An Arabic diacritic that indicates that the vowel is not sounded. In writing, the
suk n indicates the difference between qalab, heart, and qalb, he turned around.
Suffix: A bound morpheme that occurs after a root or stem of a word. Suffixes change
the part of speech a word belongs to.
SVO order: Word order generally required in the formation of English clauses: subject,
verb, object, e.g., Bob ate the apple.
Syllable: A unit of sound centered around a vowel sound. The onset (opening
consonants), the nucleus (the vowel), and the coda (the closing consonants)
constitute parts of a syllable. Syllables may be categorized as open (closing with a
vowel) or closed (closing with a consonant). Syllables containing the same the
same vowel sound and coda are said to rhyme.
Syllabogram: A grapheme representing a single syllable.

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Syllabographic writing: A writing system using the syllable as its basic unit of sound.
Usually only consonants are included.
Syntax: The rules of a language or dialect governing phrase, clause, and sentence
formation; the components of the mental grammar that represents a speaker’s
implicit knowledge of the structure of phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Tactile permissibility: The rules of a language governing permissible adjacent consonant
sounds. For example, in English the consonants br may touch each other, as in
bring or bright, while bf is not permitted.
Tone: All languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information,
and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features through what is called
intonation. However, a majority of the languages in the world are tonal, meaning
they use pitch to distinguish meaning. In such languages, a tonal difference
creates different words. Such tonal phonemes are sometimes called tonemes. Most
Indo-European languages, which include some of the most widely spoken
languages in the world today, are not tonal. Tones in Chinese dialects are
distinguished by their shape (contour); many words are differentiated solely by
tone.
Transcode: To move between phoneme and grapheme, sound and letter.
Transitive verb: A verb requiring an object, e.g., John drank water.
Turn-taking: The pattern flow of a conversation, e.g., question, answer; statement,
response.
Unicals: A majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the
third to the eighth centuries CE. They were adopted by Irish monks, who created
half unicals.
Universal grammar: A theory of linguistics postulating principles of grammar shared by
all languages and thought to be innate to humans. It attempts to explain language
acquisition.
Utterance: A unit of spoken speech.
Verb tense: a distinctive form of a verb for expressions of time; an inflectional form or
phrase expressive of a time distinction.
Voicing: A sound produced by the vibration of the vocal chords.
Vowels: A sound in spoken language pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is
no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with
consonants, where there is blockage or air. Semi-vowels, such as /j / and /w/, are
also pronounced with an open vowel tract and resemble vowels.
Vowel length: Confusingly, refers to several different phenomena. In linguistics, it
means a prosodic feature referring to the duration of vocalic pronunciation. Short
vowel length refers to vowel sounds followed by unvoiced consonant sounds.
Long vowel length refers to vowel sounds followed by voiced consonant sounds.
Vowels that precede a voiced consonant are held twice as long as vowels that
precede an unvoiced consonant. The : diacritic indicates a long vowel. In phonics
instruction, it refers to stress. The long vowels form diphthongs, merging the
sounds of two vowels. Long vowels replicate the vowel sounds as recited in the
English alphabet. The short vowel sounds form monophthongs and generally
occur in unstressed syllables.

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West Germanic: A branch of the family of Germanic languages, descended from what
historical linguists have posited to be the original Germanic tongue, proto-
German.
Word coinage: Creating a new word in a discourse, or assigning an existing word a new
meaning. For example, the words “cool” and “hot” have been assigned new
meanings in African-American dialect.
Word compounding: Combining two morphemes to create one meaning. Compound
words may be open (real estate), hyphenated (good-looking), or solid (makeup).
Word order: An obligatory ordering of words in phrases, clauses, and sentences required
by some languages that provides grammatical information. In English, the
ordering of language elements is required for comprehension:
Zone of proximal development: A theory from Vygotsky that explains how children
learn from social interaction with adults. It describes the distance between the
actual developmental level of the child (as determined by independent problem-
solving) and the level of potential development of the child (as determined
through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more
capable peers).

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ENDNOTES

Introduction
1.Aby et al, The IQ Debate: A selective guide to the literature (1979): p. vii. Their introduction suggests
these questions.

Chapter I: Communication and Human Language

1. Primate’s World, “Talking with chimps,” in Language Skills, Primate’s World,
http://www.primatesworld.com/TalkWithChimps.html (accessed electronically July 27, 2010).
2. Great Ape Trust, “Kanzi,” In Meet Our Apes, Great Ape Trust, http://greatapetrust.org/about-the-
trust/meet-our-apes/kanzi (accessed electronically August 10, 2010).
3. Gorilla Foundation, “Koko’s World,” Gorilla Foundation, http://www.koko.org/world/
signlanguage.html (accessed electronically February 10, 2006).
4. Primate’s World, “Talking with chimps,” in Language Skills, Primate’s World,
http://www.primatesworld.com/TalkWithChimps.html (accessed electronically July 27, 2010).
5. Ibid.
6, Gazzaniga, Nature’s Mind: The Biological Roots of Thinking, Emotions, Sexuality, Language, and
Intelligence (1992): p. 78.
7. Nishimura et al, “Descent of the Larynx in Chimpanzee Infants,” in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Anthropology (June 10, 2003): pp. 100-112.
8. Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002): p. 210.
9. Clottes, conservateur général du patrimoine. Mission de la recherché et de la technologie, The Cave of
Chauvet-Pont D’Arc, Ministère de la culture et de la communication. http://www.culture.gouv. fr/culture/
arcnat/ chauvet/en/ (accessed electronically June 21, 2009).
10. Bekerie, “African Writing Systems/Rock Art,” http://www.library.cornell.edu/Africana/Writing
Systems/Rockart.html (accessed electronically August 13, 2008).

Chapter II: Human Intelligence and Language

1. Boeree, “The Language Families of the World,” Webspace (Boeree’s blog),
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/languagefamilies.html (accessed electronically July 4, 2006.) Also of
interest is Ruhlen, “Chapter 1: An overview of genetic classification, On the Origin of Languages:
Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy (1994): p. 29.
2. Ramon, Race: Social Concept, Biological Idea (2000), Serendip, http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/b103/
mf00/web2/ramon2/html (accessed electronically February 18, 2008).

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3. Moran, “Random Genetic Drift,” in Evolution 1, no.3 (2006), Evolution by Accident,

http://bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca/Evolution_by_Accident/Randon_Genetic_Drift.html, (accessed
electronically August 04. 2006).
4. Ask Define Dictionary and Thesaurus, “Define Isogloss,” Ask Define, .http://isogloss.askdefine.com,
(accessed electronically January 06, 2007).
5. Ask Define Dictionary and Thesaurus, “Define Cognates,” Ask Define, http:/cognate.askdefine.com,
(accessed electronically January 06, 2007).
6 G. Arthur Ross, compiler, English-Old Norse Dictionary (2002), York University, CA,
http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/language/English-Old_Norse.pdf (accessed electronically May 17, 2008)
7. Kelly L. Ross, “Knowing’ Words in Indo-European Languages,” in Linguistics, Friesian,
http://www.friesian.com/cognates.htm#text-2 (accessed electronically October 03, 2009).
8. University of California, Berkeley, “Gene Flow,” in Understanding Evolution for Teachers, Evolution,
http://evoultion.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIC$qGeneflowdetails.shtml (accessed electronically April
08, 2009).
9. Information Center for Sickle Cell and Thalassemic Disorders, “Malaria and the Red Cell, in Sickle Cell
Disease” April, 2002. Harvard Medical School Laboratory Research. http://www.sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/
malaria_sickle.html (accessed electronically May 05, 2006). The article explains that, in the United States,
gene flow has been documented by tracing an allele, the Duffy antigen found in West African populations,
which provides some resistance to malaria. Because malaria is almost nonexistent in Europe, Europeans
carry either the allele Fya or Fyb, which provide no resistance to malaria. By measuring the frequencies of
the West African and European groups in populations in the United States, scientists have found that the
allele frequencies became mixed in each population through gene flow.
10. Kemmer, “Loanwords. Major Periods of Borrowing in the History of English” (Fall, 2010), in
Structure, History, Use, Words in English, http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/loanwords.html
(accessed electronically June 12, 2010).
11. Goethe, The English Influences on the Japanese Language-Borrowing as a Trend (August, 2004),
Universitat Frankfurt am Main Institute fur England und Amerika Studien, Hausarbeiten, Denmark,
http://www.hausarbeiten.de/faecher/vorschau/46956.html (accessed electronically May 13, 2006).
12. Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002): pp. 374-375.
13. Rodgers et al, “IQ Similarity in Twins, Siblings, Half-Siblings, Half-siblings, Cousins, and Random
Pairs,” Intelligence 11, no 13, (July-September 1987): pp. 199-206.
14. Barnett et al, “Head Start’s Lasting Benefits,” Infants and Young Children 1, no. 1 (2005): pp. 16-24.
15. Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002): p. 384.
16. Gottfredson, “The General Intelligence Factor,” in Scientific American Presents 11 (1998): pp. 24-29.
17. (1) Beebe-Dimmer, “African-Americans with prostate cancer more likely to have family history of
prostate, breast cancer,” U-M study, Newsroom/News Releases, November 29, 2006,
http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/news/family_history06.shtml (accessed electronically November 14,
2008) (2) Breast Cancer News, “New study links African ancestry to breast cancer,” Medical News Today,
June 23, 2010, The Breast Cancer Site, http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ clickToGive/bcs/ article/New-
study-links-African-ancestry-to-breast-cancer502 (accessed electronically August 01, 2010). Both articles
provide information on the unique manifestations of breast and prostate cancers in the African-Americans
population.
18. Wade, “Brain May Still Be Evolving, Studies Hint,” New York Times, September 09, 2005.
19. Hu, “Intelligence.Diversity,” Arthur Hu (blog), http:www.arthu.com/INDEX/aintell.htl#data (accessed
electronically October 09, 2008).
20. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-235, August, 2008,
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0679.pdf no page number, table 679: Income
Distribution to $250,000 or more for Families:2007 (accessed electronically July 10, 2009).
21. Murray, “Jewish Genius,” Commentary Magazine, April 2007, Commentary Magazine online,
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/jewish-genius-10855?search=1 (accessed
electronically April 03, 2008).
22. Hu, “Intelligence.Diversity,” In The Index of Diversity, Arthur Hu (blog), http:www.arthu.com/
INDEX/aintell.htl#data (accessed electronically October 09, 2008).

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23. Gardner, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983): p. 73.
24. Ibid, p. 31.
25. Sternberg,, Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence (1985): p. 131.
26. Ibid, p. 180.
27. Ibid, p. 214.
28. Ibid, p. 258.
29. Carraher et al, “Mathematics in the streets and in schools,” British Journal of Developmental
Psychology 3 (1985): pp. 21-24.

Chapter III: Analyzing Human Language

1. de Sassure, Writings in General Linguistics, edited by Boquet et al, translated by Sanders et al, 2006.
Fernand de Saussure analyzed language as a formal system built on a number of different elements. The
linguistic sign was composed of two elements. The first element, known as the significant, refers to the
shape of the word in phonemes and graphemes, or sounds and letters. The word tree is constructed from
three phonemes, /tri/, and four graphemes, t-r-e-e. The second element, the signifié, the mental concept of
the word, is known as the referent.
2. Dehaene, Reading in the Brain (2009): p. 24.

Chapter IV: Language Acquisition and Language Learning

1. Noam Chomsky, Syntactic Structures,1957.
2. Deacon, The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain, 1998.
3. Mueller, “Innateness, Autonomy, Universality? Neurobiological Approaches to Language,”
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 19, no 4, (1996): pp. 611-675. 
4. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain (1956): p. 8.
5. Atkinson et al, “Human memory: A proposed system and its control process,” edited by Spence et
al, in The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, vol 2 (1968): pp.
1-191.
6. Flavell, “Chapter 7: The Equilibrium Model, Genetic Epistemology, and General Summary,” in The
Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget (1963): pp. 237-249.
7. Chaiklin, “The Zone of Proximal Development in Vygotsky’s Analysis of Learning and Instruction,” in
Lev Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context, edited by Kozulin et al, (2003): pp. 39-59.
8. McRoberts et al, “Accommodation in mean f0 during mother-infant and father-infant vocal interactions: a
longitudinal study,” in Journal of Child Language 224, no. 3 (1997): pp. 719-736.
9. Miller. Turntaking and Relevance in Conversation (1999), University of Pennsylvania,
http://www.ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~emiller/conversation_paper.html (accessed electronically October 28,
2009).
10. Brown, A First Language: The Early Stages, 1973.
11. Gardner, The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach, 1993.
12. Voyat, Piaget Systematized, 1982.
13. Daniels, ed, “Chapter 6: Practice, person, social world,” in An Introduction to Vygotsky (1996): pp. 143-
150.
14. Daniels, ed, “Chapter 3: Pragmatism and dialectical materialism in language development, “in An
Introduction to Vygotsky (1996): pp. 75-98.
15. de Saussure. Writings in General Linguistics, edited by Boquet et al, translated by Sanders et al, 2006.

Chapter V: The Three Faces of Language

1.. (1) Spencer Wells, The Journey of Man: A genetic odyssey, 2002, p. 40 (2) Spencer Wells, The Journey
of Man.” PBS-National Geographic Video (2007), YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v =c246fZ-
7z1w (accessed electronically April 13, 2009).
2. Dehane, Reading in the Brain (2009): pp. 180-181.
3. Ibid., pp. 137-138.
4. Gray, Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (1977): pp. 400-409.

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5. Knott, Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section, Fibonacci and Pie/University of Surry, UK,
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/ Personal/ R.Knott/Fibonacci/ (accessed electronically July 16, 2008). Knott
explains the math: “The Fibonacci proportions can be determined via geometry by taking a square with all
sides equal to 1, drawing an arc with the center of its radius at the midpoint of one side and through the
corner of an opposite side, and extending the original side to where it intersects the arc. The length of the
extension will then exactly equal I (the base’s total length being )). From this same geometry, we can
calculate ) by noting that the diagonal in the square from the midpoint of one side to an opposite corner is
equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the opposite sides (i.e. 1 and 1/2) as per the
Pythagorean Theorem. From this, we calculate the square root of 5/4 (1.11803398875…), and then add 1/2
the side, to obtain 1.61803398875.”
6. Montessori, “Writing,” in Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook (1965): pp. 134-140.
7. U.S. Department of Commerce, A Nation Online: How Americans are Expanding Their Use of the
Internet (February, 2002), http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn00/ charts00.html fig. II-6, Internet Users
by Gender and Age (accessed electronically December 17, 2007).
8. Konrad. “Penmanship: A Dying Art? Some Kids Raised on Keyboards Prefer Fonts to Handwriting,”
The Associated Press (no date). Republished by Francis Grace, CBSNews, June 09, 2003,
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/09/national/main557572.shtml (accessed electronically February
11, 2006).
9. Martin. The History and Power of Writing, translated by Lydia C. Cochrane (1994): p. 163.
10.Carrington. “2 Social Contexts Conducive to the Vernacularization of Literacy,” in Vernacular
Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by Andre Tabouret-Keller et al (1997): p. 132.
11. McMurdo, “Changing contexts of communication,” Journal of Information Science 21, no. 2 (1995):
pp. 140-146.
12..Jonsson. Electronic Discourse: On Speech and Writing on the Internet (March 04, 1998), Ludd ,
http://www.ludd.luth/se/users/jonsson/D-essay/ElectronicDiscourse.html. (accessed electronically April 03,
2008).
13. Seekas, “Text Messaging Changing the Way Teens Communicate,” Newsline, May 17, 2006,
University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, http://www.newsline.umd.edu/
business/specialreports/teentechnology/textmessaging051706. htm (accessed electronically February 21,
2010).

Chapter VI: The Beginning of Civilization and Writing

1. Amodio, Writing the Oral Tradition: Oral Poetics and Literate Culture in Medieval England (2004): p.
8.
2. Fischer, The History of Reading (2003): pp. 50, 62, and 67.
3. Ibid, pp. 45-98.
4. Ibid, pp. 159-164.
5. Fischer, The History of Writing 2004, p. 56.
6. Ager, “Chinese,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_types.htm
(accessed electronically January 20, 2007).
7. Lo, “Cuneiform,” in Writing Systems, Ancient Scripts, http://www.ancientscripts.com/cuneiform.html
(accessed electronically December 18, 2007).
8. Ibid.
9. Lo, “Sumerian,” in Writing Systems, Ancient Scripts, http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html
(accessed electronically December 18, 2007).
10. Ibid.
11. Fischer, The History of Writing (2004): pp. 47-57.
12. Parsons, “The Story of Ancient Egyptian Writing,” in Ancient Egyptian Writing, Tour Egypt,
http://www.touregypt.net/ featurestories/writing.htm (accessed electronically October 16, 2009).
13. Ager, “Egyptian,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm#origins
(accessed electronically January 20, 2007).
14. Ibid.

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15. Ibid.
16. Lo, “Chinese,” in Writing Systems, Ancient Scripts, http://www.ancientscripts.com/chinese.html
(accessed electronically December 18, 2007).
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Fischer, A History of Writing (2004): p. 313.
20. Moorehouse, The Triumph of the Alphabet: A History of Writing (1953): p. 66.
21. Ager, “ Chinese,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.comwriting/chinese_types.htm. (accessed
electronically January 20, 2007).
22. Choy, Reading and Writing Chinese: A Guide to the Chinese Writing System, 1990.
23. Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Second edition (1995): p. 184.
24. Vesco et al., The Mystery of the Olmecs (2007): p. 206.
25. Carrasco et al, editors, Mesoamerica’s Classic Heritage: From Teotihuacan to the Aztecs (2000): p.
209.
26. Callahan, “Mesoamerican Writing Systems” in Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations (1997),
Human Origins, http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/writing.html#zapotec (accessed
electronically April 14, 2007).
27. Callahan, “Mesoamerican Writing Systems,” in Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization, (1997), Human
Origins, http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/writing.html#mixtec (accessed electronically April 14,
2007).
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. (1) Tobin, “The Construction of the Codex in Classic and Postclassic Period Maya Civilization” (May,
2001), in Maya, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Duquesne University,
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~tobin/maya/ (accessed electronically May 02, 2008) (2) Michael Ernest
Smith, The Aztecs (2003): pp. 128-129.
31. Tobin, “The Construction of the Codex in Classic and Postclassic Period Maya Civilization” (May,
2001), in Maya, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Duquesne University,
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~tobin/maya/ (accessed electronically May 02, 2008).
32. Ibid.
33. Callahan, “Mesoamerican Writing Systems,” in Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations (1997), Human
Origins, http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/writing.html#aztec (accessed electronically April 14,
2007).
34. Ibid.
35. Lo, “Maya,” in Writing Systems, Ancient Scripts, http://www.ancientscripts.com/maya.html (accessed
electronically December 18, 2007).
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Ager, “Mayan,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mayan.htm (accessed
electronically February 14, 2007).
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.

Chapter VII: Contemporary Writing Systems

1. Fischer, A History of Writing (2004): pp. 93, 102, 106.
2. Ibid, p. 52.
3. Ibid.
4. Ager, “Hebrew,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm (accessed
electronically February 22, 2007).
5. Arabic, “Lesson 2 – Arabic Short Vowels.” in Arabic Course, (2009), Arabic,
http://www.arabic.org/arabic-short-vowels.htm (accessed electronically November 19, 2009).

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6. Salem, “Arabic Tutorial (1999),” Arabion, http://www.arabion.net/ learnarabic.html (accessed

electronically November 04, 2009).
7. Fischer, A History of Writing (2004): p. 125.
8. Hebrew for Christians, “The Letter Aleph,” Hebrew for Christians, http://www.hebrew4christians.com/
Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Aleph/aleph.html (accessed electronically May 03, 2010).
9. Jamil, “The Letter Aleph,” Toronto Shariah Program, http://alphabet.learnarabiconline.com/
lessons/aleph/ (accessed electronically March 03, 2010).
10. Fischer, A History of Writing (2004): p. 125.
11. Robie, “Learning New Testament Greek/The Greek Alphabet” (1997), Little Greek 101,
http://ibiblio.org/koine/greek/lessons/alphabet.html (accessed electronically October 14, 2008).
12. Jahnige, “Pronunciation of Vowels,” in Latin Courses (1999), Latin Literature/Carmina, Distance
Learning, Kentucky Educational Television, http://www.dl.ket.org/latinlit/carmina/ pronunciation/
vowels.htm. (accessed electronically October 14, 2008).
13. Adams, Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print (1994): pp. 3-13.
14. Dehaene, Reading in the Brain (2009): pp. 54-71.
15. Ibid, pp. 93-98.
16. Ager, “Alphabets,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/alphabets.htm (accessed
electronically September 05, 2009).
17. Ager, “Berber,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/berber.htm (accessed
electronically January 20, 2007).
18. Ager, “Brahmi,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/brahmi.htm (accessed
electronically January 20, 2007).
19. Ager, “Devanagari,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/devanagari.htm (accessed
electronically January 20, 2007).
20. Reed, “Ethiopic Alphabet: Indic Vowels on South Semitic Consonants,” in Museum of the Alphabet,
Museum Galleries, JAARS, http://www.jaars.org/museum/alphabet/galleries/ethiopic.htm (accessed
electronically October 17, 2006).
21. Ager, “Vai,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vai.htm. (accessed electronically
October 20, 2006).
22. Moorehouse, The Triumph of the Alphabet: A History of Writing (1953): p. 91.
23. Nuyen Dinh Dang, Alexandre de Rhodes and Nuyen Van Vinh (March, 2001),
http://rarfaxp.riken.go.jp/~dang/rhodes_motive.html, (accessed electronically November 01, 2007).
24. (1) Ager, “Hiragana,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_hiragana
(accessed electronically February 14, 2007) (2) “Hiragana and Katakana Explained,” in Japanese Writing
Systems, Tag for Kana, BitBoost Systems, http://www.bitboost.com/tiletag/about-the-kana.html (accessed
electronically November 07, 2007).
25. Ager, “Korean,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://omniglot.com/writing/korean.html (accessed
electronically January 22, 2007).

Chapter VIII: The History of English

1. Harding, The Iron Age in Northern Britain: Celts and Romans, Natives and Invaders, 2004.
2. Myres, (1999), The English Settlements (1986): pp. 46-142.
3. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, originally published as Bosworth and Toller. Republished online by LRC,
College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas, http://www.utexas.edu/ cola/centers/lrc/books/asd/index-
A.html (accessed electronically August 04, 2008).
4. Baker, An Introduction to Old English (2003): pp. 17-18.
5. Ibid, p.12.
6. Kemmer, “Loanwords. Major Periods of Borrowing in the History of English,” in Structure/
History/Use (Fall, 2010), Words in English, http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/loanwords.html
(accessed electronically June 12, 2010).
7. Baker, An Introduction to Old English (2003): pp. 112-118.
8. Arthur G. Ross, ed., English-Old Norse Dictionary. Republished by York University, CA,
http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/language/English-Old_Norse.pdf, (accessed electronically September 12, 2007).

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9. Bragg, The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language (2006): pp. 64-65.
10. Katsiavriades et al, “The Origin and History of the English Language,” KryssTal,
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html (accessed electronically January 05, 2009).
11. Hicky, “Features of Middle English Phonology,” in Studying the History of English (May, 2008), Essex
University, Germany, http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/HE_DialectsMiddleEnglishPhonology.htm (accessed
electronically January 13, 2009).
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Barber, The English Language: A Historical Introduction (2000): pp. 151-174.
15. Benson , ed., “The Great Vowel Shift” (July, 2000), in Harvard Chaucer Page, Harvard University
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/vowels.html (accessed
electronically October 20, 2007).
16. Ibid.
17. Mulcaster, The Elementarie (1582), Scholar Press Facsimile (1970), Classic Language Arts,
http://www.classiclanguagearts.net/resources/the-elementary.htm (accessed electronically September 17,
2008).
18. English also employs nonfinite verb phrases, which take the form of infinitives and gerunds that
function as nouns because they act as subjects and objects of verbs. Examples include “Ice skating is my
favorite sport”, or “I like to eat”. However, nonfinite verb phrases remain verb phrases because they can
accept a direct object, e.g., “I like eating ice cream”.

Chapter IX: The Development of the English Alphabet

1. Jennifer Smith, “History and Origin of the Runes,” in The Runic Journey: An online exploration of the
Norse Runes, originally in Jennifer Smith, Raido, The Runic Journey, 1996. Republished by Tara Hill
Designs,.http://www.tarahill.com/runes/runehist.html (accessed electronically June 13, 2009).
2. Ager, “Old English,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish/htm (accessed
electronically March 03, 2007).
3. Ibid.
4. Ullman, Ancient Writing and Its Influence (1932): pp. 10-45.
5. (1) Ager, “Etruscan,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/etruscan/htm (accessed
electronically February 03, 2007) (2) Ager, “Latin,” in Writing, Omniglot,
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/latin/htm. (accessed electronically January 23, 2007).
6.. (1) Ager, “Etruscan,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/etruscan/htm (accessed
electronically February 03, 2007) (2) Ager, “Latin,” in Writing, Omniglot,
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/latin/htm. (accessed electronically January 23, 2007).
7. Fischer, A History of Reading (2003): p. 68.
8. Fischer, A History of Writing (2002): pp. 260-263.
9. Ibid, pp. 249-260.
10. Ager, “Irish,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/irish.htm (accessed
electronically January 13, 2007).
11. Katsiavriades et al, “The Evolution of the Latin Alphabet,” in Writing, Languages, Krysstal,
http://www.krysstal.com/writing_evolution_latin.html (accessed electronically June 12, 2008).
12. Fischer, A History of Writing (2002): pp. 247-252.
13. Ibid.
14. Ager, “Arabic,” Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/arabic.htm (accessed electronically
August 13, 2008).
15. Wikipedia. “Cursive.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive (accessed electronically April 13, 2008).
The will of William Shakespeare provides an interesting example of Secretary hand cursive. A facsimile
may be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shakespeare-Testament.jpg. A facsimile of nineteenth
century cursive script may be found in a letter written in 1894 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:
Letter.posted.in. 1894.arp.jpg.

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16. Clark, “Tracing the Demise of Cursive Writing,” Rhinotimes, June 12, 2008.
http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-i-2008-06-12-180183.112113_ Tracing_The_Demise_Of_
Cursive_Writing.html (accessed electronically February 17, 2009).
17. Hill, “George F. Will,” in Greg’s Weekly Column (no date), Elmer E. Ramuson Library, University,
Fairbanks, Alaska, .http://library.fnsb.lib.ak.us/ index.php?option=com_ content&view= article&id=
101%3Ageorge-f-will&Itemid=90 (accessed electronically October 09, 2009).
18. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Punctuation in English since 1600.” Punctuation, Encyclopedia Britannica
Online (2010), http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/ 483473/ punctuation/53182/Punctuation-in-
English-since-1600 (accessed electronically August 12, 2008).
19. Robbins, “Hyphens,” in The Editing Workshop, New York University,
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/copyXediting/Hyphens.html (accessed electronically November 09, 2008).
20. Rzadkiewicz, “Rules for hyphen Usage in the English Language/Improve Writing Skills by Learning to
Use Hyphens Correctly” (February, 2010), in Copyediting, Grammar, and Style, Suite 101,
http://www.suite101.com/content/rules-for-hyphen-usage-in-the-english-language-a199136 (accessed
electronically April 01, 2010),

Chapter X: The Fabric of Literacy

1. Wilson, Sacred Signs: Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt, 2003.
2. Ager, “Devanagari,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/devanagari.htm. (accessed
electronically January 20, 2007).
3. Farrand, Chakra Mantras, 2006.
4. Hefner, “Gematria,” in Judaism, The Mystica, http://www.themystica.com/mystica/ articles/g/
gematria.html (accessed February 14, 2009).
5. (1) Monier-Williams, “The Hymn of the Veda,” in Indian Wisdom: Examples of the Religious,
Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus with A Brief History of the Chief Departments of
Sanskrit Literature. 1893, pp. 1-24). Republished by Internet Archive, http://www.archive.org/stream/
indianwisdomorex00moniiala# page/n5/mode/2up (accessed electronically March 03, 2009) (2) Slick,
“When were the gospels written and by whom?” in Bible. CARM, http://www.carm.org/when-were-
gospels-written-and-by-whom (accessed electronically February 06, 2009) (3) Arif Humayun, “The
Qu’ran—History of Text,” The Review of Religions (February 1994), Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,
http://www.alislam.org/library/links/ 00000054.html (accessed electronically March 03, 2008) (4) Kolatch,
This is Torah, 1988. These four sources describe all four traditions.
6. Baldridge, “Linguistic and Social Characteristics of Indian English,” in Language in India: Strength for
today and bright hope for tomorrow 2, no. 4, (June-July, 2002), edited by Thirumalai, M.S. et al, Language
in India .http://www.languageinindia.com/junjul2002/baldridgeindianenglish.html (accessed electronically
August 12, 2009).
7. Fischer, A History of Reading (2003): pp. 61-66.
8. Papadakis, “History of the Orthodox Church,” University of Maryland,
http://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/history.html (accessed electronically November 15, 2008).
9. Wilde, “The Vulgate” in European History,” About, http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/
religionandthought/p/prvulgate.htm (accessed electronically September 23, 2009).
10. Owens, A Linguistic History of Arabic (2006): pp. 1-33.
11. Monier-Williams, “The Hymn of the Veda,” in Indian Wisdom: Examples of the Religious,
Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus with A Brief History of the Chief Departments of
Sanskrit Literature (1893): pp. 1-24. Republished by Internet Archive, http://www.archive.org/ stream/
indianwisdomorex00moniiala# page/n5/mode/2up (accessed electronically March 03, 2009).
12. Falanga et al, “Who Wrote the Torah? The Documentary Hypothesis” (September, 1997), in
Bluethread’s droshes, Bluethread, http://www.bluethread.com/whowrotetorah.htm (accessed electronically
June 14, 2007).
13. Slick, “When were the gospels written and by whom?” in Bible, CARM, http://www.carm.org/when-
were-gospels-written-and-by-whom (accessed electronically February 06, 2009).

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14. Hooker, “The Qur’an” (1996), in Islam, World Civilizations, http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ISLAM/

QURAN.HTM (accessed electronically June 12, 2008).
15. Martin, The History and Power of Writing, 1994.
16. Ager, “Hieratic,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian_hieratic.htm
(accessed electronically October 14, 2005).
17. Ager, “Demotic,” in Writing, Omniglot, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian_demotic.htm
(accessed electronically October 14, 2005).
18. Fischer, A History of Reading (2003): pp. 161-162.
19. Winkler, A Reader in the History of Books and Printing, 1983.
20. University of Michigan., Writing in Greco-Roman Egypt (2004), Papyrus Collection, University of
Michigan Library, http://www.lib.umich.edu/writing-graeco-roman-egypt/index.html (accessed
electronically June 20, 2009.) See particularly (1) an example of sixth century CE Greek cursive, “private
letter,” Oxyrynchos, Egypt, P. Mich. Inventory 1614,
http://www.lib.umich.edu/writing-graeco-roman-egypt/ byzantine.html (2) an example of Second
century CE Latin cursive, “acknowledgment of a debt,” Caesarea, Mauretania, Inventory 4301,
http://www.lib.umich.edu/writing-graeco-roman-egypt/latin_cursive.html. This site contains an excellent
presentation of writing in the Ancient World.
21. Martin, The History and Power of Writing, 1994.
22. Hunter, Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft, 1978.
23. Hart, “Ts’ai Lun,” in 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History (1978): pp. 36-41.
24. Cultural China, “Cursive Script” in Calligraphy and Painting. Arts, Cultural China
http://characters.cultural- http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/24/content_41954.htm, (accessed
electronically January 04, 2005).
25. People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Culture “Bi Sheng,” in Created in China. Chinese Learning
Spreading to the West/Papermaking and printing, China Culture, http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_
madeinchina/2005-06/28/content_70176.htm (accessed electronically January 04. 2005).
26. People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Culture, “Number of Chinese Characters,” in Art Q and A.
China Culture, http://www.chinaculture.org/ gb/en_artqa/2003-09/24/content_41869.htm (accessed
electronically January 04, 2005).
27. Einstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Communications and Cultural Transformations in
Early Modern Europe, digitalized by Syndicate Press of Cambridge University, on Google books,
http://books.gogle.com/books?id=5LRISkrIrocC (accessed electronically August 06. 2008).
28. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, 1982.
29. Parker, “Chapter XVII: Ancient China Simplified,” in Education and Literacy,
http://www.authorama.com/ancient-china-simplified-18.html (accessed electronically October 15, 2008).
30. Michael Ernest Smith, The Aztecs (2003): pp. 128-129.
31. Walden, “Chapter II: Education at Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.,” in The Universities
of Ancient Greece (1909): pp. 11-40. Republished digitally by the Cubberley Book Publishers Fund,
Stanford University Libraries, on Google books, http://books.google.com/books ?id=
h3UWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=athens+education+ancient&source=bl&ots=HiLa0LjpLb&
sig=GlJYsvpcO9TWforESnkx8m5SGD4&hl=en&ei=9GAhSrClFpjKMJnO6a4J&sa=X&oi=book_result&
ct=result&resnum=6#PPA10,M1 (accessed electronically June 06, 2007).
32. Buddhist Society, “Spread of Buddhism,” in Resources, Buddhist Society,
http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/resources/Spread.html (accessed electronically November 11, 2008).
33. (1) Haselhurst et al, compilers, “Ancient Eastern Philosophy,” in Theology, On Truth and Reality,
Space and Motion, http://www.spaceandmotion.com/buddhism-hinduism-taoism-confucianism.htm.
(accessed electronically March 02, 2006) (2) Travel China Guide, “Ancient Education in China,” in
Chinese Culture, Travel China Guide,
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/education/ancient.htm (accessed electronically March 02, 2006).
34. Marrou, A history of education in antiquity, originally published as Histoire de l’Education dans
l’Antiguite (1948), Translated by George Lamband. Reprinted in 1982.
35. Weisheipl, “Scholasticism,” edited by Carl Johnson, Believe (May, 1997), http://www.mb-soft.com/
believe/txn/scholast.htm (accessed electronically May 14, 2007).

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36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Wolf et al, A History of Science, Technology and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries, 1935.
40. Abbaguano, “Renaissance Humanism,” in Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Studies of Selected
Pivotal Ideas, edited by Philip P. Weiner (1974). Republished by University of Virginia e-text collection,
http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-19 (accessed electronically November 12, 2009).
41. Ibid.
42. Bruce, “Literacy Technologies: What stance should we take?” Journal of Literacy Research 29, no. 2
(1997): pp. 289-308.
43. McLuhan et al, The Medium is the Message: An Inventory of Effects, 1996.
44. Logan, The Alphabet Effect: The Impact of the Phonetic Alphabet on the Development of Western
Civilization, 1986.
45. Einstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Communications and Cultural Transformations in
Early Modern Europe, two vols, digitalized in one vol. by Syndicate Press of Cambridge University, on
Google books, http://books.gogle.com/books?id=5LRISkrIrocC (accessed electronically August 06. 2008).
46. Baker, “Developing Ways of Writing Vernaculars: Problems and Solutions in a Historical Perspective,”
in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by Andree Tabouret Keller et al (1997): pp. 93-141.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Friere et al, Literacy: Reading the Word and the World, 1987.

Chapter XI: Literacy

1. UNESCO, Institute for Statistics, “Literacy 2000,“ in Statistics , Latest Illiteracy Figures and World
Maps and Graphs,, UNESCO, http://www.uis.unesco.org/en/ stats/statistics/ literacy2000.htm. (accessed
electronically November 13, 2008).
2. Central Intelligence Agency, “Literacy,” in The World Factbook, CIA.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html (accessed electronically
September 17, 2007).
3. Sticht, The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States: 1600-2000, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, 2002. Republished electronically by ERIC: pp. 4-5,
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=
ED508720&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED508720 (accessed electronically August 12,
2007).
4. U.S. Department of Education, “Three Types of Literacy,” in What is NAAL? (2003),
http://nces.ed.gov/naal/ literacytypes.asp (accessed electronically May 01, 2007).
5. Bennett, “Discourses of Power, the Dialects of Understanding the Power of Literacy,” in Rewriting
Literacy: Culture and the Discourse of the Other, edited by Mitchell et al (1991): pp. 13-34.
6. Morris et al, The New Literacy, 1996.
7. U.S. Department of Education, A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century, by
Kutner et al, NCES 2006-470, http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2007/charts/chart18.asp?popup=true,
p. 4, fig, 2: Adult Literacy Performance: Percentage of adults scoring at each achievement level in
prose, document, and quantitative literacy, 2001 (accessed electronically May 03, 2006).
8. (1) Starr, “Are We Still A Nation at Risk?” in Education World, April 29, 2003,
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues392.shtml (accessed electronically April 13, 2007) (2) Caruba,
“Illiterate America,” TYSK (Thought You Should Know website). http://www.tysknews.com/
Depts/Educate/illiterate_america.htm (accessed electronically February 21, 2008).
9. U.S. Department of Education, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000, by Chapman et al,
Statistical Analysis Report, November, 2001, NCES Publication 2000-114,
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002114.pdf, p. iv, fig. A: Percentage of 15- 24-year-olds who dropped out of
grades 10-12 in the past year. (accessed electronically November 02, 2008).
10. Ibid.

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11. Martin et al, ”Every nine seconds in America a student becomes a dropout. The Dropout Problem in
Numbers,” in Whatever it Takes: How Twelve Communities are Reconnecting Out-of -School Youth (2005),
American Youth Policy Forum,, http://www.aypf.org/publications/ WhateverItTakes/WIT_ nineseconds
.pdf (accessed electronically May 13. 2008).
12. Ibid.
13. Baldwin, What is the value of the GED?: A summary of research, A GED Profile Research Report,
American Council on Education/GED Testing Fulfillment Service, 1995. Republished by ERIC,
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValu
e_0=ED416335&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED416335 (accessed electronically
December 13, 2006).
14. Stich, “Higher Education Credentials, Higher Skills, and Lost Purchasing Power: A Dilemma for
Workforce Development Policy and Practice” (March 10, 2007), National Adult Literacy Database,
http://www.nald.ca/library/research/sticht/13mar07/1.htm (accessed electronically December 19, 2007).
15. Martin et al, ”Every nine seconds in America a student becomes a dropout. The Dropout Problem in
Numbers,” in Whatever it Takes: How Twelve Communities are Reconnecting Out-of -School Youth (2005),
American Youth Policy Forum, http://www.aypf.org/publications WhateverItTakes/WIT_ nineseconds.pdf
(accessed electronically May 13. 2008).
16. College Board, Group Differences in Standardized Testing and Social Stratification, by Camera et al,
College Board Report No, 99-5, College Entrance Examination Board ,
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/ profdownload/ pdf/rr9905_3916.pdf , p. 2, table 1: Group Means
(and Standardized Differences) on Tests by Ethnicity and Race (accessed electronically April 22, 2008).
17. Jay P. Greene, High School Graduation Rates in the United States, Civic Report, November, 2001,
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo.htm,
fig 3: National Graduation Rates for the Class of 1998 (accessed electronically May 25, 2006).
18.Ibid. table 6: Graduation Rates District and Race (accessed electronically May 25, 2006).
21. U.S. Department of Education, “Chapter 4: “Employment, Earnings, and Job Training,” in Literacy in
Everyday Life, by White et al, NCES Publication 2007-480. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2007/, section
2/table.asp?tableID=693#content (accessed electronically January 02, 2008).
20. U.S. Department of Education, Literacy Behind Prison Walls: Profiles of the Prison Population from
the National Adult Literacy Survey, by Kolstad, NCES Publication 1994-102, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs94/
94102.pdf (accessed electronically July 10, 2008).
21. Caruba, “Illiterate America,” in Education (February, 2001). Republished by TYSK,
http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Educate/illiterate_america.htm (accessed electronically February 21,
2008).
22. Ibid.
23. Hillerich, “Toward an Assessable Definition of Literacy,” English Journal 65, no. 2 (February 1976):
pp. 50-55, suggests these questions.

Chapter XII: The Building Blocks of Literacy

1. Shortbridge, “The Absorbent Mind and the Sensitive Periods (1997),”in Children, P. Donohue
Shortridge, http://www.pdonohueshortridge.com/children/absorbent.html, (accessed electronically January
10, 2010). Shortbridge writes, “…Maria Montessori divided the development of the child’s mind into two
phases. During the first phase, ‘the period of unconscious creation,’ or ‘the unconscious absorbent mind,’
from birth to three years old, the young child unknowingly or unconsciously acquires his/her basic abilities.
The child's work during this period is to become independent from the adult for his/her basic human
functions. He/she learns to speak, to walk, to gain control of his/her hands, and to master his/her bodily
functions. Once these basic skills are incorporated into his/her schema, by about three years of age, he/she
moves into the next phase of the absorbent mind,’ the period of conscious work’ or ‘the conscious
absorbent mind.’ During this period, the child's mathematical mind compels him/her to perfect in
himself/herself that which is now there. His/her fundamental task during this phase is freedom; freedom to
move purposefully, freedom to choose. and freedom to concentrate. His/her mantra is ‘Let Me Do It
Myself!...’" This paragraph succinctly summarizes Montessori’s observations.

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2. Kerr et al , “Awakening Literacy through Interactive Story Reading,” in Reading, Language, and
Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lehr et al (1994): pp. 133-144.
3. Carol Chomsky, “Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure,” Harvard Educational
Review 42 (1972): pp. 1-33.
4. Moerk, “Picture book reading by mothers and young children and its impact upon language
development,” in Journal of Pragmatics (1985): pp. 547-566.
5. Kerr et al, “Awakening Literacy through Interactive Story Reading,” in Reading, Language, and
Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lehr et al (1994): pp. 133-144.
6. Lartz et al, “Jamie: One child’s journey from oral to written language,” in Early Childhood Research
Quarterly 3 (1988): pp. 193-208.
7. Kerr et al, “Awakening Literacy through Interactive Story Reading,” in Reading, Language, and
Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lehr et al (1994): pp. 133-144.
8. Boyer, Ready to Learn: A Mandate for the Nation, 1991.
9. G. Wells. The Meaning Makers. Children Learning Language and Using Language to Learn, 1986.
10. Shulevitz, Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books, 1997.
11. Ibid.
12. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Arts Edge Education Department, “Reading Illustrations:
Every Picture Tells a Story,” in Language arts lessons for ages 4-7, Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ content/2284/ (accessed electronically July 03, 2006).
13. Frank Smith, Understanding Reading (2004): p. 32.
14. Cognitive Science Initiative , Language Lexicon (1997) provides information on (1) surface and deep
structure,” http://www.class.uh.edu/cogsci/lang/ entries/ structure_ds.html (2) transformational grammar,”
http://www.class.uh.edu/cogsci/lang/entries/ transformational_ grammar. html (both accessed electronically
April 13, 2008).
15. Frank Smith, Understanding Reading (2004): p. 33.
16. Juel, “Beginning Reading,” in Handbook of Reading Research 2 (1991): pp. 759-788.
17. Chall, Stages of Reading Development, 1983.
18. Goodman, On Reading, 1996.
19. U.S. Department of Education, Literacy in Everyday Life, by White et al, NCES Publication 2007-480.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/ coe/2007/section2/table.asp?tableID=693#content table 18-2. Percentage of
adults aged 16 or older in each prose, document, and quantitative literacy achievement level by selected
characteristics: 2003 (accessed electronically January 02, 2008).
20. Stephens, “Whole-language: Exploring the Meaning of the Label,” in Reading, Language, and
Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lehr et al, (1994): pp. 89-97.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Donoghue, Language Arts: Integrating Skills for Classroom Teaching, 2008.
24. Grundin, “If It Ain’t Whole, It Ain’t Language—or Back to the Basics of Freedom and Dignity,” in
Reading, Language, and Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lehr et al (1994): pp.
77-88.
25. Bergeron, “What does the term whole-language mean? Constructing a definition from literature,” in
Journal of Reading Behavior 22 (1990): pp. 301-329.
26 Ibid.
27. Gaskins, “Creating Optimum Learning Environments: Is Membership in the Whole-Language
Community Necessary?” in Reading, Language, and Literacy: Instruction for the Twenty-First Century,
edited by Lehr et al (1994): pp. 115-127.
28. Goodman, What’s Whole in Whole-Language, 2005.
29. (1) Snow et al, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, 1998 (2) National Institute of
Health, Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on
reading and its implications for reading instruction, Report of the National Reading Panel (2000), NIH
Publication No. 00-4754, Republished by ERIC,
ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED444127&ERIC
ExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED444127 (accessed electronically July 08, 2008).

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Chapter XIII: Changes in Literacy and Education

1. McCluskey, Public Schools and Moral Education: The Influence of Horace Mann, William Torrey
Harris, and John Dewey, 1958.
2. Thattai, “A History of Public Education in the United States” (November, 2001), Servintfree,
http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/2001-11/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html.
(accessed electronically November 09, 2008).
3. Knowles, A History of the Adult Education Movement in the United States (1977): p. 6.
4. Thattai, “A History of Public Education in the United States” (November 2001), Servintfree,
http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/2001-11/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html.
(accessed electronically November 09, 2008).
5. Nasaw, Schooled to Order, A Social History of Public Schooling in the United States, 1979.
6. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1880. Third
Number. Treasury Department Number 120. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1880-
01.pdf , pp. 152-156, tables 149-156 (accessed electronically November 04, 2008).
7. Blassingame, “The Union Army as an educational institution for Negroes, 1862-1865,” Journal of Negro
Education 34 (1965): pp. 152-159.
8. Cornish, “The Union Army as a school for Negroes,” Journal of Negro History 37 (1952): pp. 368-382.
9. Ibid.
10. U.S. Department of Education, White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and
Universities. List of Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html (accessed electronically March 11, 2009).
11. Black et al, “Chapter 2: Long-Term Trends in Schooling: The Rise and Decline (?) of Public Education
in the United States,” in Handbook of the Economics of Education, vol 1, edited by Hanushek et al (2006):
p. 81.
12. Sticht, The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States: 1600-2000, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, 2002. Reprinted electronically by ERIC,
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=
ED508720&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED508720 (accessed electronically August 12,
2007).
13. Cornish, “The Union Army as a School for Negroes,” Journal of Negro History 37 (1952): pp. 368-382.
14. Yerkes, ed. Psychological examining in the United States Army: Memoirs of the National Academy of
Sciences (1921), NAS Publication 15, 1-890. Republished by Open Library, No. OL1419070M,
15 Stubblefield et al, Adult Education in the American Experience: From the Colonial Period to the
Present (1994): p. 187.
16
Ibid, p. 182,
17. Caplow et al, The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000
(2001): p. 52.
18. Thattai, “A History of Public Education in the United States” (November 2001), Servintfree,
http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/ 2001-1 (accessed electronically November 09,
2008).
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. U.S. Department of Education, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000, by Chapman et
al, Statistical Analysis Report, November, 2001, NCES Publication 2000-114,
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002114.pdf, p. iv, fig. A: Percentage of 15-24-year-olds who dropped out
of grades 10-12 in the past year (accessed electronically November 02, 2008).
23. College Board. AP Central, Advanced Placement Report to the Nation, 2006. College Entrance
Examination Board, http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_ downloads/ about/news_info/ap/2006/2006_ap-
report-nation.pdf, p. 11 fig. 5: The Class of 2005: Race/Ethnicity of AP Examinees vs. Graduating Seniors
in US Public Schools (accessed electronically April 02, 2007).

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24. National Bureau of Economic Research, New Evidence about Brown v Board of Education: The
Complex Effects of School Racial Composition Achievement, by Hanusheck et al, NBER Working Paper
Series, No. 8741 (January. 2002). Republished by Journal of Labor Economics 27, no 3, July, 2009.
Available electronically in pdf format from Social Science Research Network,
http://www.nber.org/papers/w8741 (accessed electronically September 18, 2006).
25. Ogbu, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, 2003.
26. McWhorter, Losing the Race: Self-sabotage in Black America, 2000.
27. Solar, “The Struggle for Voice. Narrative, Literacy and Consciousness in An East Harlem School,” in
Rewriting Literacy: Culture and Discourse of the Other, edited by Mitchell et al (1991): p. 39
28. Smitherman, Talkin and Testifyin (2000): p. 219.
29. Boykin, “Talent Development, Cultural Deep Structure, and School Reform: Implications for African
Immersion Initiatives,” in African-centered schooling in theory and practice, edited by Pollard et al (2000):
pp. 143-162.
30. Lomotey et al, “How shall we sing our sacred song in a strange land? The dilemma of double
consciousness and the complexities of an African-centered pedagogy,” in Journal of Education 172, no.2,
(1990): pp. 45-61.
31. Ibid.
32. Buriel et al, “Sociocultural correlates of achievement among the generations of Mexican-American
high school seniors,” American Educational Research Journal 25, no. 2 (1988): pp. 177-192. Republished
by Sage Journals online,
http://aer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/2/177DOI:10.3102/00028312025002177 (accessed
electronically July 23, 2009).
33. Valsivieso et al, “U.S. Hispanics: Challenging Issues for the 1990s,” in Population Trends and Public
Policy, no. 17, Population Reference Bureau (1988). Reprinted electronically by ERIC,
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValu
e_0=ED305213&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED305213 (accessed April 19, 2006).
34. Guilamo-Ramos et al, “Parenting Practices among Dominican and Puerto Rican Mothers,” in Social
Work 2, no. 1 (2007): pp. 17-30.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Hyslop, “Hispanic Parental Involvement in Home Literacy,” ERIC Digest D158, ERIC Identifier
ED446340 2000-11-00, ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading English and Communication,
http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/hispanic.htm (accessed electronically February 27, 2006).
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Plastino, “Helping Latin Students Feel Comfortable in Your Classroom,” Learn, University of North
Carolina, http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/933 (accessed electronically May 17, 2009).
42. Ibid.
43. Fernandez et al, Who Stays? Who Leaves? Findings from the ASPIRA Five Cities High School Dropout
Study. Working Paper No. 89-1, ASPIRA Association, Inc. Republished electronically by ERIC,
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_& ERICExtSearch_
SearchValue_0=ED322241&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED322241 (accessed
electronically February 02, 2009).
44. Fashola et al, “Effective Dropout Prevention and College Attendance Programs for Latino Students,” in
Effective Programs for Latino Students, edited by Slavin et al (2001): pp. 67-100.
45. A “national” “language is the legally recognized language or discourse of a nation. It may encompass a
broad range of dialects. A “Standard” language is the variant or dialect of a recognized language used in
school and language instruction, employed in all government legislation and in the general publication of
books, journals, and periodicals. A Standard language, while not legally recognized, may be regulated by a
recognized academic body composed of “language experts” with the power to govern such metalinguistic
features as vocabulary, orthography, grammar, and pronunciation. A nation may acknowledge as an

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“official” language any or all languages spoken by some portion of its population. The United States
government has not legally determined a “national” language, has not legally acknowledged an “official”
language, and has no legal or academic body that regulates a “Standard.”
46. Crawford, “Language Legislation in the U.S.A,” in Issues in U. S. Language Policy, Archives (1997-
2008), James Crawford’s Language Policy and Emporium, http://languagepolicy.net/archives/langleg.htm
(accessed electronically July 23, 2006).
47. Buijs et al, “Muslim Europe: The State of the Research,” in The Age of Migration: International
Population Movements in the Western World., edited by Castles et al. Republished by IMISCO
http://dare.uva.nl/document/144738 (accessed electronically September 18, 2008).
48. Christie, “Learning the literacies of primary and secondary schooling,” in Literacy and Schooling,
edited by Christie et al, 1998.
49. Heck, “Writing Standard English IS Acquiring a Second Language,” in Language Alive in the
Classroom, edited by Wheeler (1999): pp. 115-120.
50. Ramirez et al, Longitudinal Study of Structured Immersion Strategy, Early-Exit and Late-Exit
Transitional Bilingual Programs for Language-Minority Children. Final Report, vols. 1 and 2, 1991.
Republished electronically by ERIC,
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch
SearchValue_0=ED330216&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED330216 (accessed February
02, 2008).
51. Stevans, The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People, 1995 and (2) Hakuta, Mirror of Language:
The Debate on Bilingualism, 1986.
52. Hakuta et al, “The role of research in policy decisions about bilingual education.” (1986), Stanford
University Publications/Hakua, http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/Publications/(1986)%20-
%20THE%20ROLE%20OF%20RESEARCH%20IN%20POLICY%20DECISIONS%20ABOUT%20BILI.
pdf (accessed electronically November 10, 2008).
53. Heck, “Writing Standard English IS Acquiring a Second Language,” in Language Alive in the
Classroom, edited by Wheeler (1999): pp. 115-120.
54. Labov, “Can reading failure be reversed? A linguistic approach to the question,” in Literacy Among
African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching, and Schooling, edited by Gladsden et al, pp. 39-68.
Republished by the University of Pennsylvania, http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/RFR.html.
(accessed electronically October 18, 2009).
55. Ibid.
56. Mason et al, “Illuminating English: how explicit language teaching improved public examination
results in a comprehensive school,” Educational Studies 18, no.3 (1992): pp. 341-353.
57. Wheeler, ed., Language Alive in the Classroom, 1999. Specific chapters of interest include (1) Umbach,
“Grammar, Tradition, and the Living Language, pp. 3-13, (2) Bastistella, “The Persistence of Traditional
Grammar,” pp. 13-22. (3) Sobin, “Prestige English Is not a National Language,” pp. 23-36. (4) Myhill,
“Rethinking Prescriptivism,” pp. 37-46 (5) Wolfram, “Dialect Awareness Programs in the School and
Community,” pp.47-66. All authors provide further suggestions and inspiration for teaching methodologies
based on the descriptive grammar approach.
65.Tyler, “Chapter 3: The General Educational Development (GED) Credential: History, current research,
and directions for policy and practice,” in National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Review, vol 5 (2005): pp. 45-84. Published electronically by NCSALL http://www.ncsall.net/ fileadmin/
resources/ ann_rev/rall_v5_ ch3.pdf (accessed electronically September 09, 2008).
59. Sticht, The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States: 1600-2000, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, 2002. Republished electronically by ERIC,
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=
ED508720&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED508720 (accessed electronically August 12,
2007).
60. Ibid.
61. Ibid.
62. Cook, Adult Literacy Education in the United States, 1977, pp. 17-19.
63. Knowles, a History of the Adult Education Movement in the United States, 1962. Revised and

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republished electronically by ERIC,

ERICWebPortal/search/ndetailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED408422&
ERICExtSearch_ SearchType_0=no&accno=ED408422 (accessed electronically May 01, 2009).
64. Sabatini, “Adult Reading Acquisition,” in Literacy: An International Handbook, edited by Wagner et al
(1999): pp. 49-53.
65. U.S. Department of Education, Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States, 2006, by Chapman
et al, Compendium Report, September, 2008, NCES Publication 2008-053,
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008053.pdf, p. 33, table 9: Status completion rates, and number and
distribution of completers ages 18-24 not currently enrolled in high school or below, by selected
characteristics, October 2006 (accessed electronically January 03, 2009).
66. Merriam, The New Update on Adult Learning Theory, 2001.
67. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), Adult Education
Facts at a Glance, http://www2.ed.gov/about/ offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/aefacts.html (accessed
electronically September 20, 2009).
68. Ibid.
69. David L. Crawford, “The Role of Aging in Adult Learning: Implications for Instructors in Higher
Education,” New Horizons for Adult Learning (December, 2004), New Horizons for Learning,
http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong/higher_ed/crawford.htm (accessed electronically May 13, 2005).
70 Pascual-Leone et al, “The noncognative factors in high-road/low-road learning: II. The will, the self,
and modes of instruction in adulthood,” in Journal of Adult Development 1, no. 3 (July, 1994): pp. 153-
168). Republished by SpringerLink.(electronic database, DOI: 10.1007/BF02260091),
http://www.springerlink.com/content/f1011618u800vt2h/ (accessed electronically September 14, 2008).

Chapter XIV: African-American Dialect

1. U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Population. http://www.census.gov
/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0010.pdf table 10. Resident Population by Race, Hispanic Origin, and
Single Years of Age: 2008 (accessed electronically July 01, 2010).
2. Alleyme, “Acculturation and the cultural matrix of creolization,” in Pidginization and Creolization of
Languages, edited by Hymes (1971): pp. 169-186.
3. Dillard, Black English, 1972.
4. Labov, Principles of Linguistic Change, Vol. II. Social Factors (2001): pp. 259-260.
5. Ibid.
6. Eckert, “Adolescent social structure and the spread of linguistic change,” in Language in Society 17
(1988): pp. 183-208.
7. Schuller, Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller. A Collection of Writings, 1999.
8. Barnes et al, Talk That Talk (2005): p. 10.
.9. Levine, Black Culture and Black Consciousness (1977): p. 89.
10. Ibid.
11. Smitherman, Talkin and Testifyin (1977): p. 104.
12. Ibid, pp. 219-223.
13. These incidences are my personal observations.
14. Angelou,”The Thirteens,” from the collection Just give me a cool drink of water ’fore I Diiie, part Two:
Just Before the World Ends. Republished in The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, 1994.
15. Rickford et al, “Addressee and Topic-Influenced Style Shift: A Quantitative Sociolinguistic Study,” in
Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register, edited by Biber et al (1993): pp. 235-273.
16. Ibid.
17. Labov, “Can reading failure be reversed? A linguistic approach to the question,” in Literacy Among
African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching, and Schooling, edited by Gadsden et al (1995): pp.
39-68.
18. Ibid.
19. Poplack et al, “There's no tense like the present: Verbal -s inflection in early Black English,” Language
Variation and Change 1 (1989): pp. 47-84.
20. Lisa G. Green, African-American English: A Linguistic Introduction, 2002.

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24. Labov, “Can reading failure be reversed? A linguistic approach to the question,” in Literacy Among
African-American Youth: Issues in Learning, Teaching, and Schooling, edited by Gadsden et al (1995): pp.
39-68.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.

XV: Hispanic-American Dialect

1. U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Population, http://www.census.gov
/compendia/statab/ 2010/tables/10s0006.pdf table 6. Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic
Origin Status: 2000 to 2008 (accessed electronically July 10, 2010).
2. Ibid.
3. U. S. Census Bureau, The Hispanic Population in the United States: March, 2002, by Ramirez et al,
Annual Demographic Supplement to the March 2002 Current Survey, http://www.census.gov /prod/
2003pubs/p20-545.pdf, p. 1, fig. 1: Hispanics by Origin: 2002 (in percent) (accessed electronically June 03.
2009).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. National Bureau of Economic Research, The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United
States, by Borjas et al, NBER Working Paper Series, No. 11281, National Bureau of Economic Research
(April 2005). Republished electronically by Harvard University Kennedy School, http://www.hks.harvard.
edu/fs/gborjas/Papers/w11281.pdf (accessed electronically October 20, 2006).
7. Stavans, Spanglish. The Making of a New American Language (2003): pp. 42-44.
8. Pastor et al, Limits to Friendship: The United States and Mexico, 1988.
9. Perez., Cuba in the American Imagination. Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos, 2008, provides a history of
the relationship between Cuba and the United States.
10. Eckstein, “The Debourgeoisement of Cuban Cities,” in Cuban Communism, edited by Horowitz,
(1983): pp. 91-112.
11. Central Intelligence Agency, “Puerto Rico” in The World Factbook, CIA,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html (accessed electronically June 04,
2009).
12. Morris, Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity, 1995.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Annenberg Public Policy Center, “Why does Puerto Rico participate in the presidential primary and not
in the general election?” (May 14, 2008), in Ask FactCheck, Fact Check,
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/why_does_puerto_rico_participate_in_the.html
(accessed electronically August 14, 2008).
16. Stavans, Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language, 2003.
17. Morales, Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America, 2002.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ekstein, “The Debourgeoisement of Cuban Cities,” in Cuban Communism, edited by Horowitz (1983):
pp. 91-112.
21. NBC6.net, “The ‘Miami’ accent-English with a pinch of Spanish”. Republished by National Society for
Hispanic Professionals, June 22, 2004, National Society for Hispanic Professionals,
http://www.nshp.org/?q=node/653 (accessed electronically April 12, 2006).
22. Stavans, The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People, 1995.
23. Winford, An introduction to contact linguistics, 2003.

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Chapter XVI: Neocreoles and Neoliteracy

1. Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002): pp. 373, 391.
2. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Declining Share of Children Lived with Single Mothers in the
Late 1990s. Substantial Differences by Race and Income (June, 2001), by Dupree et al,
http://www.cbpp.org/6-15-01wel.pdf, p. 13, table 4: Child Living Arrangements by Race (accessed
electronically November 09, 2008).
3. Ibid.
4. As quoted in Miazga, The Spoken Word Movement of the 1990s (December 15, 1998), Mizgama,
http://www.msu.edu/~miazgama/spokenword.htm (accessed electronically May 30, 2006).
5. As quoted by Dinita Smith, “The Poet Kings and the Verifying Rabble” The New York Times Magazine,
February 19, 1995. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/19/magazine/the-poet-kings-and-the-versifying
rabble.html?pagewanted=2 (accessed electronically July 16, 2009).
6. Ibid.
7. Young, Black Writers, White Publishers: Marketplace Politics in Twentieth Century African American
Literature, 2006.

Chapter XVII: Some Conclusions

1. Charpentier, “Literacy in a Pidgin Vernacular,” in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-evaluation., edited by
Tabouret-Keller et al (1997): pp. 222-245.
2. U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, Population, http://www.census.gov
/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf (accessed electronically July 10, 2010).
3. (1) Charpentier, “Literacy in a Pidgin Vernacular,” in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by
Tabouret-Keller et al (1997): p 229 (2) Schiffman, “Diglossia as a Sociolinguistic Situation.” in
The Handbook of Sociolonguistics, edited by Columnas (1997): pp. 205-216.
4. Charpentier, “Literacy in a Pidgin Vernacular,” in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by
Tabouret-Keller et al (1997): pp. 222-245.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Charpentier, “Literacy in a Pidgin Vernacular,” in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by
Tabouret-Keller et al (1997): pp. 222-245.
8. UNESCO, Education Section, “Chapter 2: The many meanings and dimensions of literacy,” in The
Plurality of Literacy and its Implications for Policy and Programmes, Education Sector Position Paper,
2004. UNESCO, http://unesdoc.unesco.org /images /0013/001362/136246e.pdf . The quote of the
definition of literacy from the Education for All 2000 Literacy Assessment, expert meeting of UNESCO
Education Sector and UIS, Paris, June 2003, is cited on p. 12 (accessed electronically November 13, 2008).
9. Tabouret-Keller et al, “Conclusion,” in Vernacular Literacy: A Re-Evaluation, edited by.Tabouret-Keller
et al (1997): pp., 316-331, and pp. 322-325.
10. McFarlane, “What I am learning from my school's infatuation with computers? Rethinking Schools
Online. The Laptops are coming! The Laptops are coming!” in Archives, Rethinking schools,
http://rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_04/lapt224.shtml (accessed electronically May 09, 2009). This
article suggests the questions raised in this paragraph.

Appendix: What Did You Learn In English Class

1. Emonds, “Grammatically deviant prestige constructions,” in A Festschrift for Sol Saporta, edited by
Brame et al (1986): pp. 93-129.
2. Parrott, Distributed Morphological Mechanisms of Pronoun-Case Variation (2007), Punk Science,
http://www.punksinscience.org/jeffrey/docs/Parrott%20(2006)%20DM%20Mechanisms%20of%20Pronou
n-Case%20Variation.pdf (accessed electronically August 11, 2010).
3. Lasnik et al, “The Who/Whom Puzzle: On the Preservation of An Archaic Feature,” Natural Language
and Linguistic Theory 18, no. 2 (May 2000): pp. 343-371.

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