University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics
Volume 4 Issue 1 A selection of papers from NWAVE 25 Article 20
1997
Is there an authentic African American speech community: Carla revisited
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
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Recommended Citation Jacobs-Huey, Lanita (1997) "Is there an authentic African American speech community: Carla revisited," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 20. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol4/iss1/20
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol4/iss1/20 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Is there an authentic African American speech community: Carla revisited
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capitalformanynon-blackyouth(cf.Bourdieu1991).Thus,itis IsThereAnAuthenticAmerican AfricanSpeech
notsurprisingthatsomefinditfittingtospeakcreoleandsport Community:CarlaRevisited Africanstylesofdressincontextswhereitissanctionedbytheir
culturalmentors,aswellasintheirwiderinteractionsinAfro-
LanitaJacobs-Huey Caribbeanclubsorcommunities(Hewitt1986,Jones1988,
Rampton1995).
ItisofteninthelattermorepublicdomainthatAfrican 1. Introduction1 Americansconsidernon-blacks'explicitidentificationwithblack
cultureproblematic. as Consequently,thoughawhiteU.S.rap
Inthe1990swherethelanguageandmusicalstylesofblack groupcalledYoungBlackTeenagersviewsitsnameand popularculturedisseminated aretointernationalmasses(Dent emulationofAfricanAmericanrapstylesasawaytoundermine
1992),youngpeopleofdiversebackgroundsareemulating racialstereotypesandunitediverseyouthunderasharedhiphop representationsofurbanAfricanandAfricanAmericanyouth mentality(Brown1991),manyAfricanAmericanyouthseethis culture.Forexample,inJapan,youthhaveappropriatedthebaggy groupasappropriatingaspectsofurbanadolescentblackculture dressstyleandevendreadlockedhairstylesassociatedwithAfrican andidentity.Moreover,whiteswhoseoutwardexpressionsreflect reggaeandAfricanAmericanhiphopandrapculture(Jones blacklanguageandcultureareoftenderogatorilylabeled"whites
1993).Similarly,Russian,BritishandAsianyouthhave,inrecent whoaretrying(orwant)tobeblack"and"wiggas"(Heard1994,
decades,adoptedthediscourseanddressstylesoftheirAfro- Smitherman1994).3Similarly,Jones(1988)andRampton(1995)
CaribbeanandAfricanAmericanpeers2(Hewitt1986,Gilroy findthatwhiteBritonswhoviewedtheiruseofcreoleasa
1987,Jones1988,Knobel1994,Rampton1995,Wulff1995).For linguisticalignmentwithRastafariancultureandresistancewere
manyofthesenon-blackyouth,thelanguageanddressstylesof openlyreprimandedbyAfro-Caribbeanswhointerpretedtheir
theirblackpeersandmusicaliconsaretropesofresistanceagainst stylisticuseofcreoleasastereotypicalcooptionofAfricanculture
universalformsofoppression(cf.Morgan1993b)andameansto andidentity.
construct"cool"or"hard"identitiesandalignwiththeirblack Inthispaper,Idiscussawhitespeaker'suseofavariety
peers(Rampton1995,Bucholtz1996). ofAfricanAmericanEnglish(AAE)thatispredominantly
Yet,whiteadolescentsneednotrelyonpeerassociations spokenbyurbanadolescentmales.Thisvarietyisonewhichis
withblacksinordertohonetheiroutwardaffinitiestoblack characterizedbytheuseofAfricanAmericanprosodicsystem,
languageandculture.Withtheexplosionofhiphopmagazines, includingrhythmtempo, andtimingandpitch,risingandfalling
televisedjukeboxesfeaturingthelatestrapandsoulvideos,and intonation,theuseofAfricanAmericanlexicalitemsand
stand-upcomedyandfilmsabouturbanblackstreetlife,youthof idiomaticexpressions,andtherelativehighuseofphonological
diversebackgroundscannoweducatethemselveswithinthe forms[/d/substitution/th/andpostvocalic for /r/]thoughttobe
confinesoftheirbedrooms(Jones1988,Heard1994,Cutler1996). characteristicofAAE speakers(cf.Morgan1996a,Mufwene
Blackdiscoursestyleshavebegunto constituteaformofsymbolic 1992).Unlikethenon-blackworkingclassadolescents
discussedinpreviousstudies(Hewitt1986,Jones1988),this
UCLAAnthropology 1IamgreatlyindebtedtoMarcylienaMorgan,the
LinguisticsLabandStanHueyJr.whoprovidedvaluablecommentson
1ThestylisticappropriationofAfricanAmericanmusicandidiomatic thispaper.Anyfinalshortcomingsare,ofcourse,myown. expressionshavebeencriticallynotedinpreviousscholarshipaswell. 2Silverman(1975)andLabovetal.(1968)havealsodocumentedtheuse See,forexample,Dillard1977;1972,Walker1971,Williams1971,and ofAAEgrammarandphonologybyPuertoRicanyouthwithstrongpeer Brown1968. groupassociationswithAfricanAmericans.
332 U.PennWorkingPapersinLinguistics,Volume4.1,1997 Jacobs-Huey U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguisticsVolume4.1(1997) CarlaRevisited
takenissuewiththetheoreticalbasesofLabov'sfindings(cf. speakerisnotanadolescentmalebutisinhismid-20sandwas
Bucholtz1995). socializedinanupper-middleclasssuburbinNewYorkcity.
Labov'srelianceon—andexplicitpreferencefor—gram Further,hisuseofAAEisfairlyconsistentacrosssocialand
maticalandphonologicalcriterianecessarilyprecludestheimport formalcontexts.Atatimewhenthenotionofidentityhasbeen
oflinguisticideologiesas,followingSilverstein(1979)"...setsof firmlyredefinedasever-shifting,multiple,fragmentedand
beliefsabout languagearticulatedbyusersasarationalizationor decentered(Hall1992a;Mercer 1992b,1994),thisspeaker problematizesthenotionofan"authentic"AfricanAmerican justificationofperceivedlanguageandstructureanduse."Many
researchers(e.g.,Morgan1994a,Kroskrity1992,Preston1989, speechcommunity(AASC)bybringingintoquestiontheetic,
Butters1984),includingLabovhimself(1975; 1972a;1972b) oftenlinguistic,standardsbywhichitssocio-linguisticauthenticity hasbeendefined.Thesocialandpoliticalimplicationsofthisand likewisenotethesignificanceofindividuallanguageattitudesin
uncoveringthesharedsocialandinterpretivenormsoflanguage similarcasesfurtherexposethepoliticsoflanguage,ideologyand
usagethatcharacterizemembersofaspeechcommunityandshape identitywithintheAASC.
theirevaluationsoftheirownandothers'speech.But,asWoolard
(1992)notes,Labov'soversight,though,isnotsurprisingsincehe 2. CarlaRevisited viewsideologyasovertpoliticaldiscourseandthusexplicitly
discountsthepowerofideologytoaffectspeechforms(Labov
Thoughtheaboveexamplesoflinguisticcooptionoralternatively, 1979:329). respectandflatteringmayappearmodern,theyareinmanyways A strictlylinguisticanalysisalsofailstoaccountfor directlyrelatedtotheoreticalissueswhichemergedinthe1970s metalinguisticmeansthroughwhichmembersdemonstratetheir concerningwhospeaksAAE? Thisquestionwasindirectly competence,aswellasvalidateothers',inaspeechcommunity addressedbyHatala(1976) Carla,a whiteadolescentattendingapredominantlyblackurban notesthatmembersofspeech a communitydemonstratetheir schoolinCamden,NewJersey.IntriguedbyCarla'sverbalskill competencebyadheringtodiscoursenormsasactiveconsumers withinthisAASC,Hatalasurveyed46AfricanAmericanswho andproducersoftexts,aswellasthroughtheirabilityto unanimouslyclassifiedCarlaasAfricanAmericanafterhearing simultaneouslyexploitheteroglossiaandreproduceatleastan herspeechsample.Ina linguisticanalysisofCarla'sspeech, appearanceofanencompassingsystem(seealsoMorgan1994a, however,Labovnotedthatalthoughshereportedlysoundedblack Kroskrity1993,Weinreich,Labov& Herzog1968).Likewise, throughheruseofAfricanAmericansyntactic,prosodicand Carla'suseofStandardAmericanEnglish(SAE)grammarand lexicalmarkers,Carlaemployedfewgrammaticalindicators AfricanAmericansyntactic,prosodicandlexicalcuesmightalso consideredsignificantbylinguists.LabovconcludedthatCarla indicatehercommandofanAfricanAmericanlinguisticrepertoire wasnotanauthenticAAEspeakerandthus,notamemberofthe (Gumperz1982).As DeBose(1992)argues,thislinguistic AfricanAmericanspeechcommunity.Thiswasa powerful repertoireisonewhichemphasizestheuseofbothSAEandAAE conclusionasitpresentedlinguisticsasthedefinitivecriteriaby asaninherentaspectofAAE andtheAASC(seeKroskrity1993 whichtodetermine"authentic"AAEspeakersandlegitimatetheir forasimilardiscussionofthevalueoflinguisticvariationamong status'swithintheAASC.SinceLabov'sattempttodelimitthe theArizonaTewa).Moreover,Labov'slinguisticassessmentof boundariesoftheAASCdiscountedthesocialsituatednessof Carlawasbaseduponthesyntacticandphonologicalspeech discourseandover-statedtheimportofgrammarandphonology practicesofteenagemalestreetgangs(Labov1966;1972b) (Kroskrity1993),itisnotsurprisingthatseveralscholarshave althoughresearch,includingLabov's(1991)hasshownthat women'sspeechistypicallymorestandardthanmen's(cf.Gal 333 334 Volume4.1(1997) U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics Jacobs-Huey CarlaRevisited (1976)studies.Lastly,andinanattempttoaddresswhatitmeans 1991,Morgan1991,Henley1995).Inordertomorefully tospeakAAE,Ipresentsurveyresultsfor92surveyrespondents appreciatehowspeakerslikeCarlasuccessfullynegotiatetheir (45AfricanAmerican,33AngloAmerican,8Latinoand4Asian) competenceasAAEspeakers,additionalattentionmustbedevoted who,afterhearinga speechsample,providedraceandsocialclass tothepersonal,biographicalandinteractionalbasisoflinguistic assessmentsofeachspeaker.Collectively,thesefindingsjuxtapose knowledge—areaswhichincreasinglycallforqualitativeformsof eticassessmentsof"WhospeaksAAE"withemicevaluationsof analysis(Kroskrity 1993). , whatitmeanstospeakaparticularvarietyofAAE.Indoingso, Accordingly,thecurrentstudyemploysbothquantitative theydirectlyaddresstheheterogeneityofspeakersandthepolitics andqualitativemethodstoexaminethespeechofthreemales oflanguage,identity,andideologywithintheAASC.Before fictitiouslynamedMike,Greg,andRon.Allthreespeakersare assessingthethreespeaker'splacewithintheAASC,itisfirst collegeeducated,frommiddleclassbackgrounds,andwerein necessarytodiscusspreviousliteratureconcerning,"Whospeaks theirearlytomid-20swhentheywereinterviewed.Althoughall AAE?"and"What(does)itmeantospeakAAE?" threeidentifythemselvesculturallyasAfricanAmerican,Mike andGregareAfricanAmericanwhileRonisAnglo-American. 3. TheAfricanAmericanSpeechCommunity Ronemploysavarietyofdiscoursestylesassociatedwithyoung, hip,urbanAfricanAmericanmaleculture.SeveralofRon's AfricanAmericanclassmateslikewisedescribehimas"talking 3.1.WhoSpeaksAAE? black"andmorepejorativelyas"thinkinghetalksblack."In contrast,MikeandGregemploydiscoursestylesmoreclosely Smitherman(1977)notesthatAAEisspokenpredominantlyby associatedwitheducatedandmiddle-classAfricanAmerican lower-classAfricanAmericans,thoughAfricanAmerican speakers.GregemploysbathAAEandSAElanguagestyles, adolescentsirrespectiveofclassuseAAEgrammarand phonology thoughhisspeechrelatively hasmoreSAEgrammaticaland morethanadults(cf.Morgan1994a).Rickfordetal.(1991) phonologicalforms.GregusesSAEphonologyandgrammar likewisefoundcopulaabsence(e.g.,He0 funny)tobequite fairlyconsistently.Mike'semploysSAEgrammarandphonology commonamongtheyoungestAfricanAmericanspeakersintheir aswell,butfrequentlycodeswitchesintoAAEthroughhisuseof EastPaloAltosample. prosody,phonology,andidiomaticexpressions.Mike Evenamongadolescents,however,thestrictuseofAAE occasionallyspeakswithanasal.Ron,GregandMikeinteract grammarandphonologyacrossformalandinformalcontextsis quiteextensivelyinAfricanAmericanspeechcommunitiesandall quitemarkedastheydemonstrateanabilitytocodeswitchbetween threeadmitthattheirrespectivestatusesasAAEspeakershave AAEandSAEwhenspeakingtheir witheldersandotherauthority beenpreviouslycalledintoquestionby(oftenlowerclassand figures(Morgan,personalcommunication).Infeet,manyAfrican adolescentAfricanAmericanspeakers). AmericansdisplayacommandofbothAAEandSAE,though InreplicatingLabovandHatala'sanalyses,Iprovidea individualspeakersdifferwithrespecttotheiruseofeachvariety quantitativelinguisticanalysisofRon,MikeandGreg'sspeech, (Dillard1972,Morgan1996b).Middleclassspeakersemployless examiningthe extenttowhichtheyemployAAEgrammarand AAEfeatures,yetcodeswitchbetweenStandardAmericanEnglish phonology.Understandingthatlinguisticanalysisisinsufficientin (SAE)andAAE(Spears1988,DeBose1992).Additionally, andofitselfinrevealingeachspeaker'sdegreeoflinguistic Morgan(1993a;1994a)notesthatworkingclassspeakersalso competence,Ialsousediscourseanalysistoexploretheiruseof employbothofthesecodesforconversationalsignifying. AAEinrelationtotheAfricanAmericanlinguisticrepertoire. Theserelatedanalysesattempttocriticallyrevisitthequestion, "WhospeaksAAE?"addressedinLabov(1980)andHatala's 336 335 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarlaRevisited shiftingtowardsthenormofcarefulspeechinordertoreturntohis 3.2. WhatdoesitMeantoSpeakAAE?AfricanAmerican Linguistic Ideologies earliervernacular. 3.3. AfricanAmericanDiscourseStyles& VerbalGenres PerceptionsofAAEvarywithintheAASCrangingfromtheview oflanguageasa symbolofethnicandculturalto identity MembersoftheAASCoftendemonstratetheircommunicative ambivalenceor,thoughlesscommon,astrongdisdainforitsuse competencethroughtheiradherencetosharednormsgoverning (cf.Morgan1994a).Withrespecttothelatterview,someAfrican theproperuseandinterpretationofdiscoursestylesandverbal Americans(oftenteachersandlower-middleclassspeakers)have genresacrosssocialcontexts.Morgan(cf.1994a)arguesthatthese rejectedthealternativelabelsofAAE(BlackEnglishandBlack sharednormsandideologiesarerootedinasocial,historical,and EnglishVernacular)anditsusebyother(allegedlylowerclassand politicalrealitywhichmandatedthatAfricanAmericansdevelop uneducated)AfricanAmericanspeakersonthebasisthatAAEis modesofcommunicatingamongthemselvesaswellasinthe pathological,disorderedandlazyspeechwhichthreatensspeakers' educationalandeconomicsuccess(Brown1991,Speicher& presenceofpotentialspiesorover-hearers. Likewise,AfricanAmericansdevelopeda counter- McMahon1992,Morgan1994a). languageduringslaverywhichreliedon anAfricansystemof AfricanAmericanswhoaremoresympathetictoAAE indirectness(Morgan1991;1993a;1994a;1996b).Withinthis oftenseethisvarietyasbeingintricatelylinkedto theirethnicand systemofindirectness,wordsorphrasesandsocialencounterscan culturalidentity.ThisperspectiveisdemonstratedinAfrican havecontradictoryormultiplemeaningsbeyondtheirtraditional Americanspeakers'strongdisdainforbeingaccusedofspeaking Englishinterpretations.AsMorganlikewisenotes,elementsof ortalking"white"(cf.Morgan1994a).Additionally,while doubleentendrepervadeslavesongsandcontemporaryhiphop acknowledgingthemarginalizationofAAEinwidersociety,AAE andrapstyles.Toillustrate,shenotesthattheterm"bad"isused speakersalsoseetheirlanguageasaformofsymboliccapital byAAEspeakerstodenotesomethingpositive. whichprovidesthemwithaccesstocertainrightsandprivileges AAEspeakersalsodemonstratetheircompetencethrough withintheAASC(cf.Morgan1994a). theuseofprosodicfeaturesbelongingtoa largerinterpretive TheabilitytospeakAAE is,forexample,often practicecalled"readingdialect"(Morgan1996b).Readingdialect consideredtobeindexicalofaspeaker'sracialconsciousnesssuch occurswhenmembersoftheAfricanAmericancommunity thatthestrictuseofSAEisindicativeofalowsenseofethnicand contrastorotherwisehighlightobviousfeaturesofAAEandSAE culturalpride(Morgan1994a).Likewise,middleclassAfrican inanunsubtleandunambiguousmannertomakeapoint(Morgan Americans,andyouthinparticular,whowerenotsocializedwithin 1996b:26).Withinthispractice,speakercanemployrisingand theAfricanAmericanspeechcommunityattempttoasserttheir fallingintonation,loudtalking,vowellengthening,rhythmand culturalconsciousnessbyspeakingthevarietyofAAEaccessible tempo,timingandhighpitch,—aswellasrangeofaccompanying tothemviarapandhip-hopculture.Dillard(1977)andBaugh kinesicstrategies,toprescribespecificresponsesfromspeakers, (1987;1992)havealsoshownthatupper-middleclassAfrican targetsandhearers.Forexample,speakerscanemploymarking, AmericancollegestudentshypocorrectintheiruseofAAE whichinvolvesmimickingalanguagevarietyoutofcontextin phonologygrammar. andThesestudentsalsoattempttospeak suchawaythatitcarriesanexpressivevaluetowardsanintended AAEinbothformalandinformalsettings,thoughwithvarying subject.Morganalsonotesthatspeakingrhythmically(oftenwith degreesofsocialandlinguisticsuccess.Labov(1979)presentsa regularizedintervalsbetweentalksandpauses)signalsthatthe relatedcaseinwhicha 25year-old,college-educatedAfrican interactionishighlymarkedasAfricanAmericanandlikelyto Americanmale, SteveK,attemptedtoreversehispatternofstyle leadtoconversationalsignifying(1996b:29). 337 338 Carlo Revisited Jacobs-Huey U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 4.1 (1997) In addition to establishing speaker competence, the use of adjectives and locatives, verbs, and the auxiliary gon(na) before a these discourse styles and verbal genres constitute a speaker's verb: social face and as such, mark that a conversation has evolved to entail cultural forms of discourse, interpretation and resolution (cf. Figure 1: Grammatical Environments Favoring Copula Deletion Morgan 1996a). LEAST 1. In present before predicate nouns and He afriend FAVORABLE adjectives. He tired. 2. In adjectives, locative and cotnitative She over there. 4. An Overview of AAE Grammar & Phonology phrases. She with us. 3. Auxiliary forms "being" He working with us. MOST 4. Auxiliary gon(na) before a verb She gon(na) do well Speakers also employ AAE grammar in ways which shift FAVORABLE contextual frames in conversation (Gumperz 1982b). Deletion of the copula be or auxiliary be (overwhelmingly is and are Labov's work has since been revisited by a number of contractions) is easily one of AAE's most extensively studied dialectologists and creolists in efforts to refine certain aspects of grammatical features. The sentence "We 0 limited in what we can the rule (Rickford 1991) and to better understand AAE's relation do" illustrates copula deletion in AAE. This sentence is realized in to West African Creoles and SAE (Stewart 1969, Dillard 1972, SAE as "We are limited in what we can do." Research on copula variation (i.e., copula contraction and Baugh 1980, Winford 1992). The habitual marker be is another highly debated deletion) has addressed whether AAE has derived from African- grammatical feature thought to distinguish AAE from SAE (Fasold based Creoles, European English or some combination of the two 1972, Myhill 1988, Spears 1988). In AAE, the habitual be has the (cf. Mufwene 1994). While the origins of AAE are important, they same copula and auxiliary functions as the conjugated forms am, extend beyond the scope of this paper. This section provides a general overview of the AAE copula system.4 is, are, was, and were in SAE. Yet, unlike SAE, the habitual be The absence of copula3 may occur in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person indicates a recurring state or activity and its form is not derived from will be or would be. Smitherman (1985) differentiates the singular, as well as in the plural forms. The most influential habitual be from the future be as follows: Habitual bei I be there research in this area has investigated distinct grammatical (Gloss: I (usually) be/am there), Future be: I be there (Gloss: I will constraints, or the environments favoring and the rules governing copula contraction and deletion. Labov's (1969b; 1972b) variable be there). With respect to its usage, Mufwene (1994) and Morgan rule for contraction and deletion provides a ranked order of the (1994a) note that when a verb heads the predicate phrase, the verb grammatical environment most conducive to copula deletion. He must be in the progressive as in, "She be talkin* every time I found the environments which constrain the deletion rule (in order come" (Morgan 1994:332). Mufwene also provides another form: from least to most favorable) to include predicate noun phrases, be + nonverbal predicate, as in MI be tired by the end of the day," which can be glossed as *i am [usually] tired by the end of the day." Although these constructions are usually non-stative, they 4 The reader will likewise notice the conspicuous absence of scholars who also occur with stative constructions (Richardson 1991, Morgan have reviewed the copula from dialectology or creolist perspectives (cf. Winford 1990, Holm 1984, Le Page and DeCamp 1960, Turner 1949). 1994a). s Earlier studies of copula variation argued copula absence to be an absolute Been as a remote present perfect form is another feature of AAE (Rickford et al 1991, Stewart 1969, Bailey 1965). The celebrated feature of AAE and generally refers to the unstressed argument of zero copula, though, is understood to be a clear overstatement been. The unstressed been is illustrated as a remote present perfect among contemporary scholars. 339 340 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PennWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarlaRevisited sentenceShelaughfunny.Baugh(1983)alsofoundthatthe forminthefollowingsentence,Marybeenworkingherefora occurrenceof/s/wheretheformcanrepresentpluralization, weeknow.[Gloss:Maryhasbeenworkinghereforaweeknow]. possessionandsubject-verbagreementcanalsodependonthe Labov(1969a)arguesthaibeenappearsincontextswhereit speechevent(Morgan1994:331).Inasimilarvein,Mufwene seemslike"have"wasdeleted,suchasinTheybeengone.Yet, (1994:11)citestheabsenceofthepossessivemarkerinsentences theAAEstressedbeenisusedregardlessoftheformofthesubject suchas"Aelike/seeme"and/or"mytwopuppy/dog"as orwhetherhaveispresentorpasttense(Stewart1968,Dillard characterizingthegrammaticalpossibilitiesinAAE. 1972,Rickford1975,Smitherman1985).Mufwene(1994) AAEisalsomarked,thoughnotexclusively,byseveral illustratesthelattercaseinbin "Iknow(in)you"whichmeans,"I phonologicalfeatures,includingthevariableabsenceofinterdental haveknownyouforalongtime."Thisstressedbeen,described as fricativessuchas//linkandthen,whicharesubstitutedby/t/or/d/ byStewart(1965),Loflin(1970),Dillard(1972),Fickett(1972), inwordinitialposition(Morgan1994a,Mufwene1994).AAEis andRickford(1975;1977),essentiallyservesasatensemarker alsoconsideredtobenon-rhoticor/r/-Iessinwordfinalposition, (Morgan1991)orapastperfectmarker(cf.FasoldandWolfram thusyielding/mo:/formoreor/fo:/forfour(Labov1966, 1975). Mufwene1994,Morgan1994a).AAEspeakersalsolowerthe DonemarkstheperfectiveinAAE,andinsomecases dulyactsasanintensifier(Mufwene1994).Spears(1988) vowel111toIslbefore/rj/to yieldtakin'fortaking.Similarly,the illustratestheperfectivedoneinShe donetookit[Gloss:Shetook diphthong/ay/isphonologicallyreducedtoIIIincaseslike/mi/ it!]whichcanbeheardinthespeechofmanysouthernwhitesand for/my/or/ovi/for/over/. AfricanAmericansinsouthernandnorthernurbanareas.Done Vowellengtheningisanotherfeatureofexpressivespeech normallyoccursbeforetheverbinthesamepositionasthe amongAfricanAmericans(Morgan1996b).AAEspeakers auxiliaryhaveandusuallyactsastheequivalentofhave.Labov similarlyusetimingandrhythmincreativeandstrategicwaysin bothformalandinformalconversation.Morgannotesthat (1972a)notesthatdoneencodesanintensivemeaningthatisnot possibleinSAE.Essentially,doneservesasanadverb,functioning rhythmicspeechoftensignalsthattheinteractionishighlymarked sometimeslikealreadyorreallyandhaslostitsstatusasaverb asAfricanAmericanandislikelytoleadtoconversational (56).Both beenanddonehavealsobeenobservedamongWest signifying(1996b:29). AfricanCreoles,includingGullah(Mufwene1994,Rickford1977; 1975). 5. EthnographicDescriptionofParticipants TheAAEnegativesystemincludesnegations multiple andnegativeinversion(Mufwene1994,Spears1988,Smitherman Ron,MikeandGregusesomeofthediscourseandlinguisticfea 1985,Whatley1981,Labov1972a).Spears(1988)illustratesthe turesdescribedabove.Ronisawhitemalewhoself-identifieswith useofadoublenegativeinthesentenceItain'tnobodyinthere, blackidentityandculture.Atthetimeofthestudy,Ronwasinhis whichtranslatesintoThereisnooneinthereinSAE.Labov mid-20sandpursuingagraduatedegreeinAfricanAmerican (1972a)andSpears(1988)notetheuseofnegativeinversioninthe studiesatamajoruniversity.Rongrewupinanuppermiddleclass phraseDon'tnobodyknowit'sreallya God."whichcanbe suburbinNewYork,whereStandardAmericanEnglish(SAE) glossedinSAEasNobodyknowswhetherthereisreallyaGod. wasspokeninhisimmediatecommunityandathome.Asayouth, Morgan(1994b)notesthatAAEmethodsofpluralization, heinteractedwithAfricanAmericansresidinginaperipheral possessivemarking,andverbalagreementcontrastsignificantly communityandwasotherwiseexposedtoAfricanAmericancul withSAE.AccordingtoLabov(1980),AAEdoesnotusethe turethroughhiphop,rapandotherproductsofpopularculture. verbal-ssubject-verb in agreementandAAEspeakerslikewisedo Ronemphasizesthemajorrolethathiphophas playedin nothaveanunderlyingthirdsingular-s.Thisisillustratedthe in 341 342 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PernWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarlaRevisited thoughRonhadnotregistered—ordidnotacknowledgethrough introducinghimtoAfricanAmericanculture.Hestateswithado practice—therangeofcodescharacterizinganAfricanAmerican lescentphonologyandtheuseoftheunstressedbeen,"Youknow linguisticrepertoireorthenormsgoverningtheuseofAAEin likehiphopbeenapartof/ma/lifelikeyouknow/fo/Zevs/." variouscontexts(Anderson1977,Ferguson1977,DeBose1992). Ron'sidentificationwithadolescenturbanAfrican BecauseRonappearstolackanawarenessoftheappropriate Americancultureisalsomarkedhis byphysicalrepresentation. contextsinwhichtouseAAEandfailstodemonstrateanabilityto Ron'srhythmicgaitresembleswhatseveralAfricanAmerican movebetweenmoreformalandinformalAmerican Africanspeech comedians(e.g.,RichardPryor)andJohnson(1975)have varieties,hewasviewedbymanyofhisAfricanAmericanpeersas describedasaperformed"cool"andmarkedly"black"walk.At performingastereotypedversionofAAE.Inthisway,Ron's thetimeoftheinterview,RonworeCrossColors,andother speechemulatesanadolescentvarietyandassuch,ismore brightlycoloredandbaggy"gear"associatedwiththe1992hip commensuratewithBaugh's(1987;1992)descriptionofupper- hopscene.Hishairwascutinafade,acommonhairstyleamong middleclassblackswhoemployedAAEphonologyandgrammar AfricanAmericanmaleswhichishighontopandveryshortor inboth formalandinformaluniversitysettings. completelyshavedonthesidesandback(Smitherman1994:106). Ron'sbackgroundwouldseemtosuggestthathisuseof AsRon'sgraduateeducationincludedupper-division AAEwasacquiredlateroninhislife.Ronhimselfacknowledges seminarsonAfricanAmericanEnglishandAfricanAmerican thatwhenhewasyounger,hiphopdidnotoccupyaprominent musicalstyles,Rondevelopedasophisticatedmetalanguagefor placeinhislife.Hestates,"Ican/rimimbi/backin/m/day.(.) describingAAEandtheimportantroleitplayedinindexing butIwasonlyabout...probablyaboutsevenoreightsoitwas identityandracialconsciousnessamongAfricanAmerican ((chuckles))..itwasn'tas(.1)asbigofathing..."ItwasinRon's speakers.Sometimes,RonwouldchallengeAfricanAmericans' lateteenyearsthathiphopbecameasalientfeatureofhissocial racialauthenticitybasedontlieiruseofaparticularregisterortheir life.Atonepoint,RonsuggestedthathisuseofAAEwasactually knowledgeofAfricanandAfricanAmericanhistory.Asa strategic.Inorderforhimtomakeimportantcontributionstothe classmateturnedinformalinterviewer,Iwasnotimmunefrom AfricanAmericancommunity,RonfeltthatacommandofAfrican suchidentitychecks.Atthetimeoftheinterview,Ronwastaking agraduateseminaronAfricanAmericanEnglish. Ialsoconductedinformalethnographicobservationsof 6OneofRon'speersmadethefollowingcommentabouthimasa Roninagraduateseminar.Ron'suseoftheAAEprosodicsystem participantinMatthew's(1996)study.(Thespeakerhadbeenasked andselectgrammaticalmarkerswasnotaffectedbycontext whethertheythoughtmembersofotherracescouldbeconsideredblack): It'slikethisone,andI'mjustgoingtocallhim'Brotha'.Theresthis (formal,informal,ageofaddressee),althoughhisAfrican "... AngloAmerican...and whenIsatthereandtalkedtohim,hejusthadthe Americanpeersseemedtooperatewithanothersetofcriteria. lingodown,hiphopandeverything.Ineverfeltwhiterthansittingby WhenRon'scommentsinvolvedcontextualizeddescriptionsofhip him.AndIrememberthinking.Wheredidhegetallofthis?'Forhim, hoporothersocialandculturalaspectsoftheAfricanAmerican theywereverymuchacquiredlikebyMTV...There'snowaythat speechcommunity(aswasoftencase), theRonusedAfrican someonelikehimcouldidentifyto,let'ssaymaybeahistoricalpast Americanphonologyandgrammarquitefreely.Yet,evenwhen becausethathistoryisnothis.AndhecanwatchMTV.Yo!MTVRaps engagedinseriousspeech(e.g.,takingapoliticalstance,referring howmuchhewantsbutthat'snotgoingtomakehimanyBlacker...You tootherscholars)RonattheveryleastmadeuseoftheAAE knowwhatpeoplearecallingBlacknesshassortofturnedintoa prosodicsystem.MostofRon'sAfricanAmericanpeersused commodity.Andyougotthelingodown,yougotthehiphopdown,you goteverything.Youknow,you'resortofBlacker,andthat'sdefinitely (SAE)andStandardAfricanAmericanEnglish(SAAE)during somethingthat'spartofourheritage.Butunderstandingthatdoesn7put classroomdiscussions.Assuch,someofRon'speersfeltas youintothatBlacksensibility." 343 344 U. Perm Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 4.1 (1997) Carla Revisited Jacobs-Huey American culture (and presumably AAE) was absolutely essential. generation members of the middle-class and as Greg notes, have Ron states, "...And when I sit up in a boardroom you know and stressed the values of hard work throughout his life. Greg say something outlandish like (1.0) urn you know 'The Milwaukee attributes his parents* encouragement to his success at a major Academy [a school for young black males with an explicit university; He graduated with a host of academic and service Afrocentric philosophy] isn t such a bad idea but it's positive awards with a degree in English. For Greg, English was directly affects to it you know' ... I need to be able to say 'Look I've spent related to the refinement of his speaking skills. Greg reasoned that time studying this' because I can't just say I know what I'm this major would enable him to communicate effectively in a talking about because my ... physical manifestations and (white) business world. Unlike Ron and Mike, Greg seldom representations (.1) I-E my skin color will ... trigger a certain sported clothes that were markedly associated with the early reaction automatically that I'm supposed to have no connection ... 1990's hip hop scene. In fact, even when dressed casually, Greg's undergraduate ensemble consisted of top designer labels. to understanding ... or empathy to that perspective okay regardless of whatever..." Mike and Greg, the two African American male 6. Description of Data participants, were socialized in middle to upper-middle class African American communities in Los Angeles. They were To elicit everyday speech from the three speakers, ethnographic selected to participate because of their class and age backgrounds, interviews were conducted at my home during May and June of their use of AAE, and their explicit identification with African 1992.1 had already established a rapport with Ron and Greg prior American culture, all aspects shared by Ron. Like Ron, both Mike to their interviews given the fact that they were casual and Greg supported the notion that one's use of AAE was a acquaintances and college peers. I met Mike through a mutual reflection of one's racial consciousness. Yet, both also added that, acquaintance and after several phone conversations, successfully in practice, their use of AAE was relegated to less formal and more solicited his participation in the study. In acknowledging the African-American dominated contexts. Mike and especially Greg interview process as implicitly involving expectations on the part revealed their disdain for being accused of "talking white" by both of the interviewee (Button 1987), as well as the interviewer, I African Americans and other ethnic groups. Both reported that made conscious attempts to present myself in a manner consistent their linguistic repertoires consisted of both AAE and SAE and with my prior informal interactions with the participants. their use of these codes varied across social contexts and with Likewise, I didn't self monitor my speech and thus shifted various speakers. naturally AAE and SAE.7 Following the tradition of Labov's Mike, a recent college graduate, seemed to have the (1968) sociolinguistic interview, I asked the participants to greatest command over African American speech varieties. In respond to "danger of death" and "happiest moments" questions. several interviews and phone conversations, Mike codeswitched Participants also discussed hip hop, their educational and career between SAE and AAE. At the time of the interview, he was working in a law firm and had interests in pursuing a law degree. In our interview, Mike noted his and his other black colleagues' tendency to codeswitch to AAE in order to acknowledge their 7 This, of course, docs not deny the definite, yet in this case unexploited, cultural affinity while working within the court system. Mike's benefits to investigating the three participants' speech in a variety of attire ranged from business suit to sweat pants, tee shirt and contexts (Hymes 1979, Labov 1966). Unfortunately, the author can only baseball cap worn backwards. He also sported a fade. claim to have conducted informal observations (non-audiotaped) of the The community in which Greg was socialized is mixed participants' speech in various social contexts. The claims of this paper between middle and upper middle class. His parents are first- must no doubt be weighed against this limitation. 345 346 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarlaRevisited foundcopuladeletiontobefavoredinthefollowinggrammatical plans,the1992civilunrestinLosAngeles,andinitiatedother environments(orderedfromleasttogreatest):__NP,AdjP, topicsaswell.Theinterviewsrangedfrom40-50minutes. __Loc, Ving,Gonna.WithRon,bothcontractionand deletionseemedtobemostfavoredin Vingenvironments. 7. QuantitativeAnalysis Giventhesmallnumberoftokensoverall,itisquestionable whetherthisslightdeviationfromLabov'sfindingsissubstantial Giventhecurrentfocusonthespeakers'useofAAEgrammar,the enoughtowarrantanin-depthdiscussion.Contraction,though,is methodologyusedtotabulatecopulacontractionanddeletion leastfavoredin Locenvironmentswhiledeletionisleast likewisereflectsamoreneutralformula,StraightDeletionand favoredin AdjPcontexts.InMike'scase,contractionismost Contraction(cf.Rickfordetal.1991),ratherthanLabovianor favoredin Gon(na)(.38)and AdjP(.25)contexts. Romaineformulaswhichhavebeenemployedinprevious Mike'scontractionin Vingenvironmentsonlyrepresent14% investigationsofAAE'srelationtoAfrican-basedCreolesand ofhistotalpercentageofcontractions.Ron'suseofcopula Europeanbasedlanguages.Table1 providestheparticipants' contractionismoststronglyfavoredin AdjPenvironments, percentagesofcopulacontractionanddeletionaccordingtothe with Gon(na)environmentsrankingsecond. grammaticalenvironmentsemployedbyWinford(1992),Rickford Forallthreespeakers,bothcontractionanddeletion etal.(1991),Baugh(1980),andLabov(1969b;1972b).Notethat overwhelminglyfollowpersonalpronouns(he,she,weandthey). Negative( Neg)andMiscellaneous( Miscel.)categories In thePerson-Numbercategory,thereisgreatervariationamong havebeenaddedinordertoaccountforcontractedand/ordeleted thethreeparticipants.ForRon,contractionofisandareoccurat copulasthatoccurredbeforenotandambiguousenvironments, almostequalrates(.43and.57respectively).However,are respectively. constitutesthemajorityofRon'sdeletioncases;theyconstitute Of thethreespeakers,Ron displaysthegreatest 95%ofthetotalnumberofdeletedtokens.Mike'scontractionsof percentageofcopuladeletions(.31),thoughhispercentageof arerepresent78%ofthetotalnumberofcontractions,whilehisis copulacontractions(.29)arcnearlyidenticaltohisdeletions.In contractionsonlyconstitute22%.Histhreeof casescopula contrast,GregandMikehavegreaterpercentagesofcopula deletioninvolvetheplural/2ndsingularauxiliary.Finally,in contraction(.43and.64respectively)thantheydoabsence(.02 Greg'scase,areiscontractedatarateof.62,whileiscontractions and.03respectively).Acrossthe board,bothcontractionand occuratalowerrateof.38.Greg'stwocasesofcopuladeletion deletionarefavoredwhena vowelconstitutesthepreceding involvetheplural/2ndsingularauxiliary. phonologicalenvironment.Labov(1969;1972)andBaugh(1980) Inadditiontocopuladeletion,ananalysiswasalso conductedofthespeakers'usethehabitualbe,nonSAEtense 8FollowingRickfordetal(1991),casesanalyzedforcopulavariation constructions,stressedandunstressedbeen,verbal-s,eddeletion, includedpresentformsofisandare,sinceamoccursinfullorcontracted form99%ofthetime.OtherDon'tCount(DC)casesincludednonfinite doublenegatives,/d/andIMsubstitutionfor/th/,/n/reductionto andpastformsofthecopula,asin(ShewillbfihereandShe2fflShere.) /in/,and/ay/reductiontohi.Noneofthespeakersemployed Additionally,tokensofthecontractedisfollowedbyasibilant(He0 doneorthehabitualbe,thoughMikeusedthefuturebein"Ibe sick)werenotcountedsincesuchsentencesarephoneticallydifficultto drivingdownthefreewaytalkingaboutWHYwhydidyoudothis distinguishfromdeletionandcontractioninrapidspeech.Copulasin tome!?"Rondisplayed11casesofnonSAEtenseconstructions, exposed(i.e.clausefinal)andstressedpositionswerealsonotcounted. incontrasttoGreg'sdisplayoftwo,andMike'slackthereof.The Ron'sDC casestotaled291,MikesDCcasestotaled294,andGreg's useoftheunstressedbeenoccurredinRon'sspeechfourtimes, totaled283.A largepartofeachparticipants'DCcasesincludednonfi Mike'sspeechtimes, 3 andGreg'sspeechtwice.Rondisplayed niteandpastformsofthecopula,aswellascopulasinstressedand exposedpositions. 347 348 Volume 4.1 (1997) Carlo Revisited Jacobs-Huey U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics Table 1: Copula Variation Across Three Speakers four cases of verbal -s and Greg displayed one case. Ron provided 7 cases of double negatives, all of which carried emphatic weight. Mike's single use of the double negative is also RON MIKE GREG thought to have been used for emphatic purposes. At the level of (Anglo (African (African American) American) American) phonology, Ron verbalized /th/, /rj/, and both /y/ and /er/ at a rate SC SD*' SC SD SC SD of 76%, 61%, and 53% respectively. Mike and Greg verbalized these variables at relatively higher rates. Preceding phonological Env. Labov (1969b) has argued that AAE contraction and Consonant .05 .02 deletion show qualitative parallels and as such, it is not surprising Vowel .95 1.00 1.00 1.00 .98 .00 that they are quantitatively parallel as well. Ron's contractions and Following deletions respond in parallel ways to following grammatical Grammatical Env. environment accordingly deem him an "authentic" AAE speaker. Greg and Mike, however, show very few quantitative parallels in their (relatively low) percentage of contractions and deletions. Following Labov (1972a), these speakers qualify as "lames" or marginal AAE speakers. Yet, to more folly appreciate the / ^sys^^;^$S; repertoire of social identities enacted through each participants' speech, (Kroskrity 1993), a discourse analysis of select speech samples is offered below. Subject Personal .85 .95 1.00 1.00 .82 1.00 8. Qualitative Analysis Pronoun Other Pronoun .10 .15 Transcript 1 is an excerpt from two hours of Ron's speech that is Noun Pronoun .OS .05 .03 marked by grammatical, phonological, and prosodic AAE Person-Number features.9 Plural/2nd .57 .95 .78 1.00 .62 1.00 Singular Transcript 1: Ron Excerpt (NOTE: Bold words and phrases 32 .38 3rd Singular .43 .05 - - represent an orthographic rather than phonetic representation of "■ '■>■<&$*'- Oy^l^rcentege -■ ■■ Mi--' Ron's speech.) Total # of Tokens 41 41 63 63 41 41 1 Lanita: Do you think it's going to blow up again? Straight Conlraction, •• Straight Deletion 2 Ron: Maybe not dis year. It'll definitely blow up again I mean C=contraction, D=deletion, F^fiill Straight Contraction C 3 because like I said, without real changes, without real F+C+D 4 transformation (.1) not just change but tra.nsformation Straight/Romainc Deletion D F+C+D 9 The majority of the interviewers' minimal responses to Ron's talk have been removed in efforts to focus more exclusively on Ron's use of AAE grammar and phonology. 349 350 Volume 4.1 (1997) Carla Revisited Jacobs-Huey V. Perm Working Papers in Linguistics 5 (1) urn the same things'll happen (.1) okay (.) you know Ron's use of AAE is highly prosodic in nature. Ron 6 (.) it's like (, 1) and (4) see Tdis recession isn't en:ding (1) employs rising and falling intonation, vowel lengthening, 7 okay (.) it's not (.) gonna (.) end because what you've timing/rhythm, and high pitch (cf. Morgan 1996a) as he discusses 8 ha:d with deregulation (.1) is (1) the really the illu::sion the potential for future civil explosions in Los Angeles following 9 (. 1) of a recession 351 352 Volume4.1(1997) U.PennWorkingPapersinLinguistics unrest"wherethecontractionofgonnatogoncarriesemphatic 1Lanita:...U::m,theRECENTcontroversyinLosAngeles! weightandcoincideswithhis assertionthatband-aidtype remediesareinsufficient.MikeusesSAEgrammarandphonology 2 Mike:NowYouKnow(1.)Ihaveheardthisdescribedinsomany throughoutmuchofhisinterview.Hisof usetiming/rhythm, 3 waysandIthinkthepredominanttermthateveryonehas stressandvowellengtheningmarkanemphaticAfricanAmerican 4 chosentouse(.)especiallymassmedia the(.)iscivil styleofspeech(Morgan1996a).Mikealsoillustratescommandof 5 unrest(2)I(.)don't(.)know(.)what(.)civilunrest theAfricanAmericandiscursivestyleofmarkinginlines19-20. 6 means(1)11haveoqidentitytothatterm(1)Thiswas Hestatessarcastically,"Wecanputaband-aidonthis"...,thus 7 clearlyariot(1)umandIthinkitisariotthatwasthe renderinganegativeopinionaboutpoliticianswithpatchwork g resultofnotjustthisoneisolatedincidentofRodney remediesforsocialinequality.LikeRon, Mike'suseofpersonal 9 King(1)umIthinkthiswasaculminationofye:arsof andgenitivepronouns[we,us,our]servetoindexhismembership 10 oppressionumwithinoar community(1)umandIthink withintheAfricanAmericancommunity. 11 therewasonlysomuchthatwecouldcontinuetolakfi Greg'sexcerpt,presentedinTranscript3,displays 12 (.1)asagroupofpeopleandasacommunity(1)andI perhapsthegreatestuseofSAEgrammarandphonologyofall 13 thinktheRodneyKingInc-incidentwasdefinitelya threespeakers.Assuch,thisexcerptisnotatypicalofhisspeech 14 catalystbutinnowaycausedtheincident(1)Ithinkit duringour45minuteinterview.Here,Imayhaveactually 15 wasariotbecausetherewasacertainlevelofdestruction negotiatedtheuseofaformalregisterthroughthecontextualized 16 associatedwiththeentiresetofoccurrencesthatwould andslightlyformalnatureofmyinquiry. 17 makeitariotand>simplysayingcivilunrestmeis tolike 1g thiswayofkindamakingeverythingallright<(.)Wecan Transcript3:GregExcerpt(NOTE:Collectivizingpronouns 19 putband-aid a onthisyouknowandwecansmoothout havebeenboldedbelow.) 20 thewrinklesandeverythingwillbeokaybutinHqWay 21 InHfillisthisgonbeokaybyjustidentifyingthisasan 1Lanita:Imeanttoaskyouaboutumyourfeelingsumregarding 22 unrest(.)We'regonnacomein(1)we'regonnageta 2 therebellionPat(amutualfriendofG& LJ)andItalked 23 giveafew teenagerssomeJobsum we'regoingto 3 toa lotofumstudentsatUCLAA lottapeoplewere 24 create(1)maybeafewmoreumaccess(1)forsomeof 4 upset,um,andumsomewerejustkindanonchalantabout 25 hsintotheestablishmentbutbasicallythingswould 5 thewholeissuehowdiditaffectyou? 26 returnwillreturntonormalifWE meaningweasthe 6Greg:U:myeahupsetwouldbeanunderstatementinlightof 27 youngergenerationsdon'tdecidehey,thisisnnt goingto 7 thefactthathalfmy neighborhoodwasburneddown 28 occuragainandifthismeansthatwehavetopullevery 8 um(1)HowdidIfeelaboutit?ToacertaindegreeIfelt 29 blackpoliticianoutoftheircurrentoffice(1)ifthat 9 sorryforyouknow(.)allthepeoplethatthatKoreans 30 meansthatwehavetopullallofourdollarsoutofwhite 10 andsoforththatgottheirtheirstoresburneddown 11 understoodwhyittookplaceandIunderstoodthatitit 32 wehavetoinvestsolelyinourownbusinessessowe 12 wasalsonotjustabunchofopportunists(1)youknow(.) 33 shopwithintheblackcommunitythenthat'swhatittakes 13 trynatakeadvantageofthatofuhcurrenttensions(1) 34 (1)um butinnflwaywasthissimplyunrest an 14 Therewerepeoplethathadsystematicallyplannedtogo 15 aroundandbumdownbumouttheKoreansshouldthe IncontrasttoRon, Mike'sexcerptdisplaysnocasesofcopula 16 decisioncomebackasitdidy-know(1)Soityouknow absence.Mike'smostmarkeduseofAAEoccursasline21,"...but inNjiWayInHfillisthisgonbeokaybyjustidentifyingthisasan 354 U.PernWorkingPapersinLinguistics.Volume4.1,1997 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarlaRevisited student,andwhiteorblack.Assuch,listenersseldomprovided 17 thewholethingmadesense(1)Itwasn'tbullshitbutit open-endedorextraneousresponsesthatcouldyielddeeperinsight 18 madesense intotheirspecificlinguisticideologies.Inresponsetothese 19Lanita:Howdidthaturntheverdicthityouinitially? perceivedlimitations,thecurrentstudyinvolvedface-to-face interviewsinthesurveyparticipant'shomes,collegedormitories 20Greg:(1)Howdidithitme?U:htoacertainextentIexpected andcampuses,andavarietyofothersocialsettings. 21 itbutitwasajokeyouknow(1)itwasaslapintheface Surveyrespondentsincludeduniversitystudentsandthe 22 thenagainwe'vebeenslappedsomanytimesituhyou interviewers'acquaintances,friendsandfamilymembers. 23 knowit'sgettin'Iguesswe'rekindanumbat thispoint Respondentsvariedintermsoftheirage,gender,ethnic, 24 youknowand/nen/thewatchakalitthenewverdictI geographical,andprofessionalbackgrounds.Surveyrespondents 25 meanthenewtrialwiththesefour/brothes/that'sgonna wereasked,"Whatethnicitydo youthinkspeaker theis,"andin 26 beanotherslapinthe facecausethey'regonnabefound othercases,"Couldthespeakerpassaswhitespeakingthewayhe 27 guilty does?"Surveyparticipantsalsorespondedtothequestion,"What classbackgroundwouldyousaythespeakerisfrom(upper, Asillustratedintheexcerpt,Gregoftenfullyvocalizes/th/andthe middle,loweroranyvariationinbetween)?"Manyrespondents onlycasewhere/th/->/n/caneasilybeexplainedbythepreceding alsospeculatedonthepotentialage,educationallevel,andthe phonologicalenvironment("...andnenthewatchakalit..."[line politicalorientationofthethreespeakers.Surveyparticipants 24]).Greg'suseofcollectivizingpronouns,doesthemostworkin wereencouragedtolistentoboththesoundandthecontentofthe markinghis potentialmembershipwithintheAfricanAmerican speechsamplesinmakingtheirassessments.Followingtheir communitybyaligninghimwiththeplightoftheAfrican responses,theinterviewerrevealedtheethnicandclass AmericanresidentsimpactedbytheRodneyKingverdictIndeed backgroundsofthethree speakers,whichoftenelicitedinsightful henotesthat"halfmyneighborhoodwasburneddown"(line7) commentsandquestionsaboutthethreespeakers,particularly whichsituateshimwithinthe affectedcommunities.Hisuseof Ron. "brothas"(pronounced/brA&os/)inline25alsopotentiallysignals SurveyadministratorsincludedtwoAfricanAmerican hisstatusasAfricanAmericanasthistermisanin-groupreference femalesandtwowhitemales,allcollegestudents."Ofthe92 toanAfricanAmericanmale. surveyrespondents,45(49%)wereAfricanAmerican,33(36%) wereAngloAmerican,8(9%)wereLatino,and6(7%)wereAsian 9. SurveyAnalysis American.Malesconstitute59%(54)oftheentiresample,and femalesmakeuptheremaining41%(38).Additionally,the Ninetytwopeoplelistenedtotheaboveexcerptsandthen respondentsrangedbetween10-45yearsinage,thoughthe providedethnicandclassassessmentsofthethreespeakers. majority,83%,werebetween16-25yearsold.Table2provides Previousstudiesindicatethatlistenersmakeinterpretationsabouta AfricanAmericanandAngloAmericans'assessmentsofthe speaker'sethnicity,classbackground,andevenpersonalityonthe ethnicityandclassbackgroundofRon,MikeandGreg. basisofvoicecuesalone(cf.Harms1961;1963,Buck1968,Shuy etal.1969,Tucker& Lambert1969,DeStefano1971,Koustaal& "IamindebtedtoJasonBaker,JasonSchiffinanandJocelynHenryfor Jackson1971,Giles& Bourhis1976,Johnson& Buttny1982, assistinginthecollectionofthesesurveys. Linn& Piche"1982).Theearliestofthesestudieswereconducted 12Thefewtimeswhensurveyparticipantsquestionedwhichattributeto inlaboratorysettingsandelicitedlistenerjudgmentsonsuchpolar weighmostheavily,theywereadmonishedtoconsidersoundfirst,and characteristicsaswhetheraspeakerismeanornice,anathleteor a thencontent. 355 356 U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 4.1 (1997) Carla Revisited Jacobs-Huey speech placed him closer to SAE, 92% of people surveyed Table 2: Race & Class Assessments of Speakers classified him as African American, while only 7% classify him as white. Greg, whose speech was thought to be the most closest to SAE of all three speakers, is classified as African American by RON MIKE GREG Race & Class 85% of the people surveyed. Greg was classified as white by 15% (African (African Assessments (Anglo of the survey respondents. In terms of class rankings, Ron is American) American) American) perceived as lower class by 48% of survey respondents, while Mike is overwhelmingly considered to be middle to upper class (according to 90% of survey respondents). Sixty-four percent of 1% 4% Low 48% the survey respondents considered Greg to be middle to upper- Low-Mid 18% 1% 16% middle class, while 16% classified him as lower to lower-middle class. Mid 22% 40% 49% 30% 12% Upper-Mid 3% 9.1. Ron Upper 1% 20% 3% Ron's use of an adolescent variety, marked most strongly by his use of African American prosody (i.e., rhythm and tempo and timing and pitch) and phonology, convinced many respondents 3% 1% 1% Low that he was a lower to lower-middle class African American Low-Mid 1% speaker. Fifteen respondents were quite adamant in their 1% 5% 13% classifications, rendering assessments such as, "He's black!" and "He's definitely a brotha*!'" Yet a substantial majority of the Upper-Mid 1% people who classified Ron as African American also found his tfeper speech over-performed to some extent For example, several respondents stated that Ron sounded inauthentic, as if he was trying to sound intelligent or to sound white (Frazier 1957). Several others compared him pejoratively to the rapper and actor Ice-T and the parodied nonsensical inmate of the former popular According to the linguistic analyses presented above, Ron television comedy, In Living Color.14 Additionally, two African appeared to be an "authentic" AAE speaker, while Mike and American respondents assumed that Ron might be mixed with Greg's speech was more similar to SAE. In a manner black and white, and hence ambivalent about his ethnic identity. commensurate with these findings, 92% of the survey respondents For these respondents, Ron's alleged bi-racial identity triggered his classified Ron as African American. Only two respondents alignment with a "militant" (Afro-centric) perspective and assessed Ron as white and another two respondents were undecided. However, though a linguistic analysis of Mike's 14 Of several respondents who laughed immediately upon hearing Ron's voice, one joked, 'Dude got lyrics!1 and another comments, 'He sound ° One African American (female) who classified Ron as white and middle like Ice T, but he can back up his words.' Ironically, though, Ice T is class commented, "He's slipping with his accent. You know when it's from a middle class background who is a successful rap artist because of shaky!" This survey participant echoed the classic characterization of Ron, "He's a white boy tryna sound black." his use of AAE. 357 358 Jacobs-Huey Volume4.1(1997) CarlaRevisited U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics (over)performanceofAAE.ThisfindingsresembleDillard(1977) respondentcommentedthatspeech hiswasabit"shaky"andtwo andBaugh's(1987;1992)researchonhypocorrectionamong respondentsspeculatedthatRonwasalowerclasswhitemalewho middleanduppermiddleclassAfricanAmericans.Otherssurvey wassocializedinablackenvironmentOfthetworespondents participantscommentedthatRonsoundedsouthernor"country," (AfricanAmericanandAngloAmerican)whowereundecided whichMitchell-Kernandescribes (1969)asa termwhichis aboutRon'spotentialethnicidentity,onealleged,"He[Ron] could constructedinoppositionto"proper"or"good"English(cf. beanythingbecausehe'stryingtoohard."Thiscommentalso Lawrence1977).ThoserespondentswhodescribedRonmiddleto seemstocharacterizethesentimentsofthosewhoclassifiedRon upperclassandAfricanAmerican(26%)oftendidsoonthebasis asAfricanAmericanbutstillfelthisspeechwasinauthenticin someway(e.g.,somefeltRon'sspeechwasover-performed, thatRon"soundededucated." Whatarewe tomakeoftheRon'soverwhelming rambled,etc.) classificationasanAfricanAmericanandrespondentsqualified suspicions?PartofthereasonwhysurveyassessmentsofRonare 9.2. Greg contextuallyambivalentisthatheemploysanadolescentAfrican Americanvarietythatisrepletewithprosodicandphonological Greg'srelativelylimiteduseofAAEgrammar,phonologyand markerstoargue,inmyopinionrathercogently,aliberalposition prosodyserved,formanyAfricanAmericanrespondents,to withrespecttoimprovingeconomicandsocialconditionsfor signifyhislackofracialconsciousness.Thus,Gregwas AfricanAmericans.Inthissense,Roncomesofftolistenersas characterizedseveraltimesasanAfricanAmericanwhowas educated,yethisspeechvarietyservesasapointofcontention.In estrangedfromtheblackcommunity,despitethefactthatGreg essence,Ron'sspeechvarietyservestomarginalizehisstatus beginshisexcerptbyplacinghimselfwithinAfrican theAmerican communitieswhichwereburnedduringthe1992civil withintheAASC. Further,Ron'sidentityasconstructedforlisteners disturbancesandusesgenitivepronouns"we"and"us"when throughhisexcerptdoesnotmeshwellwithconceptionsofmiddle referringtoAfricanAmericanresidents.AfricanAmericans,as classspeakerswithintheAfricanAmericancommunity.AsSince wellasanAngloAmericanrespondent,whoidentifiedGregas AfricanAmericanassessedGregasa"wimp,""blackbuthe'sa socioeconomicclassismoreoftendeterminedintheAASCbyan individual'srealorperceivededucationalstatusversusincome nerd,""white-washed,"andaccusedhimof"talkingwhite.""The (Morgan1994a),Ron'smessageservestosignalhisstatusasan educatedspeaker.YettheadolescentspeechvarietyRonemploys isstigmatizedandassuch,compelslistenerstoclassifyas his 15Interestingly,thisaccusationisonewhichGregdiscussedinour eitherlower-classortoalignhim,inalinguisticandmetaphorical interview.Havingbeenaccusedof"talkingwhite"byseveralwomenat sense,withtheblackmiddleandupperclasscollegestudentswho clubs,Gregwascompelledtoshifthisdiscursivestrategiesawayfrom more"educated"speechtowhathecalled,"ghettogear."thefollowing In tendedtohypocorrectorover-performAAE.Formany,Ron's storyabouthisexperiencesataclub,Gregcommentsonhisconscious stereotypicaluseofblackaffectismostconvincinginmarking situationalcodeshifttoanAfricanAmericanstyleofspeechandhisstrong himaslower-classAfricanAmerican.Forothers,Ron'smessage disdainforbeingaccusedoftalkingwhite:"...Ifyouplanongettingout contentissuspiciouslyawkwardastosuggestthathemaybebi- onthedancefloor,youhavetousecommonsenseandyouhaveto racial(whichforsomerespondentsmeantconfusedabouthis communicatewiththepersonthatyou'retalkingto.You..talkto ethnicidentity)oramilitantAfricanAmericanwhofelttheneedto someonethat'sghettoinacertainway,you'renotcommunicatingcause performhisidentitybyspeakingastereotypedvarietyofAAE. thecommunicationprocessisnottakingplacebecausetheycan'trelateto WhenRonwasassessedas white,hewas asbyanAfrican that.Ihadsomeonetellme..IcameIwaskickinitIwasreallyinghetto American,AsianAmerican,andtwoAngloAmericans,a modeonenightandIwaskickinit.Ihadatoothpickinmymouth...1was 359 360 Volume4.1(1997) Jacobs-Huey U.PermWorkingPapersinLinguistics CarloRevisited speculatedthatheinteractedregularlywithAngloAmericans. African,AsianandAngloAmericanswhoclassifiedGregaswhite Overwhelmingly,AngloAmericansprovidedpositiveassessments andmiddleclassoftenattributedittothefeetthathesounded ofMikeasAfricanAmericanandmiddleto educatedandusedbigwords.WhenAsiansandAngloAmericans intheirclassifications upperclass.OfthenineAnglorespondentswhoprovided classifiedGregasblackandmiddleclass,manycommentedthat comments,sixcommentedthathisspeechwas"eloquent"andthat hesoundededucatedoreloquent. Mikewas"obviouslyintelligent"and onestatedthatMike remindedthemofthe basketballplayerScottyPippen.Mikewas 9.3. Mike assessedasAngloAmericanbythreeAfricanAmerican,three Anglo-AmericanandoneLatinorespondentOfthetwoAfrican MikewaspredominantlyclassifiedasAfricanAmericanand Americanswhoprovidedcomments,onewasinitiallyundecided, middletoupperclass.Manyrespondentscommentedthathewas butstuckwithanAngloAmericanclassificationandtheother verywellspokenandused"goodwords."Inhisexcerpt,Mike verbalizeshispreferenceoftheterm"riot"over"civilunrest," remarkedthathewas"morearticulate." takesanassertivestanceagainstpoliticians,andthencallsfor communityaction.Hisproblem-solutionbasedexposition 10. Summary impressedseveralAfricanAmerican,Asian,andAnglo respondentstogivehimamiddletoupperclassrating.Manyof ThesefindingschallengetraditionaldescriptionsofAAEspeakers theserespondentsfeltthatbothhisuseoflanguageandthe aseither"lames"(Labov1972a)orauthenticspeakers(cf.Labov maturityofhisideasreflectedacertainclassbackground.Intwo 1980).ThoughlinguisticanddiscourseanalysespresentRonasan cases,however,Mike'spreferenceforthetermriotaroused authenticAAEspeaker,surveyresponsesrevealhismarginalized negativefeedbackfromAAEspeakerswhoconsideredhimtohold statusintheAASC.Additionally,whileMikeisconsideredtobe littleaffinitytotheAfricanAmericancommunity.Intwoother amarginalAAEspeakerbylinguisticstandards,heisbyandlarge cases,Mikewasinitiallythoughttobewhite.Yet,survey as consideredtoacompetentAAEspeakerbysurveyrespondents respondentscontinuedtolistentothecontentofhisspeech,they andthroughdiscourseanalysis. reclassifiedhimasAfricanAmerican.Additionally,someAfrican Butters(1994)arguesthatbecauseAAE speakers, AmericanswhoidentifiedMikeasAfricanAmericanandmiddle particularlynon-adolescents,tendnottoexploittheentirerangeof toupperclassalsoremarkedthathesounded"whitewashed," grammaticalfeaturesofAAEin theirspeechatanyonetime, "militantasthoughhewasmixedwithblackandwhite,"and linguisticdescriptionsofspeakerscaneasilyendupproducing "lame"AAE speakersatbestor,asRonillustrates,present inthatframeofmindsoIhadintoothpickinmymouthkickinbackurn..I speakersofanadolescentAAEvarietyas"authentic."Yet,as wastalkingtosomewomanintheclubandshe...hadthenervetocall Morgan(1994a)argues,thoughAAEissymbolicofethnicloyalty mewhiteandIwasthinkingWhat!White.NowIhappenedtobein(name andprideformanyAfricanAmericans,thisdoesnotprecludetheir ofclub)andIforgotwhereIwasand1wastalkingtoherlikeI'mtalking appreciationnoruseofSAE.Infeet,theabilitytospeakSAEis toyouasopposedtotalkingtoherlikeI'mtalkingtoa (nameofclub viewedwithintheAASCasawaytonegotiateone'seconomic woman.Soshekind'veassumedohwellhemustbeaoreo,whyishe talkingtomesoproper?Sowhite.Soyouknowyouhavetobeawareof successina societywhichcontinuestomarginalizeAfrican thatbecauseyoucallmewhiteandI'mpissedoffbecauseI'mveryfar Americandiscoursestyles.Itonly iswhenSAEistheonlycode frombeingwhite...SoIdon'tthinkIdon'treallyappreciatethat usedbyAfricanAmericanspeakersthattheirstatuswithinthe commentyouknow.Ididn'tappreciateitat thetimesoyouknow..and AASCrisksmarginalization.Likewise,Greg,whosespeechwas becauseIdon'tliketogetcommentslikethat,Itrytoavoidtalkingto shownvialinguisticanddiscourseanalysistobemostclosestto certainpeopleinacertainway. 361 362 Carla Revisited Jacobs-Huey U. 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