Justice Department seeks Ebonics experts

[Geel_jire]

AUGUST 23--The Department of Justice is seeking to hire linguists fluent in Ebonics to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to federal records.

The DEA’s need for full-time linguists specializing in Ebonics is detailed in bid documents related to the agency’s mid-May issuance of a request for proposal (RFP) covering the provision of as many as 2100 linguists for the drug agency’s various field offices. Answers to the proposal were due from contractors on July 29.

 

In contract documents, which are excerpted here, Ebonics is listed among 114 languages for which prospective contractors must be able to provide linguists. The 114 languages are divided between “common languages” and “exotic languages.” Ebonics is listed as a “common language” spoken solely in the United States.

 

Ebonics has widely been described as a nonstandard variant of English spoken largely by African Americans. John R. Rickford, a Stanford University professor of linguistics, has described it as “Black English” and noted that “Ebonics pronunciation includes features like the omission of the final consonant in words like ‘past’ (pas’ ) and ‘hand’ (han’), the pronunciation of the th in ‘bath’ as t (bat) or f (baf), and the pronunciation of the vowel in words like ‘my’ and ‘ride’ as a long ah (mah, rahd).”

 

Detractors reject the notion that Ebonics is a dialect, instead considering it a *******ization of the English language.

 

The Department of Justice RFP does not, of course, address questions of vernacular, dialect, or linguistic merit. It simply sought proposals covering the award of separate linguist contracts for seven DEA regions. The agency spends about $70 million annually on linguistic service programs, according to contract records.

 

In addition to the nine Ebonics experts, the DEA’s Atlanta office also requires linguists for eight other languages, including Spanish (144 linguists needed); Vietnamese (12); Korean (9); Farsi (9); and Jamaican patois (4). The Atlanta field division, one of the DEA’s busiest, is the only office seeking linguists well-versed in Ebonics. Overall, the “majority of DEA’s language requirements will be for Spanish originating in Central and South America and the Caribbean,” according to one contract document.

 

The Department of Justice RFP includes a detailed description of the crucial role a linguist can play in narcotics investigations. They are responsible for listening to “oral intercepts in English and foreign languages,” from which they provide verbal and typed summaries. “Subsequently, all pertinent calls identified by the supervising law enforcement officer will be transcribed verbatim in the required federal or state format,” the RFP notes.

 

Additionally, while “technology plays a major role in the DEA’s efforts, much of its success is increasingly dependent upon rapid and meticulous understanding of foreign languages used in conversations by speakers of languages other than English and in the translation, transcription and preparation of written documents.”

Story

 

I know a couple of kids who can add 1 more bullet point to the skills section of their resume.

[Baluug]

Yeah nigga, I gon' apply fo' dis muh-f**ka an' get myself a J-O-bizzle fo' shizzle!

[Jamelia]

^^^Lool....They need a translator to understand some black folk.....lol

[Muriidi]

the effects of drugs should not be underestimated ..

 

 

 

 

[rudy-Diiriye]

Ok, i developed this alphabet for the state dept to use:

 

Ebonetic Alphabet

 

A- Afro B- Booty C- Chicken D- Dat E- Er Where F- Fo' Sho G- Grillz H- Holla' I- Impala J- Juicy K- Killa, Kobe L- Lebron M- Motha ***** N- Ninja O- Obama, Oprah P- Peeps, Pimp, Pus??? (shut yo mot) Q- Quarterbag R- Redbone S- Stunna' T- Trick, Trippin' U- Uzi V- Vandross W- Word X- XTC Y- You Go Girl ! Z- Zimbabwe

Playa 1: Yo homey, did you catch that License Plate that just ripped my joint for two g's?

 

Homeboy: Heh Yeah, i luh dat. It had been UZI TRICK STUNNA 9-1-1.

 

Playa 1: Word. I'm glad we knows our ebonetic alphabet. Les I wouldn't understanz you

 

Homeboy: Church.

 

Playa 1: Let's go report this to the hot boyz and find some skirts for the E so I can get some funk.

 

Homeboy: They lucky you didn't have yo' gat on you. Or else you mighta pulled out yo strap and laid them bustas down

 

Playa 1: True, True. Dat's what I know playa. I luh dis this country. We just schooled all the wannabe hoods er where in dis US of the ATL . Get em'

 

yoll feelin me! :mad:

[Safferz]

It's really not something to mock, African American vernacular English is a recognized dialect of the English language, with its own grammatical structure, vocabulary and pronounciation. I think it's quite fascinating (and brilliant) actually, that African slaves who spoke hundreds of different languages developed a creole language so they could understand each other on plantations in America, and although that language has evolved today, it still seems to function in the same way by keeping the powers that be out. Hence the need to translate.

[Neumann]

I agree. It's quite brilliant.

[Baluug]

Originally posted by rudy-Diiriye:

find some skirts for the E so I can get some funk.

Yeah I remember that song......

 

[The Zack]

LOOOL So they couldn't understand the telephone conversations they wire-taped? Caddaan fooqul caddaan dheh..

[Jacaylbaro]

Kuwaa anaaba fahmi lahaaye ,,, kuwii la joogay baa fahmi waayay ,,,