Africanisms

Africanisms refers to characteristics of African culture that can be traced through societal practices and institutions of the African diaspora. Throughout history, the dispersed descendants of Africans have retained many forms of their ancestral African culture. Also, common throughout history is the misunderstanding of these remittances and their meanings. The term usually refers to the cultural and linguistic practices of West and Central Africans who were transported to the Americas during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Africanisms have influenced the cultures of diverse countries in North and South America and the Caribbean through language, music, dance, food, animal husbandry, medicine, and folklore. Africanisms are incorporated in American English. Although physical artifacts could not be kept by slaves because of their enslaved status, "Subtler linguistic and communicative artefacts were sustained and embellished by the Africans’ creativity." The language spoken by African Americans is greatly influenced by the phonological and syntactic structures of African languages. African American languages were not initially studied, because scholars thought Africans had no culture. "Recent linguistic studies define a language variously referred to as Black English, African American English, or, more appropriately, Ebonics." Some West African languages do not explicitly distinguish past and present. Instead, context allows statements to be interpreted as past or present. The early language associated with cowboy culture was influenced by African phonology. African words that became part of the American language include banana, jazz, boogie and zombie. African-Americans in the United States continued some African naming traditions throughout slavery and beyond, including naming themselves for seasons or days of the week, and using more than one name in a lifetime. African and African-American linguistic structures, as well as the traditions of rhythmic speech, call-and-response and verbal battles, developed into rap and hip-hop, which has had a global influence.