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Around a month ago I saw a Snapchat story talking about Awkwafina’s use of a “blaccent” and appropriation of black culture. For context Awkwafina is an Asian actor who starred in works like Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8. While reading the article I was reminded of our discussions during lecture and recitation about AAVE - African American Vernacular English.

I found it really interesting the public reaction to her use of AAVE. From what I took away from various articles was that most people do not think that Awkwafina is racist, but rather the people who pointed her out felt the need to point out that what she was doing is wrong. Although Awkwafina herself is a minority her and the rest of the public agree that Black struggle in America is different than Asian struggle.

I found Awkwafina’s apology to be genuine. I felt that she had reflected on the way she spoke and that it was inappropriate. Although Awkwafina had no derogatory intent, when she was speaking in AAVE it seems as though she knew she was appropriating black culture. Overall, I found that she handled the situation well. She took time to reflect, almost 2 years, and had discussions with members of the Black community on why what she did was harmful and how she could improve.

Throughout the course, cases like these have been really interesting. I feel in the modern-day language interacts with race and gender significantly. This course has taught me how you speak can tell a lot about you - your morals, where you come from, your awareness of social issues, and so on. Moreover, I found that language is a huge part of people’s identities and not something to take lighty.

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Awkwafina returned to Twitter after a two-year absence on Saturday to address longstanding criticism over her use of a blaccent and appropriation of Black culture.

In a statement that also indicated she would be "retiring from Twitter," the Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star denied that her use of AAVE, or African American Vernacular English, as well as her "blaccent" - a voice that stereotypically imitates forms of Black American dialect - were meant to mock Black people.

Early in her message, the actress acknowledged the sociopolitical and "historical context of the African American community" in the U.S. as one that has been "disproportionately affected by institutionalized policies and law enforcement policies - all the while having historically and routinely seen their culture stolen, exploited and appropriated by the *dominant* culture for monetary gain, without acknowledgment nor respect for where those roots come from, the pioneers of its beginnings and the artists that perfected and mastered the craft."

Without outright stating that she has participated in this herself, Awkwafina said that using it in her own language "never was" meant to be derogatory.

pic.twitter.com/pxSLXZD2J0
- nora (@awkwafina) February 5, 2022

"As a non-black POC, I stand by the fact that I will always listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE, what is deemed appropriate or backwards towards the progress of ANY and EVERY marginalized group," she wrote. "But I must emphasize: to mock, belittle or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is: Simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was."

Later in the lengthy statement, the American actress of Chinese and Korean descent pointed to the "fine line between offense and pop culture" made finer by how AAVE has been appropriated and passed off as originating with the "internet Tik-Tok slang generation" amid hip-hop's shift into becoming a mainstream genre.

She attributes her own use of it to her immigrant background, public school environment, consumption of TV and film, as well as her "respect for hip-hop."

"I think as a group, Asian Americans are still trying to figure out what that journey means for them, what is correct and where they don't belong," she said, "And though I'm still learning and doing that personal work, I know for sure that I want to spend the rest of my career doing nothing but lifting our communities. We do the first by failing, learning, acknowledging, hearing and empathizing and I will continue tirelessly to do just that."

To Clarify: I am retiring from the ingrown toenail that is Twitter. Not retiring from anything else, even if I wanted to, and I didn't drunkenly hit someone with a shoehorn and now escaping as a fugitive. Also am avail on all other socials that don't tell you to kill yourself!

- nora (@awkwafina) February 5, 2022

The actress had previously been asked about her longstanding use of AAVE and a blaccent both in her comedy and dramatic roles in an interview with Reuters Showbiz in September 2021, offering a briefer response at the time.

"Um, you know, I'm open to the conversation," the Queens native said. "I think it, you know, it's really something that is a little bit multi-faceted and layered."

.@awkwafina addresses controversy of her using a 'blaccent' in films: pic.twitter.com/razgNiTFke

- Reuters Showbiz (@ReutersShowbiz) September 10, 2021

Awkwafina - whose given name is Nora Lum - has been challenged on her use of AAVE and her blaccent by online critics as far back as her Tawk With Awkwafina show on the mobile-orientated social entertainment platform Go90. More recently, she's faced backlash around her performances in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, as well as during press for Shang-Chi, when old clips of her using a blaccent - as well as her statement in a interview that "I refuse to do accents" when it comes to Asian characters - resurfaced.

Another wave of criticism followed the star of Comedy Central's Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens after she was nominated for a 2022 NAACP Image Award for character voiceover performance in television or film for her work on Raya and the Last Dragon.

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Awkwafina Addresses Blaccent, AAVE and Cultural Appropriation Criticisms

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Awkwafina returned to Twitter after a two-year absence on Saturday to address longstanding criticism over her use of a blaccent and appropriation of Black culture.

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An example where an emoji was expressive was when my friend asked me if I am watching football, but he used the football emoji instead of the word. This is pretty obviously a referential instance of using an emoji because the person replaced the word “football” with the football emoji. I found this use to be really successful because I was easily able to figure out what he was saying. Moreover, I felt as though he put more time into crafting the message as he went to the emoji keyboard and found the emoji.

An example where an emoji was used in a directive way was when my roommate sent me the emoji with a person putting a finger over their mouth to indicate “be quiet.” This would go under the directive category because he was telling me to be quiet. I found this to actually be a really successful use of the emoji because it made it seem like he was saying it in a friendly manner instead of being mean about it. When he could have just said “be quiet” he used the emoji to be a little friendlier. To me, this showed that he was trying to be kind but still commanding me to do something. I think emojis can be really useful when trying to tell people what to do in a kind way.

When my mom was texting me a few days ago she sent me the heart emoji which is an example of an emoji being used in an expressive way. Instead of my mom typing “I love you” she decided to use the emoji. I found the emoji to convey her love better because it gave an image/symbol of her love. She also made the heart blue which is my favorite color. The thought behind picking the emoji she did expresses her love and dedication to her message.

I chose the data I did because they were all examples of the ways in which emojis can be functions of language. Also, I chose the data I did because I feel as though many other people may have received or sent similar emojis.

I feel as though emojis are almost art nowadays. They show way more thought and dedication than simply writing messages to people. While doing this assignment I started to think about whether emojis fall into the standard language. I could not come up with a definitive answer but I had reasons for both sides. On one hand, high-level people and the societal elite use emojis, so this would support that it is part of the standard language. On the other hand, emojis are viewed as informal, so, therefore, it would not be a part of the standard language.

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The first article I will be talking about is “Women need to stop saying “sorry”” from Daily Forty Niner by Christina Merino. Merino got inspired into looking into this topic when her gender studies professor told the class to stop saying “sorry” so often. Merino then began to notice that she and other women apologized too much. She noted: “Need to share a thought during a meeting? “I’m sorry, can I interrupt?” Does someone need to get their job done? “I’m sorry, could you get that back to me by the end of the day?” Does someone bump into you on the sidewalk? “Oh, I’m sorry.” Do you bump into an inanimate object like a table? “Ah, I’m sorry.””  As she noticed this she began to wonder why women apologize more. She found a study from the University of Pittsburgh that said women apologize more than men because they admit to more wrong, not because they are wrong more. Many men simply do not think some of their wrongs are wrong which contributes to this. The tendency for women to feel as if they are wrong stems from societal norms that state women should be polite, quiet, and mannered. Moreover, some females are scared of hurting others' feelings. We talked about the topic of rapport in class and Tannen said that “people who utter frequent ritual apologies may end up appearing weaker, less confident, and literally more blameworthy than people who don’t.” In this way, women are taking wrongs onto themselves to maintain relationships. They mentioned this in the article aswell.

The tendency for women to say “sorry” hurts them in the workplace. Women start to over-apologize for things that are barely their fault. We can blame patriarchal work structures for this. Since many companies are dominated by men, women feel inferior in the workplace and feel the need to apologize for minor mistakes because of this. The article offers a solution for this. Instead of women saying “sorry” they should say “thank you.” Instead of saying “sorry about that” they should say “thank you for understanding.” I would just like to say, it is not women’s fault that they say “sorry” often. Instead, it is society’s fault for making women feel like their minor mistakes are big issues. Hopefully, as women gain more positions of power in society, politics, and the workplace, they stop apologizing for things men would not apologize for.

My second article is titled “5 Ways Men and Women Talk Differently” by Rob Kendall from Psychology Today. Kendall got inspired to write about the topic after he asked a woman who was the only female executive in her company how she did not feel discriminated against in the workplace and she said “I behave like a man.” Because the female executive acted like a man, the men took her in as one of them. Kendall points out that women tend to ask more questions, focus more on connections, use the words “mmm, yeah, & okay” as support, use more pronouns, and offer suggestions rather than orders. On the other hand, men get more attention when they speak, mansplain, one-up in conversations, use more articles like “a” and “the”, and interrupt more. The differences between men and women when speaking highlight how society allows men to think they are dominant when they are speaking. The article goes on to explain that the solutions to these issues are to value differences, initiate dialogues, and observe male and female dynamics.

Both articles provide proper linguistic merit. The authors both use personal anecdotes and connect how themselves and the people around them are affected by sexism and language. Therefore, I do not think there is much bias in either article. The two authors are simply addressing pressing social issues in earnest and genuine fashions. While in the first article not many numbers are used, in the second the author uses numbers and data to back his claim up. He used statistics like how 80% of women ask questions in interviews. I found his data to be paired well with the article.

Both articles mention the concepts of report and rapport. Specifically, they highlight how women show more emotion when speaking compared to men. When women say “sorry” it seems as though they are trying to save their relationships and be kind. Meanwhile, when men mansplain they are doing so to command. The articles also address how men act more assertively in conversations because they have more dominance in society and access to power. We also learned in class that women use the standard variant more than men. I think that this could be because women might feel pressured to follow the norms in society and remain “proper.” Connecting these articles to Tannen, women tend to focus on maintaining relationships while men want to establish their status. Also the data in the second journal highlights that women ask questions due to their insecurities - what Lakoff said.

Doing this research reminds me of an episode in one of my favorite shows, Modern Family. In the episode, Claire is attending a meeting with a bunch of male clients and she needs to act like a businessman to fit in. Meanwhile, her husband needs to act more feminine when hanging out with the businessmen’s wives. That episode highlights pop culture's tendency to say that women need to act like men to succeed professionally. Doing this research was eye-opening because it made me consider the struggles females have while conversing.

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A number of years ago I worked with an international company that had one woman among its entire senior management community. After a strategy meeting, the conversation at dinner deteriorated to the point where I felt uncomfortable on her behalf. She happened to be sitting next to me, so I asked her how she coped. 'I behave like a man,' she whispered.

In all probability, none of the men felt there was any problem; if challenged, they would have said, 'It's fine, she's one of us.' Their willingness to include her as a member of their tribe was - in their eyes - a badge of recognition, but acceptance was predicated on conforming to their norms of behavior. We shouldn't be surprised when women struggle to find their voice, or to figure out what form their voice should take, in work environments that are skewed toward male ways of communicating.

Men and women don't always conform to stereotypical rules, but research shows that the following characteristics are true for a greater proportion of women than men in a Western culture, and vice versa. Understanding these differences helps explain clashes of the sexes. The next time you're sitting in a boring meeting, look out for these Top 5 characteristics of women-talk:

1. Women tend to have more focus on affinity, connectivity and group consensus than men.

2. Women are more likely to ask questions. In research based on 100,000 interviews by John Gray and Barbara Annis, 80 per cent of women said they prefer to ask questions even when they know the answer, because it encourages others to contribute.

3. Men and women both use minimal responses such as 'mmm', 'yeah' and 'oh', but women use them more as a way of showing support and encouragement, while men tend to use them as a way of driving the conversation forward, demonstrating expertise or competing for status.

4. Women use more pronouns such as 'I', 'you' and 'we'. In fact social scientist Professor James W Pennebaker estimated that, on average, women use 85,000 more pronouns a year than men. This is significant because pronouns are used in reference to relationships and people.

5. Rather than giving orders, women are more likely to make suggestions or proposals, so as to increase rapport.

Now contrast this with the Top 5 characteristics of men-talk:

1. Men tend to have more attention on displaying their skill, knowledge or humor, especially in group situations. This trait is well evidenced from studies of young boys and girls in school classrooms, and extends into adult life.

2. When they hear a complaint, men are likely to see it as a challenge to give their advice or find a solution. While they think they are being helpful, women will see this as mansplaining.

3. As they walk away from a conversation, men are inclined to wonder whether it's put them in a 'one-up' position, whereas women will question the impact of the conversation on their sense of connection. This is the conclusion of Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, after three decades of research.

4. While women use more pronouns such as 'I', 'you' and 'we', men tend to use more articles such as 'a' and 'the', in reference to objects and things.

5. Men are more prone to interrupting a speaker or challenging a comment than women. They use more mechanisms for influencing or controlling the topic of a conversation, in line with their goals or objectives.

While these characteristics aren't always true at an individual level, the rituals associated with gender difference are accentuated in group situations. This explains why members of either sex who are in the minority can feel pressure to adapt their conversational style in order to be accepted by the group.

So what's the solution? Here are three ways to navigate through the choppy waters of miscommunication between the sexes:

1. Observe male-female dynamics. In most conversations we're preoccupied with listening, forming opinions, or replying, and don't pay attention to the underlying structure of the interaction. Start noticing who's asking questions, interrupting, or using the most pronouns. Resist the temptation to draw judgments, at which point you'll cease being an observer.

2. Initiate dialogues. Many people are anxious to raise the 'gender' word, due to the fear of being seen as prejudiced, but exploring differences in a spirit of curiosity is the secret to effective collaboration. Whether your team is predominantly male or female, pay particular attention to those in the minority. Do they feel heard and expressed? Can they speak up without fear of being ejected from the group? The best way to find out is by asking them.

3. Value differences. When it comes to communication, we mustn't forget that men and women share far more similarities than differences. However, it's our differences that provoke righteousness and blame. If we can celebrate our contrasting styles instead of seeking conformity, men can value their female colleagues who ask questions to create rapport. In equal measure, women can recognise that competing for status is part of the male ritual, and probably isn't intended to be inconsiderate or rude.

The strongest teams are the ones in which people embrace opposites instead of seeking homogeneity. If they adopted this principle, the leaders in the oil and gas company would be encouraging their lone female leader to find her own voice instead of expecting her to speak like a man. True equality in the workplace is not just about equal representation; it's about freedom of self-expression too.
For more information, and to subscribe to future blogs, visit conversationexpert.com Follow me on Twitter @Rob_Kendall My new book is Workstorming Why Conversations At Work Go Wrong and How to Fix Them.

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A number of years ago I worked with an international company that had one woman among its entire senior management community. After a strategy meeting, the conversation at dinner deteriorated to the point where I felt uncomfortable on her behalf. She happened to be sitting next to me, so I asked her how she coped.

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A universal feeling is when you get that pit in your stomach when you realize you've done something wrong and there's nothing you can do to take it back. Well, I get that every time the words, "I'm sorry," leave my mouth.

Sitting in my Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies class at CSULB, my professor addressed the whole class on the first day, telling us to stop using "sorry" and apologizing so much in class and our everyday lives.

Ever since that day, this idea of not saying sorry stuck with me and made me start thinking of the words I used in conversation. Did I say sorry too often?

Women tend to apologize, a lot. And for what you may ask? Literally almost everything and anything. Sometimes even for things that don't even need an apology.

Need to share a thought during a meeting? "I'm sorry, can I interrupt?" Someone needs to get their job done? "I'm sorry, could you get that back to me by the end of the day?" Someone bumps into you on the sidewalk? "Oh, I'm sorry." You bump into an inanimate object like a table? "Ah, I'm sorry."

Women apologize for absolutely everything and it has to stop. But why is it that women tend to over-apologize? Do men apologize just as frequently but we just do not notice?

According to a study co-written by Karina Schumann, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, women do apologize more often than men. Not because men aren't willing to apologize, but women who apologize tend to admit to more wrong.

"If [men] think they've done something wrong they seem to be just as willing as women are [to apologize] but they just don't think that they've done as many things wrong," Schumann said on the Women at Work podcast.

"They're perceiving fewer offenses than women are and women rate the exact same offenses as being more severe and therefore are more willing to apologize for those offenses," she said.

We could clump this habit with all the other societal norms that have been unwillingly pressured onto women, like how we should always be polite and not raise our voices. It is a habit that many women have a hard time breaking free from.

"Some women are worried about hurting people's feelings and causing offense," said Rachel Green, a psychologist from The Emotional Intelligence Institute in an interview with ABC News.

"It does depend on the level of confidence of the woman, how they have been brought up, their cultural background, their religious background, their personality type, and what role they are in," Green said.

Even though all these aspects can influence the constant use of the word "sorry," it doesn't mean that women shouldn't say it if it's appropriate or necessary. What we do have to change is the use of "sorry," being the way women try to express concern.

"It's one of many learned elements of conversational style that girls often use to establish rapport," said Deborah Tannen, author and professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, in Harvard Business Review.

"Ritual apologies - like other conversational rituals - work well when both parties share the same assumptions about their use," Tannen said. "But people who utter frequent ritual apologies may end up appearing weaker, less confident, and literally more blameworthy than people who don't."

Using these ritual apologies also starts affecting women in the workplace. A leader at a corporation or organization can't constantly take the blame and apologizing for everything that is done.

This old habit has to die fast and soon. It is a form of minimizing oneself and their work. Women have to start owning what they say and accomplish without being apologetic about it.

Sally Helgesen, author and women's leadership consultant said on the Women at Work podcast that instead of starting all of our sentences with "sorry", we should replace them with "thank you."

Replacing "sorry" with "thank you" gives a sense of intention to the sentence. It directs the attention to the other person and not yourself.

For example, "I'm sorry I'm a minute late," is not the same as "Thank you for waiting for me."

The blame isn't taken by you. Instead, it acknowledges the person for their patience, and still meets that concern that women try to convey when saying sorry.

Changing the ritual apologies will make women appear stronger and more confident in what they're saying. This will gain us more success not only in the workplace but also as individuals with logical statements, opinions, and overall speaking with intention.

The next time I say "sorry," I'm hoping it is with intention, and that pit in my stomach will eventually go away and I will feel more confident in what I'm saying. I hope other women do too.

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Women need to stop saying "sorry" - Daily Forty-Niner

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A universal feeling is when you get that pit in your stomach when you realize you've done something wrong and there's nothing you can do to take it back. Well, I get that every time the words, "I'm sorry," leave my mouth.

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That's the right kind of question to be asking, Rayyan. Let's talk about this in recitation on Monday. Great job getting all your data.
- Alden

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Over the weekend I was able to finish my data collection. However, I did need help from my sister to get some data because I ran out of people I am close enough to call over the phone. How would I go about addressing this in my paper? I did notice that the trends of my data did not shift when my sister was calling. I wanted to keep it consistent that the person that was calling in the study was relatively close with the person answering the phone.

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Hi Rayyan, this looks like you're off to a good start. You say you're calling people you know. It would be good to record something about your relationship with each person as well (i.e., are some of them family or close friends and others of them distant acquaintances?). It would also be good to record details like each participant's (approximate) age.
- Alden

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I have decided to research greetings as my topic. I went to an all-boys high school and I have noticed the different ways in which people from my high school greet people compared to people from all-girls schools and co-ed schools. I will be calling people I know and recording how they initially greet me when they pick up the phone. So far I have gathered 39 tokens of data. I think I should be able to get 120+ tokens of data. The only problem might be that I know more boys than girls, so this will make it so I have more data on males. But hopefully, I should be able to get a good amount of data from both males and females. Right now, it is not too uneven. I was home over the weekend and was meeting up with a lot of people from my hometown so I was able to get a lot of data easily when we were calling to make plans. It might be a little harder to get data in the future since my friends and I will be at school again and will have less time to pick up their phones.

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In class, we discussed the concept of “r dropping.” Through Labov’s study, we learned that people from the upper class or who are surrounded by the upper class tend to drop their “r” when saying certain words. One particular instance I can think of about with “r dropping” is when people pronounce the name of Harvard University. Instead of pronouncing the rs in Harvard people tend to just extend the vowels. This makes people pronounce the university like “Haavuhd.” This example perfectly fits the idea of covert prestige because Harvard is known to be the best school in the world. Therefore, who would not want to pronounce the university the way others do to sound smarter and connected to the school?

The first example I have of someone saying Harvard with an r drop is in the popular television show Family Guy. Family guy is a particularly satirical show and in the episode in which the main character, Peter, goes to Harvard he pronounces the school's name like “Haavuhd” to fit in and sounds smarter. Obviously, the show's producers make him pronounce Harvard like that to poke fun at the upper class for r dropping. Later Peter goes on to say “I am at Haavuhd, the smartest school in the country.” Family Guy is an extremely popular and comedic show and the producers of the show often make fun of the upper class. This addresses the associations with pronouncing Harvard like this and r dropping. In the show, Peter is a middle-class man but he adopts r dropping to seem more sophisticated and well off. Although the show is not very serious it addresses the very important political and linguistic phenomenon of r-dropping. The show did a great job of showing how Peter tried to sound smarter by r dropping. I also chose this example because Family Guy is a very popular show so their opinions on r dropping are likely widespread.

Interestingly enough when I watched youtube videos of current Harvard students saying Harvard they pronounced it with the rs. I believe this is because of the negative association with r dropping. Nowadays, people think that when people drop their rs they are doing it to sound sophisticated, smart, and wealthy. Obviously, Harvard students do not want other people to think of them like that so they properly say their rs. I feel as though there is a lot of negative association with r dropping in 2022. Especially, as economic and social gaps continue to expand, I think it is extremely important for all groups to have similar ways of speaking to mitigate division amongst classes. It's almost as though r dropping is inappropriate in the common day. In the videos I watched, Harvard students clearly pronounced their rs.

In my own life, I have heard this happening as well. Last year, when we were applying to colleges I often heard people mock Harvard by r dropping. People did this because the school is associated with so much prestige it is almost funny. In the modern day, when people r drop when saying “Harvard” it is mostly satire and to make fun of the elitism associated with the school.

However, the tendency to make fun of people for r dropping may show some social progression. It reveals how trying to copy the dialects of people other people in higher social groups is embarrassing. An idea of covert prestige is that a higher group adopts a certain dialect that they use, and that dialect is often adopted by others. In Labov’s case, we learned that r dropping was also a way to discriminate and separate groups. It is good that popular media and the younger generation are almost shaming r dropping so that there is more equality amongst dialects.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Harvard College Admissions & Financial Aid

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5 Harvard Students Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions 👀

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Note: I did not attach the link because the clip was not entirely appropriate for class

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For my third Padlet, I have decided to analyze how food trucks around NYU decide to use language to advertise their food. Specifically, I will be looking at the Mexican food truck and the Chinese food truck outside of the Stern building, Sidewalk Tacos and Fafu, respectively. I and many other NYU students see these food trucks everyday. I have been able to eat at both trucks as well and get an experience for their cuisines and cultures.

Fortunately, I have been able to discuss the authenticity of the foods and the trucks with people from China and Mexico. From my conversations with my Mexican friend, he told me that the food truck was “pretty good” and the food was relatively authentic. The same friend also took me to an authentic Mexican restaurant where I was able to see how the two foods compared. Overall, they were pretty similar I would say. On the other hand, when speaking to my friend from China he said that the food truck was not authentic.

What is unique about New York City is that advertisers are attempting to gain the business of people from many different races and cultures. The two food trucks likely understand that many NYU students from all over the world are interested in eating their food so they make their word choice, menu, and design very clear, so that regardless of background, people can easily order from their trucks.

First, the Mexican food truck features their large logo that says “Sidewalk Tacos” on all sides of their truck. While maybe not everyone in New York knows the word “sidewalk,” “taco” is almost a universally understood word. In this way, the truck is able to easily grab the attention of people from all different walks of life, targeting all types of people. Additionally, the menu is also very easy to understand. The truck places images next to food items so that people not so familiar with Mexican cuisine can understand what food is available. I did not think of that much before, but associating images with words can be very helpful. The Chinese truck uses very similar tactics. They also put large vivid photos next to the menu words to help people who may not be familiar with their cuisine. Additionally, the food truck says “traditional Chinese cuisine” on it. While the words “traditional” and “cuisine” may not be understood by everyone around NYU, the word “Chinese” is almost universally known. The words “tacos” and “Chinese” are selected by the advertisers because they are commonly known buzz words for people across all cultures. I chose this data in particular because thousands of people see the trucks, their logos, and their word choice a day and are intrigued by it.

One thing I also noticed was that the people running the trucks speak Spanish and Chinese. This makes it so that people of those groups feel a sense of community when visiting the trucks. On both occasions of eating at the trucks I heard people speaking Spanish and Mandarin.

The use of the words “Chinese” and “taco” reminded me of the concepts in Kachru’s Concentric Circle we reviewed in recitation. While there are different degrees to which countries understand and use English, there are some words which are widely understood like “Chinese” and “taco.” So these words fall into all the circles we looked at. Also, this observation highlights that regional differentiation does not necessarily  include common words regarding culture. Physical, linguistic, social and linguistic isolation do not seem to impact words like “taco” and “chinese.” We also discussed in class about vocabulary-based linguistic variables. My roommate and I further discussed linguistic variables and came up with the thought that words like “taco” and “Chinese” are too common to have various ways of saying them. This is a question that I look forward to studying further.

This Padlet was particularly interesting to me because it made me understand the linguistics behind advertising and other business decisions.

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For my second portfolio entry I will be talking about the usage of the phrases/words “going to” versus “finna” Personally, I have seen the emergence of the word “finna”  a lot as of recently. Particularly, I have noticed my friends who like pop-culture, celebrity media, fashion, and hip-hop use “finna” more and more over the years. “Going to” and “finna” are perfect examples of linguistic variables. They are two words that express the same concept but carry different “social connotations and associations.”

To be honest, I was a little disturbed by the commentary on the internet when researching the word “finna.” What I found online was that it is used majority by African Americans and much of the forums I read were making racist remarks about the African American community and their usage of this word. I was shocked that people in the linguistic community made these remarks. However, I was able to find some insightful data, commentary, and analysis online as well. The data I found was useful and helpful to the subject because it provided historic and modern examples of "finna's" usage.

In the common day, “finna” is widely used amongst Generation Z. Every race has people who use the word “finna,” but it is particularly prevalent in city-like and urban atmospheres the most. Moreover, the word “finna” is not seen to be a formal word. The word is used amongst friends particularly and in informal settings. For example, one would not say “finna” in a job interview or to their professor. Obviously, in comparison to “going to,” “finna” is significantly less popular, but amongst younger generations, it is almost widely understood.

“Finna” has been used by generations of English speakers.

Some people claim the origins are from Southern American English.  According to dictionary.com, “finna” means “getting ready to (1700s),” “to intend,” “arrange,” or “make preparations.” By the 1800s, “finna” began to mean “preparing to,” “going to,” “intending to,” or “getting ready to.” These phrases are still what “finna” means today. In the 1980s “finna” began to become popularized in African American English. Many claim that the modern usage of “finna” is derived from Southern English. The word is also pronounced “finta” and “fitna.” It is especially important to respect the usage of the word “finna” as it has become a part of African American vernacular over the past 40 years. Although the data highlights that “finna” is particularly prevalent among the African American population, it is important to note that all types of people use the word as well.

In my own personal life, I use either “going to” or “gunna” more often than “finna.” While I do use “finna” on occasion, and hear it often when talking to my friends, it has not become a prevalent part of my vocabulary. I think part of this has to do with the fact that I am not too interested in pop culture where “finna” is often used.

In class, we talked about the different types of linguistic variables. The different variables fell into different categories like Semantic/ Lexical/Vocabulary Based, Grammatical/Syntactic/Morphological, and Phonological/Phonetic/Pronunciation Based. I believe that finna would fall best under the lexical category because it has more to do with a person’s personal vocabulary. However, I would also understand if someone put it into the syntactic category because it has to do with formulating sentences.

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Although finna and gonna are similar in meaning, they have subtle differences.

F inna can sometimes be more immediate, and, unlike gonna, can't be used to indicate something in the distant future. Instead, finna refers only to intent that's going to happen in the near future. The meaning is a little bit more similar to bouta, similarly contracted from about to.

The fucking Grind Really Finna Go Crazy 🤑🤑🤑

- F e n i c i a ™️ (@TyvpL) January 8, 2019

Finna can also be also be a negative, so you can say "I'm not finna fight with you."

Ain't nobody finna stress me out ...

- Quissy 🎃 (@Kingquissy) January 7, 2019

Be mindful that finna is a valid feature of African American English and it is not grammatically incorrect.

Also be aware that the use of finna, while widespread in popular hip-hop culture since the 1990s, can come across as patronizing, insensitive, or appropriative when used by people who are not part of African American speech communities.

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Why Saying "Finna" Actually Is Grammatically Correct

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Although finna and gonna are similar in meaning, they have subtle differences. F inna can sometimes be more immediate, and, unlike gonna, can't be used to indicate something in the distant future. Instead, finna refers only to intent that's going to happen in the near future.

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Abbreviation of "fixing to". Normally means "going to".

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An example of forming a sentence that is prescriptively incorrect in my own life is using “no” at the end of a sentence to connote a question. I do this often, and people often give me a strange look when I do it, or after a while of getting to know me they will start using this sentence structure to joke around with me.

Example: “You had a burger earlier today, no?” The conventional way of saying this phrase would be “Didn’t you have a burger earlier today?”

Oftentimes, when people hear someone say “no” at the end of a sentence to indicate a question they are caught slightly off guard as this style of speaking is not often used. There is not much hatred or discrimination towards this practice. Someone who hears this style of speaking often understands what the speaker means but is slightly perplexed as to why they are saying their question in such a manner.

Nowadays there is not a particular social group in particular that uses the word “no” like this. However, in my personal experiences I have noticed some Canadians using “no” this way, three of them in particular. I will definitely ask the Canadians in our class if they have heard anyone speak this way. From my research, I was able to see that this was common in Old English. So perhaps, scholars of Old English may be more familiar with the usage or may have even adopted it themselves. Another forum said that the phrase might be associated with native French and Spanish speakers, but there is not any extensive evidence of that. Personally, I have not heard any French or Spanish speakers use this style of speaking. The amount of data on this subject reveals a lot about the speaking style. The data reveals that there are definitely people who care about using “no” this way, however, it is not prevalent enough to have extensive research by large amounts of researchers, or even universities and other institutions. In fact, the data I chose is the most popular and relevant data on the matter.

I would not say that this style of speaking is necessarily disliked. It is not common enough for people to hear it often and begin to have a problem with it. In modern English this way of speaking is grammatically incorrect, but people are not too picky about it.  In fact, in my own use of this style of speaking I have found that it lightens the mood and people enjoy hearing a different way of phrasing a sentence. One critique I found online was that people often think when someone asks a question in this fashion they tends to think it is a rhetorical question. However, in my own daily life I use “no” in this way even when asking non-rhetorical questions.

I did not see any advocation for this way of asking questions. I think there is no support for it because it does have any cultural or historical significance to a certain group or identity. Oftentimes, there is advocating for styles of speaking due to tradition, but in this case there is not much historical significance of this practice.

Personally, I am a huge fan of this usage. I think that everyone should go against the “Standard Language” and adopt their own unique style of speaking in one way or another. The notion that the language of those in power is correct - standard language - is a very dated and backward concept. Just like how everyone has their own taste in music, food, clothing, etc. everyone should have their own way they prefer to speak. Ultimately, if people went against societal norms and spoke the way they felt most comfortable and natural, the world would be a more diverse and genuine place.

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Is it correct to use "no?" at the end of a sentence in English?

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Answer (1 of 12): No. Don't do it, it sounds affected, like you are trying too hard to sound European. I've heard an announcer on National Public Radio do this, and it doesn't sound elegant or erudite, it just sounds false. We don't do this in English, but in Spanish it is close to "right?"

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While I agree that appending the word no at the end of a statement - thereby making it a question - can indeed sound accusatory, condescending, or confrontational, I don't think that's necessarily the case.

As Charles mentioned, it can also be used to express self-doubt, as if to say: " at least I think that's the case, is it not?" or, " wouldn't you agree?" or, " I could be wrong about that, please correct me if I'm mistaken."

As with anything else, much depends on the context: the relationship between speaker and listener, the tone of voice, the preceding conversation, facial gestures, and the like. But here are a few examples where it wouldn't seem much more of a challenge than adding " eh?":

I'll bet you had a good time on vacation; the weather was good there, no?

That hotel has the nicest staff, no?

1955 was the year that Brooklyn finally won the World Series, no?

That said, I agree with Mitch: it's not a common construct. Being rather concise, it could easily be misconstued to sound very curt. Use it with caution, no?

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Is it correct to append "no" to a question?

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While I agree that appending the word no at the end of a statement - thereby making it a question - can indeed sound accusatory, condescending, or confrontational, I don't think that's necessarily the case. As Charles mentioned, it can also be used to express self-doubt, as if to say: " at least I think that's the case, is it not?"