the more disparaged they are often tend to coincide with...
TRANSCRIPT
These include anything termed “dialects”
Include rural and urban varieties
To the extent they deviate from the standard◦ The more disparaged they are
◦ Often tend to coincide with or reinforce class and racial stereotypes
Not at all◦ Equal to all other natural languages
◦ All habitual ways of speaking have predictable rules and structure
African-American English Vernacular
One of the most studied and debated varieties of English in the US
Uses certain distinct sounds and pronunciations
Stigma most often focuses on grammatical characteristics
◦ Double negation (ain’t … no …)
Like “ne.. pas” in French
◦ Verb aspects (been, steady, been done…)
Complex and subtle distinctions about time and duration of actions
Possible African influence?
◦ Deletion of copula (he dumb)
Omission of some form of “to be”
Simplification has long history in English
◦ Archaic pronunciations (aks)
Reflect patterns from older English variants
E.g. “Aks” versus “ask”
Two stable variants in Old English – “ascian” and “acsian”
16th c. was when “ask” became “standard”
“Aks” commonly seen 16th and pre-16thc. literature◦ Christ's sermon on the Mount in Miles Coverdale's
Bible, 1535: "Axe and it shal begiuen you.“
◦ William Caxton: “A mercer cam in to an
hows and axed for mete…”
Spoken by many, but not all African Americans◦ And some other ethnic community members..
Internally diverse
Fluid and changing
Controversy over origins
Standard English is “power language”◦ Grammatical rather than pronunciation standard
◦ Debates over what/why of the “power language” eclipsed by pragmatic needs of students
◦ Controversy inside and outside the community over policy