Completing an accurate phonetic transcription of a speaker of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) requires knowledge of the range of phonological features possible and the inherently variable nature of their actual use. This article summarizes AAVE phonological features from the perspective of phonetic transcription. Some features are relatively easy to transcribe with familiar the International Phonetic Alphabet base symbols (e.g., [bæf] for bath), whereas others may require the use of diacritics (e.g., [mæ] for man or [bæ:c] for bad). The importance of transcription detail when differentiating dialect variation from phonological delay or disorder is critical.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bailey, G. (1993). A perspective on African American English. In D. Preston (Ed.), American dialect research (pp. 287-318). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
2.
Bailey, G., & Thomas, E. (1998). Some aspects of African American Vernacular English phonology. In S. Mufwene, J. Rickford, G. Bailey, & J. Baugh (Eds.), African American English: Structure, history and use (pp. 85-109). London : Routledge.
3.
Ball, M., Rahilly, J., & Tench, P. (1996). The phonetic transcription of disordered speech . San Diego: Singular.
4.
Fasold, R., & Wolfram, W. (1970). Some linguistic features of Negro dialect. In R. Fasold & R. Shuy (Eds.), Teaching standard English in the inner city (pp. 41-86). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
5.
Feagin, C. (1990). The dynamics of a sound change in Southern states English: From r-less to r-full in three generations. In J. A. Edmondson, C. Feagin , & P. Mühläusler (Eds.), Development and diversity: Language variation across time and space. A festschrift for Charles-James N. Bailey (pp. 29-146). Arlington: SIL and University of Texas.
6.
Hinton, L.N. & Pollock, K.E. (2000). Regional variations in the phonological characteristics of African American Vernacular English. World Englishes, 19(1), 39-58.
7.
Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
8.
Labov, W. (1994). Principles of linguistic change: Internal factors . Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
9.
Lambert, S. (1995). The r-full truth of the matter Unpublished master's thesis, The Universitiy of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
10.
Luelsdorff, P.A. (1975). A segmental phonology of Black English. The Hague: Mouton.
11.
Pollock, K., Bailey, G., Berni, M., Fletcher, D., Hinton, L., Johnson, I., & Weaver, R. (2000). Phonological features of African American Vernacular English: An updated resource list Retrieved May 12, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ausp.memphis.edu/phonology
12.
Pollock, K., & Berni, M.C. (1996). Vocalic and postvocalic /r/ in African American Memphians. Paper presented at the New Ways of Analyzing Variation in English (NWAVE) meeting, Las Vegas, NV
13.
Rickford, J. (1999). African American English: Features, evolution, educational implications. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
14.
Stockman, I. ( 1996). Phonological development and disorders in African American children. In A. Kamhi, K. Pollock, & J. Harris (Eds.), Communication development and disorders in African American children: Research, assessment and intervention (pp. 117-153). Baltimore: Brookes.
15.
Wolfram, W. (1969). A sociolinguistic description of Detroit Negro speech. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
16.
Wolfram, W. (1994). The phonology of a sociocultural variety: The case of African American Vernacular English. In J. Bernthal & N. Bankson (Eds.), Child phonology: Characteristics, assessment, and intervention with special populations (pp. 227-244). New York: Thieme.
17.
Wolfram, W., Hazen, K., &Tamburro, J.R. (1997). Isolation within isolation: A solitary century of African American English. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 1(1), 7-38.
18.
Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N. (1998). American English: Dialects and variation. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
