The Development of African American English by Walt Wolfram

The Development of African American English by Walt Wolfram

This book focuses on one of the most persistent and controversial questions in modern sociolinguistics: the past and present development of African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

"The Development of African American English is a masterpieceThe authors systematically examine linguistic and historical evidence from an area (Hyde County, North Carolina ) that has not figured in earlier discussions of African American Vernacular English . The result is a more complex and intricate picture of Black/White sociolinguistic relations,both now and in the past, than we have had to this point, with rich implications for how research on language variation and change should be conducted more generally." John R. Rickford, Stanford University

"Wolfram and Thomas's investigation of language in a biracial Southern enclave has much to tell us. Their attention to key issues of theory and methodology informs their research and bolsters a set of carefully argued conclusions about the history of African American English. The authors' work takes on a broader significance by their willingness to tackle vexing questions, whether the issue is how to assess differences in intonation patterns between African Americans and European Americans or how to relate individual differences to community variation." John Singler, New York University

"Specialized but of the utmost importance to dialectologists and sociologists, this volume is exhaustive, accurate, provocative, and compelling. Recommended enthusiastically for graduate students, researchers, and faculty." Choice, December 2002, Vol 40 No. 04

Walt Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University. He has pioneered research on a wide range of American vernacular dialects and authored or co-authored 15 books, including American English (Blackwell 1998, with Natalie Schilling-Estes) and over 200 articles.

Erik R. Thomas is Associate Professor of Linguistics at North Carolina State University. He is author of An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New World English (2001), and has published widely in journals such as Language Variation and Change, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, and Journal of Phonetics.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780631230878
ISBN 10	0631230874
Title	The Development of African American English
Author	Walt Wolfram
Series	Language In Society
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Year published	2002-04-15
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.