African-American Language (AAL), previously known as African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), "relates specifically to a vernacular form, spoken principally by working-class African-Americans" (Thomas 2007). This does not mean that only working-class African-Americans use AAL, but middle and high-class African-American people generally lack some of the features except when using them for sociolinguistic purposes, such as to show solidarity with a community or to stylize their speech (Thomas 2007). Therefore, it should be recognized that, as within any language variety, variation between speakers exists. The origin of African-American Language is unknown. Linguists are currently embroiled in the "creolist/anglicist" controversy concerning whether AAL originated as a creole formed on plantations, a working-class speech variety based off of the language of plantation overseers, a mixture of the two, or is based off of influence from West African languages (Thomas 2007). Another linguistic question still under debate: Are African-American language and other European American vernaculars becoming more different or more similar over time? The fact that African-American communities are not adopting vowel shifting patterns spreading among European Americans is evidence that they are, in fact, becoming more different (Thomas 2007). We strongly recommend the site Online Resources for African American Language for additional information, readings, and data. Phonetics & Phonology of AAL As stated on our page about Southern American English, phonetics is the study and classification of speech sounds, and phonology is the study of the relationships between speech sounds. African-American Language (AAL) is another English dialect that shares some phonetic and phonological traits with Southern American English (SAE), but also encapsulates many of its own unique features. The characteristics described here are not a complete list of those familiar to African-American speakers, but they are some of the most prominent, and can be attested to within the Digital Archive of Southern Speech's audio reels. Non-rhoticity: While non-rhoticity has also been listed and described under phonetic and phonology features of Southern American English, it is important to note that the practice of dropping "r" is more common in African-American Language than in European American varieties (Thomas 2007). Like in European American dialects, rhoticity (retaining "r") increases as social class increases and as speech style becomes more formal. Dropping the "r" is more common in unstressed syllables (over, brother, and forget as ova', brotha, and fo'get) and in the final syllable of a word, particularly if it occurs after a vowel and before a consonant, as in four, hard, and here. African-American speakers may also drop "r" between vowels in the middle of a word; for example, in carry and Florida (Thomas 2007). "L"-Lessness: A similar phenomenon to non-rhoticity, "l"-lessness describes situations in which the sound "l" is dropped from speech. One circumstance in which "l"-lessness frequently occurs is when it is replaced by a vowel like "o" or the consonant "w". For example, feel may be pronounced as "fio." This pattern is common in both European American speech and African-American Language. A similar variant, called "vocalization to schwa," leads to the pronunciation of feel as "fi-uh". A schwa, represented by the symbol [ ə ], symbolizes the unstressed "uh" sound in words like the. This variation is strongly associated with African-American Language. Finally, the "l" sound can just be deleted, such as in the word pull. Deletion is more common after vowels in which the lips are rounded rather than unrounded. This is also a feature more common in AAL than in European American varieties. The first speaker in this video demonstrates "L"-Lessness; notice how she says "pu'" instead of pull, compared to the second speaker, who pronounces the "l" fully. Do you exemplify "L"-Lessness in your own speech? "TH" Substitution: The "th" sound in think (called a "voiceless" sound because of a lack of vibration in the vocal folds, represented by the symbol [θ]) is commonly replaced in African-American Language by "t", "tθ", or "f" sounds, or many even be deleted. The voiced counterpart of θ (that is, pronounced with vibrating vocal folds) is used in words like that. Represented by the symbol [ð], it may be replaced in AAL by the sounds "d" or "v". The "f/v" replacements only occur word medially finally, never at the beginning of a word (Other dialects may replace [θ] with "f" or "v", but they wouldn't be African-American Language!). You may recognize this feature from the pronunciation of both as bof and nothing as something like nufin' (Sidnell). "t/d" replacements with [ð] can occur anywhere, as in bot, dat, and muddah as both, day, and mother. Substitution frequency of [θ] increases the lower the social class and the more informal the speaker's speech style. Men are also more likely to show these variants than women (Thomas 2007). Consonant Cluster Simplification: A widely-studied AAL characteristic, consonant cluster simplification is exactly as it sounds: the simplification of a group of consonants pronounced together. It occurs where the second consonant in a cluster is a "stop consonant," or a consonant in which airflow in the mouth is briefly cut off, as when we pronounce "t," "b," "k," etc. We see this in words like cast pronounced as cas' and act pronounced as ac'. Speakers of all dialects delete the final stop consonant of a word when the following word also begins with a consonant, as in pas' (past) the house, but AAL is unique in that it deletes stop consonants even when followed by a vowel, as in pas' a house (Thomas 2007). The video below shows several examples of consonant cluster simplification. The first two speakers say ac' instead of act, unlike the third speaker. The fourth speaker pronounces past as pas'. How often do you find consonant cluster simplification in your own speech? Final Devoicing: Speakers of African-American Language may "devoice" or delete the sounds "d," "g," and "b" at the end of a syllable. Words like mud get pronounced "mut" or mu'. "Devoicing" is the process of changing a voiced sound to a voiceless sound. Deletion can even extend to voiceless consonants, through pronouncing words like rack as ra' (Thomas 2007). In the following video, the first two speakers employ final devoicing in the word mud. The first speaker deletes the consonant entirely, while the second speaker devoices it to a glottal stop (a kind of pause in speech created by a complete closure in the glottis, considered a consonant and represented by the symbol /ʔ/). The third speaker pronounces the "d," even though the audio is soft. Can you tell the distinction between these three speakers? Do you ever show final devoicing in your own speech style? Monophthongization: We discuss the monophthongization of "ai" diphthong in Southern American English on this page, but monophthongization in African-American Language applies to a wider set of vowels. The vowels heard in the words face, goat, and thought are more likely to be pronounced with a long "eh" sound (as in mess), a long "oh" sound, and an "ah" sound (as in cot) by African-American speakers than by European American speakers. The monophthongal variants present in face and goat in SAE are more prevalent in areas with larger populations of African-American people, leading linguists to believe that these features have been adopted from African-American speech. However, monophthongization of these vowels has practically vanished from AAL today, only recognized in speakers born before World War I. (Thomas 2007). These distinctions can be difficult to perceive, but the video below should help distinguish diphthongs and monophthongs in these sounds. The first speaker, who speaks in the African-American Language dialect, pronounces the word face with a vowel closer to the "eh" in get than an "ey" as is normally heard in face. The second speaker, who does not speak in AAL, pronounces face with this "ey" sound. Can you hear how the two speakers are different? Do you have this type of monophthongization in your own speech? Unstressed Vowel Deletion: Finally, AAL is characterized by the deletion of unstressed vowels in initial syllables. Enough may be pronounced as 'nough and ahead may be pronounced as 'head. Entire syllables may be deleted, as in 'spect for expect. This feature has become less prevalent over time, but can still be found in some speakers for now (Thomas 2007). Hear how the first speaker says head instead of ahead, unlike the second speaker? This feature can be difficult to notice in rapid speech, but happens all the time nonetheless. Do you have unstressed vowel deletion in your speech? As in SAE, some words in AAL have individual phonetic variants. Ask is pronounced as "aks" by 23% of African-Americans but only 1% of European Americans. This is an example of linguistic phenomenon called "metathesis," or the alternation of sounds in a word or phrase. Pasture pronounced homophonously with pastor is a feature that used to be common in Southern White Vernacular English, but has been disappearing more rapidly in SAE than in AAL. The Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States found that this variant is spoken in 54% of African-American speakers and only 18% of European American speakers. Aunt pronounced with the same vowel as lot occurs in 9% of Southern American English speakers but 74% of African-American speakers. Finally, the first vowel in sister is often pronounced the same as the vowel in foot (Thomas 2007). As already stated, many people confuse features of Southern American English with those of African-American Language - and there is definitely some overlap! Both dialects display the PIN/PEN merger, AI-monophthongization, and OI-monophthongization. OI-Monophthongization occurs especially before the letter "l" so that words like boil sound like ball or bowl. However, it is important to remember that these two dialects are actually distinct and possess their own unique combination of phonetic and phonological features. No dialect is "better" or "smarter" than the other; each just represents different ways of communicating the same things. Grammar (syntax) of African American Language African-American Language exhibits a few unique syntactical/grammatical constructions. Many of these features are widely represented in TV shows, movies, and books, and are instantly recognizable as features of AAL. Others you may not be familiar with, even if you are a speaker of African-American Language yourself. Copula/Auxiliary Absence: AAL speakers often delete the copula/auxiliary words is and are, both forms of be. For example, a person may say "she cute" as opposed to "she's cute," or "they acting silly" instead of "They're/They are acting silly" (Wolfram 2004). Invariant Be: Also called "non-finite be" and "habitual be," and on the other end of the spectrum from copula absence, invariant be "marks a unique aspect referring to an intermittent activity" (Wolfram 2004). A person might say "She be at the store" to refer to the fact that they are at the store often/with some regularity. Constructions follow a be V-ing pattern. This phenomenon has been spreading outward from urban centers, with preference by younger over older speakers. A more recent linguistic change is to use the invariant be in "equative sentences," such as "I be the truth" (Wolfram 2004). Ain't: Ain't is common in other vernacular dialects, including AAL. It serves as a negative replacement for forms of be and hasn't/haven't. A speaker may say "She ain't here" or "She ain't been there lately." A use of ain't considered particular to AAL is replacing didn't, as in "She ain't do it" (Wolfram 2004). Absence of Third Person Singular -S: The inflectional "-s" may be deleted on possessives and plurals. Speakers of AAL, especially younger speakers, are more likely to say "The cat[s'] paw is stuck" or "It's four mile[s] from here" than speakers of European American varieties (Wolfram 2004). This is a brief sampling of some of the most well-known features of African-American Language; more features can be found in "The grammar of urban African American Vernacular English" by Walt Wolfram, as well as on our Further Reading page. Lexicon of African American Language Just as Southern American English possesses a lexicon unique to its dialect, African-American Language does the same. The words below are just a sample of those found and used first in African-American Language, though many have migrated into Standard American English today. Some of the following words have origins in West African languages such as Hausa and Wolof; when possible, these original forms and the languages they come from are provided. With the advent of the internet, words spread far more quickly now than they did in the past. Many linguists, particularly sociolinguists, use sources such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to track when and where new words originate. The Oxford English Dictionary regularly updates its dictionary and posts updates, including new words and updated definitions, to its website. Word Alternative Forms Definition Ashy Whitish appearance of an African-American person's skin due to exposure to wind, rain, or cold ATL Atlanta, Georgia Bad Really good Bet Affirmation of what has been said Bogus Fake (Derivative of the Hausa word boko) Brotha/Sista Brother/Sister General term for another African-American person Cat Friend (Derivative of the Wolof suffix -kat, meaning person) Check out Observe Def Superb Diss Dis Disrespect, or a disrespectful phrase Dope Superb Dreadlocks Dreads Hairstyle of loose, thick braids Drop Release a music album Educated fool Someone who has book smarts but no common sense Fry To straighten kinky hair with a heated brush, comb, or wand Goin' down Occurring Gumbo Creole seafood dish High-five Giving five Palms slapped in mid-air to convey agreement or excitement Hip Well-informed; up to date (Derivative of the Wolof word hipi) Hood Neighborhood Light-skin African-American person with light-complexioned skin Nappy Describes the tight, coarse curls of African-American hair; kinky Oprah To get someone to reveal intimate facts about themself in the style of television personality Oprah Winfrey Okra Vegetable, often fried Pad House Phat Excellent; admirable Play Deceive Props Respect Salty Angry Sugar daddy Male lover who financially supports a younger mistress Thang Thing Wack Undesirable Wit With Word Positive, reinforcing response to a previous statement (Mufwene et. al 1998; Sidnell; Widawski 2015 ) Website developed by Bailey Bigott (UGA BA 2020, MA 2021).
