ATLANTA (AP) - Federal agents are seeking to hire Ebonicstranslators to help interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.

Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Michael Sanders said the agency recently sent memos asking companies that provide it translation services to help it find nine translators in the Southeast who are fluent in Ebonics.

Ebonics, which is also known as African American VernacularEnglish, has been described by the man who coined the term as the combination of English vocabulary with African language structure.