The Development of African American English (Language in Society) (Hardcover)

by Walt Wolfram (Author), Erik R. Thomas (Author) "The synchronic and diachronic status of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) has now been scrutinized more than that of any other vernacular variety in the..." (more)
Key Phrases: enclave dialects, enclave dialect situations, prevocalic cluster reduction, Hyde County, African American, European American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The Development of African American English is a masterpiece. The authors systematically examine linguistic and historical evidence from an area (Hyde County, North Carolina ) that has not figured in earlier discussions of African American Vernacular English . The result is a more complex and intricate picture of Black/White sociolinguistic relations,both now and in the past, than we have had to this point, with rich implications for how research on language variation and change should be conducted more generally." John R. Rickford, Stanford University

"Wolfram and Thomas's investigation of language in a biracial Southern enclave has much to tell us. Their attention to key issues of theory and methodology informs their research and bolsters a set of carefully argued conclusions about the history of African American English. The authors' work takes on a broader significance by their willingness to tackle vexing questions, whether the issue is how to assess differences in intonation patterns between African Americans and European Americans or how to relate individual differences to community variation." John Singler, New York University

"Specialized but of the utmost importance to dialectologists and sociologists, this volume is exhaustive, accurate, provocative, and compelling. Recommended enthusiastically for graduate students, researchers, and faculty." Choice, December 2002, Vol 40 No. 04 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
This book focuses on one of the most persistent and controversial questions in modern sociolinguistics: the past and present development of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Despite intense scrutiny of the historical and current development of AAVE, a number of issues remain unresolved. Most prominent among these is the development of African American English during the antebellum period and the trajectory of change in twentieth-century AAVE. This book addresses both of these issues by examining an unparalleled sociolinguistic situation involving a long-standing, isolated, biracial community situated in a distinctive dialect region of coastal North Carolina. This unique environment provides a venue for dealing with questions of localized dialect accommodation and ethnolinguistic distinctiveness in earlier African American English. The conclusions drawn challenge the Creolist, Anglicist, and neo-Anglicist positions with respect to the history of AAVE and offer insights into the development of African American speech in the twentieth century.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631230866
• ISBN-13: 978-0631230861
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,523,806 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)