Sociolinguistic variation in the copula system of Black English was studied in the light of the linguistic history of the dialect and universal constraints on possible grammars. An attempt was made to identify sociological factors which account for the fact that the grammar of American Black English does not exhibit evidence for a creole stage in…

Production and perception of word-final "th" was assessed among 40 Black English- and 40 standard English-speaking children from grades one to four. The two dialectal groups were significantly different in production but not in perception of the word-final "th." Sequential developmental stages for the acquisition of word-final "th" are proposed…

The author, by analyzing a research experiment shows that the teacher of black children should be taught significant elements of Negro nonstandard English. (MS)

Presents Goodman's criticisms of Rystrom's article which appears in the same issue. (MB)

Explores the distribution of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American and European-American speakers in Memphis, Tennessee. Presents evidence of extensive glide weakening in the African-American community in Memphis and compares it to the degree and contexts of glide weakening in the European-American community. (Author/VWL)

Presents evidence that Detroit African Americans are participating in a recent sound change that is typically associated with some White but not African American varieties in the American South. Reports a leveling pattern in which /ai/ monothongization has expanded to the salient pre-voiceless context in Detroit African American English (AAE).…

Analyzes outgroup linguistic racism in parodies of Ebonics that appeared on the Internet in the wake of the Oakland School Board resolution on improving the African-American students English skills. Shows that Mock Ebonics is a system of graphemic, phonetic, grammatical, semantic, and pragmatic strategies for representing an outgroup's belief in…

This article considers the comprehension of tense-aspect markers remote past BIN and habitual be by 3- to 5-year-old developing African American English (AAE)-speaking children and their Southwest Louisiana Vernacular English (SwLVE)-speaking peers. Overall both groups of children associated BIN with the distant past; however, the AAE-speaking…

By revisiting the work of the Black Caucus and the radical rhetorics connected to Black Power and the black radical tradition, in this essay the author hopes to rebuild a frame where the picture of an African-American-vernacularized paradigm for critical literacy and social justice can emerge. She revisits the twinning of "Black Power/Black…

The developing relationship of linguistics to matters of current social concern, especially as it relates to the study of minority groups, is discussed. Problems in studying Negro/white speech differences are related to: The researcher vs. the researched; the unfulfilled promises of research and the dangers of knowing; the misassessing of facts by…

There is little or no argument these days that Black English Vernacular (BEV) is a reality and that it is stigmatized. There is still a need, however, in spite of many studies of spoken varieties of BEV, for teachers to know what governs its occurrence in writing. This study concentrates on the written manifestation of BEV, on explaining which…

Cites and discusses various forms of satire from Black American, Caribbean, and African cultures. Forms considered include oral ballads ('toasts') antebellum sermons, praise poems, mother-rhyming, ritual insult and theater. Emphasizes the agonistic element and the impossibility of performing Afro-American satire in standard English. (RDN)