The Word Nigga
3 August 2011
Com 100
Nigga Please… The Connotation and Denotation of the N-Word
The word “nigger” has several denotations and connotations. The different emotions and meanings attached are different for each individual. Dictionary.com defines nigger as “a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc. Slang: a black person” (“Nigger”). The website also states that “the term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English” (“Nigger”). Nigger as a word has a history, a present and it surely has a future. In the past, the word was intended for one race of people as a negative connotation. At the present time, the word is being presented as a term of endearment by people of the black race and other races. No one knows where the word will lie in the future. Research shows that the history of the word nigger differs upon whom you ask. “The etymology of nigger is often traced to the Latin niger, meaning black. The Latin niger became the noun Negro “black person” in English, and simply the color black in Spanish and Portuguese” (Pilgrim). “The linguist Robin Lakoff speculates that nigger became a slur when users of the term became aware that it was a mispronunciation of Negro and decided to continue using the mispronunciation as a signal of contempt- much as individuals sometimes choose to insult others by deliberately mispronouncing their names. Since the early nineteenth century, then (and probably earlier), nigger has served as a way of referring derogatorily, contemptuously, and often menacingly to blacks” (Qtd. in Kennedy).
Black people where regularly called niggers during the days of slavery: it was accepted in the society during those days. No one knows precisely when or how niger turned derisively into nigger and attain a pejorative meaning, however by the end of the nineteenth century, nigger had already become a familiar and influential insult (Kennedy). An American novelist, Mark
Com 100
Nigga Please… The Connotation and Denotation of the N-Word
The word “nigger” has several denotations and connotations. The different emotions and meanings attached are different for each individual. Dictionary.com defines nigger as “a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc. Slang: a black person” (“Nigger”). The website also states that “the term nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English” (“Nigger”). Nigger as a word has a history, a present and it surely has a future. In the past, the word was intended for one race of people as a negative connotation. At the present time, the word is being presented as a term of endearment by people of the black race and other races. No one knows where the word will lie in the future. Research shows that the history of the word nigger differs upon whom you ask. “The etymology of nigger is often traced to the Latin niger, meaning black. The Latin niger became the noun Negro “black person” in English, and simply the color black in Spanish and Portuguese” (Pilgrim). “The linguist Robin Lakoff speculates that nigger became a slur when users of the term became aware that it was a mispronunciation of Negro and decided to continue using the mispronunciation as a signal of contempt- much as individuals sometimes choose to insult others by deliberately mispronouncing their names. Since the early nineteenth century, then (and probably earlier), nigger has served as a way of referring derogatorily, contemptuously, and often menacingly to blacks” (Qtd. in Kennedy).
Black people where regularly called niggers during the days of slavery: it was accepted in the society during those days. No one knows precisely when or how niger turned derisively into nigger and attain a pejorative meaning, however by the end of the nineteenth century, nigger had already become a familiar and influential insult (Kennedy). An American novelist, Mark
Cited: "Bitch ." Dictionary.com . N.p., 2011. Web. 28 July 2011. Marriot, Michael. "Rap 's Embrace of 'Nigger ' Fires Bitter Debate." nytimes.com. N.p., 24 Jan. 1993. Web. 21 July 2011.