Chapter 10

Please note that the labels on each recording (for example, "Chicago English" or "Black English") were provided by the person who made the recording available for you to listen to. Other linguists or individuals may not agree on the description as it stands. The best example of this: you'll note that some recordings are marked "general" American, which is problematic for the same reasons the term "standard" English is problematic.

Audio Examples

Audio

Accent	Chapter	Page #	Online Example Title	URL
AAVE	10	278	International Dialects of English Archive: Alabama Four (African-American female, born 1928, Chambers County, AL) International Dialects of English Archive: Alabama Nine (African-American female, born 1942, Tuskeehee, AL) International Dialects of English Archive: Alabama Thirteen (African-American male, age 20, Montgomery, AL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Four (African-American female, age 23, theater student) International Dialects of English Archive: Kentucky Four (African-American female age 19, Paducah, KY) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana One A (African-American male, born 1972, New Orleans, LA) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana Two (African-American female, born 1985, New Orleans, LA) International Dialects of English Archive: Louisiana Three (African-American female, born 1985, New Orleans, LA) International Dialects of English Archive: Michigan Nine (African-American male, born 1984, Detroit, MI, student) International Dialects of English Archive: Mississippi Three (African-American male, sixties, Grenada, MS) International Dialects of English Archive: North Carolina Five (African-American male, 30s, Winston-Salem, NC) International Dialects of English Archive: South Carolina Four (African-American female, born 1986, Florence, SC) International Dialects of English Archive: Texas Seventeen (African-American male, raised in Texas)	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/alabama-4 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/alabama-9 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/alabama-13 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-4 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/kentucky-4 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/Louisiana-1a http://www.dialectsarchive.com/louisiana-2 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/louisiana-3 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/michigan-9 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/mississippi-3 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/north-carolina-5 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/south-carolina-4 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/texas-17
SAE	10	282	International Dialects of English Archive: General American	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/general-american
Appalachian speech	10	288	International Dialects of English Archive: Alabama Three (white female, born 1950, farm in NE Alabama) International Dialects of English Archive: West Virginia One (male, 70s, Crab Apple, WV) The Speech Accent Archive: English 381	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/alabama-3 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/west-virginia-1 http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=1324
New York	10	288	International Dialects of English Archive: New York Three (Puerto Rican male age 49, The Bronx) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Four (white male, Brooklyn/Bronx age 20) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Five (white male, Jewish, Queens, born 1947) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Six (white female, Jewish, Queens, born 1947) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Seven (white male, Jewish, Bronx, born 1940) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Eight (white female, Jewish, Bronx, born 1943) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Eleven (Italian-American male, Brooklyn/Queens, born 1954) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Thirteen (white male, Jewish, Manhattan, born 1975) International Dialects of English Archive: New York Sixteen (African-American female, Brooklyn, born 1967)	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-3 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-4 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-5 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-6 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-7 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-8 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-11 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-13 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-16
British English	10	288	International Dialects of English Archive: Dialects and Accents of England	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/england
Chicago accent	10	290	International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Three (female age 18, Chicaco suburbs, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Six (male student, Northern Chicago, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Seven (Jewish female, Chicago, IL born 1952) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Eight (male age 20, Chicago, IL) International Dialects of English Archive: Illinois Ten (white male born 1953, Chicago, IL)	http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-3 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-6 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-7 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-8 http://www.dialectsarchive.com/illinois-10

Discussion questions

1. Listen to the samples from African American* speakers from several states. Do you notice any variation in the varieties of AAVE used by these speakers?

2. Listen to the samples of other dialects of English other than AAVE* and consult the description of some features of AAVE provided on pages 183. Do you hear any of those features in the non-AAVE dialects?

Videos

“Obama Inaugural Speech Translated into Ebonics”
Funny or Die
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/02ae432358/obama-inaugural-speech-translated-into-ebonics

This video provides material for the discussion of attitudes towards and stereotypes around African American English.

Discussion question

1. What does this video reveal about attitudes toward “Ebonics” and the people who speak it?

Further Resources

Baugh, J. (2006) Bridging the Great Divide. In W. Wolfram and B. Ward (Eds.) American Voices: How Dialects Differ from Coast to Coast. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Fought, C. (2006) Language and Ethnicity: Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–69.

Green, L. (2004) African American English. In E. Finegan and J. Rickford (Eds.) Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Cambridge Univerity Press.

Wolfram, W. and Torbert, B. (2006) When Linguistic Worlds Collide. In W. Wolfram and B. Ward (Eds.) American Voices: How Dialects Differ from Coast to Coast. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Images

The book cover for a special edition of Perry, T. and Delpit, L. (1998) The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/img/publication/covers/0807031453_250.jpg

Ebonics poster
https://p12.secure.hostingprod.com/@www.theqleaner.com/ssl/images/colboard/posters/Ebonics.JPG

RSS & Blogs

Word.: http://africanamericanenglish.com/
Michael’s Blog
“Laugh to Keep from Cryin’: Black English and Humor as a Means of Critiquing Mainstream Culture”
http://www.myspace.com/basscycle/blog/371659510