SOCIAL VARIATION IN LANGUAGE
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Concepts
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African american englısh
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Vernacular language
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The sounds of a vernacular
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The grammar of a vernacular
AYKUT GÜLER
2015191031i
AFRICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH
African American English (AAE), a language variety that has also been
identified at different times in dialectology and literary studies as Black
English, black dialect, and Negro (nonstandard) English. Since the late
1980s, the term has been used ambiguously, sometimes with reference to
only Ebonics, or, as it is known to linguists, African
American Vernacular English (AAVE; the English dialect spoken by many
African Americans in the United States), and sometimes with reference to
both Ebonics and Gullah, the English creole spoken by African Americans in
coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia and on the offshore Sea
Islands.
AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR
ENGLISH
The term '' vernacular'' has been used since the Middle Ages, first to describe early local
versions of the European languages that eventually became French, Italian and Spanish
(low prestige) in contrast to Latin (high prestige) , then to characterize any non-standart
spoken version of a language used by lower status groups. So,the vernacular is a general
expression for a kind of social dialect,typically spoken by a lower-status group, which is
treated as'' non standard'' because of marked differences from the ''standard'' language.
As the vernacular language of African Americans,AAVE shares a number of features with
other non-standard varieties,such as''chicano English,'' spoken in some Hispanic American
communities .Varieties of what has been called ''Asian American English'' are also
characterized by some of the pronunciation features described in studies of this vernacular.
LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF AAVE
Lexically, AAVE is not very different from the dialects that surround it, and most of the vocabulary commonly
associated with AAVE is in reality young people's slang disseminated by rap and popular culture. While there are
some words lexically unique to AAVE, for example, "crib" and "homey," the majority of its contrast with other dialects
of English lies in its phonology and grammar. These are the most lasting and regular features of the dialect. (Rickford)
Phonology
Phonology refers to the sounds that make up a language. Here are some phonetic features of AAVE.
Consonant clusters at the end of words
When two consonants appear together at the end of a word, speakers of AAVE often drop one of them -- they
are reduced. This happens, to some extent, in every dialect of English, owing to the fact that two successive
consonants are relatively difficult to enunciate. In AAVE, this reduction is systematic. It occurs according to
rules. Here are two major ones:
1. If the word following the consonant cluster starts with a consonant, it is more likely to reduce than if the next word
starts with a vowel.
example:
West Side --> "wes side", vs. West End
2. A final -t or -d is less likely to be deleted if it is part of a past-tense marker -ed.
2. A final -t or -d is less likely to be deleted if it is part of a past-tense marker -ed.
The "th" sounds
When occurring in the beginning of a word, the th- sound is pronounced as a d- sound.
example:
this, they, that --> dis, dey, dat
Within a word, -th (unvoiced) is frequently pronounced as an f sound. This also occurs at the end of
the word in certain environments.
example:
nothing, author --> nuffin, ahfuh
The voiced -th may be voiced as a v sound.
example:
brother --> bruvah
THE GRAMMAR OF A VERNACULAR
Grammatical Features
Negatives
Use of the verb "be"
The way in which AAVE marks negatives is different than, but just as regular as other varieties
of English. For example, AAVE uses "ain't" in every position that standard English uses "haven't."
I haven't gone yet --> I ain't gone yet
AAVE also allows double negation, a feature that is strongly stigmatized in standard English:
The copula, or conjugated "be" verb, is excluded in AAVE in certain environments.
For example:
Future sentences with gonna:
He ___ gon' go to the store.
We ___ gonna go swimming.
I ain't drive no car.
I ain't no little girl.
I ain't see nothing.
(Sidnell, unless otherwise specified. Examples mine.)
Before verbs with progressive endings:
Use of "be"
He don't know what he ___ doing.
Where ___ she going?
Before adjectives and locations:
Some of the most noticeable and distinct features of AAVE are the different uses of the verb
"be". Standard English speakers frequently mistake use of this perfectly grammatical feature
as an attempt to speak standard English that failed. In reality, this usage just follows
grammatical rules that are unknown to non-speakers of AAVE.
"BIN"
"BIN" is a stressed form of been, which signifies that an action began a long time ago.
She ___ angry.
He __ at home.
Before nouns or noun phrases:
You ___ the one complaining.
He ___ a hard man to please.
Verb Agreement
In English, verbs are marked to agree with the number of the corresponding subject.
We are going out.
He is going home.
In AAVE, this distinction is not usually made.
They has a big house.
They was going home.
example:
She BIN had dat han'-made dress.
She's had that hand-made dress for a long time, and still does.
"Be done"
"Be done" functions as a conditional perfect, a hypothetical future statement.
Befo' you know it, he be done aced de tesses.
Before you know it, he will have already aced the tests.
Habitual "be"
The invariant habitual 'be' is used to show that an action is done frequently. "Invariant"
signifies the fact that the verb is not conjugated, it is always in this form.
Ah 'on know what homey be doin'.
I don't know what my friend is usually doing.
(Information and examples, Rickford)
PIONEERS
Walt Wolfram (born February 15, 1941) is an American sociolinguist at North Carolina State
University, specializing in social and ethnic dialects of American English. He was one of the early
pioneers in the study of urban African American English through his work in Detroit in 1969. Since
the 1960s he has authored or co-authored 20 books and more than 300 articles on variation
in American English. He was an active participant in the 1996 debate surrounding the Oakland
Ebonics controversy, supporting the legitimacy of African American English as a systematic language
system. Going beyond African American English, Wolfram has written extensively about Appalachian
English, Puerto Rican English, Lumbee English, and on many of the dialects of North Carolina,
particularly those of rural, isolated communities such as Ocracoke Island.
Wolfram received his B.A. in anthropology (Greek) from Wheaton College in 1963, his M.A. in
linguistics from Hartford Seminary Foundation in 1966, and his Ph.D. in linguistics from Hartford
Seminary Foundation in 1969, studying under Roger Shuy. He has been on the faculty at Georgetown
University and the University of the District of Columbia, was the Director of Research at
the Center for Applied Linguistics from 1980 to 1992, and in 1992 was named the first William C.
Friday Distinguished University Professor of English Linguistics at North Carolina State University.
ROBERT LEE WILLIAMS
Robert Lee Williams II (February 20, 1930 – August 12, 2020) was a professor emeritus of psychology and
African and Afro-American studies at the Washington University in St. Louis and a prominent figure in the
history of African-American Psychology. He founded the department of Black Studies at Washington University
and served as its first director, developing a curriculum that would serve as a model throughout the country.
Williams was well known as a stalwart critic of racial and cultural biases in IQ testing, coining the word
"Ebonics" in 1973 and developing the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. He published more
than sixty professional articles and several books. He was a founding member of the Association of Black
Psychologists and served as its second president.
In 1968 he was a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABP) and served as its second
president. The ABP was established as a response to the American Psychological Association (APA) due to
backlash at what was perceived by some psychologists as the APA's conscious and unconscious support for the
racist nature of American society. A central ethos of the ABP was that members understood that they were
"Black people first and psychologists second". The focus of Black psychology for Williams was to "be about the
business of setting forth new definitions, conceptual models, test theories, normative behavior, all of which
must come from the heart of the Black experience". While serving as President of the Association of Black
Psychologists (1969-1970), Williams created The 10 Point Plan and mailed it to 300 colleges and universities.
This plan was instrumental in recruiting and sustaining Black graduate students in Masters and Ph.D.
psychology programs throughout the United States.
QUESTIONS
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1-) What is AAVE(African American Vernacular English) ?
A-) A Language
B-) A Dialect
C-) A Pidgin
E-) A Creole
D-) An Accent
2-) Which is not considered part of informal language ?
A-) Talking with a friend
B-) Using a slang
D-) Writing an essay in school
C-) Personal Writing
E-)Telling a story
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3-) What is a social dialect with low prestige spoken by a lower-status
differences from the standard language ?
A-) AFRICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH
C-) JARGON
B-) SOCIAL BARRIER
D-) VERNACULAR LANGUAGE
group, with marked
E-) SLANG
4-) Which of the following languages was not widely spread as a result
A SWEDISH
C FRENCH
B ENGLISH
D SPANISH
E LATIN
5-) Which of the following is NOT a dialect of English?
A-) RP, or "BBC" English
B-) Australian English
C-) Gullah
D-) Boston Brahmin
E-) Pennsylvania Dutch
of colonialism?
REFERENCES :

Yule, G.(2014) The Study of Language (5th ed.),
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Yule, G.(2017) The Study of Language (6th
ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_(psychologist)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Wolfram
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https://sites.google.com/site/blackenglishhistory/what-is-blackenglish/features-of-aave
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfricanAmerican_Vernacular_English#:~:text=AfricanAmerican%20Vernacular%20English%20(AAVE,working-%20and%20middleclass%20African