[G8_LCS Thu 4-6] PPT african american language

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1. African American Language Group 8 Tran Thi Ngoc Huyen Nguyen Thi Hoang An Ryom Jong Gun

2. Table of contents 01 African American Community 02 African American Language 03 AAL Linguistic Patterns 04 Discussion

3. African American Community 01

4. An ethnic group consisting of Americans who are descendants of African ancestors African American Community in the US

5. Location Mostly settled in the South-East area of the US ( Adapted from Census 2000)

6. 46.8 million people (2019) Make up roughly 14% of the country’s population. Population

7. African American Language 02

8. A variety of English language spoken by many African American speakers in the United States. ( Van Hofwegen, 2015: 454) . What is African American Language? A frican A merican V ernacular E nglish A frican A merican E nglish

9. The history of AAE Theory 1: pidgin → creole Theory 2: African American slaves learned English from indentured servants (often of Scots-Irish descent) NOTE : These theories are not mutually exclusive.

10. Influenced the music culture Contributions to American English Pop, Rap, hip-hop,... no longer a language limited to one particular race T ranscended the streets and gone mainstream 01 02

11. Not all African Americans speak AAE, and not all speakers of AAE are African Americans

12. AAL Linguistic Patterns 03

13. Activity 1 Note down some features of AAE in the rap song “Hey! Mama” of Kanye West

14. Activity 1 goin’, cheatin’ Finna, gotta y’all you never put no man over me you don't hurt no more you ain't gotta work no more .

15. Syntax ( Source: adapted from Wolfram, 2009: 330 ) Linguistic feature AAE European-American English Copula deletion: deleting the verb “to be” Habitual “be” : to indicate habitual or intermittent activity (“be” + -ing form) Absence of “possessive” He late. They hungry. She be working late John be late. We be playing basketball after school John hat Jack car He is late. They are hungry. She works late a lot John is always late. We play basketball from time to time John’s hat Jack’s car

16. Syntax Short activity 2: Choose the one sentence in which habitual ‘be’ would be used in AAE a. Sometimes my ears be itchin’ b. My ears be itchin’ right now. a. Momma be workin’ today. b. Momma be workin’ every day. a. I be tellin’ you just now, I ain’t hungry! b. I always be tellin’ you I ain’t hungry, but you never listen. .

17. Morphosyntax Morphosyntactic feature Example 3rd person SG-s deletion she talk, he sing plural -s deletion three dog, some cat multiple negation He don’ know nothin’ Negative inversion Can’t nobody talk like that. stressed bín (for present perfect tense) She bín married. I bín known him. come to express indignation She come goin’ in my room. gon/ gonna/ finna/ I’ma to express the future We gon visit them soon

18. Phonology Phonological feature Example Consonant cluster reduction word-finally test → tes, desk → des Deletion of postvocalic liquids help → /hɛp/, car → /kɑ/ Your→ yo, my ride→ /ma: ra:d/ Stopping of th word-initially the man → /də/man Change th to /f/, and th to v word- medially and word- finally mouth → / mawf/ the brother → /də bɪʌvə/ smooth → /smuv/

19. Lexical items bogus = 'fake/fraudulent' hep, hip = 'be well informed, up-to-date' cat = 'a friend, a fellow, etc.’ cool = 'calm, controlled' dig = 'to understand, appreciate, pay attention' Phat = excellent Shit = something worthless; garbage; nonsense. bad = 'really good' lit = exciting, excellent .

20. Discussion 04

21. DISCUSSION Why is it that people speaking AAL is often viewed as sub-standard? Just as you can have racial or gender discrimination, you can have linguistic discrimination. How does linguistic discrimination affect the AAL speakers?

22. Answer Stereotypes ‘Faulty’ version of standard English. AAE is often derided as ungrammatical and linguistically less than other forms of American speech. → AAE speakers are denigrated and discredited based on their speech. This negative attitude toward AAE is an example of the strong roots of language ideologies and linguistic subordination → This phenomenon poses a dilemma to AAE speakers that language that basically serves as a symbol of ethnic identity becomes the focus for discrimination in society(Rahman, 2008).

23. Answer F eelings of prejudice can determine views about comprehensibility and credibility : People can shut down and stop trying to understand when they don’t like the dialect of the person speaking. A boy named Trayvon Martin was recorded brutally shot by Zimmerman, 2012 ( Source: The NYTimes)

24. Prejudice about speech affects people’s housing , employment and education . Wage inequality : Black workers who were perceived as sounding Black earning 12% less than similarly qualified whites Education : children who speak AAE may be told that their speech isn’t “proper” or legitimate Answer

25. Language is a treasure for all ethnicities and it deserves respect.

26. Thanks for listening!

27. References: Tamir, C., Budiman, A., Noe-Bustamante, L., & Mora, L. (2021, December 15). Facts about the U.S. Black population. Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/ Mooney, A., & Evans, B. (2019). Language, Society and Power: An Introduction. Routledge. Jones, T. (2020, November 13). African American English and Cross Dialect Comprehension. Language Jones. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.languagejones.com/blog-1/2018/10/2/african-american-english-and-cross-dialect-comprehension Kendall, Tyler, Jason McLarty, and Brooke Josler. 2018. ORAAL: Online Resources for African American Language: AAL Facts. Eugene Erik R. Thomas (2007). Phonological and Phonetic Characteristics of African American Vernacular English. North Carolina State University. Schneider, Edgar W. 1989. American Earlier Black English: Morphological and syntactic variables. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. Jones, T. (2022, February 1). What's in a name? why do some linguists not call it African American vernacular English (AAVE) anymore? Language Jones. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.languagejones.com/blog-1/2020/12/21/whats-in-a-name-why-do-some-linguists-not-call-it-african-american-vernacular-english-aave-anymore