Bible in Black English

Question

I have to translate this passage:In Sunday School teachers recast biblical stories in contemporary Black English. For example, in telling the story of John 21:3-17, a Sunday School teacher quoted the disciples. "So Peter, he gets this attitude. It's like, 'Look, Jesus ain't comin' back. He ain't gonna show up, you know?'"I can't understand the quotation "So Peter etc.". May you help me to reformulate it? Thanks.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers recast biblical stories in contemporary Black English. For example, in ... show up, you know?'" I can't understand the quotation "So Peter etc.". May you help me to reformulate it? Thanks.[/nq]
It is just an introductory syllable, to indicate a continuation in a narrative.
I have an uncle who frequently loses track of what he was saying, but who seems to want to "keep the floor". His speech is often picked up with a "... so, anyway, well, where was I?"
Also with "So, not to change the subject, but as I was saying..." Now others here may think it a different situation than the one you describe. I, however, seem to recall such a "So", being used in AUE or AEU as an intro to a "Welcome back" message.
"So where ya been, watcha been doin'"... and, like that. Of course, the only examples I can think of are in direct address.

Usenet · Answer

The inimitable "Frank"
(Email Removed) stated one day
[nq:1]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers recast biblical stories in contemporary Black English. For example, in ... "So Peter, he gets this attitude. It's like, 'Look, Jesus ain't comin' back. He ain't gonna show up, you know?'"[/nq]
This is in the tradition of Br'er Rabbit stories. I read them to my son and seems to understand them, bad grammar, bad accent, and all.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers ... ain't comin' back. He ain't gonna show up, you know?'"[/nq]
[nq:1]This is in the tradition of Br'er Rabbit stories. I read them to my son and seems to understand them, bad grammar, bad accent, and all.[/nq]
If the Bible is translated into Black English, why would you call that bad grammar?

Usenet · Answer

The inimitable "Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack )" (Email Removed) stated one day
[nq:1]If the Bible is translated into Black English, why would you call that bad grammar?[/nq]
I am talking about Br'er Rabbit, not the bible, and I haven't analyzed the grammar in my edition of Br'er Rabbit stories, so I don't know if it's consistent with AAVE or just ad hoc. It doesn't matter, of course, because it is written as it is supposed to be written, in the lingo of the storyteller and not in the lingo of the Lowthian pedant. That is part of what makes the stories delightful to listen to even if they are a bit painful to read sometimes.

Julius Lester, the editor of my edition, writes excellent Standard English as well as his own version of BEV. And unlike the spellings in Joel Chandler Harris's original edition of the Uncle Remus stories, Lester's spellings are easy to read and pronounce. But it is dialect, and the dialect of a well-educated native English speaker of both BEV and Standard American English. It's spoken English interpreted by a literate literary man and put down on a page in a way that any reader of Standard American English should be able to understand.
In addition, anything that is not Standard English grammar is bad grammar to people who don't speak the dialect. This is a social judgment and not a linguistic judgment. There's a difference. It's also a judgment from a Taiwanese POV. We don't teach or learn AAVE here, only Standard English; therefore, anything that violates the grammar rules of Standard English is bad grammar.
There is no need to start another useless discussion about how AAVE is a separate dialect with its own grammar rules and how it is linguistically the equal of Standard English (whatever that is). We've been through that much too often, and a perusal of the corpus of mlspray (Raymond Wise) posts will satisfy anyone's need for such reassurance; they can all be found in the Google archives by searching for "Ebonics", "AAVE", and "BEV".
Social reality takes precedence over linguistic reality in the real world, just as celebrity is more important than suitability when running for high political office in the USA. California, as usual, is the epitome of social delusion and illusion; cultural politics rules there, and inconsistently so.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers recast biblical stories in contemporary Black English. For example, in ... show up, you know?'" I can't understand the quotation "So Peter etc.". May you help me to reformulate it? Thanks.[/nq]
What is "Black English"?
Was it Moses telling Pharoah that the wekkas were going on strike?

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers recast biblical stories in contemporary Black English. For example, in ... show up, you know?'" I can't understand the quotation "So Peter etc.". May you help me to reformulate it? Thanks.[/nq]
I just looked up John 21:3-17, and I don't find Peter saying any such thing. Wrong numbers?
"To get an attitude" might mean "to get upset," "to get angry," or some other emotional state.
"It's like" means the speaker is about to describe Peter's state of mind, although it may not be a literal quote.
The rest is easy. "Look, Jesus isn't coming back. He isn't going to show up, you know?"

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I have to translate this passage: In Sunday School teachers ... Peter etc.". May you help me to reformulate it? Thanks.[/nq]
[nq:1]I just looked up John 21:3-17, and I don't find Peter saying any such thing. Wrong numbers? "To get an attitude" might mean "to get upset," "to get angry," or some other emotional state.[/nq]
Of course that's what it means. Haven't any of you ever heard of an "attitude"? Someone with an "attitude" is a ***.

Bible in Black English

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions