BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:17859-e5cea6a9c376da1e424416f0d1418b5f@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260422T222042Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260227T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260227T103000 SUMMARY:Center for Language Science Speaker Series: Hiram Smith DESCRIPTION:\nFor our generation\, what [Black people] did is we took th e word [nigga] and we took the power out of that word. [We] turned a wor d that was very ugly and hurtful into a term of endearment. — Jay-Z\, Th e Oprah Winfrey Show (Sept. 24\, 2009)\n\nA widely held belief is that n igga has been reappropriated—specifically that hip-hop artists and comed ians have recently shifted it from a racial slur to an affectionate term . Others reject this entirely\, insisting that n*gger and nigga are the same slur and that no context justifies its use by anyone. These opposin g—and equally erroneous—views persist because discussions are dominated by non-linguists and because we lack comparative research on the term’s historical and contemporary use.\n\nTo determine whether nigga has truly been reappropriated\, we must\n\n● establish its earliest uses and mean ings\,\n\n● compare historical and contemporary usage to see whether\, h ow\, and when meanings shifted\, if at all\, and\n\n● assess whether any changes reflect gradual evolution or abrupt\, recent shifts driven by B lack agency.\n\nThis talk draws on foundational research by African Amer ican language scholars and Smith’s own research (Smith 2019\, American S peech\; and his forthcoming book Wassup\, My Nigga? The Hidden History o f a Controversial Word\, Georgetown University Press). He employs a two- tiered approach. First\, Smith presents a qualitative analysis that docu ments how—and in which linguistic and social contexts—Black speakers who had been enslaved earlier in life used nigga in the nineteenth and earl y twentieth centuries. Second\, he presents the results of a quantitativ e analysis of modern-day speakers that examines how the term is distribu ted by speaker race\, gender\, and linguistic context in computer-mediat ed conversations. His data come from the Federal Writers’ Project slave narratives\, the ex-slave recordings\, nineteenth-century autobiographic al novels\, and contemporary interactions on Facebook and Twitter (now X ).\n\nComparative evidence shows strong historical continuity: many pres ent-day meanings\, referents\, and functions have existed since at least the nineteenth century. As we will see\, these findings offer no suppor t for the reappropriation hypothesis and instead align with the Recency Illusion (Zwicky 2005). Notably\, the widely cited phrase my nigga—often treated as a term of endearment par excellence—functions primarily as a masculinizing marker of social identity rather than a true-blue term of affection.\n\nSmith would like to make a clear and necessary distinctio n at this point between use and reference. He emphasizes\, “In this talk \, I do not use the word nigga\; I refer to it. For the sake of linguist ic accuracy\, I name the term explicitly rather than euphemizing it as ‘ the n-word.’ Far too many conversations about this term are shaped by ta boo and assumption—and outright avoidance—rather than scientific evidenc e.”\n\nThis talk models an open\, evidence-based academic discussion of controversial language and underscores the importance of bringing lingui sts—especially African American linguists—into these conversations. Smit h hopes this information will help teachers\, decision-makers\, HR profe ssionals\, and school boards as they confront issues involving socially contested and politically sensitive language in their realm of influence .\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/cls-hiram-smith/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

For our gen eration, what [Black people] did is we took the word [nigga] and we took the power out of that word. [We] turned a word that was very ugly and h urtful into a term of endearment. — Jay-Z, The Oprah Winfrey Sh ow (Sept. 24, 2009)

A widely held belief is that nigga has been reappropriated—specifically that hip-hop artists and comedia ns have recently shifted it from a racial slur to an affectionate term. Others reject this entirely, insisting that n*gger and nigg a are the same slur and that no context justifies its use by anyone . These opposing—and equally erroneous—views persist because discussions are dominated by non-linguists and because we lack comparative research on the term’s historical and contemporary use.

To determine wheth er nigga has truly been reappropriated, we must

● establi sh its earliest uses and meanings,

● compare historical and contem porary usage to see whether, how, and when meanings shifted, if at all, and

● assess whether any changes reflect gradual evolution or abru pt, recent shifts driven by Black agency.

This talk draws on found ational research by African American language scholars and Smith’s own r esearch (Smith 2019, American Speech; and his forthcoming book Wassup, My Nigga? The Hidden History of a Controversial Word, G eorgetown University Press). He employs a two-tiered approach. First, Sm ith presents a qualitative analysis that documents how—and in which ling uistic and social contexts—Black speakers who had been enslaved earlier in life used nigga in the nineteenth and early twentieth centur ies. Second, he presents the results of a quantitative analysis of moder n-day speakers that examines how the term is distributed by speaker race , gender, and linguistic context in computer-mediated conversations. His data come from the Federal Writers’ Project slave narratives, the ex-sl ave recordings, nineteenth-century autobiographical novels, and contempo rary interactions on Facebook and Twitter (now X).

Comparative evi dence shows strong historical continuity: many present-day meanings, ref erents, and functions have existed since at least the nineteenth century . As we will see, these findings offer no support for the reappropriatio n hypothesis and instead align with the Recency Illusion (Zwicky 2005). Notably, the widely cited phrase my nigga—often treated as a te rm of endearment par excellence—functions primarily as a mascul inizing marker of social identity rather than a true-blue term of affect ion.

Smith would like to make a clear and necessary distinction at this point between use and reference. He emphasizes, “In this talk, I do not use the word nigga; I refe r to it. For the sake of linguistic accuracy, I name the term expli citly rather than euphemizing it as ‘the n-word.’ Far too many conversations about this term are shaped by taboo and assumption—and out right avoidance—rather than scientific evidence.”

This talk models an open, evidence-based academic discussion of controversial language a nd underscores the importance of bringing linguists—especially African A merican linguists—into these conversations. Smith hopes this information will help teachers, decision-makers, HR professionals, and school board s as they confront issues involving socially contested and politically s ensitive language in their realm of influence.

For more details: < a href='https://events.la.psu.edu/event/cls-hiram-smith/'>https://events .la.psu.edu/event/cls-hiram-smith/

LOCATION:Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR