Poor blacks speak different language.

• Position: Linguistics - Brief article

Rising economic and neighborhood segregation may be contributing to linguistic differences within the African-American population, which also may be accelerating economic inequality among blacks, according to a study coauthored by Jens Ludwig, professor of social service administration, law, and public policy at the University of Chicago (Ill.), and John Rickford. professor of linguistics at the University of Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif.

The study found that, as African-American children moved into lower-poverty areas, they tended to use speech less characteristic of what linguists call African-American Vernacular English. Over time, these children used speech more typical of Standard American English.

Linguists long have emphasized the benefits of dialects to minority groups as a means of solidifying and promoting cultural identity. At the same time, there is evidence of persistent discrimination against non-SAE in work settings, schools, and...