Language Variation and Change Prof. R. Hickey WS 07/08 African American English

1. Language Variation and Change Prof. R. HickeyWS 07/08 African American English Asiye Bakirman and Leonid RozinLN=LeistungsnachweisHauptstudium

2. What is African-American English? • Features of AAE • Phonological Features • Grammatical Features • Semantic Features • Pragmatic Features • Ideology and so-called Obscenity • AAE Lexicon and Meaning • When linguistic worlds collide: Development of AAVE

3. 1. What is African American English? The term African American English (AAE) implicates “the whole range of language [varieties] used by black people in the United States: a very large range indeed, extending from the Creole grammar of Gullah spoken in the Sea Islands [and coastal marshlands] of South Carolina [and Georgia] to the most formal and accomplished literary style” (Mufwene 1992: 291)

4. vernacular varieties ACROLECT BASILECT MESOLECT Educated middle-class English most different from that

5. African-American English AAVE= continental nonstandard varieties Gullah= Sea Island Creole varieties

6. Names in literature for AAVE „Ebonics“ „Urban Negro speech“ American Negro Dialect Merican Negro (nonstandard) English „Black Idiom“ American Negro English „Black Dialect“ Negro nonstandard dialect Black English Vernacular Black English „Black Talk“ „Black Street Speech“ „PALWH“

7. Phonological Features • absence of interdental fricatives: • a) word-initial position replaced by /t/ or /d/ • think, them tink, dem • b) intervocalic & word-final position replaced by /v/ or /f/ • mother muvuh, • withwiv (alternatively: wit, wid) • c) others without consisting pattern • threefree

8. Phonological Features • nonrhotic:/r/ is omitted in: word-final & pre-consonantal position> word-final position followed by vowel>word-medially before a vowel • father favuh > Carol Ca’uhl • absence of linking: • r: forever foh evuh • glide [y] or [w]: studying, however • indefinite article an:He is a expert.

9. Phonological Features

10. Grammatical features lack of possessive marker: Nate book  does not include possessive pronouns suffix -s subject-verb agreement: Vanisha love AJ. lack of noun-plural marker: two puppy

11. Grammatical features : COPULA • copula (any form of nonexistential be) is most often absent before: • future marker gon: • Diane gon home. • progressive: • John talking. • adjectives: • She beautiful. • - prepositional/locative phrases • - predicate noun phrases

12. Grammatical features present tense forms are more often absent than past tense forms no constructions as *I sick are more likely omitted than is

13. Grammatical features: anterior tense marker bin past tense:I bin sleeping when you come.  I was sleeping when you came. past perfect:Larry bin gone when I come. Larry had left when I came. Present perfect:I bin home all day. I have been home all day. auxiliary verb bin reference to distant past: I bin know(in) you  I have known you for a long time.

14. Grammatical features • durative or progressive marker –in(-ing) • How you doin? • perfect marker done: • Larry bin done. (remoteness) We done bin.(perfect) • AAE: done for ‘finish’ • past-habit marker useta (=used to) • I useta/ sta see that boy. • aspectual marker steady • Them fools (be) steady hustlin everybody. •  The fools (usually) keep hustling everybody.

15. Grammatical features: Negation • - not, no (noun phrases) • ain(t)(verbal & nonverbal predicate phrases) • Bill ain(t) come. Bill did/ has not come. Al ain(t) like Bill. Al is/ does not like Bill. • -negative inversion with indefinite subject • Ain nobody talk to youNobody talked to you. • multiple negation • I ain’t never had no trouble with none of’em.

16. semantic features -semantics of AAE has only been little studied Geneva Smitherman: “Black Semantics“; Marcyliena Morgan: “Counterlanguage“

17. semantic features → some words have two levels of meaning (one black, one white); He is a bad dude. → original intention: slaves did not want their white masters to understand what they were saying further examples: dope,phat,cool, give me five, front, attitude, bro, rep, stupid,

18. Pragmatic features • playing the dozen: exchange fictional insults about the opponent's female close kin • → “Yo mama is so fat (that) (when) she sit(s) on a quarter she get(s) two dimes and a nickel!” • smart talk: impress the addressee and not necessarily any witnesses→ e.g. in courtship

19. Ideology and so-called Obscenity lexicon of AAVE: „nigga“, „bitch“ → such uncensored speech is found in all of the major social groupings →often used in an almost or completely evaluatively neutral way

20. AAE Lexicon and Meaning The entries in AAE lexicon also English words But: different meanings different linguistic environments It brings groups of people together

21. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Vocabulary partitioned in two abroad categories: words and phrases used by members of all age groups those more likely to be defined with members of a certain age group

22. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Lexicons and AAE A review of three types a list of lexical items that occur in variety a list of lexical items that are subdivided into thematic topics a repository of words, distinct from slang

23. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Major(1994, A dictionary of African-American Slang) and Smitherman(1994, Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner) represent the first type Both approaches show what is referred to as black talk surpasses the boundaries of the most current lexical usage by teens.

24. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Major and Smitherman converge on a number of issues and entries, for example: ashy, kitchen ashy - defined as „the whitish coloration of black skin due to exposure to cold and wind“ kitchen – defined as „the hair at the nape of the neck which is inclined to be kinky“

25. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Folb(1980) exemplified the second type of lexicon His experiences: „being black in white America is probably the basic connection among blacks across geographic, economic, and linguistic boundaries. There is a well-formed black vernacular lexicon which is known and used by middle-class and ghetto teenagers alike“

26. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Major focus of Folb´s work are these topics: name terms in the black community forms of manipulation male and female interaction vocabulary of drugs e.g. name terms for close associations – cuz, play sister, the police – the man, the fight – throw some blows

27. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Dillard(1977) distinguished lexical terms that belong to the African American community from those that are more closely associated with particular social domain. He thinks: „a great deal of „Black“ slang“ to belong to the rackets (pimping, prostitution, narcotic hustling, general underworld activities) rather than to the Black community

28. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Some special entries of AAE: Get over – to succeed Gospel bird – chicken so named because preachers were said to enjoy it as a meal

29. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Structuring the lexicon Four types of information in lexical entries: Pronounciation grammatical class or part of speech linguistic environment(place in a sentence) in which the word occurs meaning

30. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Lexical entries for terms in the AA lexicon: get over – take advantage of, to succeed by using little effort The students tried to get over on the teacher Call (+self) - in the opinion of others, making an attempt to do sth (or be somb or sth) “He call hisself a basketball player, and can´t even dribble the ball”

31. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Slang great problem: slang changes rapidly, so it is virtually impossible to give an accurate account of surrent slang items for example: phat - adjective meaning extremely nice, good looking or of good taste 1990: very popular among Afr. Amer. teens and yound adults. BUT 1999: no more

32. AAE Lexicon and Meaning Three categories of slang: Those for labeling people Those for painting people, activities and places positively or negatively Those for ways of spending leisure time, focused upon having fun Some terms for females: bopper, dime, honey, hot girl, ma, shorty, wifey; for males: balla, cat, cuz, dawg(dog), fool, homes, kinfolk, money, playa(player)

33. AAE Lexicon and Meaning There are also regional twists on labels for people, e.g: someone´s dawg or comrade in New Orleans is also whoadie. Diamonds – ice, and of course for jewellery or platinum - bling bling The terms for money (as in currency): benjis(benjamins), cabbage, cheese, cream, franklins, paper, dead presidents Or like it in one of the Outkast’s song is: „I want greens, bills, dividents is what I´m talkin about“

34. When linguistic worlds collide: Development of AAVE

35. When lingistic worlds collide: Development of AAVE Anglicist Hypothesis 1950s→ AAVE: derived from British dialects; black population spoke British dialects just like any other immigrant ethnic group Creolist Hypothesis mid-1960s and the 1970s→ AAVE has its origin in an expansive Creole language brought from Africa

36. Tanx fo ya attention ;)

37. References Green, Lisa. 2005. „African American English“. Cambridge University pres Mufwene, Salikoko S.. 1992. „African American English.“ Alego, John (ed.). The Cambridge History of The English Volume Vl English in North America. Cambridge University pres: 291-324 Mufwene, Salikoko S.. 1998 „African American English.“ Structure, History, Use. London: Routledge