Phonological and Phonetic Characteristics of African American Vernacular English

2007/09/01 by Erik R. Thomas · 6 citations
Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #African american #American English #Computer science #Ethnology #History #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Linguistics #Mathematics #Multilingual Education and Policy #Philosophy #Phonetics and Phonology Research #Prosody #Quality (philosophy) #Variable (mathematics) #Variation (astronomy) #Vernacular #Vowel

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1749-818x.2007.00029.x

openalex publication_date 2007/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16

Abstract

Abstract The numerous controversies surrounding African American Vernacular English can be illuminated by data from phonological and phonetic variables. However, what is known about different variables varies greatly, with consonantal variables receiving the most scholarly attention, followed by vowel quality, prosody, and finally voice quality. Variables within each domain are discussed here and what has been learned about their realizations in African American speech is compiled. The degree of variation of each variable within African American speech is also summarized when it is known. Areas for which more work is needed are noted.

Citations

• The Divergence Controversy
• African American English
• Breaking, Umlaut, and the Southern Drawl
• 3. The relationship between African American Vernacular English and White Vernaculars in the American South

Cited by

• The Low-Back Merger in the Steel City: African American English in Pittsburgh
• Incomplete neutralization in African American English: The case of final consonant voicing
• Toward a Description of African American Vernacular English Dialect Regions Using “Black Twitter”
• African-American Vernacular English [wikipedia]
• Cot–caught merger [wikipedia]
• Southern American English [wikipedia]

Related

• Some aspects of African-American vernacular English phonology
• Local and External Language Standards in African American English
• Automatic Speech Recognition of African American English: Lexical and Contextual Effects
• Toward a Description of African American Vernacular English Dialect Regions Using “Black Twitter”
• An Early Study of the Speech of Young Black Children in California: Why It Matters