Use of Copula and Auxiliary BE by African American Children With
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2015 Use of Copula and Auxiliary BE by African American Children with Gullah/Geechee Heritage Jessica Richardson Berry Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons Recommended Citation Berry, Jessica Richardson, "Use of Copula and Auxiliary BE by African American Children with Gullah/Geechee Heritage" (2015). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3513. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3513 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. USE OF COPULA AND AUXILIARY BE BY AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN WITH GULLAH/GEECHEE HERITAGE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders by Jessica Richardson Berry B.A., Winthrop University, 2008 M.A., SC State University, 2010 May 2015 This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Don and Sharon Richardson, who have supported me unconditionally. You told me that I could do anything and I believed you. This is also dedicated to my angels who look down on me daily and smile with the love of God. I’m sad that you had to leave but I know that you are always with me. Bernice Robinson Juanita Stokes You saw me begin but God thought it was best for you to watch over me from heaven at the end. You told me before you left how proud you were and that you loved me. Thank you for your support while here on earth. Keep smiling down on me and I promise to make you proud. Shirley Bell Richardson Ella Mae Wise Kenneth Dean Matthew Richardson Kelvin Richardson Isaac Jamison May you all rest in peace. This is for you. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV). First, I thank God for providing me this opportunity. He promised to do exceedingly, abundantly about all that I could ask or think and His promise has not failed me. I never would have made it without the Lord on my side every step of the way. His word was a light on this path and it was a lamp unto my feet. Every step that I took and every accomplishment made was by His grace. God I thank you for keeping me and strengthening me through this process. You took a young lady from small town Huger, SC all the way to Baton Rouge, LA, and you never left my side. I am blessed and humbled that you trusted me with this task and I am grateful that you held me and walked with me until the end. To my parents, Don and Sharon Richardson, thank you. There are not enough words to express the love that I have for the both of you. You have inspired me through your dedication to ensuring that I reached my full potential. I watched you struggle just to see me succeed and I am forever grateful. Thank you for all the days and nights that you prayed for and encouraged me. Your prayers helped me through my toughest moments. I would not be where I am without your sacrifices. You deserve to be proud. I share this moment with you. This is for you. To my sisters, Courtney and Lacey, thank you crazy girls. Thanks to the both of you for always having my back. You were there to make me laugh at the moments that I wanted to break down and cry. Through the laughter you always had a word of encouragement. You let me know that you looked up to me and inspired me to keep going. The saying goes, I am my sister’s keeper and I thank God for the sisters who keep me. To my husband Wilmont Berry, thank you. Where do I begin? You have been my rock since 2006. You have stood by me and grown with me into a man of God who I am proud to follow and walk with in this life. Thank you for never letting me settle for less. Thank you for pushing me to be the woman of God, scholar, mother, friend and wife that you adore. You have been the shoulder that I cry on and my very best friend. Thank you for believing in me and never giving up on this huge dream of mine. iii I am grateful to have you in my life and I am thankful for the God in you that will continue to lead our family. Proverbs 27: 17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” This has been true for my journey and I must thank those who have been there to sharpen me. To my committee: Dr. Janna Oetting, Dr. Elisabeth Oliver, Dr. Paul Hoffman and Dr. Yejun Wu, thank you. Dr. Oetting, thank you for being an amazing example of research and scholarship in action. You are the best writer and researcher that I know. You have pushed me to places that I did not believe that I could go. Thank you for seeing and cultivating the scholar and researcher in me. Dr. Oliver, thank you for being you. You were a breath of fresh air during this process. I knew that I could always count on you for sound advice and a great laugh. Thank you for believing in my vision. Dr. Hoffman, thank you for working with me. Dr. Wu, thank you for agreeing to be my dean’s representative. To my cohort, Andrew Riviére, thank you for the fun times in our office and lab. You were always there to listen to my complaints and I appreciate that. Kyomi Gregory, thank you for being the voice of reason out of the group. Your words of inspiration were appreciated. My girl, Ryan Lee, thank you. You were a true friend throughout this process. I knew that I could count on your for just about anything (including a good meal). Thank you for having my back on so many occasions and for remaining a true friend until the end. To my LDD lab mates: Sarah Williams, Kelly Gioe, Esther Kim, Stephanie Lorio. Thank you ladies for all of your hard work. Without you I would still be coding language samples and entering data. You all worked tirelessly to ensure that the data for this study was complete. I appreciate having the opportunity to work with each of you. A special thank you to the parents and the children who participated in this study. Without you and your children this work would not be possible. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me over the multiple session days. Your time and efforts are appreciated. To my mentor Dr. Regina Lemmon, thank you. Without you I would not be writing a dissertation. You introduced me to the concept of research during my graduate studies and you pushed iv me to ask questions and find the answers to them. I appreciate that you kept up with me through this process and provided first class advice through every hurdle. You are the epitome of what a mentor is and I appreciate the sincere concern, care, and love that you expressed for me. I hope that I have made you proud and that I can be half the mentor, teacher, scholar and friend that you have been to me. Thank you to my beautiful daughter Savannah Grace Berry. You decided to come along just as I was finishing this degree. Some said you would be a set back, but God said you would set me up to succeed. Because of you I worked harder, faster, and became a lot stronger. Your presence has made a difference in my life. I pray that when you are old enough to read this, you understand that it was all for you. Finally, thank you to my funding source the National Institute of Health (NIH). Your funds made my dream a reality. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………..………….. iii LIST OF ACRONYMS ………………………………………………………………………………. viii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………..............................x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………...………………1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………..……………… 6 The History of Gullah: Gullah Culture and Language ………………………………….……............... 7 BE in adult Gullah as Studied by Turner (1949) …………………………………………….. 11 Language Evolution and Change …………………………………………………………….……….. 17 A Case Study: English Dialects of Hyde County, North Carolina ……………..…………… 17 A Case Study: Cajun/Creole English ………………………………………………………… 21 Studies of BE in Modern Day AAE and Gullah………………………………………………………. 23 Modern Day Varieties of Adult AAE………………………………………………………… 23 Modern Day Adult Gullah……………………………………………………………………. 29 Comparison of Modern Adult Gullah and AAE ……………………………………………... 32 Studies of BE in Child AAE ………………………………………………………………………….. 35 BE Production by AAE-speaking Children ………………………………………………….. 36 Measures of Nonmainstream Dialect Density in Child AAE Research……………………… 38 An On-going Study of BE by AAE-speaking Children in Louisiana………………………… 40 Goals for the Current Study………………………………………………………………………….... 40 Questions Guiding the Current Study………………………………………………………………….. 41 Predictions of the Current Study …………………………………………………………………….... 42 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS …………………………………………………………………….. 43 Research Design ……………………………………………………………………………………..... 43 Participants ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 43 GG Participants ………………………………………………………………………………. 44 AAE-speaking Participants …………………………………………………………………... 44 Dialects of Participants ………………………………………………………………………. 45 Dialect Status as Indexed by the DELV-ST ……………………………………….... 45 Dialect Status as Indexed by the Listener Judgment ………………………………..